AUSTRALIA AND POLYNESIA. 



mania, 750; making a total of 44,207, being 

 nearly 2,000 less than in Victoria alone twen- 

 ty years ago. The Chinese dwelling in the city 

 of Melbourne are about 500, and in its sub- 

 urbs 380. Of these, not more than sixty-six 

 can be fairly considered to compete in the la- 

 bor market with Europeans, and these are em- 

 ployed as waiters and domestic servants. All 

 the rest obtain their livelihood as gardeners, 

 as hucksters, or by employments with which 

 a European would not dream of occupying 

 himself. 



The Queensland Government has passed an 

 act authorizing the construction of the Trans- 

 continental Railway, which shall connect the 

 northern with the southern shores of the island 

 continent, and bring the colonies within thirty 

 days of England. A syndicate has already 

 agreed to perform the work, on the condition 

 of receiving, among certain other privileges, an 

 area of 8,000 acres of land for each mile of rail- 

 way constructed. The railway extending from 

 Brisbane in a north westerly direction to Roma, 

 a distance of 317 miles, was completed in the 

 course of 1880, and from this point to the near- 

 est part of the Gulf of Carpentaria on the north 

 coast is, in a direct line, barely 850 miles. The 

 line would almost touch on its way the impor- 

 tant railway from Rockhampton to Emerald 

 Town, also in Queensland, and the blanks to be 

 filled up in the existing lines between Brisbane 

 and Sydney are no greater than the links re- 

 quired to complete the chain between Adelaide 

 and Sydney. If these latter are completed, 

 there will be on the completion of the now pro- 

 jected line from Roma to the Gulf of Carpen- 

 taria, continuous railway communication be- 

 tween the northern and southern coasts of Aus- 

 tralia, having the additional advantage of trav- 

 ersing the whole of the most settled districts, 

 and connecting all the principal cities, except 

 those in Western Australia. 



The other English possessions in Australia, 

 exclusive of some uninhabited islands, are : 



Population. 



Feejee Islands 112,272 



Chatham Islands 196 



Lord Howe's Island 25 



Rotumah (annexed in 1880) 2 680 



Fanning Island '. ....... 'l50 



Maiden " 79 



Total 115,402 



The territory of Queensland was enlarged 

 in 1879 by the annexation of some islands sit- 

 uated in Torres Strait. Letters patent dated 

 October 10, 1878, for the rectification of the 

 maritime boundary of the colony, provide that 

 " all islands included within a line drawn from 

 Sandy Cape northward to the southeastern 

 limit of Great Barrier Reefs, thence following 

 the line of the Great Barrier Reefs to their 

 northeastern extremity near 9J south lati- 

 tude, thence in a northwesterly direction, 

 embracing East, Anchor, and Bramble Cays, 

 thence from Bramble Cays in a line west by 

 south (south 79 west, true), embracing War- 

 rior Reef, Saibai, and Tuan Islands, thence di- 



verging in a northwesterly direction, so as to 

 embrace the group known as the Talbot Isl- 

 ands, thence to and embracing the Deliverance 

 Islands, and onward in a west-by-south direc- 

 tion (true) to 138 east longitude, should be 

 annexed to and form part of the colony of 

 Queensland." The law authorizing this annex- 

 ation came into operation on August 1, 1879. 



The u Melbourne Argus " estimates the yield 

 of gold in the colony of Victoria in the year 

 1879 at a little over 715,000 ounces, being near- 

 ly 39,000 ounces less than in 1878, and being 

 also less than half the quantity obtained in 

 1868. The " Argus " adds : " It is well known 

 that the yields of gold during the latter half 

 of 1879 were much superior to those of the 

 first half, and, if mining should continue as 

 healthy during 1880 as it has recently been, it 

 is probable that the yield for it will exceed 

 that of the year just closed." The amount of 

 gold coin issued from the Melbourne mint in 

 1879 was 703,709 ounces, the value of which 

 was 2,740,000. The discovery of the Temora 

 gold-field near Sydney in 1880 created great ex- 

 citement in Australia. * 



Victoria. The Parliament of Victoria ad- 

 journed on December 20, 1879. As the Par- 

 liament had refused to pass the Reform Bill, 

 which embodied a scheme for the introduction 

 of the plebiscite and the substitution of a Coun- 

 cil nominated by the Ministry of the day for 

 an elective Upper Chamber, the Ministry pro- 

 posed to the Governor to dissolve Parliament. 

 The request was acceded to, nd new elections 

 took place in February, which placed the Min- 

 istry in a minority of twelve in the Legisla- 

 tive Assembly. Accordingly, the Hon. Graham 

 Berry and the members of his Cabinet tendered 

 their resignations. The Governor accepted the 

 resignations, and formed a new Cabinet, which 

 was composed as follows : Colonial Treasurer, 

 Mr. James Service; Chief Secretary and Minister 

 of Public Instruction, Mr. Robert Ramsay ; At- 

 torney-General, Mr. George Kerferd ; Minister 

 of Lands, the Hon. J. G. Duffy ; Postmaster- 

 General and Commissioner of Trade and Cus- 

 toms, Mr. Henry Cuthbert ; Commissioner of 

 Railways and Roads, Mr. Duncan Gillies ; Com- 

 missioner of Public Works, Mr. Thomas Bent ; 

 Minister of Mines, Mr. Clark. The new Pre- 

 mier, Mr. James Service, in an address to his 

 constituents on March 10th, explained the pro- 

 gramme of his Cabinet. It was proposed to 

 empower the Legislative Council to expunge 

 items involving questions of public policy from 

 the Appropriation Act, and to deal with them 

 in a separate bill. The ministerial programme 

 further announced bills regarding irrigation 

 and mining on private property. The railways 

 would be placed under the control of a com- 

 mission or board. Reforms would be proposed 

 in the civil service in the direction of reducing 

 the salaries of all classes of public officials, such 

 reduction, however, only to apply to those ap- 

 pointed subsequently to the passing of the bill. 

 Pensions would be totally abolished in the case 



