AUSTRALASIA. 



loan account of 3,000,000 extending over three 

 years, and would have to borrow that amount and 

 550,000 more for authorized works, besides car- 

 rying 1,000,000 of treasury bills maturing in the 

 year. Rolling-stock and other requirements for 

 the railroads involved an expenditure of 1,000,- 

 000. Still no alarm was felt, as the resources of 

 the state were enormous and the revenue was 

 elastic. Parliament was opened on June 28. An 

 advisory board of public works was instituted. 

 Expenditure without the authority of Parliament 

 must be discouraged. The agricultural, pastoral, 

 and mining industries would be promoted by 

 Government in every way. The ministerial meas- 

 ures included amendments to the public service 

 and conciliation acts, a bill for the regulation of 

 factories, others dealing with the rights of elect- 

 ors and the redistribution of seats, and one 

 abolishing plural voting. The railroad employees 

 struck in July for a shilling a day more wages, 

 refusing to accept the Government's offer of arbi- 

 tration, and interfering with mining, manufactur- 

 ing, building, and trade. 



Tasmania. The Legislative Council has 19 

 members, elected for six years by property 

 owners, and the Legislative Assembly has 46 



nominations were made for life, prior to 1891. 

 The House of Representatives has 74 members 

 elected by adults of either sex who have resided a 

 year in the colony and three months in the elec- 

 toral district. The Maoris elect 4 members. In 

 1899 there were 373,744 registered voters, 210.r>2!) 

 of them men and 103,215 women, in the Euro- 

 pean, and 13,028 who voted in the Maori districts. 



The Governor at the beginning of 1901 was the 

 Earl of Ranfurly, appointed in 1897. The minis- 

 try was composed as follows: Prime Minister, 

 Colonial Treasurer, Minister of Labor, and Min- 

 ister of Defense, R. J. Seddon; Colonial Secretary, 

 Postmaster-General and Electric Telegraph Com- 

 missioner, Minister for Railways, Minister of In- 

 dustries and Commerce, and Minister of Public 

 Health, J. G. Ward; Minister of Lands and Min- 

 ister for Agriculture, T. Y. Duncan; Commis- 

 sioner of Stamp Duties and Native Minister, J. 

 Carroll; Minister of Immigration and Minister of 

 Education, W. C. Walker; Minister for Public 

 Works, W. Hall- Jones; Minister of Justice and 

 Minister for Mines, J. McGowan; Commissioner 

 of Trade and Customs, C. H. Mills; without port- 

 folio, A. J. Cadman. 



The area of New Zealand is estimated at 104.471 



MAIL-COACH STATION, NEW SOUTH WALES. 



members, elected by householders. The Adminis- 

 trator at the beginning of 1901 was Sir J. S. 

 Dodds, appointed Aug. 14, 1900. The Cabinet was 

 composed as follows: Premier and Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, N. E. Lewis; Chief Secretary, G. T. Collins; 

 Treasurer, B. S. Bird; Minister of Lands and 

 Works, E. Mulcahy; without portfolio, E. W. 

 Piesse. In Tasmania mining continued to show 

 progress in 1901, and the Government revenue 

 was satisfactory except for a decline in customs, 

 imports being light in view of the impending 

 commonwealth tariff. 



New Zealand. Under the Constitution of 

 1875 the executive power of the Crown is en- 

 trusted to a Governor, and the legislative power 

 is vested in a General Assembly, consisting of a 

 Legislative Council and a House of Representa- 

 tives. The Governor summons, prorogues, and 

 dissolves Parliament on the advice of his minis- 

 ters. He may veto bills or withhold them for the 

 consideration of the Imperial Government, can 

 send drafts of bills to either house for considera- 

 tion, and proposals for the appropriation of public 

 money must come from him before Parliament 

 can legally provide for expenditures. The Legis- 

 lative Council contains 45 members, appointed 

 for seven years, excepting those appointed when 



square miles, that of the North island being 44,- 

 468, the Middle island 58,525, and Stewart's 

 island 665 square miles. At the census of 1896 

 there were 703,360 inhabitants 371,415 males and 

 331,945 females, exclusive of natives. The propor- 

 tion born in New Zealand was 62.85 per cent.; in 

 other colonies, 4.63 per cent.; in the United King- 

 dom, 30.62 per cent.; in foreign countries, 1.9 per 

 cent. Of the total population 43.68 per cent, lived 

 in boroughs. Wellington, the capital, had 41,758 

 inhabitants; Auckland, 57,616; Christchurch, 51,- 

 330; and Dunedin, 47,280. The Maoris, on Dec. 

 31, 1899, numbered 39,854, having decreased from 

 56,049, their estimated number in 1857. There 

 are 1,645 public elementary schools, with 3,615 

 teachers and 131,315 enrolled pupils, the aver- 

 age attendance being 107,066, while the private 

 schools number 803, with 15,295 pupils. This is- 

 exclusive of the native schools, of which there are 

 83, with 148 teachers and 3,065 pupils. 



The revenue for the year ending March 31, 1900, 

 was 5,386.989, of wh'ich 2,107.567 were derived 

 from customs, 860,898 from stamps, including 

 postage and telegraph stamps, 1,621,613 from 

 railroads, 293,627 from the land tax, and 128,- 

 721 from the income tax. Sales of land produced 

 90,831. The total expenditures were 5,140,127, 



