58 



AUSTRALASIA. 



of which 1.749,394 were for the public debt, 

 l.o:J9,412 for railroads. 472.053 for education, 

 :jss..">S2 for posts* and telegraphs, and 278,092 

 for constabulary and defense. The expenditures 

 out of the public works fund from 1870 to 1900 

 amounted to 32.978.020. The total receipts of 

 the colonv for the year ending March 31, 1901, 

 were 6*012,207, and the expenditures were 

 .~>,471),703. For the year ending March 31, 1902, 

 the revenue was estimated at .3.890,000. and ex- 

 penditure at 5.703.000. The amount of the pub- 

 lic debt on March 31. 1900. was 46,930,077, re- 

 quiring 1.074.018 for interest, not including 

 2S.703 on treasury bills, and 40,073 for the 

 sinking-fund. In 1901 the Government raised a 

 loan of .~)00.000 in the colony at 4 per cent, and 

 l>orrowed l.f>00.000 in London. The total debt 

 was 49.500.000. and 1,000.000 more would be 

 required to carry on the public works for another 

 year. The local revenues in 1899 amounted to 

 080.700 from rates and 1,200,095 from other 

 .sources; local expenditures were 1,778,574, and 

 the local debts amounted to 0,903,254. The un- 

 improved value of lands in the colony in 1898 was 

 asse>sed at 84.401,244, against 75,497,379 in 

 18SS. the rate of increase being 11.79 per cent., the 

 value of improvements at 54,190,103, against 

 35.040,335, an increase of 52.05 per cent.; total 

 valuation. 138,591,347, against 111,137,714, an 

 increase of 24.7 per cent. 



Two-thirds of the land in New Zealand is be- 

 lieved to be good for agriculture and stock-raising. 

 The total area is about 07,000,000 acres. There 

 are 0.000.000 acres of barren land and 20,000,000 

 acres of forest. The area cultivated in 1900 was 

 12.474,511 acres, of which 10,853,302 acres were 

 sown grass lands. This does not include 10,890 

 acres of garden, 24,401 acres of orchard, and 48,942 

 acres of plantations. There were 209,749 acres 

 under wheat in 1899, producing 8,582,000 bushels, 

 an average of 31.81 bushels an acre; 398,243 acres 

 under oats, producing 16,326,000 bushels; 48,003 

 acres under barley, producing 1,585,000 bushels. 

 The live stock in 1900 consisted of 261,931 horses, 

 1.210,439 cattle, 19,348,500 sheep, and 249,751 hogs. 

 Since 1891 tne average amount of land settled an- 

 nually has been 028,000 acres. There were 83,300 

 persons engaged in agricultural and pastoral pur- 

 suits in 1890, of whom 31,204 were occupying 

 farmers, 16,473 relatives working on farms, 20,230 

 farm laborers, 1,638 holders of pastoral runs, and 

 6.742 station hands. The area occupied by set- 

 tlement in 1900 was 34,422,653 acres including, and 

 25.607,049 acres excluding Crown lands held un- 

 der pastoral leases. Crown lands may be bought 

 for cash or held on perpetual lease on condition 

 of continued occupation and cultivation. The 

 mines of New Zealand in 1899 produced 389558 

 ounces of gold, valued at 1,513,173; 349,338 

 ounces of silver, valued at 40,838; 11,116 tons 

 of kauri gum. valued at 607,919; and 975,234 

 tons of coal, valued at 487,617. The production 

 of gold was 50 per cent, greater than in 1898 and 

 preceding years. The total export of gold since 

 1867 was in value 55,966,498. There were 2459 

 manufactories in 1895, employing 27.389 persons. 

 Jheir capital amounted to 5,796.017, and their 

 annual production was valued at 9,549,360 



The total value of imports in 1899 was' 8,739,- 

 633: exports of colonial produce, 11,799740- re- 



iinoJ io- Im li!l g 8 J K ' cic ' 1 'WW5; total exports, 

 *, 1 1 ,lM8.j.fc>. Ihe imports of textiles and cloth- 

 ing were 2.123.135; of iron and steel goods in- 

 cluding machinery, 1,578,855; of paper 'and 

 books, 368.617; of sugar, 354.925; of spirits 

 wine and beer, 306,491; of tobacco and cigars! 

 184,1,3; of tea. 183,691; of fruit, 180,590- of 



oils. 120,907; of sacks, 123,596; of fancy 

 goods, 110,114; of coal, 92,815; of other mer- 

 chandise, 2,879,087; of specie, 125,977. The 

 export of wool was 147,169,497 pounds, valued at 

 4,324,027; of frozen meat, 1,865,827 hundred- 

 weight, valued at 2,088,850; of kauri gum, 11,- 

 110 tons, valued at 007,919. The export of but- 

 ter was 130,080 hundredweight, and that of cheese 

 09,440 hundredweight, valued together at 713,- 

 017. The gold export was 1,513,180, not includ- 

 ing 14,913 of specie. The export of grain, flour, 

 and pulse was 731,805 in value; of hides, skins, 

 and leather, 483,762; of tallow, 311,649; of 

 phormium, or New Zealand hemp, 184,411; of 

 preserved meat, 90,910; of grass seed, 61,974; 

 of live animals, 22,689; of bacon and hams, 

 14,364; of other colonial produce, 649,977; of 

 British and foreign produce, 123,682. Of the 

 total imports in 1899 the value of 5,526,645 

 came from Great Britain, 1,336,828 from the 

 Australian colonies, 775,309 from the United 

 States, 332,833 from India and Ceylon, 303,524 

 from Pacific islands, 22,879 from China, and 

 441,615 from other countries. Of the total ex- 

 ports 9,427,515 went to Great Britain, 1,708,- 

 036 to Australian colonies, 433,499 to the United 

 States, 133,215 to Pacific islands, 10,973 to 

 China, 3,277 to India and Ceylon, and 221,820 

 to other countries. 



The number of vessels entered during 1899 was 

 609, of 811,132 tons, of which 553, of 738,929 tons, 

 were with cargoes; cleared, 604, of 807,866 tons, of 

 which 570, of 778,245 tons, were wdth cargoes. Of 

 the vessels entered, 388, of 392,671 tons, were 

 colonial; 149, of 350,861 tons, were British; and 

 72, of 67,651 tons, were foreign. Of those cleared, 

 379, of 386,219 tons, were colonial; 152, of 355,- 

 442 tons, were British; and 73, of 66,205 tons, were 

 foreign. 



The Government railroads on March 31, 1900, 

 had a length of 2,104 miles, and there were 167 ' 

 miles of private railroads. The capital expended 

 on the Government lines had been 17,554,584. 

 The gross receipts for the year were 1,623,891, 

 and expenses 1,052,358, being 64.8 per cent, of 

 the receipts; number of passengers carried, 5,468,- 

 284; tons of freight, 3,251,716. 



The post-office in 1899 forwarded 37,380,671 let- 

 ters, 1,103,700 letter cards, 1,643,051 postal cards, 

 17,883,208 books and parcels, and 15,717,388 news- 

 papers, and 344,664 money-orders were issued and 

 245,377 paid. 



There were 6,910 miles of telegraph lines and 

 19,228 miles of wire on March 31, 1900; number 

 of despatches sent during the year, 3,159,093; re- 

 ceipts from telegraphs and telephones, 162,945. 



The colonial Parliament w T as opened on July 2. 

 The _ legislative program consisted of measures 

 for improving oversea steam service, preventing 

 the fixing of abnormal prices for coal and food- 

 stuffs by trusts, the establishment of a Govern- 

 ment coal-mine, and the regulation of the hours 

 of clerks in mercantile offices and banks. The. 

 leader of the Opposition, Capt. Russell, challenged 

 a supply bill, and when the Government obtained 

 a majority of 27 he resigned the leadership on the 

 ground that there was no organized Opposition. 

 The address was carried by a practically unani- 

 mous vote. The Cook and other islands were form- 

 ally annexed to New Zealand on June 11. A 

 cable was laid in 1901 between New Zealand and 

 Australia at the joint expense of the colonies 

 and the Imperial Government, and a tariff of a 

 penny a word to London was agreed to. Penny 

 postage had proved a success, leading to an in- 

 crease of business that promised to make the 

 revenue in two years as large as it was before the 





