AUSTRALASIA. 



an increase of 11-25 per cent, since the census of 

 1891. Queensland is gaining rapidly in population, 

 and Western Australia expands at a phenomenal 

 rate, having, on June 30, 1896, a population of 122,- 

 420. 



In the Australasian colonies the male population, 

 consisting largely of emigrants from the British 

 Islands, predominates in a marked degree. 



Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, had 

 an estimated population of 423,600 at the close of 

 1894, while Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, had 

 438,955, nearly 40 per cent, of the total population 

 of the colony. In Brisbane, the capital of Queens- 

 land, lived a population of 93,657, including the 

 suburbs, when the census was taken on April 5, 

 1891. The population of Adelaide, the capital of 

 South Australia, was 141,606 in 1894, including the 

 suburbs; while the whole northern territory had 

 only 4,682 inhabitants, of whom 357 were females. 

 Tasmania's capital, Hobart, had a population of 

 24,905 in 1891. The estimated population of Perth, 

 the capital of Western Australia, was 15,703 in 1894. 



The vital statistics for the several colonies in 

 1894 were as follow : 



Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia ; March 

 31, 1894, in Western Australia and Tasmania; and 

 L)ec. 31, 1894, in New Zealand and Fiji are shown 

 in the following table : 



* Net emigration. 



t Decrease. 



The black population of New South Wales in 1891 

 was 5,097, of whom 2,896 were males and 2,201 

 females, and there were 3,183 half-castes. Victoria 

 had only 565 aborigines surviving. In Queensland 

 the aborigines are estimated to number 12,000. In 

 South Australia there were 3,134 aborigines in 1891, 

 of whom 1,661 were males and 1,473 females. In 

 Western Australia there is still a large black popu- 

 lation in the unsettled regions. There were 5,670 

 blacks in the service of colonists in 1891. South 

 Australia also is to a great extent unexplored. 

 There were 3,134 blacks enumerated in the settled 

 districts in 1891. 



The aborigines of Tasmania are extinct. Chinese 

 immigration was restricted by the imposition of a 

 poll tax of 10 in New Zealand in 1881, and the 

 adoption in the same year of the practically pro- 

 hibitive poll tax of 100 in all the Australian colo- 

 nies excepting Western Australia and the northern 

 territory of South Australia. Since then the Chi- 

 nese population has diminished rapidly. Between 

 1890 and 1895, 3,158 Chinese left New South Wales, 

 while only 160 arrived. In Queensland, where the 

 Chinese are principally engaged in gold mining, 

 429 arrived in 1894, and 467 departed. The Chi- 

 nese population of that colony in 1891 was 8,574, of 

 whom 47 were females. In Victoria there were 

 8,772 Chinese, of whom 605 were females. New 

 South Wales had 13,133 Chinese; South Australia, 

 3,848 ; Tasmania, 943 ; New Zealand, 4,444. There 

 were 9,428 Polynesian laborers in Queensland in 

 1891, and 1,844 of other alien races. The arrivals 

 of Polynesians in 1894 numbered 1,869, and the de- 

 partures 837. Fiji where the white population 

 at the end of 1894 numbered 2,666, the half-castes 

 1,167, the native Fijians 103,750, and the Rotumans 

 2,113 had 2,233 Polynesian laborers on the planta- 

 tions and 9,130 Indian coolies. 

 . Finances. The budgets of the several colonies 

 for 1894, and the state of their debts for the fiscal 

 year ending June 30, 1895, in New South Wales, 



The revenues of the Australian colonies, which a 

 few years ago were insufficient, have lately shown a 

 remarkable improvement. The governments have 

 so reorganized their finances that the deficits accu- 

 mulated during the period of stagnation are nearly 

 or quite extinguished. Several of them have a sur- 

 plus revenue to devote to reproductive works with- 

 out recourse to loans. Such loans as are raised are 

 obtained among the colonists, not in Great Britain, 

 as formerly. The capital sum of the colonial Gov- 

 ernment loans that are repayable in London 

 amounted, at the close of 1894, to 194,507,000, on 

 which the interest is 7,589,000 per annum. The 

 average rate is 3'9 per cent. 



Of the revenue of New South Wales, 2.688,693 

 in 1894 came from taxation, viz., 2.015,695 from 

 customs, 256,664 from excise, 294.221 from stamp 

 duties, and 122,113 from licenses; 2,078,719 from 

 land revenue ; 4,246,610 from services that is, 

 railroads, tramways, the post office, telegraphs, and 

 waterworks ; and 286.689 from miscellaneous 

 sources. Of the expenditure, 1,712,221 went for 

 railways and tramways, 733,042 for posts and tele- 

 graphs, 2,384,578 for interest on debt and extinc- 

 tion of loans, 2,109 for immigration, 738,410 for 

 instruction, and 3,608,346 for other public works 

 and services. Of the total debt, 83 per cent, had 

 been expended on railways, tramways, telegraphs, 

 water supply, and sewerage, which paid a net re- 

 turn of 3'11 per cent, of the cost of their construc- 

 tion. The value of these revenue-yielding works 

 at the close of 1892 was 46,752.900; of works and 

 buildings yielding no revenue, 23.493,400; of pub- 

 lic lands leased but not sold, 98,008,000; amount 

 due on lands purchased from the state, 13,671,200 ; 

 value of municipal property, 7,213,000 ; total pub- 

 lic wealth, 189,138.500. Value of private lands, 

 179,043,000 ; of houses and improvements, 126,- 

 896,000 ; other forms of wealth, 98,209.000 ; total 

 private wealth, 404,148,000. Total wealth of the 

 colony. 593,286,500. The revenue of the Govern- 

 ment "for the year ending June 30. 1896, was 9,283.- 

 803, which wiped out the preceding year's deficit 

 and left a surplus of 333,296. The revenue for the 

 year 1896-'97 was estimated at 9,274,803, and ex- 

 penditure at 9.400,000. The Government had 

 taken off 750,000 of customs duties and put on 

 500,000 of direct taxation. It was proposed to 

 obtain 120.000 a year by increasing the probate 

 duties and, if necessary, amending the stamp duties. 

 The Government proposed to amalgamate the sav- 

 ings banks, and eventually to give these united 

 banks the character of a state bank, with control 

 of the note circulation. 



Of the revenue of Victoria for 1894, amounting 

 to 6,716.814, taxation yielded 2,497.567, of which 

 1,716,703 came from customs, 308,927 from ex- 

 cise, 123,457 from the land tax, 144.771 from 

 duties on the estates of deceased persons, 24,694 

 from a duty on bank notes, 145,000 from the stamp 

 duty, 18,022 from business licenses, and 15,993 

 from tonnage dues, etc. ; 2,709,575 came from rail- 

 roads ; 536,731 from posts and telegraphs ; 500,768 



