AUSTRALASIA. 



55 



from Crown lands: and L'472.173 from other sources, 

 of tlu- expenditures fur 1884, amounting to 7.310,- 

 24>, intcivM and ex[ienses ot the debt accounted for 

 1. !K 5. 9-,'S ; working expenses of railroads, 1. 539.- 

 other public works. 593.070: posts and tele- 

 p-ap. ;7: Crown lands. tl.v2.OD4; public 



instruction. 005.394 ; charitable institutions, 263,- 

 judicial and legal expenses. 181,899 ; police 

 and jail?. . l _3o<i.:;::o : m-ioins. harbors, etc.. 101,- 

 inining, *1.776; defenses, 207.577: other 

 expenditures. 591.070. Of the total sum raised by 

 loans 30,443.470 was expended on railroad con- 

 tion, $7,197,706 for waterworks 1.005.557 

 ate school buildings, and 1,900,989 for other 

 public works. The average rate of interest on the 

 debt is 3 03 per cent., net local debt amounts to 

 v234,000. The total value of the taxable property 

 in the colony is 175,000,000. During the year that 

 ended on June 30, 1896, the revenue amounted to 

 6.401.142 and the expenditure to 6,678.795. For 

 the coming year the revenue was estimated at 

 0.678.795, and the expenditure at 6.507.044. 

 The revenue of Queensland for 1*90 was 3,642,000, 

 surpassing that of any previous year, and exceed- 

 ing the estimates by 172.000. The expenditure 

 amounted to 8,568,000. The total indebtedness of 

 the colony on June 30, 1896. was 31.945.000. Of 

 the Queensland revenue for 1895, customs yielded 

 1.144.01)1: export and export duties, 61,015; 

 stamp duties. 101,886; licenses. 52.*32 : dividend 

 duty, 57.096; rent for pastoral lands, 353,480; 

 other rents and sales, 218.930 ; railroads. 977.2*9 ; 

 posts and telegraphs, 217.078. The principal ex- 

 penditures were 1.256.582 for interest on the pub- 

 lic debt, 62.947 for endowments to municipalities. 

 211.605 for public instruction. 140.144 for ex- 

 penses of the colonial Treasurer. 92,873 for the 

 public lands, 581,973 for the working expenses of 

 railways, and 29*. 407 for posts and telegraphs. 

 The private lauds of the colony are valued for taxa- 

 tion purposes at $42.0*3.0*7. including pastoral 

 lands leased from the state, the lessees' interest in 

 which is assessed at 6.618.7:57. 



The revenue of South Australia is derived chiefly 

 from customs, inland revenue, railways, posts and 

 telegraphs, and territorial receipts, and two thirds 

 of it is spent for public works and interest on the 

 debt. Of the debt, 75 per cent, was expended on 

 railroads, waterworks, and telegraphs. The rail- 

 roads yield a net revenue over working expenses of 

 3.65 per cent. The real property of the colony is 

 valued at 51,056,380, and the personal property at 

 33.319.294. In the year ending June 30, 1896, the 

 revenue was 2.612.038. 



" In Western Australia 415.083 of the public reve- 

 nue of 1894 was derived from customs duties and 

 448.597 from railroads, the post office, and leases 

 of public lands. The revenue of the colony for the 

 fiscal year 1896 amounted to 1.858.694. exceeding 

 the estimate by 547.544, and showing an increase 

 of 70 per cent, over the preceding year. 



In Tasmania the customs receipts for 1894 

 amounted to 281.945. The whole debt was ob- 

 tained for the construction of public works. The 

 revenue of the colony has produced surpluses for 

 three consecutive years, reducing the deficiency of 

 former years to less than 400.000. For 1896-'97 a 

 revenue' of 786.610 is expected, and the expendi- 

 ture is estimated at 751. *02. 



Of the total revenue of Xew Zealand for 1894. di- 

 rect taxes yielded 662.483 : indirect taxes. 1.633.- 

 249 ; railroads. 1.150.787 : posts and telegraphs. 

 369.126; other ordinary sources, 176.240; terri- 

 torial revenue, 338.213. Of the total expenditure, 

 1,664.783 went for debt charges. 735.090 for rail- 

 road expenses, 430,967 for public instruction, 

 301,551 for constabulary, militia, and volunteers, 



698,502 for other ordinary expenses, and 235,889 

 for erritorial expenditures. The new system of land 

 taxation introduced in 1891 places the assessment 

 on the actual value of the land, deducting the 

 value of improvements and mortgages, which latter 

 are subject to the same land tax. to be paid by the 

 mortgagee. The rate for 1895 was Id. to the 

 pound. In addition to the ordinary land tax a 

 graduated tax i> a--e<- ( -d on large properties, rising 

 from $d. on estates above 1 5,000 and below 10,000 

 in value up to '2d. to the pound on those valued at 

 210,000 or over. The same law established an in- 

 come tax for incomes above 300, which amount is 

 exempted from all incomes. Persons having less 

 than 1,000 of yearly income above that limit pay 

 Qd. in the pound, and persons having over 1,000 of 

 taxable income pay Is. in the pound. For the year 

 ending March 31. 1895, the total ordinary revenue, 

 exclusive of 316.167 from sales of land and rents, 

 was 3,965,829. of which 1,569.784 came from 

 toms duties, 280,188 from the land tax, 89.891 

 from the income tax, and 1.152.748 from railroads. 

 The chief items of expenditure were 1.710.**9 for 

 interest and sinking fund. 727.656 for railroads, 

 403,234 for education, 298.766 for the postal and 

 telegraph service, and 177,188 for defense and 

 constabulary. The total ordinary expenditure was 

 4,266,712. and the extraordinary expenditure for 

 reproductive works and other purposes was 250,- 

 018. The surplus carried over from the preceding 

 year was 290.23*. and the cash surplus left on 

 March 31, 1895, was 180,024. The receipts from 

 land sales for the year were 121.467. The total 

 value of the land and improvements in the colony 

 was assessed in 1891 at 122.225,029, of which *5.'- 

 818,167 represented land in counties and 36.406,- 

 *02 land in the boroughs. The value of the im- 

 provements was 27.922.735 in the counties and 

 18,442,526 in boroughs. The revenue for 1895-'96 

 amounted to 4,556,000 and expenditure to 4.370.- 

 000. The ordinary revenue for 1806-'97 was esti- 

 mated at 4.484,000, and the expenditure at 4.452.- 

 000. The public debt was increased to 2,500,000 

 in 1896. and a further loan of 1.000,000 was asked 

 for. The proposed extraordinary expenditure for 

 1*97 included 250,000 for railroad extension, 

 250.000 for the acquisition of native lands, and 

 500.000 for improving roads and Crown lands. 



Commerce and Production. The following 

 table shows the foreign and intercolonial trade of 

 the several colonies in 1894 : 



The exports of wool from Xew South Wales have 

 increased in almost constant but latterly diminish- 

 ing progression from 173.373.425 pounds in 1885 to 

 354,165,446 pounds in 1894, but the total value has 

 grown smaller each successive year since 1891, 

 when 11.312.980 was received for an export of 

 340,691.3*2 pounds, whereas the value of the larger 

 export in 1894 was 9.628.123. Victoria in 1*94 

 imported wool of the value of 2.517.437 and ex- 

 ported 4.742.522 worth. Queensland's export of 

 wool was 2.923.2*1 in value. South Australia ex- 

 ported 1.275.611 worth ; Tasmania. 263.422 : 

 Western Australia. 232.201. The wool export of 

 New Zealand was 144.295.154 pounds, valued at 

 4. V 27.016. The exports of chilled and preserved 

 meats, of leather and hides, and of cheese and but- 



