AUSTRALASIA AND POLYNESIA. 



several Australasian colonies, taken in 1870 

 and 1871, the aggregate number of Protestants 

 was I,:;s2,584, or 74 '4 per cent, of the total 

 piij.iil.-iiiiin ; of Roman Catholics, 443,926, or 

 '_':!'. [T cent.; of Jews, 8,248; of other re- 

 li-i'.iH, 12,141 ; of pagans, 30,905; not declared, 

 43,931. Among those registered in the last 

 group there were 24,000 who "objected to 

 st.it their religion from conscientious scru- 

 ples." The remainder of 20,000 is made up of 

 us whose declarations could not be veri- 

 lii-il. jiiul is partly explained by discrepancies 

 which occur in every census. The pagans were 

 chictly represented by Chinese settlers in the 

 gold districts. Among these Chinese there 

 were no more than about thirty women, and 

 the number of converts to Christianity was only 

 a few dozens. The Jews nowhere exceed one 

 and a half per cent, of the total population. 

 The proportion of Roman Catholics to Protes- 

 tants did not materially differ in the several 

 colonies in 1871, as will be seen from the fol- 

 lowing table of percentages : 



Assuming that the proportion of Protestants 

 and Roman Catholics was in 1878 about the 

 same as in 1871, the aggregate number of Prot- 

 estants in 1878 was about 1,972,000, that of 

 Roman Catholics, 607,000. Of the 120,000 in- 

 habitants of the other English possessions, 

 about 100,000 may be set down as Protestants, 

 and 10,000 as Roman Catholic, increasing the 

 aggregate Protestant population of the British 

 possessions to 2,072,000, and the Roman Cath- 

 olic to 617,000. The following table presents 

 an estimate of the total (the Protestant and the 

 Roman Catholic) population of Australia and 

 Polynesia in 1879: 



POPULATION IK 1879. 



The Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales, 

 James Watson, made his financial statement 

 in the Legislative Assembly on February 12th. 

 According to his report, the present Govern- 

 ment had adopted, with only a few alterations, 

 the estimates prepared by the previous admin- 

 istration. The revenue of 1878 amounted to 

 5,000,000, which was 76,000 more than was 

 anticipated. The revenue of the present year 



would probably be 5,100,000, and the .ex- 

 penditure 4,970,000, leaving a surplus of 

 130,000. The accumulated surpluses of pre- 

 vious years now amounted to 2,600,000, of 

 which it woj proposed to appropriate one half 

 for permanent public works and other impor- 

 tant services, leaving the other half for future 

 appropriations. The estimates would contain 

 only services of a reproductive character, such 

 as railways and the water-supply for the me- 

 tropolis. The railway scheme embraced aline 

 from the present terminus at Redfern, through 

 Sydney, to the waters of Port Jackson, a sys- 

 tem of suburban lines, and the projected ex- 

 tension of lines into the interior to a distance 

 of 400 miles. Mr. Watson said that in 1877 

 the railways paid 4| per cent, on their capital. 

 The financial prospects of the colony were, 

 he added, so bright that it was unnecessary to 

 change the fiscal system. They had had a 

 splendid season, and an abundant harvest in 

 every district of the colony. A change in the 

 governorship took place during the year. Sir 

 George Robinson, whose time had expired, 

 was succeeded by Lord Augustus Loftus, for- 

 merly British Ambassador to St. Petersburg. 

 Lord Loftus arrived at Sydney on August 4th. 

 The budget, after having been passed by the 

 Assembly, was disapproved by the Legislative 

 Council in the latter part of August. It was 

 finally decided to effect a partial remission of 

 the customs duties, and cover the deficit by an 

 increase in the stamp duties to the extent of 

 70,000. The principal measure of the ses- 

 sion, the Government Law Bill, was lost in the 

 Upper House, not by its rejection, but by its 

 withdrawal. The second clause of the bill 

 proposed to reduce from twenty shillings to 

 ten shillings an acre the improvements which 

 free selectors agreed to make on the land they 

 had been allowed to take up. The Council, 

 while willing to make the reduction for the fu- 

 ture, objected to an alteration of the bargains 

 already made with the state. The Government 

 declined to go on with the bill unless it was 

 made retrospective. As the Council was inex- 

 orable, and refused, in the absence of evidence 

 or petitions, to release free selectors from the 

 contracts they had made, the measure was 

 dropped. The majority in the Assembly then 

 pronounced itself strongly in favor of an elec- 

 tive Council in place of the present system, by 

 which the Council is appointed for life. No- 

 thing was done to secure that object, how- 

 ever, and Parliament was prorogued in the be- 

 ginning of August. 



The International Exhibition at Sydney was 

 opened on September 17th by Lord Loftus, the 

 Governor of New South Wales, in the pres- 

 ence of the Governors of Victoria, South Aus- 

 tralia, and Tasmania, and the foreign Com- 

 missioners. There was a large display of ag- 

 ricultural implements, machinery in motion, 

 pottery and glassware, and of fine art. There 

 were 800 British industrial exhibitions, and 

 513 fine-art entries, including photographs. 



