44 



AUSTRALIA AND POLYNESIA. 



tinuance of protection against the superior bar- 

 ley of New Zealand. In obedience to a gen- 

 eral demand Parliament repealed the stock-tax, 

 which enhanced the price of meat in Melbourne, 

 hampered the meat-preserving industry, and 

 helped to divert the Riverina trade from Mel- 

 bourne to Sydney. The trade of the Riverina 

 country, which formerly went to the nearer 

 Melbourne, now finds its outlet by the railroads 

 of New South Wales and the steamers and rail- 

 roads of South Australia. The extension of 

 the New South Wales Railroad to Hay threat- 

 ens to draw away this valuable trade from Mel- 

 bourne. The repeal of the duty on live-stock, 

 imposed at the height of the protectionist fever 

 under the Berry Government, by which 9d. is 

 collected on every sheep brought across the 

 Murray from New South Wales, is not suffi- 

 cient to restore the Riverina traffic to Mel- 

 bourne. A lively war of rates was opened be- 

 tween the two Governments. In this contest 

 Victoria is at a disadvantage, notwithstanding 

 the shorter length of its trunk-line, as it was 

 built when wages were at their highest point. 

 The considerable revenue derived from the im- 

 ported goods supplied to the interior of New 

 South Wales furnishes a fiscal motive for sacri- 

 ficing the railroad profits in this freight com- 

 petition. This danger to the commerce and 

 revenues of Victoria is the principal reason for 

 the progressive railroad policy which has been 

 inaugurated. No less than fifty-six new lines 

 have been projected, at a total estimated cost 

 ,of 2,500,000. One feature of the scheme is 

 to tap the Murray at three points, so as to re- 

 gain the Riverina traffic. A loan of 4,000,000 

 is to be raised in England. A new land policy 

 was also inaugurated. Under the old homestead 

 law, the land was all falling into the hands of 

 speculative capitalists. To check this, a land- 

 tax was imposed, which discouraged all pur- 

 chasers. 



A harbor-trust act authorizes a loan for the 

 project of making Melbourne accessible to large 



The diamond-drill, which passes through the 

 hard basalt with rapidity to great depths, and 

 does away with the expense of sinking shafts 

 to explore for gold, has come into common use 

 in Victoria, and given a great impetus to the 

 mining industry. 



The census of Victoria, taken April 3, 1881, 

 gives the population as 452,083 males, and 

 410,263 females; total, 862.346. This shows 

 an increase in ten years of 12'7 per cent in the 

 male, 24-1 per cent in the female, and 17'9 per 

 cent in the total population. 



NEW SOUTH WALES. The public affairs of 

 New South Wales are held in the firm grasp of 

 Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier, and Sir John 

 Robertson, who are fortified in their position 

 by the enormous patronage which they dis- 

 pense, owing to the working of the Robertson 

 land laws. These laws discourage immigra- 

 tion and agriculture, although they do not in- 

 terfere with the development of sheep-culture. 



Through their operation the public domain is 

 being rapidly alienated, and falls exclusively 

 into the hands of land monopolists, who have 

 purchased all the lands opened by the new rail- 

 ways in enormous tracts. These purchasers are 

 the squatters, who have already stocked the 

 land with sheep, and grown wealthy from the 

 produce. The dryness of the season of 1882 

 only partly checked the pastoral prosperity. 

 An act to promote artificial irrigation, called 

 the water conservancy act, was suggested by 

 the late droughts. Under it many districts have 

 raised money to carry out extensive schemes 

 of water storage. Wages in New South Wales 

 were never so high, or speculation so rampant. 



The population of New South Wales increased 

 in ten years 50 per cent, being over 750,000 by 

 the census of 1881. Two thirds of the increase 

 was due to the natural excess of births over 

 deaths. The immigration is mostly from the 

 neighboring colonies. The wool export in- 

 creased from 4,750,000 in 1871 to over 7,- 

 000,000 in 1881. Including hides, tallow, pre- 

 served meat, and live-stock, the total export 

 of pastoral produce amounted to 8,750,000. 

 The number of sheep in the colony increased 

 from 16,000,000 to 33,000,000. The number 

 of cattle barely increased, large numbers hav- 

 ing been sent away to Queensland ; the local 

 price of beef has risen. The cereal product has 

 increased but little ; droughts and rust discour- 

 age agricultural enterprise, and the best wheat- 

 lands are remote from the coast. Although 

 gold production shows no increase, the devel- 

 opment of tin and coal mining has increased 

 the value of the mineral product over one third 

 in ten years. The coin and bullion in the col- 

 ony has increased from 10,500,000 to 36,- 

 500,000, or from 16 to 35 per capita ; some 

 proportion of this remarkable accumulation rep- 

 resents English capital, which has been largely 

 sent over for investment in the latter half of 

 the decade. The amount of the discounts and 

 mortgages rose from 9,500,000 to 27,000,000. 



QUEENSLAND. Sugar-growing is rapidly as- 

 suming the proportions of a leading industry 

 in this colony, though it will take many years 

 at the present rate of increase for the product 

 to supply the markets of Australia. An im- 

 portant movement for the separation of North- 

 ern Queensland from the rest of the colony has 

 been set on foot. The Brisbane Government 

 and people desire to become dissociated from 

 the sugar-planters, and relieved of responsibil- 

 ity for the abuses of coolie labor. The whole 

 northern, tropical coast of Australia may be 

 united into a single colony, governed ou the 

 basis of "black" labor, and with the idea that 

 this form of slavery is indispensable for the 

 development of the region. The Government 

 geologist reports the discovery of numerous 

 and thick seams of coal near Palmersville. 



Western Australia, which has made but slow 

 progress hitherto, is developing fast under the 

 tide of immigration which has set toward the 

 Kiinberley and other rich tracts of pastoral 



