56 



AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. 



nists. The Maori population of New Zealand 

 was 44,097. The population of Victoria, 

 Queensland, and New Zealand was divided in 

 respect of religion as follows : 



The movement of population in 1881 was as 

 follows in the different colonies : 



The following table shows the immigration 

 movement in 1881 : 



The following cities contained, with their 

 suburbs, more than 20,000 inhabitants in 1881 : 



CITIES. Population. 



Melbourne, Victoria 282,947 



Sidney, New South Wales 224,211 



Dnnedin, New Zealand 42,794 



Adelaide. South Australia 88,479 



Ballarat, Victoria 87.260 



Brisbane. Queensland 81,268 



Auckland, New Zealand 80,952 



Christchurch. New Zealand 80,715 



Sandhurst, Victoria 28,153 



Hbart Town, Tasmania 21,118 



Wellington, New Zealand 



Commerce. The values of the total imports 

 and exports in 1881, and of the portion of 

 Great Britain in the trade, were as follow : 



Total, 1881 . . . '52,709,000 25,661,000 48,369,000 24,343,000 

 Total, 1SSO .... '45.060,000 20,177,OOOJ48,866,OOOi27,016.000 



The exports of the precious metals and of 

 wool, in 1881, were of the following amounts: 



Railroads and Telegraphs. The mileage of rail- 

 ways completed and under construction in 

 1881, in the several colonies, was as follows: 



The telegraph mileage was as follows : 



Confederation. The Convention of Australa- 

 sian Governments, which met at Sydney in 

 November, 1883, to consider the question of 

 federative action in matters of common con- 

 cern, adopted resolutions in favor (1) of the 

 confederation of the colonies in an Australa- 

 sian Dominion ; (2) of the annexation of Pa- 

 pua and other islands of the Western Pa- 

 cific; and (3) of combined protective legis- 

 lation against criminal aliens. The scheme of 

 federation approved by the delegates, with- 

 out a dissenting voice, is to create a Federal 

 Council, which shall meet at Hobart, Tasmania, 

 once every two years to take cognizance of 

 questions concerning (1) the relations of Aus- 

 tralia with the islands of Oceania, (2) the land- 

 ing of criminals, (3) fisheries in Australian 

 waters outside of the territorial limits of the 

 colonies; with the prospect of extending its 

 jurisdiction by later agreement to matters con- 

 nected with quarantine, extradition, justice, 

 currency, etc. 



The subject was suffered to rest after the 

 separation of the convention in the middle of 

 December until the meeting of the Victorian 

 Legislature in June. The Premier, who had 

 been the most active promoter of the federa- 

 tive movement, obtained the almost unanimous 

 ratification of the resolutions by both houses. 

 The legislatures of Tasmania and Queensland, 

 which had been waiting for the action of the 



