64 



AUSTRALASIA. 



is composed as follows: Premier and Treas- 

 urer, James Service; Chief Secretary, Graham 

 Berry ; Attorney-General, George Briscoe Ker- 

 ford ; Minister of Mines and Agriculture, Jonas 

 Felix Levien ; Solicitor-General and Commis- 

 sioner of Public Works and Water Supply, Al- 

 fred Deakin; Minister of Lands, Albert Lee 

 Tucker; Commissioner of Trade and Customs, 

 George David Langridge ; Minister of Railways 

 and of Public Instruction, Duncan Gillies ; Min- 

 ister of Defense, Frederick Thomas Sargood ; 

 Postmaster-General, James Campbell ; without 

 a portfolio, Nathaniel Thornley. The Governor 

 is Sir Henry Brougham Loch, appointed April 

 10, 1884. The Agent General in London is 

 Robert Murray Smith. 



The total population on April 3, 1881, was 

 862,346, comprising 439,754 males and 409,- 

 684 females. The number included 12,128 

 Chinese and 780 aborigines. The total esti- 

 mated population on June 30, 1884, was 945,- 

 703. The number of marriages in 1883 was 

 6,771 ; births, 27,541 ; deaths, 13,006. At the 

 date of the census of 1881, 499,199 of the in- 

 habitants were born in Victoria, 39,861 in 

 other Australian colonies, 147,453 in England 

 and Wales, 86,733 in Ireland, and 48,153 in 

 Scotland. About one half the population live 

 in towns, 434,467 in 1881. Melbourne, the 

 capital, in 1883 had 304,409 inhabitants. 



The total value of imports in 1883 was 17,- 

 743,846, of exports 16,398,863. The export 

 of wool was 109,616,710 Ibs., valued at 6,- 

 054,613. The export of wheat was valued at 

 674,129. The gold product in 1883 was 810,- 

 047 ounces, valued at 3,240,188. It has re- 

 mained nearly stationary for the past four or 

 five years. The cultivated area in 1884 was 

 2,215,923 acres. The wheat product was 15,- 

 570,245 bushels, averaging 14 to the acre. The 

 number of sheep in 1884 was 10,739,021 ; of 

 cattle, 1,297,546; of horses, 286,779; of pigs, 

 233,525. The capital value of manufactories 

 in 1883 was 8,519,486; hands employed, 45,- 

 698. The number of miners at work in the 

 gold fields was 31,621, of whom 6,387 were 

 Chinese. The value of rateable property in 

 1883 was 95,610,959, the annual value 7,- 

 692,706. 



There were 1,562 miles of railroad completed 

 at the end of 1883, and 130 miles in progress. 

 The total cost was about 22,000,000, or 14,- 

 100 per mile. The borrowed capital was 17,- 

 621,400, on which the interest was 932,640; 

 the net earnings in 1883 were 816,000, 38-32 

 per cent, of the gross receipts. There were in 

 the beginning of 1884 3,660 miles of telegraph 

 lines and 7,271 miles of wire. 



The revenue for the year ending June 30, 

 1884, amounted to 5,934,240; the expendi- 

 ture to 5,786,913. Of the revenue 1,769,107 

 were derived from customs, 446,347 from 

 internal taxes, 719,312 from land, 2,227,577 

 from public works, and 216,679 from posts 

 and telegraphs. Therevenue for 1884-'85 was 

 estimated at 5,963,720; the expenditure at 



6,257,881. The amount of the public debt, 

 incurred in the construction of public works, 

 was 28,325,112 on June 30, 1884. 



A reciprocity treaty with Tasmania was 

 ratified in June, whereby all exclusive prod- 

 ucts of either colony, and all manufactures 

 that contain materials of foreign manufact- 

 ure, not to exceed 5 per cent of the value of 

 the finished product, are entered into the other 

 duty-free. The matters dealt with by Parlia- 

 ment in the session that began June 17, 1885, 

 are the amendment of the land titles act and 

 of the lunacy law ; a new licensing bill, per- 

 mitting local option ; a measure for the sani- 

 tary regulation of workshops and factories; 

 re-apportionment of the electoral districts ; im- 

 provements in the navigation laws and in the 

 administration of justice ; and the important 

 subject of the irrigation of arid districts. An 

 agitation against secular education and "god- 

 less schools " was raised among the Roman 

 Catholic and other denominations, but the 

 Ministry ignored the subject for fear of com- 

 promising their popularity, either with the 

 majority, who are in favor of the existing pub- 

 lic school system, or with the large and excited 

 minority, who desire to sweep it away. 



South Australia. The ministers at the head 

 of the six departments are as follow : Chief 

 Secretary, J. Colton ; Attorney-General, C. 0. 

 Kingston ; Treasurer, W. B. Rounsevell ; Com- 

 missioner of Crown Lands, J. Coles; Com- 

 missioner of Public Works, T. Playford ; 

 Minister of Education, R. C. Baker. The 

 Governor is Sir William C. F. Robinson, ap- 

 pointed in November, 1882. The Agent Gen- 

 eral in Great Britain is Sir Arthur Blyth. 



The population in 1881 was 279,865 ; 149,530 

 males and 130,335 females. The number of 

 aborigines was 6,346, the number of Chinese 

 2,734. The population at the end of 1883 

 was estimated at 304,515. The number of 

 marriages in 1883 was 2,539, of births 11,173, 

 of deaths 4,435, the net immigration 4,268. 

 The population of Adelaide, the capital, exclu- 

 sive of suburbs, was 38,479 in 1881. 



The total value of imports in 1883 was 

 0,310,055, of exports 4,883, 461. The wool 

 export to Great Britain of 1883 was 2,007,- 

 301 in Value. The shipments of wheat to 

 Great Britain were of the value of 1,025,077 

 in 1880, but fell off to 107,619 in 1883. 

 Copper was exported in 1883 to the amount 

 of 219,315. The product of wheat in 1879- 

 '80 was 14,260,964 bushels, and in 1883-'84 

 14,649,230 bushels. Of the total 2,754,560 

 acres cultivated in 1883-'84 1,846,151 were 

 under wheat. Of the total area of the colony 

 903,690 square miles, or 578,361,600 acres, 

 10,601,000 acres were alienated at the end of 

 1883. The pastoral leases numbered 1,742 in 

 1882 and covered 223,092 square miles. The 

 wine product of 1883 was 430,520 gallons. 

 The live stock in 1884 numbered 6,677,067 

 sheep, 319,620 cattle, and 164,360 horses. 

 Copper-ore was produced in 1883 of the value 



