48 



AUSTRALASIA. 



Western Australia, The Governor is assisted 

 by a Legislative Council, composed of eight 

 nominated and sixteen elected members. The 

 present Governor is Sir Frederick Napier 

 Broome, appointed in December, 1882. 



The area of the colony is estimated at 975,- 

 920 square miles. The population at the end 

 of 1885 was estimated at 35,186. The net 

 immigration during the year was 2,223 ; the 

 number of births, 1,200 ; the number of deaths, 

 600. The value of imports in 1885 was 650,- 

 391 ; .of exports, 446,692. There were 2,288 

 miles of telegraph and 76 of completed rail- 

 road, while 48 miles of railroad were build- 

 ing. 



Tasmania. The Legislative Council has 18 

 members, and the House of Assembly 36, all 

 elected under property qualifications of differ- 

 ent degrees for each house. 



The Governor is Sir Eobert G. C. Hamil- 

 ton, appointed in January, 1887. The Cabinet 

 resigned in March, 1887, and a new one was 

 formed, composed of the following ministers : 

 Premier and Chief Secretary, P. O. Fysh, 

 who succeeded James "W. Agnew; Treasurer, 

 Mr. Bird, who succeeded William II. Burgess; 

 Attorney - General, Mr. Clarke, successor to 

 John S. Dodds ; Minister of Lands, Mines, 

 and Works, Mr. Braddon, successor to Nicholas 

 J. Brown. 



The area of the colony is estimated at 26,215 

 square miles. The population on Dec. 31, 1885, 

 was estimated at 133,791 souls. The net im- 

 migration for the year was 649. 



The imports in 1885 amounted to 1,757,- 

 486; the exports to 1,313,693. The chief 

 articles of export are wool, gold, tin, timber, 

 and preserved fruits. The revenue of the Gov- 

 ernment in 1885 amounted to 600,550, and 

 the expenditure to 603,657. 



New Zealand. The Legislative Council is 

 composed of 54 members, nominated for life 

 by the Crown; the House of Representatives, 

 of 95 members, elected by restricted suffrage 

 for three years. 



The Governor is Lient.-Gen. Sir William 

 Francis Jervois, appointed in November, 1882, 

 in March, 1887. 



The ministry is composed of the following 

 members: Sir Julius Vogel, Colonial Treasurer, 

 Postmaster - General, Commissioner of Tele- 

 graphs, and Commissioner of Stamp Duties 

 and Customs; Sir Robert Stout, Premier, At- 

 torney-General, and Minister of Education ; 

 Edward Richardson, Minister of Public Works ; 

 John Ballance, Native Minister, Minister of 

 Defense, and Minister of Lands and Immigra- 

 tion ; Joseph Augustus Tole, Minister of Jus- 

 tice ; Patrick Alphonsus Buckley, Colonial 

 Secretary ; William J. M. Larnach, Minister 

 of Mines and Minister of Marino; W. H.Rey- 

 nolds, without office. 



The area of New Zealand is estimated at 

 104,027 square miles. The North Island con- 

 tains 44,73H, the Middle Island 55,224, and 

 Stewart's Island 1,300 square miles. The pop- 



ulation in 1886, according to a census taken 

 on March 28 was, exclusive of aborigines, 578,- 

 482, of which number 312,221 were males, and 

 266,261 females. The number of births was 

 19,693 in 1885; of deaths, 6,081 ; of marriages, 

 3,813. The number of immigrants was 16,- 

 199; of emigrants, 11,695. The Maori popu- 

 lation in March, 1886, was 41,432, of which 

 numher 22,765 were males and 18,667 females. 

 The number of Maoris in 1881 was 44,097. 



The chief industries of the colony are agri- 

 culture, stock-raising, and gold-mining. Two 

 thirds of the surface of the islands is fitted for 

 agriculture or grazing. The total area of the 

 colony is 66,710,320 acres, of which 18,305,594 

 had passed into the hands of private owners 

 up to the close of 1885. The cultivated acre- 

 age in 1886 was 6,668,920, but of this 5,465,- 

 157 acres were under grass-crops. The pro- 

 duction of wheat in 1886 was 4,242,285 bush- 

 els. The average yield of wheat per acre is 

 24-40 bushels ; of oats, 26-11 ; of barley, 25-92. 

 The number of sheep in the colony in March, 

 1886, was 16,580,388. The product of the gold- 

 mines in 1885 was 222,732 ounces, valued at 

 890,056. 



The total value of the imports in 1885 was 

 7,479,921; of the exports, 6,819,939. The 

 export of wool was 86,507.431 pounds, valued 

 at 3,205,275. Grain and flour were exported 

 to the value of 627,865, and frozen meat of 

 the value of 373,857. The value of the gold 

 exported was 890,056. 



On March 31, 1885, there were 1,654 miles 

 of railroads in the colony. The capital invest- 

 ment up to March 31, 1886, amounted to 13,- 

 726,166. The net receipts for the year were 

 357,078, representing a profit of not quite 2$- 

 per cent. The post-office in 1885 forwarded 

 37,149,788 letters and 14,233,878 newspapers. 

 There were, on Jan. 1, 1886, 4,463 miles of 

 telegraph lines and 10,931 miles of wire. 



The revenue for the year ended March 31, 

 1886, was 3,746,945, of which 181,833 were 

 derived from land sales, leases, and mining 

 licenses. The public debt in March, 1886, 

 amounted to 34,965,222, in part offset by a 

 sinking fund amounting to 3,276,873. The 

 revenue for 1886--'87 was 3,882,428, and the 

 expenditure 4,012,598. To secure an equi- 

 librium the Government proposed to increase 

 the property tax to Id. in the pound for all 

 properties exceeding 2,500 in value. The 

 ministry was defeated on a resolution declar- 

 ing the budget unsatisfactory, and Parliament 

 was dissolved in June, 1887, and new elections 

 were appointed for August. Before the pro- 

 rogation a bill was passed providing for the 

 self- adjustment of parliamentary representa- 

 tion on the basis of population. 



British New Guinea. Great excitement was 

 caused in Queensland by the massacre of Capt. 

 Craig and the " Emily," while pearl-fishing off 

 Jennnet Island, New Guinea, in October, 1886. 

 In the winter the British naval vessel " Dia- 

 mond '' was sent to punish the natives. They 



