AUSTRALASIA. 



colonies showed a like depreciation. In the sum- 

 mer Sir George Dibbs, the Premier of New South 

 Wales, went to London to speak in behalf of all 

 the colonies, but was unable to overcome the preju- 

 dices of British investors. A loan that the Queens- 

 land Government sought to place in the London 

 market in the spring of 1891 proved an utter fail- 

 ure. The Bank of England having promised to 

 subscribe 500,000 of the 1,870,000 that it was 

 desired to raise, of which 1,170,000 were needed 

 to take up debentures that fell due on July 1, 

 1891, other backers were found, and through the 

 efforts of the brokers of the Bank of England 

 the entire loan was placed, the bank taking the 

 last 170,000 needed to cover the loan (amount- 

 ing nominally to 2,500,000). in addition to the 

 500,000 with which it headed the subscription. 

 As the bank's interest had been disposed of be- 

 fore the list of holders reached Australia, Sir 

 Thomas Mcllwraith, the colonial Treasurer, in 

 his speeches in the Legislature accused the Bank 

 of England of a breach of faith, and boasted that 

 the colony had succeeded in spite of the treacher- 

 ous desertion of that great financial institution. 

 Sir S. W. Griffith, instead of giving the retrac- 

 tion and apology that was demanded, defended 

 Sir Thomas Mcllwraith's accusation against the 

 good faith of the managers of the Bank of Eng- 

 land, while admitting errors regarding some of 

 the facts. On receiving his reply, William Lid- 

 derdale, governor of the bank, wrote to Sir James 

 Garrick, Agent-General for Queensland, break- 

 ing off all financial relations with Queensland. 



Commerce. The foreign and intercolonial 

 trade of the several colonies for 1890 is shown in 

 the following table : 



* For 1891. 



The domestic exports of New South Wales 

 were 17,232,725 in value. The export of wool 

 was 243,738,266 pounds, valued at 9,232,672. 

 On Jan. 1, 1891. there were in the colony 55,- 

 986,431 sheep, 1,909,009 cattle, and 444,163 

 horses. The average annual product of gold 

 for the five years ending with 1890 was 388,- 

 156. The silver, silver ore, and galena raised in 

 1890 was valued at 2.762,554 ; the copper, 84,- 

 107; the tin, 179,052: the coal, 1,279,089. 

 The wheat crop in 1891 was 3,649,216 bushels ; 

 maize, 5,713,205 bushels. The imports by sea 

 amounted to 17.907,663, of which 8,628,007 

 came from Great Britain. 6,274,380 from Aus- 

 tralasian colonies, 663,325 from other British 

 possessions, 859,102 from the United States, and 

 1,482,849 from other foreign countries. The 

 sea-borne exports were 14,019.561 in total value, 

 and of these 6,623,431 went to the United 

 Kingdom, 3,258,364 to Australian colonies, 

 674,201 to other British colonies, 1,300,375 

 to the United States, and 2,163,190 to other 

 countries. The import duties collected in 1890 



amounted to 1,888,321, which was 8 - 35 percent, 

 of the total value of imports. 



In Victoria the customs revenue for 1890 was 

 2,704,380, which was about 12 per cent, of the 

 total value of the imports. The external trade 

 of Victoria in 1890 was divided as follows : Im- 

 ports from Great Britain, 9,607,193 ; from Aus- 

 tralasian colonies, 8,525.759 ; from India, 404,- 

 288 ; from Ceylon, 100.838 ; from Canada, 55.- 

 740 ; from other British possessions, 760,05^ .- 

 from the United States, 1,069,297; from other 

 countries, 2,430,847. Exports to Great Britain, 

 6,850,014; to Australian colonies, 4,064,106; 

 to India, 519,043 ; to other British possessions, 

 298,661 ; to Belgium, 654,748 ; to France, 

 452,807; to Germany, 240,088; to the United 

 States, 155.872; to' other countries, 30,883 

 The principal imports were wool of the value of 

 3,190,298, live animals of the value of 1,997,- 

 051, timber of the value of 1,288,982, sugar, 

 iron and steel, cottons, woolens, coal, and tea. 

 The principal exports were wool for 5,933,699, 

 gold for 2,739,503, breadstuffs, live stock, tea 

 re-exported, leather and leather goods, apparel, 

 and tallow. The quantity of wool exported was 

 132,149.027 pounds, of which less than half was 

 grown in the colony. There were 3,305 factories 

 in the colony in 1890. The value of the gold 

 raised in 1890 was about 2,354,244. There were 

 12,736,143 sheep, 1.780,978 cattle, and 436,459 

 horses in Victoria when the census was taken in 

 1890. The wheat crop of 1891 was 13,003,000 

 bushels; oats, 4,894,000 bushels; barley, 1,575,- 

 000 bushels. 



The chief exports of Queensland in 1890 were : 

 Wool, of the value of 2,524.742 ; gold, 2,265.- 

 408; sugar, 699,532; tin, 199,084; preserved 

 meat, 122,566; and hides and skins, 116.714. 

 The chief imports are textiles, metal goods, 

 liquors, provisions, and cereals. The customs 

 revenue in 1890 was 1,243,046, nearly 25 per 

 cent, of the total value of the imports. 



The principal exports of South Australia in 

 1890 were: Wool, of the value of 1,871,277; 

 wheat, 1,382,418; wheat flour, 613,823; and 

 copper ore, 71,575. 



Western Australia in 1890 exported wool of 

 the value of 360,934; pearl shells of the value 

 of 88,555: gold worth 86,664; timber worth 

 82.052; sandalwood worth 51,355; and pearls 

 worth 40.000. 



The principal exports of Tasmania were : Wool 

 for 419,173: tin, 296,761; fruit, both fresh 

 and preserved, 136,502 ; timber and bark, 

 125,439: gold, 87,085; and hops, 31,348. 

 About half the imports are articles of food and 

 drink. The duties average about 17 per cent, of 

 the import value. 



The export of wool from New Zealand in 1890 

 was 102,817,077 pounds, valued at 4,150,599. 

 Frozen meat was exported to the amount of 

 1,087,617; Kauri gum for 378,563; grain and 

 flour, 1,074,354; hides, skins, and leather, 

 226,662; gold, 751,360; butter and cheese, 

 207,687; preserved meat, 136,182; timber, 

 162,471 ; and tallow, 189,694. Of the total 

 imports in 1890 Great Britain furnished 4,221,- 

 270; Australia. 1,087,593; the United States, 

 355,395 ; and the Pacific Islands. India, China, 

 and Mauritius most of the remainder. Of the 

 exports, 7,401,350 went to Great Britain, 1,- 



