46 



AUSTRALASIA. 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



Hamilton, who had filled the office since Janu- 

 ary, 1887. The Premier and Chief Secretary 

 was Philip Oakley Fysh ; the Treasurer, Bolton 

 Stafford Bird; the Attorney-General, Andrew 

 Inglis Clark; the Minister of Public Lands and 

 Works, Alfred Pillinger. Like the other colo- 

 nies, Tasmania has been compelled to adopt a 

 policy of retrenchment in order to put an end to 

 deficits that can no longer be covered out of 

 borrowed funds. 



Western Australia. This colony was en- 

 dowed with responsible government by an act of 

 the Imperial Parliament passed in 1890, which 

 vested the powers of government, previously ex- 

 ercised by a governor, assisted by a legislative 

 council, partly composed of elective members, 

 in the Governor and a Legislative Council and 

 Legislative Assembly. This latter consists of 30 

 members, elected for four years by possessors of 

 freehold or leasehold property, or licenses for 

 pasturing, mining, or cultivation of the value of 

 10 per annum. The Governor, who was partly 

 instrumental in securing to the colony the right 

 of sell-government, .was Sir William C. F. Rob- 

 inson, who assumed office in 1889. The respon- 

 sible ministry is composed of the following : 

 Premier and Treasurer, Sir John Forrest; Chief 

 Secretary, Mr. Shenton; Attorney-General, Mr. 

 Butt; Commissioner of Lands, Mr. Marmion; 

 Minister of Public Works, Mr. Venn. 



New Zealand. The colony was divided be- 

 fore 1875 into 9 administrative provinces, each 

 of which has a superintendent and a provincial 

 council elected by household suffrage. The pro- 

 vincial system in that year gave way to a central 

 government, in which the legislative powers are 

 vested in a General Assembly, consisting of a 

 Legislative Council and a House of Representa- 

 tives. The former is composed of 41 members, 

 who are appointed for life by the Executive. 

 The popular chamber was reduced by the act of 

 1887 to 74 members, of whom 4 are representa- 

 tives of the Maori community. They are elected 

 by universal suffrage for three years. The Govern- 

 or is the Earl of Onslow, appointed in November, 

 1888. The ministry, formed on Jan. 24, 1891, was 

 composed of the following members: Premier, 

 Colonial Treasurer, Commissioner of Trade and 

 Customs, and Commissioner of Stamps, J. Bal- 

 lance ; Attorney-General and Colonial Secretary, 

 P. A. Buckley ; Minister of Agriculture and of 

 Lands and Immigration, J. Mackenzie ; Minister 

 of Mines and Defense and Minister for Public 

 Works, R. J. Sedclon: Minister of Education 

 and Justice, W. P. Reeves ; Minister of Native 

 Affairs, A. J. Cadman ; Postmaster-General and 

 Commissioner of Telegraphs, J. G. Ward ; Speak- 

 er of the House of Representatives. Maj W. J. 

 Steward. New Zealand was plunged into finan- 

 cial straits years earlier than the Australian colo- 

 nies, and has not yet emerged from the difficul- 

 ties resulting from a period of speculation, in- 

 flation, and borrowing, though its position has 

 been steadily improving, while that of the oth- 

 ers has been growing worse. An increase of 

 taxation has been found necessary here also to 

 meet the demands of increased expenses and 

 pay the interest on the enormous Government 

 debt. An income tax like that of Great Britain 

 has lately been decreed, and in addition to that 

 a tax, likewise variable, on the capital value of 



land. These heavy taxes on rent and capital 

 have been accompanied by a remission of certain 

 taxes on stock, implements, and improvements. 

 The land tax is a graded one, levied on proper- 

 ties valued at 5,000 and over, which are esti- 

 mated to amount in the aggregate to 45,000,- 

 000. The aim of this is to shift the incidence 

 upon the unearned increment in accordance with 

 the single-tax theory, although the experiment 

 is not an extensive one. On estates valued at 

 less than 5,000 the burden is less than formerly, 

 and on properties of that value the reduction of 

 taxes on farm stock and buildings may reduce 

 the amount of taxes paid, but on unimproved 

 property the incidence is heavy. The taxes col- 

 lected on land have amounted to about 350,000, 

 while 1,500,000 have been raised annually 

 through customs duties, which have not been 

 changed. The new tax bill imposes a tax on 

 business and professional men. The income tax 

 is not graded, nor are any of the new taxes ex- 

 cept that on land. 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, a dual monarchy in 

 central Europe. The reigning sovereign is'the 

 King and Emperor Franz Josef I, born Aug. 30, 

 1830, the son of the Archduke Franz Karl, son 

 of Franz 1. He was proclaimed Emperor of 

 Austria when his uncle, Ferdinand I, resigned 

 the throne on Dec. 2, 1848, and was crowned 

 King of Hungary on the restoration of the Hun- 

 garian Constitution, June 8, 18C7. The heir 

 presumptive is the Archduke Franz, born Dec. 

 18, 1863, son of the Emperor's brother, the Arch- 

 duke Karl Ludwig. The two monarchies are 

 united in the person of the sovereign, and have 

 a common diplomacy and the same army and 

 navy, though each legislates independently on 

 military affairs. They also form a customs 

 union, and in the decennial Ausgleich financial 

 adjustment they agree on interstate railroad 

 tariffs and regulations. The ministers for the 

 whole monarchy are selected by the Emperor, 

 subject to the approval of the Delegations sent 

 from the two Parliaments to legislate annually 

 on common affairs and pass the budget. The 

 Delegations consist of 60 members each, 20 being 

 delegated from the Austrian Herrenhaus, 20 

 from the Hungarian Magnatentafel, 40 from the 

 Austrian Abgeordnetenhaus or House of Depu- 

 ties, and 40 from the Hungarian House of Rep- 

 resentatives. The Delegations come together in 

 Vienna and Buda-Pesth in alternate years. They 

 deliberate apart, communicating to each other 

 their decisions, but when these disagree they 

 form a joint assembly and vote on the matter 

 without discussion. The common ministry was 

 composed at the beginning of 1892 of the fol- 

 lowing members: Minister of Foreign Affairs 

 and of the Imperial House. Graf G. Kalnoky de 

 Korospatak, born in Moravia, Dec. 29, 1832, who 

 was appointed on the resignation of Graf An- 

 drasey, Nov. 21, 1881 ; Minister of War for the 

 Whole Monarchy, Field-Marshal Baron Ferdi- 

 nand Bauer, who' was appointed March 16, 1888; 

 Minister of Finance, Benjamin de Kallay. 



The Common Budget. Of the expenses of 

 the whole monarchy in excess of the surplus 

 receipts from customs. Hungary pays 2 per cent, 

 and 30 per cent, of the remainder, and Austria 

 the remaining 40 per cent. The budget of ex- 

 penditure for 1891 was 135,634,000 florins (1 florin 



