AUSTRALASIA. 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



59 



colom gave threat promise fur the future. Good 

 -> had ln'i-ii made with tin- cuiist met ion 

 ..f the southern iiini the Yelgaru railways, and 

 with tlic work upDii l-'rcemantlt! and Albany 

 harbors which, when completed, would permit 

 the laixcM .-hips t" enter either of them by day 

 MI- oigbt The Premier and Treasurer in his 

 financial statement informed the Assembly that 

 there was a credit balance on June 30 of 63,- 

 (MM), while the revenue showed an increase of 10 

 P.T cent, over the previous year. The Legi-la- 

 \~-embly, Aug. 16, passed the Constitution 

 bill, which virtually establishes manhood suf- 

 frage. Muring the summer rieh auriferous 

 i|iiart/ reefs were discovered near Conlgardie, 4^ 

 t"ii- of ore from which were said to have yielded 

 !.(MK) ounces of gold. 



Tasmania. Sir Robert G.C.Hamilton was 

 appointed Governor of l.he colony in January, 

 The ministers at the beginning of 1893 

 were the following: Premier, If. Dobson; Chief 

 N'cretary, Adye Douglas; Treasurer, John Hen- 

 ry ; Attorney-General, N. E. Lewis; Minister of 

 Lands and Works, W. Hartwell; Minister with- 

 out portfolio, C. H. Grant. Ministers must have 

 a seat in one of the two legislative houses. 



New Zealand. The Governor is the Earl of 

 Glasgow, who received the appointment in June, 

 1892. The ministry at the beginning of 1893 

 was constituted as follows: Premier, Colonial 

 Treasurer, and Commissioner of Trade and Cus- 

 toms. J. Ballance; Attorney-General and Colo- 

 nial Secretary, P. A. Buckley ; Minister of Agri- 

 culture, Lands, and Immigration, J. Mackenzie; 

 Minister of Mines, Marine and Defense, and 

 Public Works, R. J. Seddon ; Minister of Edu- 

 catinii and Labor and Commissioner of Stamp 

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

 Native Affairs, A. J. Cadman ; Postmaster-Gen- 

 eral, J. G. Ward ; minister without portfolio, 

 representing the native races, J. Carroll. Mr. 

 Hal lance died April 27, and Mr. Seddon, who 

 had acted as Premier during the illness of his 

 chief on May 1, accepted the post of Premier. 

 Mr. Ward was made Colonial Treasurer, in suc- 

 cession to Mr. Ballance, the ministry remaining 

 otherwise unchanged. Sir Robert Stout was of- 

 fered the portfolio of Education, but declined, 

 a- he considered himself entitled to the premier- 

 ship. Mr. Seddon, the new Premier, was born in 

 Lancashire, England, and had been Minister of 

 Mines since 1891. The third session of the pres- 

 ent Parliament was opened on June 22 with a 

 speech by the Governor. He congratulated the 

 colony on the buoyancy of the finances and the 

 general prosperity, saying that the surplus for 

 the past financial year was unparalleled. The 

 exports were increasing, and the efflux of popu- 

 lation, which had been an alarming feature in 

 former years, had now ceased. The fact that 

 New Zealand had been unaffected by the finan- 

 cial panic was convincing evidence of the pru- 

 dence with which public and private finance 

 had been conducted. The Treasurer made his 

 budget statement July 4. He estimated that the 

 expenditures for the year would be 4,400,000, 

 and the receipts 4,539,000. The surplus of 

 130,000, added to last year's surplus, would 

 make a total of 413,000. ' He said the Govern- 

 ment intended to devote a quarter of a million 

 to the construction of public works. It was also 



proposed to exempt from taxation all improve- 

 ment- on properties of whatever six.e, while builcl- 

 ieties and mining companies would bo 

 relieved from taxation. Customs duties would 

 remain unaltered. 



In September, 1892, a bill conferring the fran- 

 chise upon women was passed by one of the 

 Houses of Parliament, but made no further 

 progress during that session. The Ballance Gov- 

 ernment was, however, fully committed to the 

 measure, and when Mr. Seddon became Premier 

 he reiterated the intention of the Government to 

 press the measure. It was introduced early in 

 the third session, and passed the House of Rep- 

 resentatives on Aug. 11, and the legislative 

 Council on Sept. 8. On Sept. 19' the bill came 

 before the Governor and received the royal as- 

 sent. The act confers the parliamentary fran- 

 chise on both European and Maori women. 



A (STRIA-HUNGARY, a dual monarchy in 

 central Europe. The provinces of the mon- 

 archy have been in political union as two states 

 under the same dynasty since 1867, having a 

 common head in the Emperor of Austria and 

 King of Hungary. The crown is hereditary in 

 the Hapsburg-Lothringen dynasty, passing by 

 right of primogeniture and lineal succession to 

 males and (on failure of males) to females. 

 The monarch must be a member of the Roman 

 Catholic Church. The reigning sovereign is 

 Franz Josef I, born in 1830. the son of Archduke 

 Franz Karl, second son of the Emperor Franz I 

 of Austria. The heir presumptive is the Arch- 

 duke Franz, born in 1863, son of the Empe- 

 ror's brother, Archduke Karl Ludwig. The for- 

 eign, financial, and military and naval affairs of 

 the two monarchies are managed in common, 

 except that each legislates independently con- 

 cerning the army. They also have in principle 

 common management of coinage, indirect taxa- 

 tion, commerce, and interstate railroad affairs. 

 The monarch exercises legislative authority only 

 with the co-operation and consent of the Parlia- 

 ments. Legislation in affairs common to both 

 Parliaments is accomplished by means of Dele- 

 gations consisting of 60 members from each 

 Parliament, of whom 20 are from each of the 

 upper houses, and 40 from each of the lower 

 houses, all appointed for one year. The Parlia- 

 mentary Delegations are summoned annually by 

 the Emperor, alternately at Vienna and Buda- 

 Pesth. They deliberate apart, and their deci- 

 sions are communicated reciprocally in writing. 

 If after three such interchanges they fail to 

 agree, the two Delegations come together and 

 settle the question by vote and without discus- 

 sion. The Emperor, with the approval of the 

 Delegations, appoints the common ministry, and 

 the Delegations have control over the three 

 executive departments, with power to impeach 

 ministers. At the beginning of the year the 

 common ministry was constituted as follows: 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs and of the Imperial 

 House, Graf G. Kalnoky do Korospatak, born in 

 Moravia, 1832, and appointed Nov. 21. 1881; 

 Minister of War for the Whole Monarchy, Field- 

 Marshal Baron Ferdinand Bauer, appointed 

 March 16, 1888; Minister of Finance, Benjamin 

 de Kallay, appointed June 4, 1882. Baron 

 Bauer died in July, and early in August Lieut. - 

 Field - Marshal Baron Rudolf Merkl was an- 



