AUSTRALASIA. 



57 





Copeland, resigned after a physical encounter 

 with an Opposition member, but his resignation 

 was not accepted. An increase in the revenue 

 gave indication of renewed prosperity. The 

 Government had been put to large expense in 

 repairing roads and bridges in the northern part 

 of the colony, and had granted relief to the un- 

 employed arid appropriated 65,000 to aid mu- 

 nicipalities in coping with distress. Railroad 

 commissioners had reduced railroad expenditure 

 by 600,000, making the percentage of working 

 k expenses to revenue 58 instead of 70 per cent., 

 but to do this they had greatly curtailed the 

 train service and discharged 3.000 employees. 

 A bill authorizing the issue of bank notes and 

 making them legal tender was passed by both 

 houses. 



Parliament was dissolved on June 25, its term 

 having expired, and new elections were held on 

 July 17. The main issue was protection against 

 free trade. The Free Traders won, obtaining 65 

 seats, while 40 Protectionists were returned, and 

 only 20 Labor candidates, against 34 in the last 

 Parliament. The defeated ministry resigned on 

 July 30, and Mr. Reid, the leader of the parlia- 

 mentary Opposition, formed a new one on Aug. 

 2, composed as follows: Premier and Treasurer, 

 R. Reid ; Colonial Secretary, J. M. Bunker; At- 

 torney-General, Simpson ; Secretary for Public 

 Works, J. D. Young ; Secretary for Lands, J. H. 

 Carruthers; Minister of Public Instruction, J. 

 Garrard ; Minister of Justice, A. J. Gould ; Min- 

 ister of Mines, Sydney Smith ; Postmaster-Gen- 

 eral, Cook; Vice- President of the Executive 

 Council, W. H. Suttor. The Postmaster-General 

 was the leader of the Labor party. The new 

 Premier promised a sweeping reduction of cus- 

 toms duties which would be replaced by moderate 

 land and income or other direct taxes. Compul- 

 sory local government of an inexpensive charac- 

 ter would be introduced. Provision for agricul- 

 tural settlement would be made paramount to 

 the interests of pastoral lessees, arid alienation of 

 public land for pastoral purposes would cease, 

 while long leases with a covenant of constant 

 residence would be favored, as also the establish- 

 ment of leased grazing farms and the subdivision 

 of pastoral holdings into homesteads. 



Victoria. The members of the Legislative 

 Council, who number 48, are elected by the free- 

 holders and householders of the colony. One third 

 retire every two years. The Legislative A ssembly, 

 consisting in 1892 of 95 members, is elected for 

 * three years by unrestricted male suffrage. No 

 clergyman can sit in either house. The Earl of 

 Hopetoun entered upon the governorship on Nov. 

 28, 1889. The following ministers were in office at 

 the beginning of 1894 : Premier, Chief Secretary, 

 and Minister of Railways, J. B. Patterson ; At- 

 torney-General, Sir Bryan O'Loghlen ; Solicitor- 

 General and Postmaster-General, A. Wynne; 

 Commissioner of Trade and Customs and Minister 

 of Public Instruction. R. Baker ; President of the 

 Board of Land and Works and Commissioner of 

 Crown Lands and Survey, John Mclntyre ; Min- 

 ister of Defense and Public Health, Robert Reid ; 

 Minister of Mines and Water Supply, J. H. Mc- 

 Coll ; Minister of Agriculture and Commissioner 

 of Public Works, W. T. Webb; without port- 

 folios, Richardson, Abbott, and Cooke. 



The area of the colony is 87,884 square miles. 



The population was estimated at 1,167,828 on 

 March 31, 1893. At the census of April 5, 1891, 

 it was 1,140,405, comprising 598,414 males and 

 541,991 females. The Chinese, who have greatly 

 decreased, numbered 9.377, and the aborigines 

 had dwindled to 565. The population consisted 

 of 493,977 breadwinners and 629,800 dependents, 

 6,686 not being accounted for. Of the bread- 

 winners, 123,996 were primary producers on the 

 land or in mines, 167,1 27 were industrial workers, 

 98,472 commercial, 56,980 domestic, arid 29,631 

 professional. Melbourne, the capital, has 490,- 

 896 inhabitants, over two fifths of the total popu- 

 lation, and one fifth more live in other towns. 

 The number of marriages in 1892 was 7,723; of 

 births, 37,831; of deaths, 15,851; surplus of 

 births, 21,980. In 1892 the emigration by sea 

 exceeded immigration by 6,746. Education is 

 compulsory, and in the public elementary schools 

 free and entirely secular. There were 2.140 state 

 schools, with 4,977 teachers and 248.725 enrolled 

 pupils, with an average attendance of 141.638 in 

 1892. Melbourne University receives 17,250 a 

 year from the Government. 



The Government revenue for 1892 amounted 

 to 7,729,572, of which 2,388,961 came from 

 customs, 143,575 from excise, 126,651 from 

 land taxes, 247,534 from estate duties, 27,954 

 from a tax on bank notes, 175,000 from stamp 

 duties, 20,755 from business licenses, and 18,- 

 880 from tonnage dues, etc. The succession and 

 probate duties are finely graduated by the new 

 act of 1892, rising from 2 per cent, on real and 

 personal estate between 1,000 and 5.000 to 10 

 per cent, on estates exceeding 100,000 in value. 

 The total expenditure was 8,482,917, of which 

 1,726,700 went for interest and expenses of the 

 debt, 2,118.377 for railroad working expenses, 

 792,352 for other public works, 750,190 for 

 posts and telegraph service, 240,142 for ex- 

 penses of Crown lands, 876,974 for public in- 

 struction and science, 300.450 for charitable 

 institutions, 217,823 for justice, 349,088 for 

 police and jails, 118.626 for customs, etc., 

 126,380 for mines, 297,828 for defense, and 

 569,987 for other purposes. The public debt 

 amounted on June 30, 1893, to 47,144,562. of 

 which 36,649,606 was raised to build railroads, 

 7.354,256 for water works, 1,105,557 for school 

 buildings, and 1,601,868 for other public works. 

 The average rate of interest is 4 per cent. Vic- 

 toria was the first of the Australian colonies to 

 institute a public system of water conservation 

 and distribution on a large scale. The works 

 are more extensive than the present stage of set- 

 tlement requires; but they have already brought 

 a large area of waterless land under cultivation, 

 and rendered it as fertile as the rich tracts that 

 won for this colony the name of Australia Felix, 

 which are now for the most part under the plough. 

 The Government has for some years offered bo- 

 nuses to encourage the export trade in dairy 

 produce, fruit, etc. The butter trade having 

 become well established, attention was turned 

 to building up a market for Victorian cheese, 

 and 6 a ton was offered for all that was ex- 

 ported in the season of 1894 of the kind known 

 as cheddar cheese. The banking crisis of 1893, 

 and consequent commercial depression, left the 

 small holders, many of whom carry mortgages 

 on their freeholds paying 8 and 10 per cent, in- 



