58 



AUSTRALASIA. 



terest, in no condition to make improvements. 

 In February, 1894, the Commissioner of Savings 

 Banks was authorized to lend, at 5 per cent, in- 

 terest, sums not to exceed 1,000 to any indi- 

 vidual, or out' halt' tlu> value of the security, to 

 enable agriculturists to carry out improvements. 

 Interest on deposits in savings hanks was re- 

 duced in March from 3^ to 3 per cent. 



The state has conveyed to private owners 

 22,534,600 acres, and has yet to be sold 12,200,- 

 ()()() acres of agricultural and 12,400,000 of pas- 

 toral lands, while 5,400,000 acres are set aside 

 for statt- forests, timber, and water reserves, 

 1,678,000 acres are utilized for roads, and 1,049,- 

 000 acres are auriferous land. The area tilled 

 in 1893 was 2,970,000 acres, of which 1,343,000 

 acres produced 14,815,000 bushels of wheat. 

 There were 12,965,306 sheep, 1,824,704 cattle, 

 439,596 horses, and 290,;>39 hogs in the colony 

 in 1S93. The yield of gold in 1892 was 654,456 

 ounces, valued at 2,617,824. 



The value of imports in 1892 was 17,174,545, 

 compared with 21,711,608 in 1891, 22,954,015 

 in 1890, and 24,402,760 in 1889. The export 

 trade amounted to 14,006,743, compared with 

 16,006,743 in 1891, 13,266,222 in 1890, and 

 12,734,734 in 1889. Imports pay an average 

 duty of 13 per cent., the duty on competing 

 manufactures being very heavy. The imports 

 of wool were valued at 3,134,917, and exports 

 at 6,619,141 ; imports of live stock at 991,113, 

 and exports at 443,717; imports of coal at 

 675,047, of woolens at 655,411, of cotton 

 goods at 742,095 ; exports of gold at 1,848,- 

 !Ms. including specie; exports of breadstuffs at 

 1.286,476. Of 165,590,377 pounds of wool ex- 

 ported, only half was grown in the colony. The 

 imports from the United States were returned 

 as 588,057 in value; exports to the United 

 States, 241.389. 



The number of registered sailing vessels in 

 1893 was 274, of 44,717 tons ; of steamers, 150, 

 of 75,096 tons. There were entered in 1892 the 

 total of 2,255 vessels, tonnage 2,224,652, and 

 cleared 2,266, tonnage 2,231,602. The railroad 

 system, the property of the Government, com- 

 prised 2,903 miles. The net receipts for 1892 

 were 956,983, equal to 2-75 per cent, on the 

 borrowed capital, which pays over 4 per cent, 

 interest. The telegraphs have a total length of 

 7,100 miles, with 14,000 miles of wire. The 

 number of dispatches in 1892 was 2,726,000. 

 The post office carried 62,526,448 letters, 7,491,- 

 316 packets, and 22,729,005 newspapers in 1890. 



The principal measure submitted to Parliament, 

 which was opened May 30, was -Mr. Carter's bill, 

 passed July 18, to borrow money on 4-per-cent. 

 debentures running twenty or thirty years, to 

 be loaned at 5 per cent, to the limit of 50 per 

 cent, of the value on freeholds or on improve- 

 ments made by selectors who have not completed 

 their titles. The budget proposals included a 

 reduction of the salaries of ministers, members 

 of Parliament, and civil servants. The tariff 

 changes recommended by the parliamentary 

 board were designed to assimilate the tariff to 

 those of New South Wales and South Australia, 

 and thus pave the way for a federal tariff and 

 intercolonial free trade. The duties were low- 

 ered from 13s. to lls. on imported spirits, and 

 the internal revenue duty to 9s. The preferen- 



tial duty on sugar in favor of colonial refineries 

 was lowered from 1 to 10s. per ton. Raw ma- 

 terials and tools of trade were placed on the free 

 list, whereas cotton and linen goods, which had 

 been free, were subjected to the general ad va- 

 lorem duty of 10 per cent. For the extinction of 

 the accrued deficit, reckoned to be 1,800,000, 

 an income tax was proposed which would yield 

 250,000 a year. The Protectionist party was 

 re-enforced by officials and others who resented 

 the sweeping' retrenchments carried out by the 

 ministry, and when the general elections took 

 place on Sept. 25 only 28 Ministerialists were 

 returned, against 54 o"f the Opposition and 13 

 Independents. A new ministry was constituted 

 on Sept. 27 as follows : Premier and Treasurer, 

 George Turner; Attorney-General, I. A. Isaacs; 

 Minister of Defense, Sir Frederick T. Sargood: 

 Chief Secretary and Minister of Education, A. J. 

 Peacock : Postmaster-General, John Gavan Duf- 

 fy ; Minister of Lands and Customs. R. W. Best ; 

 Solicitor-General and Minister of Public Health, 

 H. Cuthbert ; Minister of Mines and Water Sup- 

 ply, H. Foster; Minister of Agriculture, J. W. 

 Taverner; without portfolios, Allan McLean, 

 R. T. Vale, William McCulloch, and J. M. Pratt. 



Queensland. The Legislative Council is 

 composed of 37 nominated life members, and 

 the Legislative Assembly of 72 members elected 

 by all adult males qualified by a residence of six 

 months. Gen. Sir Henry Wylie Norman was 

 appointed Governor in December, 1888. The 

 Cabinet in the beginning of 1894 was composed 

 of the following members : Premier, Vice- Presi- 

 dent of the Executive Council, and Colonial 

 Treasurer, Hugh Muir Nelson; Chief Secretary 

 and Secretary for Railways, Sir Thomas Mc- 

 Ilwraith ; Minister for Lands and Agriculture, 

 A. H. Barlow; Postmaster-General and Secre- 

 tary for Public Instruction, W. H. Wilson ; 

 Secretary for Mines and Secretary for Public 

 Works, Robert Philp; Colonial Secretary, 

 H. Tozer; Attorney-General, T. J. Byrne; with- 

 out portfolio, A. J. Thynne. 



The area of Queensland is estimated at 668,497 

 square miles ; the population in the beginning 

 of 1893 at 421,297. In April, 1891, the enumer- 

 ated population was 393,718, of whom 8,574 were 

 Chinese, 9,428 Polynesians, and 1,844 of other 

 non-European races. There were 223,779 males 

 and 169,939 females. The northern district had 

 78,077 population ; the central district, 46,857 ; 

 the southern district, 268,784. The number of 

 marriages in 1892 was 2,774 ; of births, 14,903 ; 

 of deaths, 5,266. The number of immigrants 

 was 23,611 for 1892, including 474 Chinese and 

 464 Polynesians ; the emigration was 22,281, 

 including 493 Chinese and 856 Polynesians. 

 The population of Brisbane, the capital, in 1891 

 was 93,657. 



The revenue for 1893 was 3,445,943, and ex- 

 penditure 3,567,620. Customs produced, 1,103,- 

 680 ; excise and export duties, 38,879 ; stamps, 

 118,675; licenses, 55,632; dividend duty, 

 69,938 ; rent of pastoral land, 335,854 ; other 

 rents and sales of land, 329,854: railways, 

 998,059 ; posts and telegraphs, 209,932. The 

 expenditure for the debt was 1,229,839 ; work- 

 ing expenses of railways, 632.889 ; of posts and 

 telegraphs, 318,513 ; public instruction, 246,- 

 322. The public debt in the beginning of 1893 



