60 



AUSTRALASIA. 



997.500 messages were sent, yielding a revenue of 

 84.847. 



Iii the mining districts of Western Australia 

 railroad connections have been established with 

 Kalgoorli, Kanowna. and Boulder. There is a con- 

 tinuous line of 1,000 miles from Albany, and one of 

 50 miles leading into the gold fields at Coolgardie. 

 A new railroad from Coolgardie to Memoes was 

 opened on March 22. 1898. 



In New /..aland there were 2,285,001 private tele- 

 graph messages sent during the year ending March 

 :il.'lS!lT; n.-t revenue. *J 129,635. 



The postal traffic of most of the colonies for 1890 

 is shown in the following table : 



In New South Wales 1,313.595 was paid on 

 402.677 money orders and 324,646 on postal notes 

 in 1896 : 



In New Zealand 269,566 money orders were issued. 



Defenses. New South Wales maintains a mili- 

 tary force of 621 regulars and 4,826 volunteers, 

 with 2,021 riflemen in the reserve and 580 men in 

 the naval force. The cost of defense in 1897, in- 

 cluding the naval establishment and shore fortifica- 

 tions at Sydney, was 224,116. Sydney is a British 

 first-class "naval station and the headquarters of the 

 British fleet in Australasia, numbering 12 vessels 

 in 1897. An Australasian naval force of 5 fast 

 cruisers and 2 torpedo gunboats of the most modern 

 design have been built by the British Government, 

 which under a ten years' agreement is maintained 

 by the colonies, which pay also 5 per cent, interest 

 on the cost of construction. The cruisers (" Ka- 

 toomba." " Tauranga," " Ringarooma," " Mildura," 

 and "Wallaroo") have each a displacement of 

 2.575 tons and 7,500 horse power. The torpedo 

 gunboats ( " Boomerang " and " Karakatta ") are 

 of 735 tons and 4,500 horse power. The annual 

 expenditure of New South Wales on naval de- 

 fense is 42,306; of Victoria, 45.287; of Queens- 

 land, 15,519; of South Australia, 6,180. The 

 expenditure of the Imperial Government is 60,300. 

 The land forces of \ ictoria number 5.015 men, of 

 whom 379 are permanent, 2,987 militia, and 649 

 volunteers ; the naval flotilla consists of the coast- 

 defense cruiser "Cerberus," 5 gunboats, and some 

 torpedo boats, and it is manned by a permanent 

 force of 177 officers and men, with a reserve of 152. 

 In Queensland, where every man is liable for serv- 

 ice, a force of 2,800 has been trained, comprising 

 130 enlisted men, 2,000 militia, and 670 volunteers; 

 the Government has a naval force of 2 gunboats 

 and a torpedo boat and has drilled 5 naval brigades. 

 In South Australia there is a military force of 974 

 militia and 385 volunteers, and a small cruiser for 

 naval defense. Western Australia has 650 men 

 arme.l with Martini-Mot ford rifles and spends 

 12,600 a year <>n defenses. Tasmania's volunteers 

 number 4N and the rifle dub* !)<;<;. in NY w /ca- 

 lami there has I.een a large local force since the 

 Maori wars. The volunteers number 7. Hi!), the 

 artillery branch 18(5, the torpedo branch 80. and 

 the police 495 ; the total available strength of the 

 militia is 130,000. 



Australian Federation. A proposal for a 

 general assembly to legislate on intercolonial ques- 

 tions was discussed as early as 1852. In more 

 recent times the question was agitated until an 

 intercolonial conference adopted a tentative scheme 



and the Imperial Parliament passed a bill creating 

 a federal council to which any of the colonies 

 could send delegates for the discussion of inter- 

 colonial matters. It first met at Hobart in 1886, 

 and was attended by delegates from Victoria, 

 Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, and Fiji. 

 At the next meeting South Australia also was 

 represented. This body devised several measures 

 that were ratified by the colonial legislatures, but 

 its powers were merely deliberative and advisory. 

 In February, 1890, a conference was held at Mel- 

 bourne in which all the Australasian colonies were 

 represented, and it was there decided to call a 

 national Australasian convention to consider and 

 report upon a scheme for a Federal constitution. 

 This convention met at Sydney on March 2. 1891, 

 and passed resolutions approving the principle of 

 federation. It adopted a draft constitution for the 

 commonwealth of Australasia which, however, 

 proved unsatisfactory to several of the legislatures. 

 A new conference was held by the Premiers of five 

 colonies, who met at Hobart in January, 1895, and 

 took steps resulting in a convention of all the 

 colonies except Queensland, which met first at 

 Adelaide in March, 1897. It was unanimously 

 resolved to establish a Federal Parliament, to con- 

 sist of a Federal Council, or Senate, and a llouse of 

 Representatives; also a Federal High Court, which 

 should have jurisdiction as a final court of appeal. 

 The executive authority will reside in a governor- 

 general appointed by 'the Crown, who shall be 

 guided by his constitutional advisers. It was 

 stipulated that the territory and the powers and 

 privileges of the several states of the federation 

 should remain intact except in so far as they might 

 be surrendered by voluntary acts. The Federal 

 Parliament would have power to impose and to 

 collect and dispose of customs and excise duties, 

 and should control the military and naval forces. 

 Intercourse and trade between the federated states 

 must be free. It was resolved to apply the principle 

 of the popular referendum in the adoption of con- 

 stitutional amendments. In the Senate all the 

 states shall have equal representation, but this 

 house shall have no power to amend money bills. 



The Federal Convention, which met in Adelaide 

 on March 22, 1897, adjourned a few months later lo 

 allow the Premiers of the colonies to take part in 

 the festivities of the Queen's jubilee in England, 

 met again in September at Sydney, and after a 

 short session again adjourned at the request of the 

 Queensland Government in order that opportunity 

 be given for that colony to join in the deliberations, 

 assembled for the third and final session at Mel- 

 bourne on Jan. 20, 1898. It was found that Queens- 

 land was not yet able to take part in the framing 

 of the commonwealth bill. Nevertheless it \v;is 

 resolved to complete the work without further 

 adjournment, and after a thorough and animated 

 discussion of the details of the measure, developing 

 considerable friction, which threatened at times to 

 result in rupture, during which the convention 

 amended or rescinded some of its former decisions, 

 the commonwealth bill was finally adopted on 

 March 16. and on the following day the convention 

 adjourned. The bill was based on the scheme that 

 was drawn up in the Sydney convention of 1891. 

 many of the members of which served a second 

 time in this convention, though Sir Henry Parkes, 

 Sir Samuel Griffiths, and other leaders of the early 

 federation movement were absent. The modifica- 

 tions embodied in the resulting bill have been the 

 subjects of constant discussion during the interven- 

 ing seven years. The Sydney bill provided that 

 members of the State Council, or upper house, 

 should be elected by the parliaments of the several 

 colonies. The new" bill provides for the election of 



