AUSTRALASIA. 



63 



The chief imports of Tasmania were textile 

 goods and clothing for 410,708, mechanical 

 and art products for 334,539, and articles of 

 food and drink for 282,782. The wool export 

 was valued at 204,030; gold, 230,282; silver 

 and silver ore, 210,893; green and preserved 

 fruit, 195,073; tin, 150,580; timber and bark, 

 02,085; hops, 18,373. Of the total value of 

 imports, 012,980 came from Victoria, 197,007 

 from New South Wales, 125,522 from other 

 British colonies, 397,510 from Great Britain, 

 and 33,929 from foreign countries. Of the total 

 exports, Victoria took 807,433; New South 

 Wales, 583,273; other colonies, 08,331; Great 

 Britain, 274,497; and foreign countries, 10,927. 



The imports of New Zealand in 1897 included 

 textiles and clothing for 1,982,890, iron and 

 steel goods and machinery for 1,400,111, sugar 

 for 373,407, books, paper, and stationery for 

 337,330, spirits, wines, and beer for 208,100, 

 fruit for 183,133, tea for 178,350, tobacco and 

 cigars for 104,889, oils for 103,793, bags and 

 sacks for 104,401, fancy goods for 100,824, 

 coal for 98,139, other merchandise for 2,080,- 

 702, and specie for 01,022. The exports were 

 wool for 4,443,144, frozen meat for 1,500,280, 

 gold for 980,204, butter and cheese for 553,- 

 122, Kauri gum for 398,010, hides, skins, and 

 leather for 343,709, grain and pulse for 339,- 

 043, preserved meats for 78,235, grass seed for 

 40,947, phormium or New Zealand hemp for 

 30,074, bacon and hams for 13,500, animals 

 for 11,974, other domestic produce for 530,- 

 735, British and foreign merchandise for 144,- 

 955, and specie for 275,771. The export of wool 

 was 135,835,117 pounds; of frozen meat, 1,407,921 

 hundredweight; of Kauri gum, 0,041 tons; of 

 butter, 99,002 hundredweight; of cheese, 77,083 

 hundredweight. Of the total value of the im- 

 ports, 5,392,738 came from Great Britain, 

 1,001,003 from Australia, 028,044 from the 

 United States, 303,024 from India and Ceylon, 

 283,593 from Pacific islands, 43,390 from 

 China, 25,504 from Mauritius, and 377,207 

 from other countries. Of the exports, 8,108,123 

 went to Great Britain, 1,323,784 to Australia, 

 375,090 to the United States, 117,305 to Pa- 

 cific islands, 0,773 to China, 3,258 to Mau- 

 ritius, 2,810 to India and Ceylon, and 19,784 

 to other countries. The total value of imports for 

 1898 was 8,230,529; of exports, 10,523,290. 



The chief imports of Fiji were textile goods 

 for 49,254, breadstuff s for 23,085, coal for 

 14,274, rice for 11,205, machinery for 12,030, 

 hardware for 12,807, meat for 9,234, and bags 

 for 0,802. The export of sugar was 20,991 

 tons, of the value of 323,830. Of copra 7,757 

 tons were exported, valued at 70,182; of dis- 

 tilled spirits, 15,041 gallons, valued at 1,880; 

 of peanuts, 185 tons, valued at 2,030; of to- 

 bacco, 9 tons, valued at 2,052; of cotton, 34 

 tons, valued at 1,015; of bananas, the value 

 of 10,514. 



In the early part of 1899 rains fell in many 

 parts of Australia that have suffered from almost 

 continual drought for three or four years past. 

 Among the other drawbacks to the prosperity of 

 these colonies, which, in spite of precarious sea- 

 sons, are the most productive communities in 

 the world in proportion to population, is the 

 phylloxera, which has appeared among the vine- 

 yards of Victoria. The increase of the wine duty 

 in England is regarded as a serious blow to viti- 

 culture in Australia, which is just reaching a 

 practical commercial footing after half a century 

 of struggles. The early samples exhibited at the 

 world's fair of 1851 were so promising that the 



planting of vineyards in Victoria became a huge 

 speculation. Ignorant and careless methods de- 

 stroyed the reputation of Australian wines until 

 practical wine growers from France and Ger- 

 many introduced the true system. Young Aus- 

 tralians went to those countries to learn the 

 European processes. The wines shown at the 

 Indian and Colonial Exhibition of 1880 revived 

 the interest of the British public in this colonial 

 product. The old and discarded vineyards were 

 restocked and fresh lands were planted. In 1891 

 the Victorian Government offered bonuses for 

 the planting of vineyards, and sent round in- 

 structors in wine making. In 1895 the Govern- 

 ment of South Australia opened bonded stores 

 in London, where wines already approved by the 

 officials in the colony are treated and matured 

 under the supervision of an expert, with the re- 

 sult that the exports from that colony have in- 

 creased fivefold. The long voyage, the heavy 

 freights, and the cost of importing casks are 

 serious handicaps to the trade in competition 

 with European countries, and hence the wine 

 growers of Australia hoped that the new duty 

 would be remitted in their case. The imports of 

 Australian wines into Great Britain have in- 

 creased from 50,000 gallons in 1884 to 710,000 

 gallons in 1898. 



The imposition of a stamp duty on colonial 

 securities is also resented as an invidious action 

 of the British Government. One of the most 

 troublesome pests in the pastoral regions is the 

 cattle tick, which is spreading into new districts 

 constantly. Government agents have been sent 

 to Europe to seek new ways of promoting the 

 export commerce of the colonies. A fraudulent 

 trader of Adelaide, whose practices might cause 

 alarm concerning the integrity of Australian 

 commercial men, was sentenced by South Aus- 

 tralian justice to two years of penal servitude. 



The gold production for the whole of Australia 

 in 1898 was estimated at 3,154,000 ounces, an 

 increase of 505,000 ounces over 1897, Western 

 Australia having produced 1,049,000 ounces and 

 Queensland 918,000 ounces, both leading Victoria, 

 which has heretofore headed the list, whose pro- 

 duction for this year was 845,000 ounces, and 

 that of New South Wales 342,000 ounces. 



The recent advances in the price of wool and 

 meat have greatly benefited the colonies of New 

 South Wales, Queensland, and New Zealand, and 

 the improvement in the economic situation has 

 made itself felt at once in the finances of the 

 colonial governments, which here reflect more 

 truly than in other countries the general situa- 

 tion. In Victoria the recovery in the pastoral 

 industries has made itself manifest in a less de- 

 gree. In this colony agriculture has made great 

 strides, the value of its products having risen 

 in five years from 5,000,000 to 7,000,000. In 

 New South Wales the extension of cultivation has 

 lately been still more rapid, the area having been 

 doubled in five years. The increase in 1898 under 

 the new land laws was remarkable, and in 

 Queensland land legislation has contributed to 

 produce a like movement. The best butter sea- 

 son in Australia lasts from October till March, 

 and the harvesting of fruits, such as apples, 

 raisins, currants, prunes, and figs, takes place 

 at the opposite season of. the year to that ol the 

 northern hemisphere, so that the Australian 

 products scarcely come into competition in the 

 markets of the world with those of Europe and 

 America. The dairy industries are making prog- 

 ress in all the colonies. The sugar production on 

 the north coast, notwithstanding the general de- 

 pression, has increased 50 per cent, in a year. 



