428 



NEW ZEALAND. 



On Feb. 22 the Park Avenue Hotel was partly 

 destroyed by fire, and 17 persons were killed by 

 the disaster. 



On July 1 John M. Burke transferred the sum 

 of $4,000,000 to a board of trustees, to be used 

 for the betterment of men and women who are 

 unable to support themselves by reason of sick- 

 ness or misfortune. 



On July 30 a procession of 50,000 orthodox 

 Jews followed the remains of Rabbi Jacob Joseph 

 from the synagogue to the grave, chanting the 

 Promise of David, and while in the vicinity of 

 Grand and Sheriff Streets were attacked by the 

 employees of a factory, and in consequence a riot 

 occurred that culminated in bloodshed. 



On Aug. 3 a remarkable storm passed over the 

 city, producing at noon a darkness of such in- 

 tensity that artificial illumination became neces- 

 sary for the ordinary transaction of business. 



On Oct. 6 the corner-stone of a new custom- 

 house, to occupy the space bounded by White- 

 hall, State, and Bridge Streets and Bowling 

 Green, was laid by Secretary of the Treasury 

 Shaw. 



On Nov. 4 an explosion of fireworks occurred 

 in Madison Square, resulting in the death of 15 

 persons and the injury of 100 others. 



On Nov. 11 the New York Chamber of Com- 

 merce formally dedicated its new building at 65 

 Liberty Street. 



On Dec. 29 the doors of the old Hall of Records 

 were closed, and as soon as the new building can 

 be completed this historic edifice, erected in the 

 early days of George III as a prison, will be de- 

 molished. 



On Dec. 30 the freedom of the city was con- 

 ferred on Dr. Adolf Lorenz, the great Austrian 

 surgeon, who in many instances remedied con- 

 genital dislocation of the hip. 



NEW ZEALAND, an island colony of Great 

 Britain in the Pacific Ocean. Under the Consti- 

 tution of 1875 the Governor has power to con- 

 vene, prorogue, and dissolve Parliament only by 

 the advice of responsible ministers, but he can 

 veto bills or withhold them for the consideration 

 of the Imperial Government and can submit 

 drafts of bills for the consideration of either 

 house, and all proposals for the appropriation 

 of money must come from him before Parliament 

 can legally provide for public expenditure. The 

 Parliament, or General Assembly, consists of a 

 Legislative Council of 45 members, appointed 

 since 1891 for seven years, instead of for life as 

 formerly, and a House of Representatives con- 

 taining formerly 74 members, increased to 80 in 

 1902, elected by all adult citizens of both sexes, 

 qualified by a residence of one year in the colony 

 and three months in the district. The Governor 

 at the beginning of 1902 was the Earl of Ran- 

 furly, appointed in 1897 and continued in office 

 till August, 1904, a year's extension of his term. 

 The ministry at the beginning of 1902 was com- 

 posed as follows: Prime Minister, Colonial Treas- 

 urer, Minister of Labor, and Minister of Defense, 

 R. J. Seddon; Colonial Secretary, Postmas- 

 ter-General and Electric Telegraph Commis- 

 sioner, Minister of Railroads, Minister of Indus- 

 tries and Commerce, and Minister of Public 

 Health, Sir. Joseph G. Ward; Minister of Lands 

 and Minister of Agriculture, T. Y. Duncan ; Com- 

 missioner of Stamp-Duties and Native Minister, 

 J. Carroll; Minister of Immigration and Minister 

 of Education, W. C. Walker; Minister of Public 

 Works and Minister of Marine. W. Hall-Jones; 

 Minister of Justice and Minister of Mines, J. 

 McGowan; Commissioner of Trade and Customs. 

 C. H. Mills. 



Area and Population. The area of the 

 North island is estimated at 44,468 square miles; 

 of the Middle island, 58,525 square miles; of 

 Stewart's island, 665 square miles; total, 104,471 

 square miles, including adjacent small islands. 

 Cook and other islands of the Pacific were an- 

 nexed to New Zealand by the proclamation of 

 June 10, 1901. The total white population of the 

 three islands constituting the colony by the cen- 

 sus of March 31, 1901, was 772,719, consisting of 

 405,992 males and 366,727 females. The popula- 

 tion of the North island was 390,571; of the 

 Middle island, 381,661; of Stewart's island, 

 272; of Chatham Islands, 207; of Kermadec Is- 

 lands, 8. Including 43,101 Maoris, the total 

 population was 815,820. There were 2,857 Chi- 

 nese, of whom 32 were females. Of the Maoris,, 

 including 3,123 half-castes, 23,100 were males 

 and 20,001 females. The population of the sea- 

 port of Auckland in 1901 was 34,213 within the 

 town limits, 67,226 including suburbs; of Well- 

 ington, the capital, 43,638, or 49,344 with sub- 

 urbs; of Christchurch, 17,538, or 57,041 with sub- 

 urbs; of Dunedin, 24,879, or 52,390 with suburbs; 

 of Sydenham, 11,404. The number of marriage* 

 in 1900 was 5,860; of births, 19,546; of deaths, 

 7,200; excess of births, 12,346; immigration, 

 18,074; emigration, 16,243. The increase of popu- 

 lation by immigration is 36,000 in ten years. 



Finances. The revenue from customs in the 

 year ending March 31, 1901, was 2,180,862; 

 from stamps, including postal and telegraph re- 

 ceipts, 903,935; from railroads, 1,720,641; 

 from the land tax, 294,584; from the income 

 tax, 173,809; total revenue, 5,582,502, not in- 

 cluding 89,369 from sales and 180,834 from 

 rent of lands. The acreage alienated up to March 

 31, 1900, was 23,382,972 acres; total area of the 

 colony, 66,861,440 acres. The public debt charges, 

 for 1901 were 1,745,616; expenditure for rail- 

 roads, 1,144,832; for education, 481,087: for 

 posts and telegraphs, 416,364; for constabulary 

 and defense, 347,448; total, 5,479,703, exclu- 

 sive of expenditure from the Public Works fund, 

 which from 1870 to 1901 amounted to 31,287,- 

 647. The regular land tax, from which improve- 

 ments are exempt, was Id. in the pound in 1901, 

 yielding 220,000 from land and mortgages, and 

 the graduated supplementary tax, rising from 

 &d. in the pound on estates valued at from 5.000 

 to 10,000 to 2d. on estates exceeding 210,000, 

 yielded 72,000. The income tax is 2 per cent, 

 on incomes up to 1,000, and Is. on all above that 

 amount, with exemption of 300. Old-age pen- 

 sions cost the Government 207,000 in 1902. 

 The public debt on March 31, 1901, amounted to 

 48,557,751, with an annual charge of 1.671.552 

 for interest and 46.364 for sinking-fund. The 

 local revenues in 1900 amounted to 714,151 

 from rates and 1,220,060 from other sources; 

 local expenditure, 1,960,073; debts, 7,057.350. 



The Government revenue for the year ending 

 March 31, 1902, was 6,152,839; expenditure, 

 5,914,915. The gross debt, which was 49.- 

 591,245, including 1,033,494 in the sinking-fund, 

 on March 31, 1901, was increased during tlhe fol- 

 lowing twelve months to over 52,900,000. A 

 new loan of 1,750,000 for public works was pro- 

 posed in the budget for 1903, which estimated 

 revenue at 6,083,500 and expenditure at 5,987,- 

 063. The Government was able to borrow at 

 par in the colony and Australia on 4-per-cent. 

 bonds running four years when the London 

 money market would not make favorable terms. 



Defense. There is a permanent force of 213 ar- 

 tillerists and of 86 torpedoists to man 4 torpedo- 

 boats and 4 launches. The volunteer force num- 



