NEW ZEALAND. 



NICARAGUA. 



429 



bers 17,000; the police, 584; the number liable 

 to militia duty, 112,000, comprising all males 

 from seventeen to forty years of age, and from 

 forty to fifty-five years of age of the unmarried 

 males. During the Boer war New Zealand sent 

 6,700 men with 6,620 horses to South Africa. 

 The Government formed plans to enlist returned 

 soldiers and others as a volunteer reserve and 

 also 6,000 Maoris, to be trained by British offi- 

 cers. 



Production and Commerce. Of the total 

 area of New Zealand the area tilled in 1900 was 

 11,081,912 acres of artificial meadow, 1,554,123 

 acres under farm crops, 49,394 acres of planta- 

 tions, 25,777 acres of orchard, and 17,411 acres 

 of garden. The area of Crown lands leased for 

 pasture in 1901 was 26,982,486 acres. The live 

 stock of the colony consisted of 266,245 horses, 

 1,256,680 cattle, 19,355,195 sheep, and 250,975 

 hogs. The mineral production in 1900 was 326,- 

 467 ounces of silver of the value of 38,879,373,- 

 616 ounces of gold of the value of 1,439,602, 

 10,159 tons of kauri-gum of the value of 622,- 

 293, 1,093,990 tons of coal of the value of 546,- 

 995, and small quantities of manganese and anti- 

 mony ores. In 1901 the gold mined was 445,559 

 ounces, valued at l,753,/38. The value of im- 

 ports in 1900 was 10,646,096, consisting of 

 3,727,926 of merchandise free of duty, 6,479,- 

 400 paying duties varying from 5 to 40 per cent, 

 ad valorem, and 438,770 of specie. The value 

 of exports was 13,246,161, of which 13,055,- 

 249 represent products of the colony, including 

 1,439,602 of gold, and 190,912 reexports. The 

 imports of textiles and clothing were 2,420,241 

 in 1900; iron and steel manufactures and ma- 

 chinery, 2,133,219; sugar, 451,522; tea, 199,- 

 934; spirits, wine, and beer, 287,676; tobacco 

 and cigars, 198,861; coal, 120,406; sacks and 

 bags, 141,810; fruit, 226,128; oils, 206,770; 

 fancy goods, 128,339; paper and books, 407,- 

 410; other merchandise, 3,285,010. The exports 

 of wool were 4,749,196 in value and 140,706,486 

 pounds in quantity; grain, flour, and pulse, 

 1,049,399; frozen meat 2,123,881 in value and 

 1,844,831 in quantity; kauri-gum, 622,293 in 

 value and 10,159 tons in quantity; tallow, 368,- 

 473 ; hides, skins, and leather, 475,986 ; live ani- 

 mals, 39,675; dairy-produce, 969,731, repre- 

 senting 172,583 hundredweight of butter and 

 102,849 hundredweight of cheese; hams and 

 bacon, 16,777; preserved meat, 94,524; grass- 

 seed, 93,006; phormium, 332,182; other colo- 

 nial produce, 680,524. Imports from the Uni- 

 tefl States increased from about 200,000 in 1896 

 to more than 1,000,000 in 1901. 



Factories in New Zealand have increased 80 

 per cent, in five years, the number of workers 28 

 per cent., and wages paid 62 per cent. The con- 

 ciliation and arbitration act has been seven 

 years in operation. Although a section of the 

 employers has labored for its repeal and indi- 

 vidual trade-unions have complained of some 

 awards of the arbitration courts, the workers in 

 general are content with the act save in minor 

 particulars that they wish amended, and the 

 bulk of the employers do not complain. The act 

 has been copied by New South Wales and South 

 Australia. An amendment made in 1901 enables 

 parties to present their differences at once to the 

 court of arbitration, consisting of a jurist and 

 representatives of laborers and employers; still 

 the conciliation boards settle many troubles, and 

 twice as many agreements are voluntarily reached 

 and recorded as binding contracts by consulta- 

 tion between unions and employers as there are 

 cases settled by award of the arbitration court. 



Since the passing of the act the value of im- 

 provements has been increased 7,500,000.' 



Navigation. During 1900 there w.ere entered 

 at New Zealand ports 616 vessels, of 854,632 

 tons, of which 545, of 742,551 tons, carried car- 

 goes, and cleared 613, of 825,275 tons, of which 

 580, of 786.454 tons, carried cargoes. The num- 

 ber of colonial vessels entered was 393, of 392,519 

 tons, and cleared 397, of 388,436 tons; British ves- 

 sels entered numbered 156, of 392,394 tons, and 

 cleared 149, of 368,241 tons; foreign vessels en- 

 tered numbered 67, of 69,719 tons, and cleared 67, 

 of 68,598 tons. The number of vessels registered 

 in the colony was 521, of 98,753 tons, of which 

 299 were sailing vessels, of 42,128 tons, and 222 

 were steamers, of 56,625 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. There 

 were 2,300 miles of Government railroads in oper- 

 ation on April 1, 1901, of which 1,383 miles were 

 in the Middle island and 829 miles in the North 

 island. The revenue of Government railroads for 

 the year was 1,727,236; expenditure, 1,127,848, 

 being 65.30 per cent, of receipts. There were 

 6,243,593 passengers and 3,461,331 tons of freight 

 transported. The capital cost was 18,230,057. 

 There is a private railroad, 84 miles long, on the 

 west coast of the North island, which the Gov- 

 ernment was authorized by Parliament to acquire 

 at a certain price. The English shareholders re- 

 fused to sell at this figure, and the Government 

 retaliated by cutting off connections. The post- 

 office during 1900 forwarded 38,662,296 letters, 

 1,236,183 letter cards, 1,908,515 postal cards, 17,- 

 948,858 parcels and book packets, and 17,045,715 

 newspapers. There were 369,834 money-orders is- 

 sued and 264,018 paid. The receipts for the year 

 ending March 31, 1901, from posts and telegraphs 

 were 503,836 and expenses 418,272. 



The Government telegraph-lines on April 1, 

 1901, had a length of 7,249 miles, with 20..682 

 miles of wire. The number of telegrams during 

 the year was 3,898,128, of which 3,534,444 were 

 paid despatches. The revenue from telegraphs 

 and telephones was 186,978. 



Politics and Legislation. A system of 

 Maori councils for local self-government, author- 

 ized in 1901, has been organized. The Maori na- 

 tion has been induced to hand over to the Gov- 

 ernment over 1,000,000 acres of its best lands for 

 settlement by whites or individual Maoris. The 

 Maori king, Mahuta, opposed this arrangement 

 at first. The business presented by the Govern- 

 ment in the session of the Assembly that began 

 on July 1 included a referendum bill, which one 

 house had already passed; a bill providing State 

 fire-insurance; and a measure making provision 

 for aged and retired railroad employees. The 

 Government purchased coal-mines. A measure 

 was considered for preventing combinations for 

 raising improperly the prices of food. New es- 

 tates were acquired under the land acts for divi- 

 sion and resale to actual settlers. The general 

 elections, held in November, resulted in the fifth 

 successive victory of the Progressive party of 

 Mr. Seddon. The Government party elected 45 

 members; the Opposition, 23; Independents, 4; 

 Prohibitionists, 4. In local-option districts the 

 voting was in several instances in favor of no 

 licenses or the reduction of licenses. The Gov- 

 ernment majority was twice as great as in the 

 general election of 1890 that put the Progressives 

 in control. 



NICARAGUA, a republic of Central America. 

 The Congress is a single chamber of 40 members, 

 elected for two years by universal adult male 

 suffrage. The President is elected by direct pop- 

 ular suffrage for four years. Gen. Jose Santos 



