AUSTRALIA AND POLYNESIA. 



33 



net revenue, 4'04 per cent. ; borrowed capital, 

 17,609,207, on which the interest charge is 

 918,218 ; gross earnings in 1881. 1,665,209 ; 

 expenditure, 913,572; profits, 751,637. Two 

 fifths of the receipts were from passenger and 

 three fifths from freight traffic. 



The number of miles of telegraph lines com- 

 pleted at the end of 1881 was 3,349 ; the num- 

 ber of messages, 1,281,749. Since 1870 the 

 rate has been Is for ten words and Id. for 

 each additional word. 



The revenue of the colony in 1881 was 

 5,114,460, the expenditure 5,102,470. The 

 receipts for the year ending June 30, 1882, 

 were 5,770,000, the expenditure 5,690,000. 

 The public debt was 22,944,602 in 1881. In 

 June, 1883, the total liabilities amounted to 

 about 26,000,000. The net revenue from the 

 railways and water-works for which the debt 

 was incurred is stated by Mr. James Service, 

 the Colonial Treasurer and Premier, to be suf- 

 ficient to pay 4 per cent, on the total amount. 



The O'Loghlen Ministry, which had already 

 lost its popularity, was defeated at a general 

 election in February in consequence of an un- 

 successful financial operation in London. The 

 ministry attempted to convert 3,800,000 of 

 6 per cent, bonds, falling due in October, 1883, 

 into a new loan at 4 per cent. The books for 

 a loan of 4,000,000 were accordingly opened 

 in London in January. In insisting upon is- 

 suing the bonds only at par, the Premier came 

 into collision with the English magnates of 

 finance. A mere fraction of the stock was 

 taken. The credit of Victoria had suffered 

 from the frequent comparisons made between 

 it and the more rapidly growing free-trade 

 colony of New Soath Wales, and through the 

 unpopularity in England of its protectionist 

 policy. The momentary financial embarrass- 

 ments of the Government, which had compelled 

 it to obtain advances of 2,000,000, gave a 

 colorable ground for the rejection of the loan. 

 The Victorians were more astonished than dis- 

 couraged, and attributed the result entirely to 

 the blunders of the Ministry. The Cabinet pre- 

 ferred to make an appeal to the country rather 

 than be voted out of office by the Parliament, 

 which was to meet Feb, 13th. With the con- 

 sent of the Marquis of Normanby a new elec- 

 tion was ordered. It took place in the latter 

 part of February. Only 14 Ministerialists were 

 returned ; Sir Bryan O'Loghlen himself lost his 

 seat. The Liberal Constitutionalist party, led 

 by James Service, elected 38 members, and 

 the Radical or Democratic party of Graham 

 Berry, 32. A coalition ministry was formed, 

 March 7th, as follows: Hon. James Service, 

 Premier, Colonial Treasurer, and Minister of 

 Public Instruction ; Hon. Graham Berry, 

 Chief Secretary; Hon. George Briscoe Ker- 

 ferd, Attorney - General ; Hon. Albert Lee 

 Tucker, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, etc. ; 

 Hon. Duncan Gillies, Commissioner of Rail- 

 ways and Roads; Hon. Alfred Deakin, Com- 

 missioner of Public Works ; Hon. J. F. Levien, 

 VOL. xxiir. 3 A 



Minister of Mines ; Hon. George D. Langridge, 

 Commissioner of Trade and Customs; Hon. 

 W. Anderson, Minister of Justice; Hon. Mr. 

 Sargood, without portfolio. The financial 

 statement made April 4th charged the former 

 Minister of Railroads with imprudence in en- 

 tering into contracts for rails and rolling-stock 

 to be manufactured in the colony beyond the 

 amounts sanctioned by Parliament, causing the 

 estimated expenditures to be exceeded. The 

 loan of 4,000,000 was placed by the new 

 Government, by acceding to the demands of 

 the London bankers, at only a slight discount, 

 the Government pledging itself to borrow not 

 more than 2,000,000 additional during that 

 year. The finances of the colony were de- 

 scribed by Mr. Service to be in no critical con- 

 dition, though the sales of public lands had 

 been declining for two or three years ; but the 

 maturity of the old debt, which would require 

 3,000,000 more to be raised in 1884 and 

 4,000,000 in 1885, puts a stop temporarily to 

 large expenditures on public works. The leg- 

 islative programme of the new ministry em- 

 braced the reform of the civil service by de- 

 livering it from political patronage and intrust- 

 ing official appointments to a permanent board ; 

 the creation of a board of commissioners to 

 manage the state railroads ; the extension of 

 the system of irrigation and water conserva- 

 tion by local authorities ; and the introduction 

 of pastoral leases to apply only to the " mallee 

 scrub " lands of inferior quality which are 

 overrun with rabbits, the leases for twenty 

 years being made conditional on the tenants' 

 exterminating noxious animals. 



The tariff controversy was continued during 

 the year, and the Commission of Inquiry col- 

 lected evidence from all classes. Invidious 

 comparisons with the rapid growth of New 

 South Wales are not considered just by the Vic- 

 torians, as their colony has no unlimited sheep 

 pasturage to i.vvite immigration. The flocks 

 of Victoria have scarcely increased since 1873, 

 while those of New South Wales have nearly 

 doubled. Though the population of Victoria 

 increases slowly, the growth in wealth is 

 stfeady, and the progress is marked in agricul- 

 ture and cattle-raising. The herds increased 

 from 883,763 head in 1873, to 1,286,267 in 

 1881. The protected industries do not show 

 the same healthy growth, and the rural commu- 

 nity is becoming more and more dissatisfied 

 with the protective policy, which favors the 

 working-classes of the towns at its expense. 



New South Wales, the oldest Australian colo- 

 ny, originally a penal settlement, and formerly 

 including the present colonies of South Aus- 

 tralia, Victoria, and Queensland, obtained re- 

 sponsible government in 1855. The Legislative 

 Council consists of 21 or more members, nomi- 

 nated by the Crown. The Legislative Assembly 

 consists of 108 members, elected by 72 constitu- 

 encies by universal suffrage and secret ballot. 

 The Governor is Lord Augustus W. F. 8. Lof- 

 tus, born in 1818, formerly British embassador 



