were persons of European origin. It may be reasonably assumed, however, that the great majority of those shown were coloured.

These figures show that coloured aliens number 14:43 per 1,000 of the population (exclusive of aborigines) in the Coinmonwealth. The highest proportion is found in Queensland, where large numbers of Pacific Islanders have been imported to work on the sugar plantations. The coloured aliens in that state number 46-13 per 1,000 of the population; in Western Australia, 27-51; in South Australia, 12.29; in New South Wales, 10:18; in Victoria, 6-35; and in Tasmania, 3-41 per 1,000. Amongst the Chinese included in the table there are a certain number who were born outside the Chinese Empire. The figures for New South Wales include 282; Victoria, 187; Queensland, 142; South Australia, 129; Western Australia, 54; and Tasmania, 22. The further immigration of Pacific Islanders to Australia is now restricted by the Pacific Islands Labourers Bill. This Act is particularly directed against the continued employment of these aliens on the sugar plantations, and under its provisions only a certain limited number will be allowed to enter Australia up to the 31st March, 1904. After that date their further immigration is prohibited, and all agreements for their employment must terminate on the 31st December, 1906, when any Pacific Islander found in Australia will be deported.

The influx of Hindoos and other Eastern races has long caused a feeling of uneasiness amongst the people of Australia, and restrictive legislation was already in force in some of the states prior to federation. One of the first measures passed by the Federal Parliament was the Immigration Restriction Act, which provides for the exclusion of any person who, when asked to do so, fails to write out and sign a passage of fifty words in a European language specified by an officer of the Customs. The Act does not apply, however, to persons in possession of certificates of exemption, to His Majesty's land and sea forces, to the master and crew of any public vessel of any Government, to any person duly accredited by any Government, to a wife accompanying her husband if he is not a prohibited immigrant, to all children under 18 years of age accompanying their father or mother if the latter are

not prohibited immigrants, or to any person who satisfies an officer of the Customs that he has been formerly domiciled in the Commonwealth. The number of Chinese in the various states had increased so rapidly prior to 1880 that it was deemed expedient by the Governments to enact prohibitive laws against the immigration of these aliens, and their migration from one state to another. For several years a poll-tax of £10 was imposed, but this was not considered sufficiently deterrent, and in New South Wales, in accordance with the most recent legislation on the subject, masters of vessels are forbidden under a heavy penalty to bring more than one Chinese to every 300 tons, and a poll-tax of £100 is charged on landing. In Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia no poll-tax is imposed, but masters of vessels may bring only one Chinese to every 500 tons burden. The Western Australian Act was similar to that in the three last-named states until recently, but has now been superseded by the Coloured Immigrants Restriction Act. Tasmania allows one Chinese passenger to every 100 tons, and imposes a poll-tax of £10. In New Zealand an Act similar to the Tasmanian Act was in force until 1896, when the poll-tax was raised to £100, and the number of passengers restricted to one for every 200 tons burden. These stringent regulations have had the effect of greatly restricting the influx of this undesirable class of immigrants, and at the census of 1901 they numbered only 36,022, as against 42,521 ten years previously. The following table shows the number of Chinese in each state at the five last census periods: the figures for 1891 and 1901 including half castes :—

The decrease in the Chinese population will be more apparent when it is stated that in 1901 they only numbered 7.92 per 1,000 of the population in Australasia as against 11.16 in 1891.

NATURALISATION.

Up to the 30th October, 1903, certificates of naturalisation were granted to aliens in the various states in accordance with enactments which did not differ materially, but with the passing of the

Commonwealth Naturalisation Act this power was taken away from the states, and vested exclusively in the Commonwealth Government. No letters or certificates of naturalisation granted in the states after the coming into operation of the Federal law are to have any effect.

Under the Commonwealth Act, any person who had, before the passing of the Act, obtained a certificate of naturalisation in any state is deemed to be naturalised. Any person resident in the Commonwealth not being a British subject, and not being an aboriginal native of Asia, Africa, or the islands of the Pacific, excepting New Zealand, who intends to settle in the Commonwealth, and who has resided in Australia continuously for two years immediately preceding the application, or who has obtained in the United Kingdom a certificate of naturalisation, may apply to be naturalised.

An applicant under the first heading must produce, in support of his application, his own statutory declaration exhibiting his name, age, birth-place, occupation, residence, the length of his residence in Australia, and stating that he intends to settle in the Commonwealth, as well as a certificate signed by some competent person that the applicant is known to him and is of good repute. An applicant under the second heading must produce, in support of his application, his certificate of naturalisation and his own statutory declaration that he is the person named in the certificate, that he obtained it without fraud, that the signature thereto is genuine, and that he intends to settle in the Commonwealth.

The Governor-General, if satisfied with the evidence adduced, may in his discretion grant or withhold a certificate as he thinks most conducive to the public good, provided that he shall not issue the certificate until the applicant has taken the necessary oath of allegiance.

Any person to whom a certificate of naturalisation is granted shall be entitled to all political and other rights, powers and privileges, and be subject to all the obligations of a natural-born British subject, provided that where, by the provisions of any state Act, a distinction is made between the rights of natural-born British subjects and those naturalised in the state, the rights conferred by the Commonwealth Act shall be only those to which persons naturalised by the state Act are entitled. Under the previously existing Acts in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia, aliens may hold and acquire both real and personal property, but may not qualify for any office, nor have any rights or privileges except such as are expressly conferred upon them, while in Queensland and Tasmania they may hold personal property, but lands for twenty-one years only.

Any alien woman who marries a British subject shall be deemed to be thereby naturalised. Any infant, not being a natural-born British subject, whose father has become naturalised, or whose mother is married to a natural-born British subject or to a naturalised person, and who has at any time resided in Australia with such father or mother, shall be deemed to be naturalised.

On the whole, the conditions to be fulfilled under the Commonwealth Act do not differ greatly from those under the old state Acts, but the term of residence necessary is now two years, whereas in New South Wales it was five years, in South Australia six months, and in the other states no specified time. Under the Commonwealth Act Asiatics, Africans, and Pacific Islanders are refused the rights of naturalisation; previously only the Chinese were so treated in New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia. In Queensland it was necessary for an Asiatic or African alien to be married and have his wife living in the state, and to have resided in the state for three years. On naturalisation he became entitled to all privileges except that of becoming a member of the Legislature.

In New Zealand, every alien of good repute residing within the colony who desires to become naturalised may present a memorial signed by himself and verified upon oath, stating his name, age, birthplace, residence, occupation, and length of residence in the colony, and his desire to settle therein, together with all other grounds on which he seeks to obtain the rights of naturalisation, and apply for a certificate, which the Governor may grant if he thinks fit. After the letters of naturalisation have been received, and the oath of allegiance taken, the holder becomes entitled to all the privileges which are conferred upon subjects of His Majesty. Naturalised persons may hold and acquire both real and personal property, but may not qualify for any office.

Excluding Queensland, where the information was not ascertained, the number of naturalised foreigners in the Commonwealth at the census of 1901 was 10,910, distributed as follows:- New South Wales, 3,265 males, 354 females; Victoria, 3,304 males, 1,262 females; South Australia, 1,360 males, 545 females; Western Australia, 576 males, 101 females; Tasmania, 119 males, 24 females. In New Zealand the number of naturalised persons was 4,672. It is probable, however,

Germans have availed

that the above numbers are under-stated. themselves most largely of the privileges of naturalisation, having taken out about one-half of the certificates granted.

The number of persons naturalised in Australasia during 1902 distributed amongst the various states was as follows:

193

MINERAL RESOURCES.

ALMOST all the principal metals of economic value are found in

Australasia, and many are common to several of the States. In dealing with the occurrence and value of mineral deposits, a classification has been made into noble and other metals, carbon minerals, salts, stones and clays, and diamonds and other gem stones.

GOLD.

Gold, the most valuable of noble metals, is found throughout Australasia, and the important position at present occupied by these States is largely due to discoveries of this metal, the development of other industries being, in a country of varied resources, a natural sequence to the acquisition of mineral treasure. Settlement in Australia was still young when manytongued rumour spoke of the existence of the precious metal, but it was not until the 16th February, 1823, that the Government was officially apprised of a discovery destined to be the precursor of a prosperity seldom surpassed in the history of nations. On the date mentioned Mr. AssistantSurveyor M'Brien reported that at a spot on the Fish River, about 15 miles east of Bathurst, he had discovered gold. Mention is made in the early records of New South Wales of several other finds, but it remained for Count Strzelecki and the Rev. W. B. Clarke to demonstrate the existence of the precious metal in payable quantities, and to assert their belief in its abundance, an opinion strongly supported in England by several eminent authorities, and substantiated by Hargraves' discovery in the year 1851. The gold-fields of Lewis Ponds and Summer Hill Creek had hardly been opened up when, on the day that witnessed the severance of the Port Phillip district from the mother colony of New South Wales, Mr. J. M. Esmond discovered gold in Victoria. Shortly afterwards a rush set in for Ballarat, and the gold fever took possession of Australia. The following year (1852) saw gold found in South Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, though it was not until 1861 that a large population was, by the prospect of rapidly obtaining wealth, attracted to the last-mentioned colony. The rush to Canoona, in what is now Queensland, took place in 1858. The last of the States in which extensive deposits of the precious metal were found was Western Australia, but the mines there are now the richest in Australasia, and have proved an enormous source of wealth to the state.

G