The numbers of those who signed the Marriage Register by marks were as appended. Where a blank is shown the information is not available.

The percentages for those states for which the necessary information is available are worked out in the following table :

The percentage in 1902 was, therefore, less than a twenty-fourth of that in 1861, and there is every reason to expect that in the course of another few years it will be still further diminished.

PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

In all the states public libraries have been established. The Public Libraries in Melbourne and Sydney are splendid institutions, the former comparing favourably with many of the libraries in European capitals. The following table shows the number of libraries which furnished returns, and the number of books belonging to them, for the latest year for which information is available ::

525

FOOD SUPPLY AND COST OF LIVING.

CON

ONSIDERING the comparatively high rate of wages which prevails, food of all kinds is fairly cheap in Australasia, and articles of diet which in other countries are almost within the category of luxuries are largely used even by the poorer classes. The average annual consumption per inhabitant of the principal articles of common diet, based on the experience of the last ten years, is given below :--

Beef

90.0 144-4

159.7 117.3 280-0 1270 141-8 117.8 155.5 Mutton 120:4 71.8 90.0 75.0 133.9 84.9 94.1 110.0 96.8 Pork and Bacon 12-2 12.2 13:3 11:4 31.4 14.0 13.0 12.5 12.9

It will be seen that the consumption of wheat in the Commonwealth is 357 lb., ranging from 331 lb. in Victoria to 474 lb. in Western Australia, the average consumption for Australasia being 364 lb. per head. There is in all the states a tendency towards reducing the consumption of bread-stuffs, the place of bread being taken by potatoes and other vegetables. In Western Australia and in Tasmania the large influx of miners some years ago materially increased the consumption of breadstuffs, as shown by the high figures in the above table, but of late years the tendency in these, as in the other states, is towards a smaller consumption. The consumption of rice remains about the same from year to year, the average being 9.8 lb., varying from 5.9 lb. in Tasmania to 18.2 lb. in Western Australia. The use of tea is universal in Australia, but there has been a perceptible decline in the quantity used during the last fifteen years. The consumption is largest in Western Australia, with 9.9 lb. per head, while South Australia comes

next with 8.3 lb. per head. Sugar also enters largely into consumption, the average in the two principal states being 109 lb. per head in New South Wales and 95 lb. in Victoria. The figure for Queensland is based on the returns of production and export; the consumption for 1902 appears to have been only 94.1 lb. per head. Coffee is not a universal beverage in Australasia, the consumption being only one-twelfth that of tea. It is used most largely in Western Australia, where the annual demand amounts to 12.8 oz. per head; but, like tea, the consumption of this beverage is not now so great as formerly.

In some of the states the consumption of potatoes per head of population may be less than is shown in the table. It is probable that the high average consumption of 624-7 lb. in Tasmania and 522.5 lb. in New Zealand is caused by the failure of the New South Wales and other continental markets to absorb the production of potatoes in excess of local requirements in those states, with the result that a quantity has to be given to live stock and poultry. Under these circumstances, it is impossible to determine with exactitude the quantity entering into the food consumption of the population.

The consumption of meat has been ascertained with exactness for five of the states, but these may be taken as fairly representing the whole group. The average quantity of beef annually consumed in the Commonwealth amounts to 155.5 lb. per head; of mutton, to 94.1 lb.; and of pork, 13.0 lb. ; in all, 262-6 lb. It would thus appear that each inhabitant requires daily nearly three-quarters of a pound of meat, and that during the year two sheep are killed for each member of the community, and one bullock to every five persons. It is obvious, therefore, that much meat must be wasted. The consumption in New Zealand cannot be accurately determined, but it is probable that about 212.5 lb. of meat is the average annual consumption per inhabitant, of which beef comprises 900 lb.; mutton, 1100 lb.; and pork, 12.5 lb.

The quantity of meat used by the Australasian people, as shown by the above figures, is the most remarkable feature of their diet. The consumption per inhabitant in Germany is 64 lb., while in Australia it is nearly four times that quantity. In the United States, a meat exporting country, the consumption is abont three-fifths of that of Australasia. The following table shows the meat consumption per head for the principal countries of the world :

Country.

Judged by the standard of the food consumed, the lot of the population of Australasia appears to be far more tolerable than that of the people of most other countries. This will be seen most clearly from the following table, the particulars given in which, with the exception of the figures referring to Australasia, have been taken from Mulhall's Dictionary of Statistics:

Taking the articles in the foregoing list, with the exception of tea and coffee, and reducing them to a common basis of comparison, it will be found that the amount of thermo-dynamic power capable of being generated by the food consumed in Australasia is only exceeded by that eaten in Germany, Holland, and Belgium. For the purpose of comparison the figures of Dr. Edward Smith, F.R.S., in his well known work on Foods, have been used, and the heat developed has been reduced to the equivalent weight lifted 1 foot high. In estimating the thermo-dynamic effect of food, grain has been reduced to its equivalent in flour, and regard has been paid to the probable nature of the meat consumed. The figures for potatoes are given as they appear in the Dictionary of Statistics; but it is a probable supposition that but a small proportion of the quantity over 400 lb. set down for any country is required for human consumption, and the figures relating to some of the countries-notably the three just mentioned are therefore excessive. The substances specified above are largely supplemented by other foods, both in America and in Europe, but not more so than in these states, and the figures in the

table may be taken as affording an accurate view of the comparative quantity and food value of the articles of consumption in the countries mentioned. To make such a comparison perfectly just, however, the average amount of work which each individual in the community is called upon to perform should be taken into consideration. In Australasia the proportion of women and children engaged in laborious occupations is far smaller than in Europe and America, and the hours of labour of all persons are also less, so that the amount of food-energy required is reduced in proportion. In his Dictionary of Statistics, under the heading of "Diet," Mulhall gives a measure of the aggregate amount of work performed by persons doing physical and mental labour, and it would appear that when burnt in the body the food of an average man should be equal to at least 3,300 foot tons of work daily; of a woman, 2,200; and of a child, 1,100 foot tons. For Australasia the average of all persons would be about 2,000 foot tons, whereas from the table just given it would appear that the amount of work to which the daily food consumed by each individual in Australasia is equivalent is not less than 4,146 foot

tons.

It must be admitted, however, that the method of comparison adopted in the preceding paragraph is not entirely satisfactory, as the functions of various kinds of food have not been considered. Experiments and observations made in Europe show that a standard may be set up by which the amount of nutrients required to maintain different classes of people may be measured. Professor Voit, of Munich, has ascertained that to sustain a labouring man engaged in moderately hard muscular work there are required 118 grams of protein and quantities of carbo-hydrates and fats sufficient with the protein to yield 3,050 calories of energy. There are 454 grams in a pound avoirdupois, and the calorie is the amount of heat that would raise the temperature of 4 lb. of water 1° Fahrenheit. Applying the ascertained values of the various foods, the consumption of which has just been given, it will be found that the daily consumption per inhabitant is equivalent to 105 grams of protein and 3,195 calories, or about the quantity Professor Voit declares to be sufficient for a labouring man. If allowance be made for the fact that only 29 per cent. of the population are adult males, 24 per cent. women, and 47 per cent. children, the quantity of food consumed in Australasia would appear to be far in excess of the actual requirements of the population, and though the excess may be looked upon as so much waste, it is none the less evidence of the condition of a people whose circumstances permit them to indulge in it.

The consumption of many other articles of common use can be ascertained with some exactness, and this is given for the seventeen specified in the following list. In all cases where the commodities are wholly imported the actual quantities entering into consumption can be given; where there is a local manufacture it has been necessary in some instances