During the past forty years prices of food stuffs have changed very slightly, such changes as there have been tending in the direction of a reduction. The average of 1896-1900 was less than in any previous period, but in 1901-2 there was a considerable increase, and prices ruled higher than in any period since 1861-65. Little practical good can be gained by comparing the prices of one period with those of another, unless regard is also paid to the earnings of labour, and as means of comparison are afforded in the chapter of this work dealing with wages, it will be unnecessary to pursue the subject further in this chapter.

PRICE-LEVELS OF IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.

The following tables have been compiled with the object of showing to what extent Australia has been affected by the variation in the prices of commodities imported and exported during the past forty-one years. The figures refer to New South Wales alone, but they may be accepted as also indicating in a fairly accurate degree the position in which the other states of Australasia stand in regard to this matter. The total value of the exports of each of the states is greatly affected by the prices obtained for certain leading lines of raw produce, of which wool, wheat and flour, tallow, silver and silver lead, hides, leather, tin, copper, coal, fruit, butter, sugar, meat and timber are the most important. The value of these articles represents a total of about seventeen and a half millions or ninety per cent. of the total export of domestic produce.

In the subjoined table the price-level of domestic exports is given for the forty-one years beginning with 1860. In order to ascertain the price-level, all the principal articles of domestic produce exported have been taken, the prices of 1902 have been applied to the quantities of each of the other years, and the result has been compared with the actual total of such year: the level of the year being found by dividing the actual sum obtained into the amount which would have been obtained had the prices of 1902 prevailed. The average for 1902 is assumed to be 1,000, the price-levels or index numbers of the other years being as shown in the table. In order to further facilitate comparison, the average of the five years 1870-74 has been assumed to be 1,000, and the prices of other years have been adjusted to that basis. The average of these years has been taken because the question is frequently raised as to the comparative prices of commodities before and after the demonetisation of silver by Germany in 1873. In compiling the pricelevel for exports, only articles of insignificant value have been omitted from consideration, and in no year does the value of articles excluded form more than 15 per cent. of the total exports, while in some years the proportion falls as low as 5 per cent., the average of all years being about 10 per cent. It is considered that this system enables a more

reliable estimate of the relative prices to be obtained than that of selecting the prices of certain articles without giving due weight to the quantities of such articles exported.

These figures show that there has been a great fall in the prices of Australian produce exported since 1860, or still greater since 1864, viz., from the index number 1,316 to 700, or nearly 47 per cent. Marked fluctuations, ranging to about 10 per cent., occurred between 1860 and 1866, when the index number was about the same as in the first-named year. From 1866 to 1870 there was a drop from 1,249 to 879, or about 30 per cent. A rise followed in 1871 to 1,075, or about 22 per cent., after which for four years prices continued fairly steady, until there was a further decline to 887 in 1878. In 1879 the level rose to 921 and for the next four years prices continued without much change, but from 1884 to 1885 there was a fall from 919 to 806. This was succeeded by a fairly even range until 1889, when the level stood at 785. From 1889 there was a steep decline to 532 in 1894, a fall of 32 per cent. for the five years, but in 1895 and 1896 prices recovered a little, and the level rose to 573- an advance of 7.7 per cent. In 1897 there was again a slight fall from 573 to 557, equivalent to 2.8 per cent., but in 1898 the level rose to 590, and in 1899 to 736, a rise of 32 per cent. for the two years. The sharp rise in 1899 was entirely due to the improved price obtained for wool, and the fluctuation in the last three years has been mainly caused by the varying price of that commodity.

It will be seen that the purchasing power of money has steadily increased since 1864 and that 20s. in 1902 would purchase the same articles of domestic export which in 1864 would have cost 37s. 7d., prices having fallen 46.8 per cent. during the period of thirty-eight years. The greatest decline has taken place in the three staple exports of wool, silver, and coal, many of the minor articles having maintained or increased their price during the last fifteen years.

It must not be supposed that Australia has been a loser by the fall in the prices of its exports to the extent which the price-level shows, because the power of the exports to purchase imports must also be taken into consideration. It will, therefore, be necessary to consider also the price-level of imports. As there exist no reliable data on which pricelevels for imports can be based prior to 1870, the table commences with that year :

It may be said generally that the fall in prices was somewhat in favour of the exports up to the year 1889. Since then the exports have fallen away on the average values at a much more rapid rate than the imports. A clearer view of the operation of the fall in prices will be obtained from the table which is given below, showing the price-levels of imports of merchandise for home consumption and exports of domestic

produce, for periods of five years to the end of 1899, and for the three years ended with 1902, with the relative fall per cent. :

It will be seen that, assuming the index number of the five years 1870-74 to be 1,000, the fall in the succeeding five years was 8.5 per cent. for the imports, as compared with 6 per cent. for the exports. The average value of the imports for the five years ending with 1884 was 5.9 per cent. less than in the preceding quinquennial period, whereas the difference in the value of the exports was 2.9 per cent. During the next five years the average value of the imports declined 8.5 per cent., while the fall in the value of the exports was no less than 13.8 per cent., so that the index number for 1885-89 for both imports and exports was practically the same figure. As already mentioned, the fall for the period 1890-94 was much more heavy in regard to the exports than the imports, amounting to 18 as compared with 6.5 per cent.; but during the period 1895-99 the fall in the exports was not much greater than that in the imports, 70 per cent. compared with 5-8 per cent. In the last three years the exports have risen by 13.3 per cent., and the imports by 8.1 per cent., so that the last two periods were the most favourable, as far as prices go, that have been experienced in Australia for many years. The Australian states and New Zealand are chiefly affected by the fall in prices because they are debtor countries. In the chapter on "Private Finance" will be found certain calculations showing that the annual charge payable by the states and municipalities on their indebtedness to British creditors is £12,359,000, while the earnings of investments made in Australasia by private persons, or drawn by absentees, amount to £5,250,000 per annum. As the whole of the interest on Government and municipal loans has to be paid by exports, irrespective of the fall in prices, and as a large portion also of the interest payable to private investors is in the same category, the fall is a matter of very serious importance to these states. Fortunately the increase of production, as compared with the population, has been large enough in normal. seasons to counteract the fall in prices, and if the change in regard to the price of Australian produce which began in 1895 be continued, the condition of these states will be in every respect more hopeful.

IN

LAND AND SETTLEMENT.

N each of the Commonwealth States and New Zealand a different system has been adopted to secure the settlement of an industrial population upon the Crown lands, the conditions upon which land may be acquired being of a more or less liberal nature according to the circumstances in which the province has found itself placed. The legislation of Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania, which at one time formed part of New South Wales, bears a strong resemblance to that of the mother state, practically the same form of conditional occupation with deferred payments being in existence in all four states. In the other provinces, however, the influence of New South Wales was not so directly felt, and new experiments were made. South Australia, for instance, was originally settled upon the Wakefield system-alike remarkable for its originality and its failure. In Western Australia and New Zealand, under pressure of a different set of circumstances, settlement was effected by legislation of a novel character. An attempt is made here to give a description of the Land Laws of Australasia, although the radical changes which are constantly being made render the task of giving a serviceable account of the various systems a somewhat difficult one. During the past ten years, numerous Acts affecting State lands have been placed on the statute book, so that it is impossible to say how long the information given in this chapter can be taken as representing the latest phases of land legislation in Australasia.

NEW SOUTH WALES.

With the progress and development of the state, the Land Laws of New South Wales have naturally undergone considerable alteration. In the earliest period alienation was effected by grants, orders, and dedications, the power of disposal resting solely with the Governor. In August, 1831, the principle of sale by auction was introduced, the minimum price for country lands being fixed at 5s. per acre. This was raised to 12s. in 1839, and to 20s. in 1843, power being given in the latter year to select, at the upset price, country portions for which a bid was not forthcoming at auction, or upon which the deposit paid at the time of sale had been forfeited. This was the first appearance of the principle of selection in the laws of the state, but it was limited to lands which had been surveyed for sale by auction.

The discovery of gold in 1851, and the consequent rush of population to Australia, greatly altered the conditions of colonisation. As the interest in gold-digging declined, so did the desire for settlement on the land increase, and the question had to be dealt with in an entirely new spirit, to meet the wants of the class of immigrants desirous of being