PREFACE.

THE following pages aim at giving an idea of the progress and present condition of the seven colonies of Australasia, such as may be gathered from an account of which statistics are the basis. The information given extends back, in some instances, to the very beginning of settlement; but, as a rule, the year 1861 has been made the starting-point of the comparisons that serve to illustrate the text, as that year was the first in which a census was taken after the acquisition of responsible Government by all the colonies except Western Australia, and also because it virtually marks the beginning of the present system of Australasian colonisation, which began to take shape after the subsidence of the excitement following on the great gold discoveries of the fifties.

At the beginning of the year 1861, the population of Australasia, excluding the uncivilised native races, numbered 1,221,274, which is less than that of New South Wales at the present time, and but little greater than that of Victoria. The increase of population from 1861 to 1898 has been at the rate of about 3.53 per cent. per annum. During the greater part of this period the country largely gained by immigration; indeed, the stream of population was fairly well maintained until the close of 1891. It is a noteworthy fact that the years of the greatest prosperity of Australasia have also been those when the country received the largest accession of population from abroad; and though it cannot be said that the influx of population brought prosperity, it can fairly be assumed that the stream of immigration which was induced by the prosperity of the colonies tended to keep alive and stimulate the conditions without which national progress would have been impossible. The following is a statement of the population at the beginning of the years stated :—

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The Australasian people are mainly of British and Irish origin. Of the 3,762,410 persons whose birthplaces were ascertained at the census of 1891, 2,561,865 were of Australasian birth, while 589,683 were natives of England and Wales, 274,583 of Ireland, and 175,734 of Scotland, and 18,354 of other British possessions. The natives of Continental Europe and the United States numbered 101,689, and the Chinese, 40,502. Excluding the Chinese, who are not permanent settlers, and who do not intermarry with the general population, it may be claimed that over 95 per cent. of the population of the seven colonies are of British or Irish birth or descent.

The conditions of life are more favourable in Australasia than in any other country. The excess of births over deaths is somewhat less than 19 per thousand inhabitants. For the United Kingdom, it is a little over 11 per thousand; while the average European rate hardly reaches 10 per thousand.

The tonnage of shipping entered from and cleared for Great Britain and other ports outside of Australasia has very largely increased :—

Equally rapid has been the increase in the intercolonial shipping

In point of trade, Sydney is the fourth seaport of the British Empire, being exceeded in the value of its imports and exports by London, Liverpool, and Hull; Melbourne ranks sixth, following Glasgow, which is below Sydney. In the matter of tonnage entering, both Sydney and Melbourne stand very high, but not so high as in regard to the value of their trade.

The value of exports and imports is greatly relied upon by statisticians as giving a measure of a country's progress. The external trade of Australasia-that is, the value of imports and exports taken together

The fall shown between 1891 and 1897 is due to a decline in values, and not to a decrease in the quantities of goods exchanged. The decline, however, has been over the whole period, as will be seen below. The figures represent the value of a like quantity of exports in various years, the prices of 1897 being taken as equalling 1,000:—

It will be seen that what would have brought 44s. 8d. in 1861, 38s. 7d. in 1871, 32s. 2d. in 1881, and 24s. 9d. in 1891, brought only 20s. in 1897.

The trade between the colonies suffered also from the fall in values, but the volume was well maintained. The imports and exports, taken together, were :--

From the earliest days wool has been the great staple of Australasia. The wool clip is nearly all exported, and the total for each period was:

Australasia is eminently a pastoral country. It contains nearly onefourth of the sheep of the world, as well as more cattle and horses in proportion to the population than any other country, while the numbers of its flocks are still increasing

The total value of pastoral property, excluding land devoted to grazing, is £237,438,000, while the value of stock alone is £114,854,000. Australasia has long maintained with Europe a trade in preserved meats, but the more important industry of chilled or frozen meat was initiated in 1882. The value of meat products exported was:

Dairying for export is also an industry of recent establishment, and one which has the promise of a great future. The growth of the trade may be gauged from the following figures, showing the export of butter to the United Kingdom :

The area devoted to the plough has increased nearly sevenfold since