per 10,000 living. Western Australia and Queensland, which have the most scattered populations, show the largest rates, while South Australia, where accidents seem always to have been less frequent than in the other states, shows the lowest rate. The most common accidents appear to be fractures, contusions, and drowning, the last mentioned causing a large number of deaths in Queensland every year, the high rate during 1886-90 in that state being due to the great number of people (340) who were drowned in 1890. MARRIAGES. The number of marriages and the marriage-rate per thousand of the population for each state during the year 1903 are shown below: During 1903 the marriage-rate of the Commonwealth decreased from 7.24 to 6.63 per thousand, and of New Zealand from 7.37 to 6.91, but taking the last three years the rates were higher than the average for the preceding ten years, and this may be looked upon as a sure sign of returning prosperity. The number of marriages in each state and in the whole of Australasia, in quinquennial periods from 1861 to 1900, and for the years 1901-3 was as follows: State. New South Wales Queensland South Australia 1861- 1866- 1871- 1876- 1881- 1886- 1891- 1896- 19011865. 1870. 1875. 1880. 1885. 1890. 1895. 1900. 1903 16,920 18,271 | 21,210 | 25,904 35,737 38,671 39,924 45,909 30,783 6,226 6,435 6,276 Western Australia 765 3,340 828 3,143 835 3,290 978 4,087 Commonwealth New Zealand Australasia 53,177 56,227 63,451 74,533 99.454 113,399 108.709 125,075 81,656 7,240 9,955 12,050 16,220 18,102 18,097 20,210 26,418 19,237 60,417 66,182 75,501 90,753 117,556 131,496 128,919 151,493 100,893 The average marriage-rates for each state during the same periods are given below. The table shows the ratio of marriages to population; to ascertain the ratio of persons married it is necessary to double the figures: -- During the five years ended 1895 the marriage-rate fell considerably in Australasia. With the exception of New Zealand it was lower in every state than during the preceding quinquennial period, and lower everywhere than during the five years 1881-85, but during the last five years the rate rose again in every state except South Australia. This is another proof of the truth of the oft-repeated statement that commercial depression always exerts an adverse influence on the marriage-rate. The abnormal rise in the case of Western Australia is what might be expected from the large number of men whom the industrial activity in that state has placed in a position to take upon their shoulders the responsibility of a household. As marriage is the great institution by which the birth-rate is -controlled, and through which the population is regulated, it will not be out of place to consider the fertility of marriages in Australasia. The two chief elements influencing this are the age at marriage of the parents, especially of the mother, and the duration of married life. The mean age at marriage of bridegrooms in Australasia is a little over 29 years, and of brides about 24.5 years, and it is known that these ages have been increasing for some years past. As regards the duration of married life, it is not possible to speak with certainty; all that is known is that the length of lifetime of married persons surpasses that of the unmarried-both male and female. The fertility of marriages is reckoned by the number of children to each marriage; and as the difference between the mean age of mothers and the mean age of brides in Australia is between 5 and 6 years, the average number of children to a marriage has been computed for the following table by dividing the number of legitimate births during each quinquennium by the number of marriages during the preceding five Western Australia has been excluded from the table during the period from 1890 to 1900, as the sudden influx of population, consequent on the discovery of the gold-fields, unduly increased the number of births to be divided by the number of marriages of the preceding five years, and would have made the marriages of that state appear more fertile than they really are. Of course, the above means of determining the fecundity of marriages is only to be used in the absence of more direct methods; still the results cannot be very far from the truth, as is proved by the case of New South Wales, where accurate computations have shown the number of children to be expected from the present marriages to be only 3.64. The table shows that, on the whole, the fertility of marriages has been steadily declining since 1885, which bears out what has been before remarked in dealing with this question. Particulars relative to divorce in Australasia will be found in the chapter headed "Social Condition." SHIPPING. THE HE earliest date for which there is reliable information in regard to the shipping of the states now constituting the Commonwealth of Australia, and also of the colony of New Zealand is the year 1822. Since that time the expansion of the trade has been marvellous, and although population has increased at a high rate, yet the growth of shipping has been even more rapid. In the table given below the increase in the number and tonnage of vessels may be traced. The shipping of New Zealand is treated separately, and all tonnage of this colony, of course, is shown, but it is necessary to point out that the figures for the Commonwealth of Australia include the interstate traffic, and are, therefore, of little value in a comparison between the shipping trade of Australia and that of other countries, as the vessels plying between the various states represent merely coasting trade when the Commonwealth is considered as a whole. This distinction is to be kept in view throughout the chapter. In the year 1822 all the settlements on the mainland were comprised in the designation of New South Wales, and as late as 1859 Queensland formed part of that state. Thus an exact distribution of shipping amongst the states comprising the Commonwealth of Australia can be made only for the period subsequent to the year last named. Such a division of the total tonnage entered and cleared is shown in the following table for the five census years commencing with 1861, and for the year 1903. The tonnage of 1891 exceeded that of any preceding year. This result was not altogether due to the actual requirements of the trade of that year, as, in consequence of the maritime strike, a large quantity of goods remained unshipped at the close of 1890, and helped to swell the returns for the succeeding twelve months. It was not until 1895 that the tonnage of 1891 was again reached; but since 1895 there has been a great expansion of shipping, and 1903 showed not only the largest total tonnage recorded but, with the exception of Western Australia, the greatest for each individual state. Below will be found the proportion of the tonnage of each state to the total shipping of the Commonwealth of Australia in each of the years quoted above: |