In explanation of the large sum expended on justice administration in New South Wales, it has been stated by the department that the clerks of petty sessions perform many duties such as those of electoral registrars, registrars of births, deaths, and marriages, crown lands agents, mining registrars, &c., which, in the other states, are performed by separate officers, while many of the magistrates act as mining wardens, wardens' clerks, and mining registrars, &c. Then, again, there are in New South Wales 54 Courts of Quarter Sessions as compared with 30 in Victoria, and the expenditure on administration and on jurors' and witnesses' fees is of necessity higher in the mother state. The charges incidental to the Coroners' Courts also form a heavy item in the New South Wales expenditure. Further, there are in New South Wales 62 magistrates and 91 clerks of petty sessions, these officers in Victoria numbering 19 and 57 respectively. The foregoing items, however, only partly explain the high expenditure in New South Wales, and there is still much to be accounted for.

The expenditure per inhabitant in each state, and in the Commonwealth, for the year 1903 was as follows:

It will be seen that, in proportion to population, the total cost, as well as the expenditure per head on each service, was much higher in Western Australia than in any of the other states. This of course is. only to be expected, if regard be paid to the peculiar industrial conditions of that state, and also to the fact that the provision for efficient police protection must necessarily entail a heavy expenditure in a large and sparsely-peopled country. In considering the above figures, allowance must be made for the fact that the functions of the justice official's are not identical in all the states, but in compiling the above table, so far as it was possible, all expenditure not directly connected with the administration of justice has been eliminated.

RAILWAYS.

O the proper development of a country like Australasia, ill-supplied with navigable rivers, railway construction is absolutely essential. This has been recognised from an early period, and for the last forty years the Governments of the principal states have been fully alive to the importance of carrying on the work. For a long time, however, they were hampered in their efforts by the difficulty of borrowing money in London at a reasonable rate of interest; but since the year 1871 considerable progress has been made in the work of construction; indeed, by far the greater portion of the public debt of Australasia has beer contracted for railway purposes. As the area of the six states and New Zealand almost equals that of Europe or the United States of America, while the population numbers a little over four and a half millions, it is almost needless to say that many of the lines run through districts very sparsely peopled. This is particularly the case in the states of Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia, where there are vast tracts of territory in which little in the nature of permanent settlement has yet been accomplished, and in none of the states can it be said that the railway lines traverse thickly-settled areas. Indeed, if a fault may be found with the state policy pursued in the past, it is that in some cases expensive lines have been laid down in empty country the requirements of which could have been effectually met for many years to come by light and cheap lines, and that in consequence the railway administrators find themselves heavily burdened with a number of unprofitable lines. A few of these have been closed, and the remainder are worked at a loss. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, however, the railways of the Commonwealth of Australia collectively yield a net return equal to 3.08 per cent., and those of Australasia 3·15 per cent. on the cost of construction.

HISTORY OF RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

An agitation for the introduction of the railway into the colony of New South Wales was afoot as early as 1846, and in August of that year it was decided at a public meeting held in Sydney to survey a line to connect the capital with Goulburn. But no decided step was taken towards construction until September, 1848, when the Sydney Railroad and Tramway Company was formed for the purpose of laying down a line between Sydney and Parramatta and Liverpool, to be after wards extended to Bathurst and to Goulburn. The first sod was turned by the Hon. Mrs. Keith Stewart, daughter of Sir Charles Fitzroy, the Governor of the colony, on the 3rd July, 1850. Although started during a period of trade depression, when there was an abundant supply of

labour, the scheme was only well under weigh when the discovery of gold caused a stampede from the city, and the company was left without I workmen to carry on the undertaking. Undeterred, however, by the difficulties into which the changing conditions of the country had plunged the Sydney Railroad and Tramway Company, private enterprise in 1853 essayed the further task of constructing a line between Newcastle and Maitland; but this project proved no more successful than the other, and in the following year the Government was forced to step in and carry out the schemes for which the two companies had been promoted. From that time the work of construction was vigorously pressed forward, and on the 26th September, 1855, the line from Sydney to Parramatta, 14 miles in length, was opened to traffic; and on the 11th April, 1857, Newcastle was connected with East Maitland. The extension to Goul burn of the Sydney line was completed on the 27th May, 1869.

While the Sydney Railroad and Tramway Company was endeavouring to surmount the obstacles that had arisen in its path, the work of railway construction was begun in the neighbouring state of Victoria, no fewer than three private companies being promoted in 1853 for that purpose. Material assistance in the shape of land grants and guarantee of interest was afforded by the Government; and on the 13th September, 1854, the first completed railway in Australasia, a line extending from Flinders-street, Melbourne, to Port Melbourne, was opened to traffic. It had been begun nearly three years after the line to connect Sydney with Parramatta, but was only 2 miles long. No further mileage was brought into operation until May 13, 1857, when the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company, which had constructed the first line,. effected communication with St. Kilda; and on the 17th June of the same year a line from Williamstown to Geelong, 39 miles in length, which had been built by another company, was declared open. Meanwhile the Government of the state had not remained inactive. In addition to assisting private enterprise with liberal concessions, it had taken over in 1855 an unfinished line started by the third of the companies referred to, and was carrying on the work of construction on its own account.. By the year 1863 it had acquired all the lines in the state with theexception of those owned by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Company, which were not purchased until the year 1878.

Although a line from Goolwa to Port Elliot, 6 miles in length, overwhich the locomotive now passes, was opened on the 18th May, 1854, it was at that time merely a horse tramway; and the first railway in South Australia was a line connecting the city with Port Adelaide, 7} miles long, which was thrown open to traffic on the 21st April, 1856. The following year saw a railway constructed as far north as Gawler; while on the 1st October, 1889, a line from Palmerston to Pine Creek, in the Northern Territory, which had been built by the South Australian Government, was opened, the length being 145 miles.

The northern state of Queensland had enjoyed the privilege of selfgovernment for several years when, early in 1864, a line to connect

Ipswich with Grandchester was commenced, and on the 31st July of the same year it was opened.

Although the Tasmanian Parliament granted a sum of £5,000 in 1863 for the survey of a line to connect Hobart with Launceston, the first railway in the island was one between Launceston and Deloraine, 45 miles in length, which was opened on the 10th February, 1871, having been commenced three years before. It was built by a private company, to whose capital, however, the Government had subscribed eight-ninths of the total amount of £450,000, on condition that the interest should be a first charge on the net receipts, and on the 3rd August, 1872, the line passed entirely into the ownership of the state. Communication between Hobart and Launceston was effected in 1876 by the completion of a line, connecting the southern city with Evandale Junction, which was constructed by an English company. The last of the states comprised in the Commonwealth to introduce the railway was Western Australia, where a line from the port of Geraldton to Northampton was begun during 1874 and opened in 1878. The commencement of railway construction in New Zealand was due to an agitation on the part of the settlers of Canterbury, who were desirous of facilitating communication between the city of Christchurch and the port of Lyttleton. The first portion of the line, as far as Ferrymead Junction, was brought into use on the 1st December, 1863.

The progress of railway construction, except, perhaps, in the state of Victoria, was anything but rapid during the earlier years. This was in a great measure owing to the sparseness of the population and the natural fear that the return would not justify the expenditure which would have to be incurred in making lengthy extensions of the lines. It was also due, as previously pointed out, to the low estimation in which Australasian securities were held in London, and the consequent high rate of interest at which money for railway construction had to be borrowed. Since the year 1871, however, all the states and New Zealand have made satisfactory progress. In the following table will be found the length of line opened during each year, excluding coal, timber, and other lines which are not open to general traffic, and the total mileage at the close of the working year:—