maine, 7,990; and Stawell, 5,400. The number of immigrants who came by sea in 1900 was 82,157, comprising 53,559 males and 28,598 females. The emigration for the same year was 83,684. Since the opening of the Western Australian gold-fields there has been an excess of emigration, which was 14,547 in 1896, 6,454 in 1897, 3,789 in 1898, 1,563 in 1899, and 1,427 in 1900.

Queensland shows an annual growth in population in ten years of 2.78 per cent. The population on March 31, 1901, comprised 280,092 males and 223,174 females. There were 9,313 Chinese, including 530 females; 9,327 Polynesians, includ ing 671 females; 939 East Indians and Cingalese, including 12 females; 1,557 males and 230 females of other colored races; and 3,862 male and 2,808 female aborigines, exclusive of those living in a migratory or savage condition. Of the three divisions of Queensland the southern contained 328,390, the central 63,919, and the northern 110,957 inhabitants. The number of immigrants in 1900 was 36,348, inclusive of 1,085 Chinese and 1,760 Pacific islanders; the number of emigrants was 35,433, inclusive of 807 Chinese and 996 Pacific islanders. Brisbane, the state capital, had 119,428 inhabitants on March 31, 1901, inclusive of suburbs. Charters Towers had 20,976; Rockhampton, 19,691; Townsville, 15,506; Ipswich, 15,246; Gympie, 14,431; Toowoomba, 14,087; Maryborough, 12,900.

The population of South Australia showed an increase for the ten years of 1.37 per cent. per annum. It was composed of 184,422 males and 178,182 females. In the northern territory there were 4,890 persons, most of them Chinese coolies, and only 436 of them females. The population of Adelaide, the capital, is about 160,691, inclusive of suburbs. The immigration by sea in 1900 was 31,094, and emigration 30,417.

The population of Western Australia consisted of 112,094 males and 70,459 females. Perth, the capital, contained 36,199 inhabitants; Fremantle, 20,359. The population continues to increase through immigration, mainly from the older colonies. In 1900 the number of immigrants was 24,921, and of emigrants 19,021, giving a net increase of 5,900.

The annual increase of population in Tasmania between 1891 and 1901 was 1.64 per cent. The population on March 31, 1901, consisted of 89,624 males and 82,851 females. Of the total population 136,629 were born in Tasmania, 12.526 in other parts of Australasia, 19,815 in Great Britain and Ireland, 773 in Germany, and 484 were Chinese. The number of immigrants in 1900 was 23,056. The recorded emigration was 22,574, but about 3,000 departures are believed to have been unreported. Hobart had 24,654 inhabitants in 1901; Launceston, 18,022.

The movements of population in the several states in 1900 was as follows:

at

narcotics and the balance from import duties of three kinds-fixed, ad valorem, and composite. New South Wales was expected to pay £2,360,000 of the customs and excise duties; Victoria, £2,410,000; Queensland, £1,404,000; South Australia, £665,000; Western Australia, £800,000; and Tasmania, £370,000. The remainder of the revenue is derived from the postal and defense services, yielding £2,330,750. The expenditure on Commonwealth services was estimated £3,024,106, leaving £6,315,637 to be returned to the states, which receive severally the following amounts: New South Wales, £1,922,491; Vietoria, £1,902,303; Queensland, £961,131; South Australia, £570,524; Western Australia, £656,958; Tasmania, £302,230. The receipts of the Commonwealth for the year ending June 30, 1902, were £11,304,800, of which customs and excise yielded £8,908,300, postal receipts £2,378,700, and miscellaneous sources £17,800. The expenditures of the Federal Government were £3,931,300, leaving £7,373,500 to be distributed among the states.

Commerce and Production.-The value of the foreign trade of the several states in 1900 is shown in the following table:

The area cropped in New South Wales in 1901 was 1.18 per cent. of the total area of the state. Few farms exceed 500 acres. The number of holdings on March 31, 1901, was 69,439, covering 46,856,577 acres which the Government had alienated, and 128,034,958 acres occupied on pastoral leases. The state allows settlers to select land for £1 an acre to be paid in instalments upon to 640 acres in the eastern, and up to 2,560 acres in the central districts. The wheat-crop of 1901 was 16,173,771 bushels, from 1,530,609 acres; the corn-crop, 6,292,745 bushels, from 206,041 acres; the potato-crop, 84,505 bushels. There were 2,343,138 acres cultivated. The produce of tobacco was 1,905 hundredweight; of sugar, 199,118 tons, from 22,114 acres; of wine, 891,190 gallons, besides 11,170 gallons of brandy, from 8,441 acres of vineyards; of table fruits, 4,214 tons. There were 14,965 acres of orange orchards. The live stock in New South Wales on March 31, 1900, comprised 39,811,991 sheep, 1,983,116 cattle, 481,417 horses, and 256,577 hogs. Forests cover one-fourth of the state. The area of the timber reserves and state forests is 5,946,355 acres.

The gold production of New South Wales in 1901 was 270.724 ounces, value £921,282. The quantity of silver-lead ore and metal mined in 1900 was 438.838 tons, valued at £2,513,874. Of silver 774,203 ounces, of the value of £90,243, were produced. The value of copper produced was £425,301. The quantity of coal mined in 1900 was 5,507497 tons, valued at £1,668,911; in 1901, 5,968,426 tons, valued at £2,178,929. The wool exports in 1900 were 221,265,084 pounds, valued at £8,342,612. The value of gold coin exported was £5,389,822; of coal, £1,273.034; of frozen and preserved meat, £829,757; of hides and skins, £756,528; of tallow, £454,505; of leather, £435,560. Of the total imports of New South Wales in 1900 the value of £9,923,117 came from Great Britain, £11.512,685 from Australasian colonies, £1,005,154 from other British possessions, £2,557,961 from the United States,

value of gold 'exports, which reached £5,451,368 in 1899, was £3,799,124 in 1900. Other exports in 1900 were pearl shells of the value of £86,513; pearls, about £20,000; sandalwood, £39,038; timber, £458,461; wool, £270,718; skins, £54,109. Of the total imports £2,743,502 in value came from other Australasian colonies, £2,225,746 from Great Britain, £279,593 from other British possessions, £226,035 from the United States, and £487,302 from other countries; of the total exports £4,268,419 went to Great Britain, £1,125,338 to Australasian colonies, £1,214,756 to other British possessions, £175 to the United States, and £243,366 to other countries.

Of 16,778,000 acres, the area of Tasmania, 4,834,944 acres had up to Dec. 31, 1900, been sold or granted to agricultural settlers, leaving 11,943,056 acres still the property of the Crown, consisting mostly of forest and mineral lands. There were 19,422 persons engaged in agriculture and 1,881 in pastoral pursuits in 1901. The area leased as sheep-runs was 1,206,794 acres. The area under crops in 1901 was 224,352 acres; under grass, 306,180 acres. The yield of wheat, from 51,825 acres, was 110,421 bushels; of oats, from 45,073 acres, 1,406,913 bushels; of potatoes, from 23,068 acres, 93,862 tons; of hay, from 61,541 acres, 94,198 tons; of hops, from 624 acres, 696,679 pounds. One of the most important products is fruit, which was exported, fresh and preserved, to the amount of £279,988. The live stock in 1901 was 31,607 horses, 165,516 cattle, 1,638,956 sheep, and 68,291 pigs. There were 420 licenses on Jan. 1, 1901, for gold, 441 for tin, 29 for coal, 229 for silver, and 102 for copper mines.

The value of gold exported in 1900 was £207,162; of silver and silver ore, £252,080; of copper ore, £901,660; of tin, £270,998; of wool, £261,214; of timber and bark, £71,618; of hops, £19,870. The output of silver and copper ore was 446,436 tons, valued at £1,583,404. The duty levied on imports is on the average 22.44 per cent. The imports of textiles were £436,632 in value in 1900; of hardware, £131,128; of sugar, £114,499; of machinery, £112,044. Of the total value of imports £908,722 came from Victoria, £337,672 from New South Wales, £154,904 from other British possessions, £628,663 from Great Britain, and £43,696 from foreign countries; of the exports £688,600 went to Great Britain, £613,161 to New South Wales, £388,913 to Victoria, £109,088 to other British possessions, and £810,855 to foreign countries.

Irrigation. The stock growers of Australia have been relegated in the older colonies to the semiarid regions, and part of these have been reclaimed for agriculture by irrigation. The colonial governments and private individuals have given attention to securing a water-supply by artificial means for animals, great numbers of which have perished in years of unusual drought. The water-supply has already been increased by artesian borings to such an extent that millions of sheep and cattle are thriving on lands where grazing was formerly impossible. In all Australia on Jan. 1, 1900, there were 1,639,127 horses, 9.678,422 cattle, and 72,624,735 sheep. By Jan. 1, 1901, the Government of New South Wales had completed the sinking of 82 wells, of which 56 flowed spontaneously, 18 required pumps, and 8 were failures. The daily supply of water from these wells is 32,700,000 gallons. It was necessary to drill 4,467 feet in the rainless district west of the mountains in northern New South Wales, at which depth the Dolgelly well gives 745,000 gallons a day. The Kenmare well, on the

arid northern plains, supplies 2,050,000 gallons from a depth of only 1,682 feet. The well at Pera, 1,262 feet deep, gives 300,000 gallons a day, and here and at Native Dog, Barrington, and Cungonia fine crops of lucerne, corn, tobacco, wheat, and sugar-cane have been grown experimentally by irrigation, as well as vegetables and pineapples and other fruits, proving that the soil of the waterless plains of Australia possesses every element of fertility except moisture and offers great prospects for agriculture through irrigation wells. On the desert route from Wanaaring to Milparinka 7 artesian wells now supply 2,300,000 gallons a day. Farther north borings have given satisfactory results. Besides the Government borings private individuals have sunk a great number of wells, yielding in the aggregate a supply of 45,000,000 gallons a day. In Victoria borings have not been generally so successful. Many proved dry, and in many wells that were struck the water was salty and worthless. Nevertheless, success has on the whole repaid the efforts in that state. A remarkable settlement at Mildura, on the river Murray, is peopled by 4,000 emigrants from the British Islands, who in thirteen years have invested over £1,000,000 in the cultivation of vineyards, orange groves, and fruit farms and are making large profits from raisins, currants, and other dried and fresh fruits. A railroad 100 miles in length will connect this community with the trunk line to Melbourne. Here irrigation is supplied not from wells, but from reservoirs in which the river water is stored. The Government of Victoria has proposed united action on the part of Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia for conserving the waters of this river so as to afford adequate irrigation to the northern districts of Victoria and adjacent parts of the neighboring states.

On the plains of Queensland a great future for irrigation is promised. In the western districts water is easily obtained by boring. Up to June 30, 1900, the number of wells sunk was 839, of an average depth of 1,160 feet. The proportion of failures was large, especially in the Government borings, but in many of the wells the flow is exceedingly copious. At Winton, 430 miles from the coast, is a Government well of great depth. One not so deep at Charleville, 420 miles west of Brisbane, yields 3,000,000 gallons daily. The deepest bore, at Bemerah, is 5,045 feet, and 11 others exceed 4,000 feet. There are 151 wells the flow of which exceeds 750,000 gallons a day, and 60 of these give over 1,150,000 gallons. În South Australia the Government has made many attempts to reach water on the arid plains of the interior, but the hope of rendering the desert regions suitable for stock raising has been disappointed. Only 33 wells were found, most of them near the southern border of the desert. On the western frontier a well was sunk on the Nullarbor plains which yields a good supply, and in the remote north, at Kopperamana, a flow of 800,000 gallons a day was obtained at a depth of 3,280 feet. The Government of Western Australia has bored a series of wells on the route to the Coolgardie gold-field and toward the frontier of South Australia, and has extensive operations in progress for increasing the water-supply by this means. The yield of 16 wells is 4,806,000 gallons a day. The deepest bore is 2,000 feet at South Perth, yielding daily 1,120.000 gallons.

Drought has prevailed over the greater part of Australia for five years, more severely in the last three years, and most so in 1902, when it was partially broken in the autumn months.

Near the coast rains have fallen during all this period, but in the northwestern parts of New South Wales and the interior districts of other colonies there are great tracts rented to squatters who have not a single animal left of their flocks and herds. It is estimated that Australia has lost up to 1902 over 30,000,000 sheep from drought, and cattle and horses in proportion. Navigation. The number of vessels entered at the ports of New South Wales during 1900 was 3.626, of 4,094,088 tons, of which 3,248, of 3,487,968 tons, were British and 378, of 606,120 tons, were foreign. The total number cleared was 3.406, of 3,920,801 tons, of which 3,060, of 3.358,524 tons, were British and 346, of 562,277 tons, were foreign. The shipping registered in the state comprised 509 sailing vessels, of 57,982 tons, and 499 steamers, of 73,801 tons. During 1900 there were registered 31 new sailing vessels, of 4.289 tons, and 23 steamers, of 10,445 tons. The number of vessels entered at Victorian ports in the course of 1900 was 2,101, of 2,929,389 tons, and there were cleared 2,134 vessels, of 2,944,192 tons. Of those entered 748, of 360,814 tons, were British, and 1,189, of 1,194,484 tons, colonial, and of the total number cleared 807, of 1.470,710 tons, were British and 1,159, of 1,093,892 tons, colonial.

The number of vessels entered at Queensland ports was 713, of 835,355 tons, of which 54, of 85.470 tons, were entered from British ports and 457, of 557,669 tons, from colonial ports; cleared, 716 vessels, of 819,662 tons, of which 45, of 116,993 tons, were cleared for British and 433, of 482,142 tons, for Australasian ports. The merchant shipping of Queensland consisted in 1900 of 155 sailing vessels, of 10,285 tons, and 93 steamers, of 10,798 tons.

At the ports of South Australia 1,010 vessels, of 1,780,383 tons, were entered and 1,003, of 1.772,253 tons, cleared during 1900. The shipping of this state comprised 216 sailing vessels, of 19,140 tons, and 107 steamers, of 26,945 tons.

There were 769 vessels, of 1,625,696 tons, entered and 747, of 1,606,332 tons, cleared, at Western Australian ports during 1900. The number of sailing vessels registered in Western Australia was 150, of 7,268 tons; of steamers, 29, of 5,249 tons.

At Tasmanian ports 741 vessels, of 618,963 tons, were entered and 743, of 613,955 tons, were cleared during 1900. The shipping registered in Tasmania consisted of 157 sailing vessels, of 8,983 tons, and 47 steamers, of 6,800 tons.

Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. — New South Wales on June 30, 1900, had 2,811 miles of Government railroads, built at a cost of £38,477,269. The gross earnings for the year were £3,163,572, and the operating expenses were £1,769,520, 55.93 per cent. of the gross earnings. There were 71 miles of Government tramways, which cost £1,769,520; gross earnings, £409,724; operating expenses, £341,127, being 83.26 per cent. of the gross earnings.

In Victoria the railroads, all of which belong to the Government, had a total length on July 1. 1900, of 3,218 miles, built at a cost of £39,496,247, which was raised by loans, except £2,803,740 provided out of revenue. The gross earnings in the fiscal year 1900 were £3,025,162, and the expenses were £1,902,540, being 62 per cent. of the receipts, leaving a profit of 2.86 per cent. on the capital expended and 3.06 on the borrowed capital, on which the mean rate of interest is 3.86 per cent. The total deficiency between interest and net earnings has from the beginning amounted to about £9,000,000. The num

ber of passengers in 1900 was 49,332,899; tons of freight carried, 2,998,303.

On Jan. 1, 1901, the length of completed railroads in Queensland was 2,801 miles. The Government has expended in construction £19,526,370. The receipts in 1900 were £1,312,856, and operating expenses were £1,034,880. The total capital expenditure was £21,335,071.

South Australia had 1,883 miles of completed railroads on Jan. 1, 1900, of which 146 miles were in the northern territory. The net earnings average 3 per cent. on the capital. The projected transcontinental line from Adelaide to Port Darwin will have a length of 1,896 miles.

The railroads completed in Western Australia on July 1, 1901, had a total length of 1,978 miles, of which 623 miles belonged to companies. The length of railroads completed in Tasmania up to Dec. 31, 1900, was 594 miles.

The New South Wales post-office in 1900 handled 78,129,384 letters, 1,473,410 postal cards, 51,500,920 newspapers, 13,846,737 packets, and 711,717 parcels, and issued 435,768 money-orders, for the aggregate amount of £1,541,535, and postal notes for £488,484.

The postal traffic of Queensland was 22,681,798 letters, 12,091,809 newspapers, 6,518,215 packets, and 284,154 parcels; revenue, £314,840.

The mails in South Australia carried 20.387,301 letters, 9,956,351 newspapers, and 1,386,624 parcels.

The number of letters forwarded through the post-office of Western Australia during 1900 was 13,162,358; newspapers, 6,992,278; packets, 3,449,

779.

In Tasmania 10,590,454 letters, 6,636,880 newspapers, 317,411 postal cards, and 1,899,870 packets passed through the post-office in 1900; receipts, £84,539; expenses of postal and telegraph service, £99,864.

The length of telegraph-lines in New South Wales on Jan. 1, 1901, was 14,065 miles, with 41,494 miles of wire. The cost of construction was £1,132,626. The number of telegrams sent in 1900 was 3,219,907. Receipts were £518,401, and the net earnings were £174,895.

In Victoria there were 6,772 miles of telegraphs, with 15,533 miles of wire. The number of messages in 1900 was 1,906,506; net revenue, £110,353. There were 16,748 miles of telephone wires and 5,136 subscribers.

The length of telegraph-lines in Queensland on Dec. 31, 1900, was 10,221, with 19,308 miles of wire. The number of messages during 1900 was 1,231,155, not including 132,992 official messages and 194,136 foreign messages received; receipts were £104,441, and the postal and telegraph expenses were £370,175.

South Australia had 5,742 miles of telegraph and telephone lines on Jan. 1, 1901, with 17.543 miles of wire, including the line of 2,000 miles across the continent connecting Adelaide with the British Australian cable at Port Darwin. The Government derives a net profit from the telegraphs.

Western Australia had 6,052 miles of telegraphline, with 8,872 miles of wire, on Jan. 1, 1901. The number of messages sent during 1900 was 1,167,197; net revenue, £75,014; expenses of posts and telegraphs, £248,877.

The telegraphs of Tasmania had a length of 2,090 miles, with 3,793 miles of wire, besides 438 miles of cable on Jan. 1, 1901. The number of despatches in 1900 was 255,793. There were 1,193 miles of telephone wire; receipts from telegraphs and telephones, £22.819.

The New Zealand section of the British Pacific

cable, the branching off at Norfolk island, was laid before the end of March, 1902, and a few days later the section from Norfolk island to Fiji was in place. From Fiji it was carried to Fanning island, near Hawaii, and there joined to the cable laid from West Coast inlet, British Columbia.

Defense. The military forces of the 6 states forming the Commonwealth had a total strength on June 30, 1900, of 23,553 men, of whom 1,592 were paid, 14,291 partly paid, and 7,670 unpaid. New South Wales had in 1900 a regular force of 726 men, volunteer forces numbering 8,505, of whom 5,336 received some payment, and reservists and rifle clubs numbering 3,004 men. Victoria had a permanent force of 396 men, 3,404 militia, and 3,085 volunteers. In Queensland every able-bodied man is by law liable to military duty, and besides a regular force of 300 men there are about 2,500 militia who receive pay while undergoing drill, 1,200 volunteers to whom uniforms and arms are furnished, and 4,000 citizens organized in rifle clubs and provided with arms and ammunition by the state. South Australia has a defense force of 195 officers and 2,826 men, including reserves, besides which there are 1,017 members of rifle clubs and 353 armed police who may be called out for military service in an emergency. Western Australia has 5 battalions of rifles and 3 batteries of volunteer artillery, and 1 battery of permanent artillery stationed at Albany, the total force numbering 135 officers and 2,561 men. Tasmania has a volunteer defense force of 2,726 officers and men. Major-Gen. E. T. H. Hutton, commander of the military forces of the Commonwealth, reported to Sir John Forrest, Minister of Defense, that the total number of troops available was 29,571, consisting of 15,470 men in the garrison corps and a field force of 14,101 men with 60 guns. It was proposed to increase the latter to 28,748 men on the war footing, giving a total of 44,218, the field force to consist of 6 brigades of light horse and 3 brigades of infantry, with field-artillery and engineers in the latest approved proportion. The geographical position of Australia renders it less liable to attack than most parts of the British Empire, but Australian interests outside of Australia are peculiarly open to foreign

interference.

It is impossible for an expedition from an enemy's base in Asia, Africa, or Europe to land in Australia unless the British navy has first been defeated. Nevertheless, it is important to guard against raids made for the purpose of extorting an indemnity, destroying commerce, or obtaining coal. Therefore the security of the naval bases must be insured, and arrangements are necessary to concentrate the available troops at any threatened point. Hence the early extension of the railroad into Western Australia is desirable. A military college for the training of officers, the development of rifle clubs, and the establishment of arsenals for the manufacture of arms and ammunition are recommended, and the sum of £500,000 is required to provide arms and complete the equipment of the field and garrison troops. The abolition of some of the militia and volunteer regiments and the absorption of their members into other corps, in conjunction with a heavy curtailment of the naval force, provided a way for a reduction in the military expenditure, as was promised to Parliament by the ministry. Proposals for military contributions toward the cost of imperial defense have not been well received in Australia. The suggestion that the states should contribute according to their population is regarded as a

species of taxation without representation. The financial limitations imposed by the Constitution preclude the Commonwealth from undertaking its full share of the defense of the Empire, but the Australians will equip themselves to defend their own shores.

The chief ports of Australia are fortified, and fortresses have been built at Thursday island and King George's Sound at the joint expense of the imperial and colonial governments. In the beginning of 1902 there were 12 vessels of the British royal navy stationed in Australasia, with headquarters at Sydney. Besides these there are the vessels built for Australasia under the Australasian naval force act of 1887, 5 cruisers of 2,575 tons and 2 torpedo gunboats of 735 tons, for which the Australasian colonies pay £35,000 a year as interest on the cost of construction and £91,000 for maintenance on condition that these vessels be not withdrawn in war time. But they have become obsolete, and other schemes are under discussion. The British Admiralty propose the abolition of the entire Australian fleet and the payment of an increased cash subsidy by Australia toward the cost of the imperial navy. In Australia opinion favors the formation of an Australian fleet that shall form part of the imperial navy and be under the commander-in-chief on the Australian station, a scheme recommended to the Commonwealth Parliament by Capt. Crosswell, naval commandant in Queensland.

The Commonwealth Parliament.-The Federal Parliament, as well as the parliaments of the principal states, was dominated to a great extent by the Labor party, which was represented by some of the ablest politicians and could control legislation, although it has not an actual majority.

The approval of Parliament was obtained for the principle of a fair day's wages for a fair day's work, a day of eight hours and a minimum wage, which was already fixed at 78. a day in New South Wales, where the state Government undertook to give public employment to all laborers who could not obtain that rate from private employers. That Australia must be a white man's country was one of the prime demands upon the Commonwealth Parliament, because if Asiatics and other colored laborers are allowed to enter Australia in numbers they will soon demoralize the labor market. The Chinese were already effectually excluded by the enormous head-tax imposed by the state governments. Parliament was asked to exclude and expel Kanakas, Hindus, Japanese, and all others of alien race. The sugar growers of Queensland declared that their industry would perish if they were not allowed to employ Kanakas, who performed labor that white men could not be called upon to do, and who were kindly treated and able to save considerable sums out of their wages. The exclusion law against the Kanakas ordered the deportation of those, already in Australia, disregarding the guarantees given to them and making no provi sion for getting them a living on their return to the islands from which they came. A law excluding Japanese was passed, although the conductors of the pearl-shell fisheries in Torres Straits threatened to remove their fleets to Dutch New Guinea and continue pearling with Japanese divers outside of the 3-mile limit. The Premier suspended the operation of the act, so far as it affects the pearl-shell fisheries, pending an inquiry. The earliest law against colored labor was one insisting that in carrying out contracts with the Government only white workers should be employed. This roused a protest from steam