Government endowment-was £4,208,184, or £1 1s. 5d. per inhabitant. For the six Commonwealth states and New Zealand the expenditure by the general government from revenue was £35,561,946 or £7 9s. 4d. per inhabitant, and from loans £7,544,831, or £1 11s. 8d. per inhabitant; while the local expenditure, exclusive of government endowment, amounted to £6,582,743, or £1 7s. 7d. per inhabitant.

The following table shows the general, loan, and local expenditure for each state

The expenditure per inhabitant, under the same classification, will be found below. The distribution of the expenditure for New South Wales, between general and local government, is to some extent misleading, as 38 per cent. of the population lives outside the boundaries of the municipalities:

737

POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS.

THE first Australasian post-office was established by Governor Macquarie in the year 1810, Mr. Isaac Nichols being appointed Postmaster. The office was in High-street (now known as George-street), Sydney, at the residence of Mr. Nichols, who was, "in consideration of the trouble and expense attendant upon this duty," allowed to charge on delivery to the addressee 8d. for every English or foreign letter of whatever weight, and for every parcel weighing not more than 20 lb., ls. 6d., and exceeding that weight, 3s. The charge on colonial letters was 4d., irrespective of weight; and soldiers' letters, or those addressed to their wives, were charged 1d. Very little improvement in regard to postal matters took place for some years.

In 1825 an Act was passed by Sir Thomas Brisbane, with the advice of the Council, "to regulate the postage of letters in New South Wales," giving power for the establishment of post-offices, and to fix the rates of postage. It was not, however, until 1828 that the provisions of the Act were put into full force. The rates of postage appear to have depended upon the distance and the difficulty of transmission. The lowest single inland rate was 3d., and the highest 12d., the postage on a letter increasing according to its weight, which was fixed for a single letter at ounce. Letters between New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land were charged 3d. each (ship rate), and newspapers 1d. Other ship letters were charged 4d. single rate, and 6d. for any weight in excess. The privilege of franking was allowed to the Governor and a number of the chief public officials, and letters to and from convicts passed free under certain regulations.

In 1831 a twopenny post was established in Sydney; and in 1835, under Sir Richard Bourke, the Act of 1825 was repealed and another Act was passed, fixing the charge on a single letter at 4d. for 15 miles, 5d. for 20 miles, 6d. for 30 miles, and so on up to 1s. for 300 miles. In 1837 a post-office was established in Melbourne, and a fortnightly mail was established between that city and Sydney. Stamps were introduced in the same year in the shape of stamped covers or envelopes, which are believed to have been the first postage-stamps ever issued. By 1838 there were 40 post-offices in the state of New South Wales, which at that time, of course, included the territory now known as Victoria and Queensland; and in the Sydney office about 15 persons were employed. The revenue of the Department for the year was

2 A

£8,390, and the expenditure £10,347; while payments were made by the New South Wales Government to the post office at Kororareka, in New Zealand, which was not created a separate colony until 1841. In 1847 an overland mail between Sydney and Adelaide was established. Stamps in their present form were issued in 1849, and the postage rates were fixed at 1d. per oz. for town and 2d. for country letters, at which they remain in most of the states to-day.

Regular steam mail communication with Great Britain was first established in 1852. Until that time the Australian colonies had to depend upon the irregular arrival and despatch of sailing vessels for the carriage of mails; but in the year mentioned the steamships Australia, Chusan, and Great Britain were despatched from England, making the voyage in 60 days, and causing a strong desire in the minds of the colonists for a more frequent and steady system of steam communication with the Old World. The outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854 hindered for a while the accomplishment of this object; but in 1856 a line of steamers was again laid on, and the service was carried on by the Peninsular and Oriental Company and the Royal Mail Company for some years, but without giving so much satisfaction to the public as might have been expected.

As far back as 1854 a proposal was made for the establishment of a line of mail packets via Panama, and negotiations on the subject were carried on for several years between the British Government and the Governments of New South Wales and New Zealand. The result was that in 1866 the service was started, and continued in operation until the end of 1868, when it was terminated through the failure of the company by which it had been carried out. In the following year New South Wales, in conjunction with New Zealand, inaugurated a mail service via San Francisco, which, with a few interruptions and under various conditions, has been continued up to the present time. The establishment of a mail route via America had the effect of stimulating the steamship-owners who were engaged in the service via Suez, and from that time there was a marked improvement in the steamers employed, as well as in the punctuality and speed with which the mails were delivered. The Peninsular and Oriental Company have carried mails for the colonies almost from the inception of the ocean steam service, with very few interruptions. Towards the end of 1878 the Orient Company commenced carrying mails between Australia and the United Kingdom, and have continued to do so ever since. In the year 1883 the fine steamers of the Messageries Maritimes of France entered the service, followed in 1887 by the North German Lloyd's, so that there are now sometimes two or even three mails received and despatched every week, and a voyage to Europe, which was formerly a formidable undertaking, involving great loss of time and much discomfort, is regarded as a mere pleasure trip to fill up a holiday.

In the year 1893 another mail service was established, by a line of steamers running from Sydney to Vancouver Island, in British Columbia.

There is also a line of steamers running between Brisbane and London, but the states other than Queensland make little use of these vessels. Under the provisions of the 51st clause of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, the control of the Post and Telegraph services became vested in the Commonwealth, and by proclamation these services were taken over on the 1st March, 1901. The systems of administration, and the rates levied in force in each state at the date of union were however continued until the Commonwealth Postal Act was brought into operation on the 1st November, 1902, thus securing uniformity in all the states.

GROWTH OF POSTAL BUSINESS.

The growth of postal business in each of the states during the forty-three years from 1861 to 1903 is shown below. It will be seen

that the number of letters for all Australasia in 1861 was less than the present total for any individual state, with the exception of Tasmania. The true total for Australasia is, of course, not to be found by adding the figures of the several states together, as interstate letters are counted both in the state from which they are despatched and in that in which they are received for delivery. A second total is therefore given from which this excess has been excluded:

New South Wales.... 340 2,228 4,369,463 92,238,211 3,384,245 37,900,840 105,338 16,305,421

A corresponding table to that already given, showing the number of letters, newspapers, and packets per head of population, is appended :

Western Australia takes the lead in the transmission of newspapers, Victoria in letters and postcards, and New Zealand in packets. A comparison of the average number of letters and postcards per head of population in Australasia with similar figures for the principal countries of the world is afforded by the table given below. It will be seen that on a population basis the correspondence of Australasia exceeds that of any of the countries named, with the exception of the United Kingdom and the Argentine Republic: