in the £ respectively; and extra rates for special works, for interest and sinking funds on loans, and, where necessary for hospitals and charitable aid, may be charged.

In addition to the boroughs and counties, road districts and town districts have been proclaimed, and the area locally governed may practically be set down at 104,471 square miles, the total area of the Colony.

The capital value for 1901 may be estimated at £138,591,347, and the annual value at £6,427,000. The remarks with regard to the overstatement of the values in Tasmania may also be applied to New Zealand, as the boundaries of the various districts may overlap in some cases.

The distribution of the population of New Zealand differs from that of the Commonwealth. In the Australian States, especially those in the eastern portion of the continent, the great majority of the people are centred in the metropolitan areas, and consequently the capital and annual values are proportionately great in the chief cities. In New Zealand, however, there are four large centres of population, and the values of the assessed properties are shown below. The figures for 1891 are also shown, and it will be noticed that the values have on the whole largely improved, as New Zealand, like Tasmania, did not experience the great depreciation which took place in some of the other States after the Bank reconstructions in 1893 :

The total receipts for 1901 amounted to £1,721,055, the Government contributions being £326,486, inclusive of loans. The collections from rates were £660,982, (which are levied chiefly on capital values) and from other sources £733,587, represented chiefly by fees for licenses and rents. The expenditure for the same period was £1,630,830, the amount spent on works being £981,466; on hospitals and charitable aid, £71,877; on management, £122,540 or 7:51 per cent. of the total ; and on other services, £454,947. The contributions to sinking funds and repayments of loans are not shown separately in the total expenditure, and the amounts disbursed under these heads are, therefore, not available. The rates collected represent 2s. Old. per £ of annual value, and 13d. per £ of estimated unimproved value.

The total loans outstanding at the close of 1901 for the bodies referred to amounted to £4,165,637, and the sinking fund was £371,021,

the net indebtedness, therefore, being £3,794,616. The annual charge for interest and sinking fund is approximately £235,308, the rates of interest ranging from 3 to 7 per cent.

COMPARISON OF CITIES.

Estimated by the annual value of its ratable property, Sydney is, and has been for many years, the second city of the British Empire; next comes Glasgow, and then Melbourne, as Manchester, exclusive of Salford, is valued at £3,394,879. None of the other Australasian cities ranks high on the list, but the extreme value of property in relation to population in the Australasian population centres as compared with the principal British cities, will be seen from the following table :

The populations of the Australasian cities and towns are the estimates at the dates of the annual valuations of the incorporated districts and not the present populations.

BOARDS AND TRUSTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

In addition to the municipalities, there are bodies known as Boards or Trusts whose function it is to construct and supervise certain works which have been established for the benefit of districts generally

comprising one or more of the ordinary municipalities. These bodies are usually composed of members representing respectively the central Government, the municipalities affected, and other persons directly interested in the particular undertakings; and as a rule they raise the funds necessary for carrying out the works they control, by means of rates on the assessed value of the properties benefited, just as do the municipalities.

In New South Wales there are the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage, having charge of the water supply, which it assumed in 1888, and of the sewerage system, which it has controlled since 1889, and the Hunter River District Board of Water Supply and Sewerage, formed in 1892. The Wollongong Harbour Trust, which was instituted in 1889, was the only one of the kind in the state up to the year 1900-the works connected with shipping, and the improvements to navigation, at Sydney, Newcastle, and other ports, having always been carried out at the expense and under the supervision of the central Government. The Wollongong Trust, however, failed, and its powers have been assumed by the Government. During the year 1900, an Act was passed for the establishment of a Harbour Trust for the port of Sydney, and in the same year the Wharfs Resumption Act became law, which enabled the Government to acquire certain wharf properties in Darling Harbour; these wharfs, and others, originally the property of the Government, will be controlled by the Harbour Trust. There is a Metropolitan Fire Brigades Board, on which the municipalities within the metropolitan area are represented, and towards the annual expenses of which they contribute one-third. The fire insurance companies and the State are also represented, and contribute equally with the municipalities in maintaining the Fire Brigade Board. Thirty-seven country boards have also been established under the Fire Brigades Act of 1884, four of which are, however, within the area administered by the Metropolitan Board, and contribute to its funds. There are Irrigation Trusts at Hay and Balranald. A similar trust at Wentworth has been taken over by the Government, and the dissolution of the Balranald trust is under consideration.

The Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Act of New South Wales was passed in 1880. Under the provisions of this measure municipalities outside the area under the control of the Metropolitan and Hunter District Water Supply and Sewerage Boards were entitled to construct, or to have constructed for them by the Government, works for water supply and sewerage, provided the construction of the same were approved by the Governor-in-Council, and the municipalities agreed to pay back the original cost of the works, with interest at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum. The Government were to pay the certified cost of the works, and the municipalities were to repay the Government by instalments extending over a period of sixty years. Under the operations of this Act twenty-four water-supply works have been carried out by the Government (exclusive of Richmond, now administered by

the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage), and three by municipal councils, while works in ten other places were in course of construction on the 31st December, 1900, including additions to existing works. The amount advanced by the Government to local bodies under the Act to the end of 1892 was £370,549, and instalments to the amount of £85,886 were then overdue. It was found that the liability of some of the municipal councils was too heavy for their resources, and in 1894 an amending Act was passed distributing the payments over 100 years and reducing the interest to 3 per cent. On the 31st December, 1900, the total amount expended by Government, inclusive of interest, stood at £769,046, viz.: £565,236 for works completed under Government control; £27,344 for works carried out under the supervision of municipal councils; and £176,466 for works still in course of construction. Of the total amount of £592,580 due on account of completed works to the 31st December, 1900, £19,266 had been repaid, and £76,698 had been remitted by Government, leaving the debt at £496,616, which is repayable by annual instalments of £17,960,

BOARDS AND TRUSTS IN VICTORIA.

In Victoria the port of Melbourne is under the control of a Harbour Trust, which was established as far back as 1877. A Tramway Trust, representing twelve of the metropolitan municipalities, viz.:-Melbourne, Prahran, Richmond, Fitzroy, Collingwood, South Melbourne, Hawthorne, Kew, St. Kilda, North Melbourne, Brunswick, and Port Melbourne, has been formed under the provisions of an Act passed in 1883. This body was entrusted with power to construct tramways through the streets of the municipalities interested, the requisite funds being raised by loans on the security of the tramways and the revenues of the municipal bodies connected with the undertaking. The trustees had the option either of working the tramways themselves or of leasing them to a private company. They adopted the latter alternative, and the tramways are being worked on a thirty-two years' lease, commencing from 1884. In 1891 the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works was established for the purpose of constructing and supervising all works connected with water supply, sewerage, and drainage in Melbourne and suburbs. The Government is not directly represented on this Board, which differs from the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply in Sydney, of which three members are nominated by the State. The reason for this difference is that in New South Wales the Government constructed the works and is responsible for the debt incurred in doing so, while in Victoria the Board carries out the work of construction, in addition to the maintenance and management to which the operations of the Sydney Board are confined. Throughout Victoria there are Water Works Trusts and Irrigation and Water Supply Trusts. During 18991900 there were seventy-one Water Works Trusts and thirty-two

Irrigation and Water Supply Trusts. The Government authorised an advance of £1,206,674 for the former service, and for the latter £1,441,400, and the amounts outstanding in June, 1900, were £730,422 and £384,090 respectively, the large sum of £720,252 having been written off during the year. As in New South Wales, the municipal bodies are represented on the Fire Brigade Boards, and bear a proportionate share of the expenses.

The Government of Victoria, prior to the establishment of the Trusts for Water Works, Irrigation, and Water Supply, advanced money from the Public Loans Account to local bodies requiring assistance to construct these works. The amount advanced for the development of the services to June, 1900, including arrears of interest capitalised, was £404,214, which has to be repaid into a sinking fund, or by annual instalments. The amount outstanding on the date mentioned was only £137,636, owing to large sums having been written off during the year. The figures just given are exclusive of the advances to the city of Ballarat for the water-supply works, as these are now under a special commission. The outstanding debt of the Ballarat Water Commission on the 30th June, 1900, was £328,197. Under a special Act the Government have power to advance funds to shires for the construction of tramways, and £60,811 had been so advanced up to June, 1900. The Government, under two different Acts, can also make advances to shires for the purchase of rabbit-proof fencing. The amount so advanced to June, 1900, was £192,370, of which £36,749, was outstanding on that date.

BOARDS AND TRUSTS IN OTHER STATES.

In Queensland the water supply service forms part of the local government system; the works are proposed by the municipal bodies, but the Government constructs and supervises them, and when completed hands them over to the local authorities with their attendant liabilities. The latter form a debt to the State which is repaid in instalments. The total cost of construction to 31st December, 1900, was £1,096,716, and the amount due to the Government on the same date was £794,318.

In South Australia there are no Boards or Trusts of any importance beyond the municipal bodies already mentioned; extensive municipal powers exist, however, for raising loans for the construction of local works, and each corporation and District Council is constituted a Board of Health.

In Western Australia there are Road Boards, Local Boards of Health, and a Metropolitan Water Works Board.

In Tasmania seven Marine Boards, forming part of the local government system, have been established in different parts of the State, and there are fifteen Water Trusts in connection with municipal bodies. rural police come under the local government system, the ratepayers

The