Statistical Account of the Seven Colonies of Australasia

exhibits so small a rate as that of England and Wales, viz., 5.9 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 1900 are shown below :—

During 1900 the marriage-rate of Australasia increased from 7·06 to 7.39 per thousand, while in each of the States it was 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, was as follows:

1861-65. 1866-70. 1871-75. 1876-80. 1881-85. 1886-90. 1891-95. 1896-1900.

State.

New South Wales

16,920 18,271 21,210 25,904

35,737 38,671 39,924 45,909
33,589 42,832 37,717
39,245
11,632 15,271 13,526 15,479
12,379
1,112

10,686

10,942

2,332

7,902

5,005

4,796

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:

State.

1861-65. 1866-70. 1871-75. 1876-80. 1851-85. 1886-90. 1891-95.1896–1900)

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, while 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 f marriages is reckoned by the number of children to each marriage ; as the difference between the mean age of mothers and the mean of brides in Australia is between 5 and 6 years, the average r 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 latter years, as the sudden influx of population since the discovery of the gold-fields has unduly increased the number of births to be divided by the number of marriages of the preceding five years, and would have the effect of making 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 4:04. 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."

53°

POPULATION.

N the 26th January, 1788, Captain Phillip arrived in Sydney people all told. Settlement soon spread from the parent colony, first to Tasmania in 1803, and afterwards to other parts of the continent and to New Zealand. At the census of 1901 the population of Australasia, exclusive of aborigines and Maoris, was 4,544,434, distributed as follows:

If to these numbers, which principally comprise the people of European descent, there be added an estimated population of 153,000 Australian aborigines in an uncivilised state in Western Australia, South Australia, and Queensland, and of 43,000 Maoris in New Zealand, the total population of Australasia at the date of the census would be about 4,740,000. The growth of the population of Australasia from the date of the first settlement is shown in the following table. An official enumeration of the people was made in most of the years quoted :—

The high rate of increase prior to 1831 arose from the small number of people on which the increase was calculated; while between 1831 and 1841, it was due to the policy of State-aided immigration which was then in vogue. The discovery of gold, which proved a strong incentive towards emigration to Australia, accounted for the high rate during the period from 1851 to 1861. The rate of increase since 1861 shows a regular decline during each decennial period, and from 1891 to 1901 the annual increase was only 1.78 per cent, which is but slightly in excess of the natural increase due to the excess of births over deaths. The chief factor determining the increase of population in Australia prior to 1860 was immigration, and until recent years the States of Queensland and Western Australia gained more largely from this source than from births; but taking the whole period of forty-one years from 1861 to 1901 embraced in the following table, the two elements of increase compare as follows:—

Arrivals from abroad in excess of departures........
Births in excess of deaths

780,895 1,910,392

The population of each State (exclusive of aborigines, a few in New South Wales and Victoria excepted) at the last five census periods, and at the end of 1901, is shown below:

New South Wales...

Victoria.

Queensland

South Australia

350,860 503,981 751,468 1,132,234 1,354,846 1,379,700
540,322 731,528 862,346 1,140,405 1,201,070 1,208,710
30,059 120,104 213,525 393,718 496,596 510,520
126,830 185,626 279,865 320,431 362,604 364,800
15,691 25,353 29,708 49,782 184,124
90,211 101,785 115,705 146,667 172,475

194,890 174,230

Western Australia..
Tasmania

Commonwealth 1,153,973 1,668,377 2,252,617 3,183,237 3,771,715 3,832,850 New Zealand...... 99,021 256,393 489,933 626,658 772,719

Australasia

787,660 1,252,994 1,924,770 2,742,550 3,809,895 4,544,434 4,620,510

In order to show the great differences in the growth of the population of the individual States during the last ten years, the appended table has been prepared, giving the population at the end of each year since 1892.