737

1,000 of population, during each of the two quinquennial periods 1891-95 and 1896-1900::

The table shows that on the whole the rate of admissions has remained constant throughout the decade, and that while there has been a decrease for the last five years in South Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, all the other states show increases, the rate in Western Australia rising from 0·53 per 1,000 in 1891-5 to 0.65 in 1896-1900. The next table shows the total number of patients who were discharged from the asylums during the ten years 1891-1900, either on account of recovery, permanent or temporary, or on account of death, and the proportion borne by each to the total number who were under treatment during the period.

It is seen that, of the total number under treatment, 32.25 per cent. were discharged either partially or wholly recovered, and that 24-23

per cent. died. Western Australia shows the highest proportion of recoveries, and Victoria the lowest, while New Zealand has the lowest death-rate, and Victoria the highest. Speaking generally, it is estimated that of the persons who are discharged from the asylums in Australasia, some 28 per cent. suffer a relapse and are readmitted ; and it may be said that out of every 1,000 persons who are admitted for the first time, 420 will recover, and the sufferings of the remaining 580 will only be terminated by death.

Very little information is available as to the exciting or predisposing causes of insanity in the different states, New South Wales being the only one concerning which there is complete information.

But that

state may be taken as typical of the whole, as the customs and conditions of living do not vary greatly in any of them, and the statement below enables a comparison to be made with the principal assigned causes of insanity in England and Wales. The chief causes are stated in proportion to the average annual number of admissions.

Intemperance in drink is popularly supposed to be the most fruitful cause of insanity in Australasia, and although it does bear the highest proportion of known causes amongst males, it is not nearly so common a cause as in England. Amongst females, the chief causes of insanity in the states are hereditary influence and pregnancy, &c. Hereditary influence and congenital defect, in England and Wales, bear the largest proportion of known causes, both amongst males and females, and it is believed they are responsible in New South Wales for many more than the number shown in the table, and that of the unknown causes the great majority should be ascribed to hereditary influences. The small proportion of cases set down to these two causes is simply due to the difficulty of obtaining knowledge of the family history of a large number of the people in Australasia.

HABITATIONS.

The latest information available concerning the habitations of the people, is that obtained at the census of 1901, when inquiry was made on the householders' schedules respecting the dwellings of the population. The information sought was in respect to whether a building was occupied, unoccupied, or in course of construction; the material of which it was built, and the number of rooms which it contained. The tabulation was not made with the same degree of completeness in all the states; but so far as comparative figures can be given they are shown below:

The materials of which the dwellings in each state were constructed are shown in the following table, so far as the particulars are available. In New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia, the information is shown for all dwellings; in the other states for inhabited dwellings only. Dwellings made of canvas are most numerous in Western Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales. The large numbers of men living in tents engaged in mining in Western Australia, and in mining and on railway extensions in the two last mentioned states, will sufficiently account for the totals shown in this class.

The number of rooms is given below for all houses, whether occupied or unoccupied, in the case of New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia; for the other states the figures refer to inhabited dwellings only :

In the case of those states where no information is given in the table respecting tents, &c., the returns are incorporated in the first two lines of the table. From the foregoing figures it will be seen that in Australasia there are over 5 persons to every occupied house.

721

SHIPPING.

THE 'HE earliest date for which there is reliable information in regard to the shipping of the States now constituting the Commonwealth of Australia, and also of the colony of New Zealand is the year 1822. Since that time the expansion of the trade has been marvellous, and although population has increased at a high rate, yet the growth of shipping has been even more rapid. In the table given below the increase in the number and tonnage of vessels may be traced. The shipping of New Zealand is treated separately, and all tonnage of this colony, of course, is shown, but it is necessary to point out that the figures for the Commonwealth of Australia include the interstate traffic, and are, therefore, of little value in a comparison between the shipping trade of Australia and that of other countries, as the vessels plying between the various States represent merely coasting trade when the Commonwealth is considered as a whole. This distinction is kept in view throughout this chapter, as well as in the succeeding one dealing. with commerce :