Leaving out of consideration some churches with but a small number of adherents, the Salvation Army may be said to be the youngest of the -denominations in Australasia. It commenced operations in South Australia towards the close of the year 1880, and in 1882 officers were despatched from Adelaide to Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania, for the purpose of organising corps in those states. New Zealand was invaded in 1883, Queensland in 1886, and Western Australia in 1891. The head-quarters of the Army are in Melbourne, and its head in Australasia ranks as a Commissioner. He is directly responsible to General Booth, and controls the officers commanding in each of the states, who bear the rank of colonel or brigadier. Each state is divided into districts, which are placed in the charge of superior officers; and each of these districts is subdivided into local corps under subaltern officers, assisted by secretaries, etc. These subaltern officers are responsible to the officers commanding their division, and the latter to the colonel or brigadier in charge of the Army of the whole state. 1891 there were 33,428 members of the Salvation Army in Australia, and at the census of 1901 the total was returned at 30,997, so that there has been a falling off in membership to the extent of over 2,400. For New Zealand the numbers in 1891 and 1901 were respectively 9,383 and 7,999, showing a decrease of 1,300 adherents.

In

In the eyes of the state all religions are equal in Australasia, and state aid to the denominations has now been abolished in all the provinces of the group. South Australia, in 1851, was the first state to withdraw such aid, after it had been in force only three years; and Queensland, in 1860, shortly after the assembling of the first Parliament, abolished the system inherited from the mother colony, and limited future payments to the clergy then actually in receipt of state aid. New South Wales passed a similar Act in 1862, and the expenditure on this account, which in that year was over £32,000, had fallen in 1901 to £4,281. The total amount paid by the state up to the 30th June, 1901, amounted to £565,171. The other states of the group subsequently abolished state aid, Victoria withdrawing its denominational grants as late as 1875. In Western Australia the system lasted until 1895, when it was abolished from that year; and, in lieu of the annual grants, two sums of £17,715 each were distributed amongst the religious bodies affected, namely, the Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Wesleyans, and Presbyterians, on the 1st October, 1895, and 1st July, 1896.

The only denominations which ever received State aid were the Church of England, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, and Wesleyans; other denominations to which it was tendered refusing to accept it. The greater portion of the inhabitants belonged to these four persuasions, and the enormous increase of population during the last fortyfive years has not in any considerable degree altered this condition of things, though in some states different bodies of Christians have represented a larger proportion of the people than in others.

The following table shows the proportions held by the principal denominations to the total population of each state at the enumerations

of 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1901 :

From the foregoing table it will be seen that while there were fluctuations in individual States, the relative strength of the principal denominations in the whole of Australasia showed but little alteration during the thirty years from 1871 to 1901. The Church of England at the census of 1871 embraced 39.1 per cent. of the population, and at that of 1901 40.5 per cent., while the Roman Catholic Church receded from 23.1 per cent. in 1871 to 22.2 per cent. in 1881, and to 21.1 per

All Others.

cent. in 1891, while there was a slight increase to 21.6 per cent. in 1901. The Presbyterian Church receded from 13.6 per cent. in 1871 to 13.4 per cent. in 1881 and 13-0 in 1891, rising again in 1901 to 13·5 per cent. The various Methodist bodies, which have been classed together, increased from 10.5 per cent. in 1871 to 10.9 per cent. in 1881, 114 per cent. in 1891, and 13-2 per cent. in 1901. Congregationalists remained almost stationary during the first three enumerations, but in 1901 the proportion receded to 18 per cent of the total. The percentage of Baptists at the enumeration of 1871 was 2 per cent., rising gradually to 2-4 per cent, at the census of 1901. At each of the four census periods the proportion of Jews remained the same, namely, 0·4 per cent. The column headed "All others" shows a decrease from 8.9 per cent. to 6.6 per cent. during the period. This column contains all the minor denominations, of which none are at all numerous except Lutherans in Queensland and South Australia; those whose denomination could hardly be classed as a religion; and all those who, from conscientious scruples, took advantage of the clauses of the Census Acts by which the filling in of the column "Religious Denomination" was left optional.

THE DENOMINATIONS IN 1901.

The numbers of adherents of the various denominations in each State of the Australian Commonwealth at the census of 1901 were as follows:

while the numbers in New Zealand and in the whole of Australasia were as shown below:

841

RAILWAYS.

O the proper development of a country like Australasia, ill-supplied with navigable rivers, railway construction is absolutely essential. This has been recognised from an early period, and for the last forty years the Governments of the principal states have been fully alive to the importance of carrying on the work. For a long time, however, they were hampered in their efforts by the difficulty of borrowing money in London at a reasonable rate of interest; but since the year 1871 considerable progress has been made in the work of construction; indeed, by far the greater portion of the public debt of Australasia has been contracted for railway purposes. As the area of the six states and New Zealand almost equals that of Europe or the United States of America, while the population numbers a little over four and a half millions, it is almost needless to say that many of the lines run through districts very sparsely peopled. This is particularly the case in the States of Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia, where there are vast tracts of territory in which little in the nature of permanent settlement has yet been accomplished, and in none of the states can it be said that the railway lines traverse thickly-settled areas. Indeed, if a fault may be found with the State policy pursued in the past, it is that in some cases expensive lines have been laid down in empty country the requirements of which could have been effectually met for many years to come by light and cheap lines, and that in consequence the railway administrators find themselves heavily burdened with a number of unprofitable lines. A few of these have been closed, but the vast majority are worked at a loss. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, however, the railways of the Commonwealth of Australia collectively yield a net return equal to 2.88 per cent., and those of Australasia 2.95 per cent. on the cost of construction.

HISTORY OF RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

An agitation for the introduction of the railway into the colony of New South Wales was afoot as early as 1846, and in August of that year it was decided at a public meeting held in Sydney to survey a line to connect the capital with Goulburn. But no decided step was taken towards construction until September, 1848, when the Sydney Railroad and Tramway Company was formed for the purpose of laying down a line between Sydney and Parramatta and Liverpool, to be afterwards extended to Bathurst and to Goulburn. The first sod was turned by the Hon. Mrs. Keith Stewart, daughter of Sir Charles Fitzroy, the