POSTAL NOTES. Besides the money orders mentioned above, a system of postal notes is in force in all the states. The notes are issued for fixed amounts, varying from 1s. to 20s. The number and value of notes issued and paid during 1903 in each of the states were as follows : : These figures show that, for the transmission of small amounts, postal notes are rapidly superseding money orders. While in 1903 the number of money orders issued was less than half that of postal notes, the value of the latter was only slightly over one-fourth of the value of money orders, the average value of postal notes being 7s. 4d. as compared with £3 9s. 6d. for money orders. The number of postal notes issued does not by any means represent the number of transactions involving the use of these notes, as an order for a sum in postal notes cannot always be satisfied except by issuing two or more notes, whereas a money order can be issued for any sum. The progress of money order and postal note boxiness may be traced from the following statement of the false of orders and notes issued since 1890, when the West Australian business was first ascertained: The bankruptcy laws of the different states are even more dissimilar than the laws on most other questions of importance; they have also been fluctuating, and the subject of many experiments and amendments. This renders any work of comparison difficult and unsatisfactory. Returns are available for all the states for the year 1903, and are given below. In connection with the table it may be pointed out that the figures are exclusive of 59 liquidations in Queensland, with liabilities stated at £54,654, and assets at £43,232; and also of 198 private arrangements under the Insolvency Act in South Australia, for which the assets and liabilities are not stated. The Victorian figures include 195 Deeds of Arrangement under the Act of 1897, the liabilities of which were £227,604, and the assets £177,205 :— Little, if any, reliance can be placed upon the statements made by bankrupts as to the position of their affairs, the assets being invariably exaggerated. Taking the figures given above for what they are worth, it would appear that the average amount of liabilities per bankrupt was £457, and of assets, £242, showing a deficiency of £215. In the following table the average figures for the ten years ended 31st December, 1903, are given; the assets, however, have been omitted, since the statements, so far as some of the states are concerned, are palpably worthless. The Victorian figures include the "Deeds of Arrangement" for the years 1898 to 1903, while the South Australian returns are exclusive of private arrangements, which averaged 194 per annum. The Queensland figures are exclusive of liquidations. SOCIAL CONDITION. HE high rates of wages which have generally prevailed in Austral asia and the cheapness of food have permitted the enjoyment of a great degree of comfort, if not of inary, by a class which elsewhere knows little of the one and nothing of the other; and even in times of trade depression and reduced wages it may safely be said that the position of the wageearner in Australia is equal to that occupied by his cotopeers in any other part of the world Although a high standard of living is not conducive to thrift, saving has gone on with marked rapidity, notwithstanding the industrial disturbances resulting from the great strikes and the bank crisis of 1893. Some idea of the rate and extent of this accumulation of wealth may be obtained from the tables showing the growth of deposits with banks. The banking returns, however, affoni in themselves but an incomplete view of the picture: it should also be regarded from the standpoint of the expenditure of the people. Both of these subjects are dealt with in their proper places in this volume, and these evidences of the social condition of the people need not, therefore, be further considered here. NEWSPAPERS AND LETTERS. Few things show more plainly the social superiority of a civilized people than a heavy correspondence and a large distribution of newspapers. In these respects all the provinces of Australasia have for many years been remarkable. In proportion to population it is doubtful whether any country in the world can boast of a larger number or a better class of newspapers than they publish. Great advances were made in this respect between 1871 and 1891, but the rate of progress, both in number and in excellence of production, has been even more rapid since the year last named. There are no means of correctly estimating the number of newspapers actually printed and distributed in the states, because the Post-office carries but a small proportion of the circulation. For purposes of comparison with other countries, however, it may be stated that during the year 1903 no less than 116,136,000 newspapers passed through the Post-offices of the various states, giving the large proportion of 25 per head of population. In the same year the number of letters and post-cards carried was 313,329,000, being over 66 for every person in Australasia. An examination of the statistics of other countries shows that these states stand third among the countries of the world in the transmission of correspondence, being only exceeded by the United Kingdom and the United States of America per head of population. The following table shows the increase which has taken place in the quantity of postal matter carried, together with the proportion of letters and newspapers carried per head of population at the last six census periods and in 1903 : : There are 1,187 newspapers published in Australasia; 315 in New South Wales, of which 107 are published in Sydney and suburbs; 405 in Victoria, of which 181 are published in Melbourne and suburbs ; 132 in Queensland; 61 in South Australia; 49 in Western Australia; 27 in Tasmania; and 198 in New Zealand. PARKS, MUSEUMS, AND ART GALLERIES. All the Australasian capitals are liberally supplied with parks and recreation-grounds. In Sydney and suburbs there are parks, squares, and public gardens comprising an area of 4,598 acres, including 745 acres which form the Centennial Park. Then there is the picturesque National Park, of 36,810 acres, situated about 16 miles from the centre of the metropolis; and, in addition to this, an area of 35,300 acres, in the valley of the Hawkesbury, and distant about 12 miles from the railway terminus on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour, has been reserved for public recreation under the name of Ku-ring-gai Chase. Thus Sydney has two extensive and picturesque domains for the enjoyment of the people at almost equal distances north and south from the city, and both accessible by railway. An area of 248 acres has also been set apart as a public park at Kurnell, Captain Cook's landing place on the south shore of Botany Bay. Melbourne has about 5,400 acres of recreation-grounds, of which about 1,750 acres are within the city boundaries, 2,850 acres in the suburban municipalities, and 800 acres outside those municipalities. Adelaide is surrounded by a broad belt of park lands, and also contains a number of squares within the city boundaries, covering altogether an area of 2,300 acres. Brisbane, Hobart, Perth, and the chief cities of New Zealand are also well provided for in this respect, and in all the provincial towns large areas have been dedicated as public parks. There are fine Botanic Gardens in |