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dency Sir William Crookes, eminent for his researches in chemistry and in physics and the editor of the "Chemical News," has been advocated. ASTRONOMICAL PROGRESS IN 1897. The number and importance of the astronomical discoveries during the year, though not equal to those of some others, are in the main satisfactory. Excepting the discovery of a few asteroids and a new comet of short period, no new member has been added to the solar system.

The Sun. Our knowledge of the cause of the Sun's heat and light, and of his spots, pores, and facula, but especially of his mysterious appendage, the corona, has made little or no advance since our last report. To settle some points in dispute much was expected from observations of the total solar eclipse of Aug. 9, 1896; but on the return of the parties sent out by different countries to observe it-mostly to Norway, Sweden, and Japan-astronomers were disappointed at the meager results achieved, caused by cloudy skies at every station. Another effort, on a still more extensive scale, will be made to observe telescopically, spectroscopically, and photographically the eclipse that will take place Jan. 21, 1898. The line of totality will pass through Central Africa, India, and China, to the southern boundary of Siberia. The width of the total belt will be but 57 miles, and the duration of totality but 2 19. Yet, owing to improved methods of observation, more can be accomplished in that short time than could have been done at any former eclipse of twice its duration. One of the California parties will be prepared to test the utility of an invention of Mr. Burkhalters, of Oakland, Cal., which was prevented by clouds in Japan in 1896. This consists of a device to proportion the time of exposure of a photographic plate to the intensity of the light in different parts of the field, thus preventing overexposure of the inner corona, and under exposure of the outer coronal streamers, which heretofore has been an impossibility. Astronomers anticipate valuable results from the trial test, which will enable the corona and its streamers to be studied at leisure and compared with photographs taken at future eclipses.

On Jan. 3, 1897, a spot of enormous dimensions appeared on the Sun's eastern limb. It was distinetly visible to the naked eye. With the telescope vast cyclonic movements in the Sun's photosphere were conspicuously visible, on a scale of magnitude of which nothing on our planet furnishes a standard for comparison. It subtended an angle of 100" in diameter, and as a second of arc at the Sun's distance equals 450 miles, it follows that the diameter of the spot was 450 x 100 = 45,000 miles wide, or 1,580,000,000 square miles. This, appearing near the epoch of minimum spot activity, was a great surprise to astronomers. On Jan. 10 it reached its maximum magnitude, and then began rapidly to decrease, and when it was at half of its greatest size disintegration began, resulting in a trail of spots resembling a long train of cars. In the preceding November a spot appeared of 80" in diameter, which remained intact during two rotations of the Sun, or for fifty-two days, affording a rare opportunity to decide whether, after all, the spots are not elevations instead of depressions according to Wilson's theory. Astronomers are now pretty well agreed that the latter, which for one hundred and twenty years has held sway, must be abandoned. His theory was that the Sun is a dark body surrounded by a luminous atmosphere (the photosphere), and that the spots are immense depressions, opening to view the Sun's dark body (umbra), and that the penumbra is the sloping sides of the hole, hundreds if not thousands of miles in depth. The theory appeared so reasonable, and VOL. XXXVII-A 4

accounted so clearly for their appearance through the telescope, that it met with general acceptance by astronomers. If it is true, the Sun has two atmospheres, the outer (chromosphere), 5,000 miles in thickness; the inner (photosphere), of unknown depth.

The Sun's corona, which near it is a continuous luminous halo, but beyond consisting of streamers several million miles in length, the spectroscope decides to be reflected sunlight. It is never seen but during the few precious minutes of totality. Of the source and nature of the reflecting material we know nothing. The inner corona may be, and probably is, another atmosphere outside the chromosphere, extending to a great height, too thin to be noticed except during totality.

Recent observations of the prominences, which can now be seen with the spectroscope without an eclipse, fully confirm the truth that they belong to the Sun and not to the Moon, as was once thought might be the case. Their source is the chromosphere; but the intensity of the central force that can throw them to a height in one instance 58,000 miles farther than the Moon's distance from the earth is inconceivable, and affords an overwhelming argument against the truth of the Wilsonian hypothesis that the Sun is a dark, cold body.

Lewis Jewell, of Johns Hopkins University, has been measuring a large number of lines in the photographs of the solar spectrum, and has found that there is a difference of several days in the rotation periods of the outer and inner portions of the Sun's atmosphere, the period increasing as the photosphere is approached. He is now engaged upon the reduction of the measures, and the result will be awaited with great interest, as he has perhaps made an important discovery in solar physics.

Evolution of Stellar Systems.-Spiral nebulæ, according to Dr. Isaac Roberts, the distinguished stellar photographer, afford almost positive evidence of evolution of the nebulæ into suns and stellar systems. Photographs of these objects-notably those in Pisces, Ursa Major, and Canes Venatici-afford abundant proof when compared with star clusters already evolved. The photographs show the nebulous matter broken up into stars and starlike loci. The brighter stars are well defined, but the fainter ones have nebulous margins, as have those whose brightness differs but little from the nebulosity in which they are immersed. He says that every spiral nebula photographed by him has a stellar nucleus surrounded by dense nebulosity, around which the nebulous convolutions and involved stars are symmetrically arranged, and this is strong evidence that these features are the result of known physical causes and not of fortuitous arrangement. He considers that collisions between solid bodies or streams of meteors are sufficient to account for the vorticose motions as seen in spiral nebulæ. Nova Auriga and Nova Andromeda and many other temporary stars are evidences of collisions. Photography, therefore, shows us nebulæ in all stages of development from diffused masses of matter, like the great nebula in Orion, through spiral nebulæ, to clusters

of stars.

Celestial Spectroscopy.-Spectroscopic analysis of the light from self-luminous heavenly bodies continues with unabated enthusiasm. Some observatories make it a special and exclusive study. Zeta Puppis presents an abnormal spectrum, giving, in addition to the usual hydrogen lines, a second series of rhythmical lines. Some of these are also to be seen in 29 Canis Majoris and Y. Velorum, some being bright and others dark.

There has been a suspicion' that helium is a mixture of two elementary gases, as by a process of diffusion it is possible two get to gases of widely

at the census of 1891 the northern district contained 78,077, the central district 46,857, and the southern district 268,784. Of the total 176,971 were born in Queensland, 17,023 in New South Wales, 7,462 in Victoria, 3,851 in other Australian colonies, 77,187 in England, 43,036 in Ireland, 22,400 in Scotland, and 14,910 in Germany. The number of immigrants in 1895 was 30,066, and of emigrants 24,393. The arrivals of Chinese were 561, and departures 505; arrivals of Polynesians numbered 1,312, and departures 773. The number of marriages in 1895 was 2,821; of births, 14,874; of deaths, 5,152; excess of births, 9,722. There were 738 elementary schools in 1895, with 1,535 teachers and an average attendance of 48,270 pupils, besides which there were 183 private schools, with an average attendance of 10.146 pupils. The cost of the state schools in 1895 was £172,934. Education is made compulsory by statute, but the law is not enforced.

The population of South Australia consisted of 181,161 males and 171,492 females. In the northern territory there was a population of 4,752, of whom 382 were females. Adelaide, the capital, had 144,352 inhabitants. The number of marriages in 1895 was 2,048; of births, 10,537; of deaths, 3,921; excess of births, 6,616. The number of immigrants in 1895 was 36,762, and of emigrants 40,489. Education is free, secular, and compulsory. Public lands are set apart for the support of the schools, of which there were 634, with 59,093 pupils, including 352 provisional schools, in 1895.

The population of Western Australia increased from 29,708 in 1881 to 49,782 in 1891, which was at the rate of 6.75 per cent. a year. In the next five years the increase was 165 per cent. Of the population in 1896 the males numbered 93,704, and the females 38,346. These figures do not include the aborigines, whose numbers can not be estimated, as they live mostly in regions not yet explored. There were 5,670 of them in service with the whites in 1891. The population of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, was estimated at 19,533 in 1895. Of the white population 13.2 per cent. could not read nor write in 1891. Education is compulsory and gratuitous. There were 133 Government schools in 1895, with 4,685 pupils in attendance, and 19 assisted schools, with 1,708 pupils.

The population of Tasmania increased between 1881 and 1891 at the rate of 384 per cent. per annum. At the latter date 107,901 of the population were natives of this colony, while 26.975 had come from the British Islands and 7,328 from Australia, and there were 918 Germans and 943 Chinese. Since then about 3,000 more persons have been born every year than have died, but for a part of the time the emigration has exceeded the immigration. Education is compulsory, but still 25 per cent. of the population in 1891 could not read and write. There were 258 elementary schools in 1895, with 19,907 pupils enrolled, and 172 private schools, with 7,073 pupils. The Government expended in that year £35,501 on education.

The population of New Zealand on April 12, 1896, was composed of 371,415 males and 331,945 females. The increase over the preceding year was 23 per cent. The district of Auckland, with an area of 25,746 square miles, had 153,564 inhabitants: Taranaki, 3,308 square miles, 31,175; Wellington, 11,003 square miles, 121,854; Hawke's Bay, 4,410 square miles, 34,038; Marlborough, 4,753 square miles, 12,483; Nelson, 10,269 square miles, 35,734; Westland, 4,641 square miles, 14,469; Canterbury, 14,040 square miles, 135,858; Otago, 25.487 square miles, 163.944. The population of the North island was 340,631; of the South island, 362.236; of Stewart's island, 252; of Chatham Islands, 234; of Kermadec

Islands, 7. Including Maoris, the total population shown by the census of 1896 was 743,165. There were 3,711 Chinese, of whom 26 were females. Of the Maoris 21,515 were males and 18,290 females. Their number includes 3,501 half-castes living as members of the tribes and 229 Maori wives of European husbands. Of the white population 391,735 resided in the rural districts, 307,294 in boroughs, 950 on adjacent islands, and 3,381 were on board ships. Wellington, the capital, contained 41,758 inhabitants in 1896, including suburbs; Auckland, 57,616; Christchurch, 51,330; and Dunedin, 47,280. The number of immigrants in 1895 was 21,862; of emigrants, 20,967. There were 1,464 primary public schools in 1896, with 3,386 teachers and 129,856 enrolled pupils, of whom 107,222 were in average attendance. Education is free, secular, and in the settled districts compulsory. The Maori schools numbered 69, with 127 teachers, and an average attendance of 2,084 scholars. The private schools, 298 in number, had 770 teachers and 14,659 pupils.

Finances. The budgets of the several colonies for 1895 and the state of their debts for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1896, in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia; on March 31, 1895, in Western Australia and Tasmania; on March 31, 1896, in New Zealand; and on Dec. 31, 1895, in Fiji, are shown in the following table:

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Of the revenue of New South Wales £1,825,240 came from customs, £271,805 from excise, £318,301 from stamps, £27,658 from the income tax, and £123,109 from licenses, making £2,566,113 derived from taxation, while £2,018,196 came from land, £4,354,821 from services, and £312,715 from miscellaneous sources. Under the head of services is included the revenue from railroads, tramways, and the post office and telegraphs. The expenditure for railroads and tramways, exclusive of expenditure from loans, was £1,884,700; for posts and telegraphs, £746,208; for interest on debt and extinction of loans, £2,525.707; for education, £794,893; for immigration, £547; for other public works and services, £3,934,222. The average rate of interest paid on the debt, including the loan of £4,000,000 raised in October, 1895, was 3.71 per cent. Of the total debt 82 per cent. has been expended on railroads, tramways, telegraphs, water supply, and sewerage, which produce a net return of 3.15 per cent. on the capital outlay. Further loans were authorized for such purposes to the amount of £10,711,148.

Of the revenue of Victoria £2,712,313 were raised by taxation, including £1,809,140 from customs, duties, etc., £308,975 from excise, £120,093 from land tax, £139,084 from duties on estates of deceased persons, £20,774 from a duty on bank notes, £139,000 of stamp duties, £17,328 from business licenses, £17,123 from tonnage dues, etc., and £140,796 from the income tax. The revenue from railroads was £2,583,442; from posts and telegraphs, £509,721; from Crown lands. £473,580; from other sources, £434,096. Of the total expenditure £1,880,196 went to pay interest and expenses of the debt, £1,428,701 for working expenses of railroads, £303,976 for other public works, £652,752 for posts and telegraphs; for Crown lands, etc., £170,789; public instruction, science, etc., £604,109; charitable institutions, etc.,

£255,417; judicial and legal expenditure, £168,896; police and jails, £299,415; customs, harbors, etc., £97,595; mining, £85,696; defense, £194,020; other expenditure, £618,877. Of the total debt the sum of £36,835,095 was borrowed for the construction of railroads, £7,197,706 for waterworks, £1,105,557 for school buildings, and £1,613,702 for other public works.

fund, including expenses of raising loans, from 1870 to 1896, was £29,954,651.

Commerce and Production.-The value of the foreign and intercolonial trade of the different colonies in 1895 is shown in the following table:

COLONIES.

New South Wales.
Victoria...
Queensland.
South Australia..
Western Australia.
Tasmania..
New Zealand

Of the revenue of Queensland £1,290,795 were derived from customs, £70,417 from excise and export duties, £100,052 from stamps, £52,685 from licenses, £53,033 from the dividend duty, £358,279 from pastoral leases, £195,888 from other rents and sales of land, £1,052,692 from railroads, and £238,- Fiji. 115 from posts and telegraphs. The chief expenditures were £1,286,531 for interest of the public debt, £63,138 for endowments of municipalities, etc., £222,850 for public instruction, £166,815 for the colonial Treasurer's department, £640,662 for operating railroads, £296,491 for posts and telegraphs, and £99,491 for the administration of public lands. The expenditure from loans during the year was £592,158, mostly for new railroads, roads and bridges, harbors, telegraphs, waterworks, etc. The sum of £157,192 was paid out for guarantees to sugar works. The estimated total revenue for 1897 is £3,667,940, and expenditure £3,601,500. The revenue of South Australia is mainly derived from customs, excise, posts and telegraphs, railways, and lands, and the largest part of the expenditure is for the public works and railways, and for interest on the debt. The civil administration, judiciary, police, prisons, and defenses absorb about a third of the revenue. The receipts for 1897 are estimated at £2,583,732, and expenses at £2,590,597. Three quarters of the public debt has been spent in the construction of railroads, telegraphs, and waterworks. The railroads of this colony yield a net return of 3.65 per cent. per annum.

Of the total revenue of Western Australia in 1895 railroads, the post office, and leases of lands produced nearly half, and the rest, £621,825, was derived from customs.

In Tasmania the receipts from customs in 1895 amounted to £304,365. About three fifths of the revenue is derived from taxation, and one fifth from railroads, posts, and telegraphs. Of the expenditure 43 per cent. is for interest, 31 per cent. for public works, 8 per cent. for general administration, 5 per cent. for education and religion, 6 per cent. for charities and sanitation, and 7 per cent. for law and protection. The bulk of the debt pays 4 per cent. interest. The whole of it was raised for public works. The revenue for 1896 was estimated at £768,790, and expenditure at £743,655.

The revenue of New Zealand given above does not include receipts from sales of land, amounting to £126,571 in 1896. Of the ordinary revenue £1,649,310 came from customs, £707,188 from stamps, posts, and telegraphs, £1,182.280 from railroads, £271,399 from land taxes, and £92,778 from the income tax. The land tax rate for 1896 was 1d. in the pound. In addition there is a graduated tax ranging from d. on estates worth between £5,000 and £10.000 up to 2d. on land worth £210,000 or over. The rate of the income tax was 6d. in the pound on taxable incomes up to £1,000, the first 300 being exempt, and 18. in the pound on all higher incomes. The chief branches of the ordinary expenditure were £1,683,775 for the debt, £744,200 for railroads, £453,156 for education, £338,836 for posts and telegraphs, and £196,999 for constabulary and defense. The ordinary revenue for 1897 is estimated at £4,699,558, including a surplus of £215,558 carried over, and the expenditure at £4.452,165, leaving an estimated surplus of £247,393. The total expenditure out of the public works

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There were 1,348,600 acres under cultivation in New South Wales in 1896, producing 5,195,312 bushels of wheat and 5,687,030 bushels of corn, besides barley, oats, potatoes, lucerne, and hay. There were 1,231 acres planted to tobacco; 32,927 acres to sugar cane, yielding 207,771 tons of raw sugar; 7,519 acres to the vine, yielding 885,673 gallons of wine and 7,149 gallons of brandy; and 11,956 acres to oranges, yielding 5,954,940 dozen. There were 47,617,687 sheep, 2,150,057 cattle, 487,943 horses, and 221,597 pigs in the colony in 1896. The quantity of wool exported in 1895 was 329,992,675 pounds, valued at £9,976,044. The value of the gold produced in 1895 was £1,315,929; of silver, £81,858; of silver-lead ore and metal, £1,560,813; of coal, £1,095,327. The export of tallow in 1895 was £1,102,145 in value; of coal, £773,954; of hides and skins, £924.466; leather, £294,708; preserved and frozen meat, £695,504; gold coin, £2,710,560. Of the total imports £6,420,107 came from the United Kingdom, £7,321,668 from the other Australasian colonies, £611,021 from other British possessions, £624,268 from the United States, and £1,015,351 from other foreign countries. Of the total exports £9,371,418 went to the United Kingdom, £7,590,985 to the other Australasian colonies, £360,702 to other British possessions, £683,606 to the United States, and £3,928,073 to other foreign countries. The value of home produce exported was £16,436,210, and of foreign exports £5,498,575. The foregoing figures relate to sea-borne commerce only. The overland imports amounted to £1,783,368, and exports to £4,748,129.

The cultivated area in Victoria was 2,864,000 acres in 1896. The production of wheat was 5,668,000 bushels, an average of only 4 bushels to the acre; of oats, 2,879,000 bushels. Vines covered 30,712 acres. There were 431,547 horses, 1,833,900 cattle, 13,180,943 sheep, and 337,588 pigs in the colony in 1895. The value of the gold output of 1895 was £2,960,344. There were 29,897 miners working in the gold fields, of whom 2,014 were Chinamen. The number of hands employed in manufactories was 41.273. The tariff duties average 15 per cent. of the value of imports. The imports of wool were £2,367,915 in value and exports £5,151,153. The exports of gold and specie were £3,570,737; of live animals, £294,886; of leather, leathern cloth, and articles made of leather, £285,194; of breadstuffs, £629,960; of refined sugar, £82,554; of apparel, £105,592; of tallow, £249,904; of all other articles, £3,997,801. Of the total imports £4,759,546 came from the United Kingdom, £5,800,710 from Australasian colonies, £215,238 from India, £113,719 from Ceylon, £16,669 from Canada, £255,419 from other British possessions, £359,680 from the United States, £343,371 from Germany, £132,527 from France, £130,835 from China, £93,769 from Belgium, £96,743 from Java and the Philippines, £79,675 from Sweden and Norway, and £74.443 from other countries. Of the exports £8,068,121 went to the United Kingdom, £4,461,638 to

Australasian colonies, £150,930 to Ceylon, £99,859 to India, £10,406 to Canada, £103,275 to other British possessions, £560,098 to Germany, £320,003 to Belgium, £281,394 to the United States, £224,122 to France, £18,636 to Java and the Philippine Islands, and £249,250 to other countries.

About half the area of Queensland is forest. Of the total area 12,453,840 acres have been alienated and 1,757,755 acres are in process of alienation, leaving 413,626,485 acres still owned by the state. The receipts from land up to the end of 1895 were £7,543,460. A large proportion of the area is leased for pastoral purposes under the law of 1884 allowing 20,000 acres or less to be selected on a lease for thirty years. The same act provides for the selection of agricultural land up to the maximum of 1,280 acres on a lease running fifty years, with the privilege of purchasing it under certain conditions. There were 3,339 pastoral runs in 1895, aggregating 264,882,426 acres. The live stock of the colony comprised 468,743 horses, 6,822,401 cattle, and 19,856,959 sheep. The cultivated area was 299,278 acres. The corn crop was 2,391,378 bushels in 1895. There were 77,247 acres under sugar cane. The gold product of 1895 was 631,682 ounces. Tin was produced of the value of £68,133; copper, £13,097; silver, £30,042; opals, £32,750; coal, £123,530. The chief exports in 1895 were gold, of the value of £2,272,109; copper, £31,324; wool, £2,991,413; sugar, £796,117; hides and skins, £456,506; tin, £74,187; silver, £48,379; tallow, £595,992; pearl shells, £71,856; preserved and salted meat, £402.480; frozen meat, £583,409; meat extract, £42,791; green fruit, £58,555. The trade is chiefly with Great Britain and the other Australian colonies. The imports from the United States were valued at £130,885.

In South Australia there were 2,625,741 acres cultivated in 1893, of which 1,732,711 acres were under wheat. The wheat crop of 1894 was 13,618.062 bushels. The live stock consisted of 187,666 horses, 323,602 cattle, and 7,267,642 sheep in 1895. There were 112,762 square miles leased in pastoral runs. There was £266,494 worth of copper produced and exported in 1895. The export of wool in 1895 was £1.438,776; of wheat, £445,461; of flour, £392,974. The imports from the United States were £241,886 in value; exports to the United States, £14,439.

In Western Australia agriculture and stock raising have made great progress, as well as mining. The land under cultivation in 1895 was 218,239 acres, a minute fraction of the surface of the colony, which embraces 624,588,800 acres. The live stock comprised 58,506 horses, 200,091 cattle, and 2,295,832 sheep. The chief crop is wheat, of which 8 bushels are raised to the acre. There are silver, copper, lead, tin, and coal mines, as well as gold mines. The gold export increased from £226,284 in 1892 to £421,385 in 1893, £787,094 in 1894, £879,748 in 1895, and £1,068,808 in 1896. The export of pearls in 1895 was valued at £20,000; pearl shells, £27,298; sandalwood, £30,863; timber, £88,146; wool, £183,510; skins, £18,941.

In Tasmania the land sold or granted to settlers amounts to 4,711,074 acres. The unalienated land, embracing 10,860,426 acres, not counting 1,206,500 acres of lakes and islands, is mostly heavily timbered and contains valuable minerals. The area under crops in 1896 was 212,703 acres; under grasses, 221,970 acres; leased as sheep runs, 630,035 acres; planted with fruit trees, 11.037 acres. The vield of wheat in 1896 was 1,164,855 bushels, 18 to to the acre; of oats, 906,934 bushels, 27 to the acre; of potatoes, 81,423 tons, 423 to the acre; of hay, 62,345 tons, 114 to the acre. Large quantities of fruit are exported. There were 510.387 bushels of apples gathered. The hop product was 543,650

pounds. The live stock consisted of 31,580 horses, 162,801 cattle, 1,523,846 sheep, and 70,142 hogs. The colony is rich in gold, iron, tin, copper, silver, lead, and coal. The export of gold in 1895 was £218,308; of silver, £227,916; of tin, £167.754; of timber and bark, £65,125; of wool, £202,341; of hops, £18,210; of green and preserved fruit, £161,464.

Of 66,710,320 acres, the total area of New Zealand, 21,131,251 acres had been alienated up to April, 1895. About two thirds of the surface of the island is suitable for agriculture and grazing. About 20,000,000 acres remain under forest and 9,000,000 acres are barren mountain, lakes, and waste lands. There were 9,285,170 acres sown to grasses in 1896, and a total area under crops of 10,698,809 acres. The public lands leased for pastoral purposes amounted to 12,469,976 acres. The wheat crop of 1896 was 6,644,000 bushels, averaging nearly 28 to the acre. Of oats, 12,264,000 bushels were grown, over 33 to the acre. The live stock consisted of 237,418 horses, 1,047,901 cattle, 18,982,080 sheep, and 239,778 pigs. The values of the principal exports in 1895 were: Wool, £3,662,131; frozen meat, £1,262.711; gold, £1,162,181; butter and cheese, £378,510; hides, skins, and leather, £382,254; Kauri gum. £418,766; tallow, £260,999; grain and flour, £218,996; timber, £141,892; preserved meat, £66,137; grass seed, £64,112; New Zealand hemp, or phormium, £21,040; live animals, £37,256; hams and bacon, £6,450. The export of wool was 144,295,154 pounds; of frozen meat, 1,025,243 hundredweight; of butter, 60,771 hundredweight; of cheese, 55,655 hundredweight; of Kauri gum, 8,338 tons.

Of the total imports, £3,992,359 came from the United Kingdom, £1,261,125 from Australian colonies, £394,223 from the United States, £282.571 from Pacific islands, £233,135 from India and Ceylon, £38,664 from China, £12,474 from Mauritius, and £185,578 from other countries. Of the exports £7,045,646 went to the United Kingdom, £1,035,753 to Australia, £316,639 to the United States, £125,643 to Pacific islands, and £26,543 to other countries.

Navigation. There were 3,121 vessels, of 2,929,758 tons, entered during 1895 at the ports of New South Wales, 2,900, of 2,604,664 tons, being British and 221, of 325,094 tons, foreign. The total number cleared was 3,090, of 2,930,280 tons, of which 2,881, of 2,610,510 tons, were British and 209, of 319,770 tons, foreign. The shipping registered in the colony comprised 479 sailing vessels, of 54,222 tons, and 485 steamers, of 57,820 tons, having been increased during the year by 13 sailing vessels, of 1,363 tons, and 13 steamers, of 5,172 tons.

The number of vessels entered at Victorian ports during 1895 was 1,948, of 2,181,539 tons, of which 408, of 885,839 tons, were British, and 1,440, of 1,065,234 tons, were colonial; the number cleared was 1,889, of 2,167,147 tons, of which 398, of 876,468 tons, were British and 1,390, of 1,061,925 tons, colonial. The shipping registered in the colony consisted of 261 sailing vessels, of 41,925 tons, and 153 steamers, of 48,029 tons.

In Queensland 584 vessels, of 469,710 tons, were entered and 634, of 502,195 tons, cleared during the year. The shipping of the colony consisted of 137 sailing vessels, of 10,780 tons, and 92 steamers, of 12.415 tons, including river steamers.

There were 1,106 vessels, of 1,483,440 tons, entered and 1,110, of 1.496,203 tons, cleared at South Australian ports. The shipping of this colony consisted of 95 sailing vessels, of 17,715 tons, and 214 steamers, of 22,930 tons. In Western Australia 485 vessels, of 814,368 tons, were entered and 433, of 764,185 tons, cleared in the course of 1895. The

vessels on the register of the colony were 11 steamers, of 3,504 tons, and 144 sailing vessels, of 4,770 tons. At the ports of Tasmania 711 vessels, of 463,979 tons, were entered and 742, of 473,546 tons, cleared in 1895. The colonial merchant fleet consisted of 162 sailing vessels, of 10,009 tons, and 51 steamers, of 8,159 tons. The number of vessels entered at the ports of New Zealand in 1895 was 611, of 672,951 tons, of which 579, of 636,722 tons, were with cargoes; the number cleared was 597, of 648,946 tons, of which 554, of 622,311 tons, were with cargoes. Of the number entered 146, of 299,667 tons, were British, 420, of 319,313 tons, colonial, and 45, of 53,971 tons, foreign. The vessels registered in the colony consisted in 1895 of 299 sailing ships, of 35,925 tons, and 180 steamers, of 38,856

tons.

Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. - The length of railroads in operation in New South Wales on June 30, 1896, was 2,531 miles, costing £36,852,194 to build and equip. The receipts for the year were £2,820,417, and the working expenses £1,551,888, being 55-02 per cent. of the gross earnings. There were besides 84 miles of private railroads.

The railroads of Victoria, all belonging to the state, had in 1895 a length of 3,103 miles, built at a cost of £37,909,626. The receipts in the fiscal year 1895 were £2,581,591, and the operating expenses £1,543,393, giving a net return of 2.75 per cent. on the capital, which was borrowed at the mean rate of 3·91 per cent. per annum. There were 40,250,000 passengers and 2,435,857 tons of freight carried in

1895.

In Queensland there were 2,379 miles of railroad open for traffic at the end of 1895, all belonging to the Government and built at a cost £16,603,427. Including loan expenses the cost was £18,458,536. The receipts for 1895 were £1,048,634, and expenses £608,709.

South Australia had 1,888 miles of railroads in 1895, of which 146 miles were in the northern territory. The railroads pay a net profit of 5 per cent. to the Government.

In Western Australia there were 1,164 miles of railroads open for traffic at the end of 1895, when 115 miles were building and 283 miles being surveved.

Tasmania had 475 miles of railroad at the close of 1895.

The railroads of New Zealand had on April 1, 1896, a total length of 2,189 miles, of which 775 miles were on the North island and 1,239 miles on the South island. The latter figure includes 175 miles of private lines. The receipts of the Government railroads for the year ending March 31, 1896, were £1,183,041, and the expenses £751,368. The cost of construction was £16,328.964. There were 4,162.426 passengers and 2,087,798 tons of freight carried during the year.

The postal traffic of New South Wales for 1895 was 68,079,000 letters, 957.400 postal cards, 44.902,900 newspapers, 11,259,300 packets and book parcels, 422,772 parcels, and 406,235 money orders for the total amount of £1,269,200. The postal revenue of Victoria in 1895 was £509,721, including receipts from telegraphs and telephones, and the expenses were £652,752. In Queensland 18,278,870 letters, 11.885,858 newspapers, 4,834.453 packets, and 134,603 parcels were carried. The post office of South Australia forwarded 17.073,918 letters, 2.129,994 packets, and 8,723,501 newspapers. The Western Australian post office in 1895 handled 17,867.952 ordinary letters, 273,615 registered letters, 17,996,387 newspapers, and 4,079,368 packets. The number of letters passing through the Tasmanian post office in 1895 was 5,692,376; of postal cards, 202,

332; of newspapers, 4,506,191; of packets, 1,354,551. The revenue of the post office alone was £55,876; of the telegraph and telephone service, £14,939; expenses of the department, £61,927. The postal traffic of New Zealand in 1895 was 28,949,936 letters, 637,013 letter cards, 1,201,633 post cards, 11,023,330 books and parcels, 12,675,973 newspapers, and 243,497 money orders issued and 183,995 paid; receipts of posts and telegraphs, £365,727; expenses, £362,325.

The telegraph lines of New South Wales had a length of 12,316 miles at the end of 1895, with 28,799 miles of wire, erected at a total cost of £840,380. The number of messages for that year was 2,635,456. The receipts were £367,316, being £145,901 over the expenses, but the Post Office Department as a whole took in £647,845 only and spent £758,130. Victoria in 1895 had 7,091 miles of lines, with 14,409 miles of wire. The number of dispatches sent during the year was 2,033,630, paying £95,896. The telegraphs of Queensland had a total length of 9,979 miles, with 17,790 miles of wire. There were 853,156 messages sent and 112,952 foreign messages received, besides 89,507 official messages. The receipts from telegraphs were £76,011, and the postal revenue was £158,682, while the expenses of the department were £295,065. South Australia had 5,620 miles of telegraph, with 13,473 miles of wire. There is an overland line connected with the British Australian cable crossing the continent from Port Darwin to Adelaide, 2,000 miles. The Government earns a profit on its telegraphs above running expenses and interest charges.

The telegraph lines in 1895 had a length of 4,577 miles in Western Australia, where 240 miles were being added. There were 720,992 messages sent during the year. The net revenue was £61,673, the total expenses of telegraph service and post office being £108,578. The telegraphs of Tasmania had a length of 1,789 miles, with 3,004 miles of wire, besides 422 miles of cable and 520 miles of telephone wire. The number of dispatches in 1895 was 190,277. The length of the New Zealand telegraphs on March 31, 1896, was 6,245 miles, with 15,764 miles of wire. The number of messages during the year was 2,124,211, of which 1,899,632 were private messages, paying £92,289.

But

Australian Federation.-At the conference of premiers held at Hobart in February, 1895, it was agreed to dispense as far as possible with the necessity for further parliamentary action in relation to the federal movement, and to appeal by popular election directly to the voters of each colony. to give validity to the proposed elections, it was necessary first to obtain parliamentary sanction to the scheme in several colonies. For this purpose each colonial parliament was asked to pass an enabling bill. The same difficulty that had been experienced in connection with the draft commonwealth bill of 1891 as to harmonious action on the part of six parliaments was again felt in regard to the passing of the enabling bills. After two years' delay the colony of Queensland had for local reasons still failed at the beginning of 1897 to pass the enabling bill. The necessary legislation had been carried through all the other parliaments, though with a slight departure in Western Australia from the purely popular programme adopted at the Hobart conference. All the Australian colonies, Queensland excepted, were ready at the beginning of 1897 to take action on the bills that had been passed. The lead in the matter was accorded by common consent to New South Wales. A procclamation was issued in that colony by which the enabling act was brought into force on Jan. 4, and after a consultation between the premiers of the principal colonies, from which Western Australia

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