Hawke's Bay Herald WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1879.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5530, 5 November 1879, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1879.

THE AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES! In a recent issue of the Sydney Town and Country Journal appears a comparison of the population, revenues, indebtedness, &.C., of the Australasian colonies. This* information is m a tabulated form, and a study of the tables reveals some striking comparisons. Talcing population fu v gt> wt)i find that Victoria cmit'diils 860,0-10 per-i sons, exclusive o£ natives, or rather more than double the population ot New Zealand, which stands at 423 s <loS. iSTcw South Wales Stands next to Victoria, with 077,1)79 souls ; then comes New' Zealand: next South Australia and Queensland, with 243,253 and 200,797 respectively ; Tasmania, Avith 1©8>605 • and lastly, Western Australia, which numbers only 28,0§2 inhabitants other than aboriginals. In revenue, however, New South Wales heads the list with an annual colonial income of £4,983,864, as against £4,504,413 for Victoria. New Zealand, although containing less than half the population of Victoria, raises nearly as much, or £4,167,889. South Australia and Queensland just pass £1,500,000. Tasmania stops at £380,000, and Western Australia only gets to £163,344. This revenue, which is based on the returns for the last financial year, includes land fund, &c. When we take the amounts raised by taxation, Victoria again comes to the front, with £1,712,953. New Zealand stands second, counting £1,533,393, and New South Wales third, with about £224,000 less. Queensland surpasses South Australia, counting £694,062, against £519,254 for the latter colony. Tasmania obtains by far the largest proportion of her revenue by taxation, as out of her total of £386,060, no less than £247,585, or about twothirds, appears under this head. Wes* ! tern Australia gets nearly one-third of her revenue directly > her total of taxation being £75,850. Dividing the taxation by the population, wo find New' Zealand leading with £3 12s 5d per head ; Queensland is close up with £3 7s 1M per head ; South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia occupy a medium position with from £2 2s to £2 14s 2cl per head ; Victoria takes £1 19s 10^ per head ; and New South Wales occupies the lowest and most enviable position with £1 18s 7-Jd per head. In imports Victoria shows a total of £16,161,881, or £18 lls 11J per head of population ; New South Wales, £14,768,873 or £21 15s 8d per head; New Zealand, £8,755,663, or £20 13s C^d per head ; and the other colonies range from £12 4s 2d per head for Tasmania to £23 10s 3d for South Australia. But while New Zealand stands third on the import list, considered in comparison with population, she exports less per head than any other colony except Tasmania. Our total exports amount in value to £6,015,525, or £14 4s ljd per head. Victoria sends away goods to the value of £14,925,707, or £17 3s 6d per head ; New South Wales, £12,965,879, or £19 2s 5f d per head ; South Australia counts for £22 Os 3 Jd per head ; Western Australia and Queensland, £15 6s and £15 8s 6d respectively, and Tasmania £12 2s sd. The total trade (or exports and imports added together) for the four chief colonies was £45 10s 6d per head for South Australia; £40 18s Id for New South Wales ; £35 16s 5d for Victoria ; and £34 17s 7^d for New Zealand. This colony, although third in population, has more miles of railway opened for traffic • than any of the others. Our mileage is 1089, Victoria running us very close with 1052 miles. New South Wales has only 733 miles of line, including a private line 45 miles in length. None of the other colonies has as much as 500 miles. New: South Wales has the greatest extent of " telegraphic wires, showing 11,760 miles ; New Zealand has 8035 miles; Queens--7125 miles ; South Australia, 5686 miles ; and Victoria 5403 miles. Coming to consider colonial indebtedness, we have New Zealand at the head, her total being £22,608,311, less £1,678,127 accrued sinking fund. This amounts to over £50 per head. Queensland is almost as ambitious, she having borrowed £8,935,350, or £42 per head. Victoria owes the foreigner £17,022,065, or £19 7s Id per head ; New South Wales, £11,688,119, or £16 16s lid per head; South Australia, £5,329,000, or £21 8s 5d per head ; and Tasmania, £1,738,500, or £15 16s 2d per head. Western Australia from very shamefaceduess ought to sink into jthe background, her people having not had more impudence than sufficient for the borrowing of £184,566, or £6 lla per head. We will close by a reference to the agricultural returns. New Zealand has 2,053,910 acres under crop, including 1,236,100 acres in grass, after having been broken up, but exclusive of 1,501,651 acres of grass-sown lands not previously ploughed, and 263,353 acres broken up, but not under crop. South Australia ranks second, with 2,011,319 acres ; Victoria third, 1,609,278 acres ; and New South Wales fourth, 613,642. The other colonies have nothing worth mentioning under crop. Taking the returns as a whole, New Zealand compares favorably

with any one of the other" Colonies. She is, in proportion to population. Assuredly the most enterprising and progressive; but her anxiety to go-Ahead tfapkliy hAs involved her ifl. eiibTmotts liabilities'.