AUSTRALIA'S POPULATION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3150, 30 March 1909, Page 3

AUSTRALIA'S POPULATION.

I In comparatively new countries the male sex, of course, predominates. I Pioneers are mostly men, and subse- | quent immigrants are cheifly men. In Australia and New Zealand men and boys are still appreciably n the majority, but the women and girls i are steadily gaining on them. By immigration man wins, but on vital statistics woman triumphs, because ' once she sets her little foot on this earth she is harder to shift than a representative of the alleged s'rongsr sex. Woman,, from the baby stage onward, is more tenacious of life. Therefore, the figureß for the Commonwealth States, recently summarised in the cable messages, are worth perusing in detail. The populaton at the end of 1908 was:—

Tasmania's large majority of femininity in the gain for 1908 is no doubt due to the exodus of men to more promising States on the mainland. Similar gains for womenkind in New South Wales and Western ' Australia are also significant. Unexpectedly, too, Queensland showed a minority of males in the increase for the year. It was represented in New Zealand that men were flocking ii to Queensland wholesale last; year, but their presence is not disclosed by tlu statistician. Victoria and South Australia loom up as the best favoured places, in man's opinion, from the money-making point of view, for 1908.

Males. : Females. New South Wales 894,165 742,509 Victoria 636,102 635,072 Queensland . 299.953 252,392 South Australia 216,858 190,321 West Australia 154,623 112,487 Tasmania 95,325 90,499 Commonwealth 2,252,024 2 1,023,280 The increases for the year, how- ! ever, are more illuminating, . They 1 total 78,267, distributed thus:— i Male3. J Females. ; New South Wales ; 10,250 12,480 | Victoria 12,419 10,660 ! Queensland 4,994 5,586 South Australia 8,782 5,733 West Australia ■\ 2,464 3,083 1 Tasmania 635 1,181 Commonwealth 39,544 38,723