SIXTY YEARS OF PROGRESS

West Coast Times, Issue 10530, 14 July 1897, Page 4

SIXTY YEARS OF PROGRESS

(Otago Daily Times.)

Whon the Queen ascended the throne a small British population, partly consisting of whalers and largely consisting of " loafers" or " beachcombers," *vas settled along the coasts of New Zealand ; but it was not until 1839 that the colony was added to New South Wales, and not until 1840 that it obtained separate existence. At the beginning of the reign New South Wales had been in existence nearly i half a century, and already had a popula- I tlon of 85,000 souls. In 1837 New South Wales ruled over the whole continent of Australia (excepting South Aus tralia) and New Zealand. Tasmania had obtained its independence in 1825, and in 118291 1829 it was granted a Legislative Council, consisting of 15 nominees. The population of all Australasia in 1837 was roughly estimated at 130,000, of which 40,000 were in Van Diemen'sLand, and of these last 17,600 were convicts who had been transported from the United Kingdom. Of the population of New South Wales about|half were convicts. Out of these three colonies — New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania — have grown seven, and the population has increased to 4,350,000. Of the seven capitals Melbourne and Adelaide were only christened in 1837. Wellington and Perth did not exist under their present names, and Brisbane nine years later had only 829 inhabitants all told. There were under 25,0U0 people in Sydney, and a few thousands in Hobart. The growth of population and its distribution will be seen from the following table :—

It will be observed that the population of Australasia was almost trebled in the decade 1851-61. And of course the increase was due to the gold discoveries in 1851. Naturally the immense of population gave a great stimulus to production, and production to a large extent depends upon the number of live stock. The numbers at the beginning and end of the period are here shown :—: —

New South Wales now exports domestic produce to the annual value of about £16,000,000, of which £9,040,200 is represented by wool ; Victoria exports domestic produce to the annual value of about £10,000^000, of which upwards of £2,000,000 is represented . by wool ; Queensland exports domestic produco to the annual value of nearly £9,000,000 ; South Australia to that of nearly £4,000,000 ; Western Australia to that of about £1,500,000 ; Tasmania somewhat j more, and New Zealand to the value of ■ about £10,000,000 ; so that the total ex- j port of domestic produce from the wh»le group represents fully £50,000,000 annually. Of this upwards of £21,000,000 is represented by wool. These colonies are also customers for British goods to the annual value of upwards of £20,000,000. When taken into comparison with the trade at the time of the Queen's accession the figures are amazing. Trade with the United Kingdom could then hardly be said to have had an existence, since what little production there was was due to the factitious contiguity of settlement in New South Wales and Tasmania. The mining industry wasjalso | practically non-existent in 1837, as alljthe ' mining then done consisted in raising a few thonsand tons of coal at Newcastle. But since 1837 and up ot the end oc 1895' the minerals produced in Australasia have reached the enormous value of £496,930,139, and if stone for building and road work and clay for brick-making be added the total value cannot be less than £510,000,000. The particulars for 1895 are appended :—

none, of which existed in 1837, or for 16 years subsequently. These earn £9.250,000 annually, and produce a net annual profit of £3,750.000. There are 48,000 miles of telegraph, and it was only instituted in 1860. In short, if we examine any deparfcmentjof activity the immense strides which have taken place within the last 60 years must at once arrest the attention of the observer and appeal to his imagination.

Total production to Aus- closi of tralasia 1895 Sold ... ... £8,870,644X379,381,660 silver and lead 1,918,908 23,204,935 3oal 1,771,763 38,510,715 £auri gum (NewZealand) ... 418,766 7,683,519 ■topper ... 401,480 27,231,217 Hn ... ... 237,473 17,360,332 )fcher minerals 184,773 3,657,761 Total £13,803,807 £496,930,139 I'teGotauwhwe 14,000 auks of raUww

Sheep Cattle Horses Pigs 1837 4,000,000 750,000 50,000 50,000 1897 110,000,000 12,700,000 2,000,000 1,250,000

§s -a £ £« lefe .2 8 cc-S fc OP 1837 85,000 Included in N.S.W. (1836) 546 1841 149,000 (11,738) 15,000 (1859) 1J351 °187,243 77,345 25,146 66,538 1861 *350,860 540,322 30,059 126,830 1671 503,981 731,528 120,104 185,626 1881 751,468 862,346 213,525 279,865 1891 1,132,234 1140,405 393,718 320,431 1897 1,300,000 1175,000 480,000 360,000 *Af ter the. separation of Victoria in 1851, and after the separation of Queensland in 1861. 3 -5 % 'i I H * < 1837 2,000 40,000 1,500 130,000 1841 3,500 50,216 5,000 220.000 1851 5,886 70,130 26,707 430,596 1861 15,691 90,211 99,021 1,252,994 1871 25,353 101,785 256,393 1,924,770 1881 20,708 115,705 489,938 2,742,550 1891 49,782 146,667 626,658 3,809,895 1897 145,000 170,000 720,000 4,350,000