2,327; Rogers, 2,158; Prescott, 2,005; Conway, 2,003.

Most of the larger cities are disappointed over the returns and sure something is wrong, as estimates based on the school census give larger figures. The Governor is reported as saying: These figures can not be otherwise than erroneous. Through these imperfect census returns Arkansas will get only one extra congressman, when we should have had two."

Finances.—The receipts and expenditures of the State for the two years ending Sept. 30, 1900, and the balances due each fund on Oct. 1, 1900, are shown in the following statement from the biennial report of the Auditor:

on

General revenue-amount received, $1,161,724; warrants redeemed, $1,143,068.43; balance on hand, $32,908.67. Sinking fund-amount received, $224,443.25; warrants redeemed, $237,057.53; balance on hand, $7,305.99. Common school fundamount received, $927,841.23; warrants redeemed, $924,960.32; balance on hand, $57,213.77. Permanent school fund-amount received, $2,967,423.13; warrants redeemed, $1,137,179.32; balance hand, $2,120,799.25. Sixteenth section fund (transferred to permanent school fund)-amount received, $221,791.89; warrants redeemed, $575,315.68. Confederate pension fund-amount received, $100,052.07; warrants redeemed, $101,648.52; balance on hand, $17,646.45. Direct taxbalance on hand, $15,315.73. Swamp land fundamount received, $47,830.91; warrants redeemed, $1,974.58; balance on hand, $49,076.23. Internal improvement fund-amount received, $59,839.10; balance on hand, $61,316.80. State Capitol fundamount received, $48,029.64; warrants redeemed, $36,663.44; balance on hand, $11,366.20. Penitentiary deposit fund-amount received, $230,359.61; warrants redeemed, $230,359.61. Tax due counties amount received, $53,207.57; warrants redeemed, $49,360.99; balance on hand, $13,378.08. Tax due cities-amount received, $322.65; warrants redeemed, $114.04; balance on hand, $642.13.

Valuations.-The value of real estate, as shown by the tax books, is $127,062,908. The value of personal property as assessed is $62,936,142.

In a suit to determine the liability of Garland County for a part of the indebtedness of Hot Spring County, from which it was set off in 1873, the court adjudged that Garland should pay Hot Spring $18,880 as its share of the debt at the time of separation.

Education. The school population is 472,508. The enrollment in 1899 was 296,785, of whom 76,049 were colored. In private and denominational schools there were 5,835.

Twenty-one young men and women were graduated at the State University in June.

Charities. The report of the State Board of Charitable Institutions, published in May, gives the following data:

The current expenses of the lunatic asylum from April 1, 1897, to March 31, 1898, were $56, 956.73; from April 1, 1899, to March 31, 1900, $59,449.88, an increase of $2,493.15 for the year just closed. The record shows that on April 1, 1897, there were 507 patients on hand in the asylum, and on April 1, 1899, there were 605, an increase of 98 patients.

The current expenses of the deaf-mute institute from April 1, 1897, to March 31, 1898, were $19.076.62; from April 1, 1899, to March 31, 1900, $19.352.86, an increase of $276.24 for the year just closed. The record shows that on April 1, 1897, there were 208 pupils in attendance, and on April 1, 1899, there were 250, an increase of 42.

The current expenses of the school for the blind

from April 1, 1897, to March 31, 1898, were $13,723.85, and from April 1, 1898, to March 31, 1900, $14,714.23, an increase for the year just closed of $990.38. The record shows that on April 1, 1897, there were 167 pupils in attendance at the school for the blind, and on April 1, 1899, 192, an increase of 25 pupils.

The last Legislature increased the current expense appropriation of the lunatic asylum $10,000, the deaf mute institute $4,000, and the school for the blind, $11,000.

Railroads. Among the States having new railroad mileage built in 1899, Arkansas stood third, with 282 miles. During the first half of 1900 62 miles were constructed in the State. The net incomes of the several roads for the year ending June 30, 1899, as reported to the railroad commission, were: St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern, $1,065,026.71; St. Louis and Southwestern, $497,830.09; Choctaw and Memphis, $32.834.08; Paragould and Southeastern, $12,214.59; Arkansas Midland, $8,765.02; Eureka Springs, deficit, $6,756.07; Hoxie, Pocahontas and Northern, $2,844.67; Dardanelle and Russellville, $19,607.83; White and Black River Valley, $27,693.61; Stuttgart and Arkansas River, deficit, $3,366.69; Des Arc and Northern, $2,916.43; Louisiana and Arkansas, $29,164.04.

The report of the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis for the year ending June 30, 1900, shows an increase of $981,830, or 21 per cent., in earnings; of $636,493, or 213 per cent., in expenses; and of $345,337, or 25 per cent., in net earnings. In addition $100,000 was appropriated for improvements and transferred to the general improvement fund, $100,000 having also been deducted from the year's miscellaneous earnings for the same purpose. The surplus balance for the year, after all deductions, was $28,406.

The Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham road, operated in the same interest, shows for the fiscal year an increase of $270,139, or 19 per cent., in gross earnings and of $157,057, or 42 per cent.. in net receipts.

Charters have been granted to the Arkansas and Missouri and the Arkansas Western. The former is to run from Little Rock to a point on the State line in Boone County, and the latter from Howe, Indian Territory, to Waldron, Ark., about 36 miles.

The Stuttgart and Arkansas River was sold in April to the Des Arc and Searcy. The White and Black River Valley was leased in June to the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf.

The commission gave an opinion in a case involving their right to regulate rates, holding that the transportation of freight between two points in the State, though the line of railroad may pass outside the borders of the State for a few miles, is intrastate or domestic commerce and subject to regulation by the commission.

Business and Products.-Figures published in August show the capitalization of corporations registered with the Secretary of State from Jan. 1, 1899, as follow: Manufacturing associations, $23.868,575; railroad companies, $82.130,000; bank companies, $585,000; building associations. $7,000,000; loan and investment companies, $135,000; telegraph and telephone companies, $109,200; total, $113.827,775:

The cotton acreage this year was 1,718,901; the estimated crop, 809,000 bales; the consumption in mills of the State, 2,380 bales.

From a review of the lumber trade for July it appears that of 135 mills reporting, which are in 6 States and 1 Territory, 41 were in Arkansas and Indian Territory; that they cut 40,962,812 feet

and shipped 51,156,821, and had on hand 71,502,475.

A first prize was awarded at the Paris Exposition to an exhibit of apples from the State experiment station, prepared by the pomologist at the university.

State Laws. From the report of the AttorneyGeneral's office is learned that under the antitrust law passed by the last Legislature 225 suits were brought against the 63 fire insurance companies doing business in this State, to subject them to the penalty of the act. Proceedings were instituted also against the express companies, Waters-Pierce Oil Company, American Tobacco Company, Continental Tobacco Company, and the various cotton-seed oil companies operating in this State.

The construction of the act was tested in the Supreme Court under the style of State vs. Etna Fire Insurance Company and The State rs. Lancashire Fire Insurance Company, one series of which was affirmed, the other, carrying the constitutionality of the act, was reversed. The court having decided adversely to the opinion of the Attorney-General, the other cases were dismissed. Lawlessness.-A negro prisoner who had confessed to the murder of an Italian fruit vender was taken from a guard and hanged by a mob near Helena, April 16. A negro school-teacher, suspected of having broken into a store, was shot and killed by a party of men, who took him and another suspected negro to a lonely place to frighten them into confession. It was declared that the killing was not intentional, and that only "white-capping was intended.

Labor. A decision was handed down in the United States District Court at Fort Smith, in January, making permanent the temporary injunction issued previously, restraining the striking coal-miners of western Arkansas from interfering with nonunion men who took places in the mines.

Before the State election the labor unions were asking of candidates for the Legislature pledges as to proposed legislation in which they were interested. A set of questions used in Sebastian County is as follow:

1. Will you favor a bill making eight hours a legal day's work, with a penalty for the violation of the same?

2. Are you in favor of a law establishing semimonthly or weekly pay day?

3. Are you in favor of the abolition of the scrip system now in use by corporations?

4. Will you favor a law compelling all corporations doing business in the State of Arkansas to be incorporated under the State laws and chartered by the State?

5. Are you in favor of a law establishing a uniform system of text-books to be published by the State and furnished at cost to all patrons of the public schools of the State?

Political. Senator Berry and Gov. Jones were candidates before the primaries for the office of United States Senator, but the Governor withdrew from the contest, March 23.

The election for State officers was held Sept. 3. There were three candidates for Governor, but only the Democrats put out a full State ticket. The Republicans and the Populists made nominations for Governor only. The Republican candidate was Herman L. Remmel and the Populist nominee was A. W. Files. Following is the Democratic ticket: For Governor, Jeff Davis; Secretary of State. John W. Crockett; Attorney-General, George W. Murphy; State Auditor, T. C. Monroe; State Treasurer, Thomas E. Little; Commissioner

of Lands, J. W. Colquitt; State Superintendent of Public Instruction, J. J. Doyne; Commissioner of Mines, Manufactures, and Agriculture, Frank Hill; Associate Justice of Supreme Court, Carroll D. Wood; Railroad Commissioners, F. M. Hanley, Abner Gaines, J. G. Wallace.

The platform of the Democratic convention, June 26, 27, approved the national platform of the party as adopted at Chicago in 1896; recognized the Monroe doctrine as a cardinal tenet of the party, and favored its strict observance; favored the building of the Nicaraguan Canal by the Government; opposed the donation of the public lands of the United States to private corporations. Trusts and all illegal combinations were denounced. The platform approved the action of the last Legislature in passing laws against them, and pledged the party to the passing of laws to prohibit their operation in Arkansas.

The set of resolutions at the Republican convention for nominating delegates to the national convention, March 20, favored expansion, opposed trusts, favored the Nicaraguan Canal to be owned and controlled by the Government, and approved the protective tariff policy. It denounced the Goebel act and the Nesbitt act and "all similar laws in Arkansas and elsewhere concocted to cheat the honest voter, and to enable a corrupt minority to govern."

The State Republican convention, July 7, declared in favor of a reform school, completion of the Statehouse, compulsory arbitration in labor troubles, and nonpartisan educational and charitable boards, and opposed competition of convict with free labor, and all forms of trusts.

The Prohibitionists nominated a presidential elector at large, and declared: "The Democratic and Republican parties are equally corrupt and in sympathy with the liquor power of this nation, and therefore unworthy the support of any Christian or philanthropist.'

The vote for Governor stood: Davis, Democrat, 88,637; Remmel, Republican, 40,701; Files, Populist, 3,641. The State Senate will be entirely Democratic; the House will have 1 Independent, 2 Republicans, and 97 Democrats.

The total vote for presidential electors was 127,839, compared with 149,347 in 1896. The Democratic candidates received 81,142 votes; the Republican, 44,800; and the Prohibitionist, 584–– a Democratic majority of 35,758.

AUSTRALASIA, one of the grand divisions of the globe, consisting of the continent of Australia and island colonies of Great Britain, with interjacent islands. With the exception of the Dutch and German portions of New Guinea, the German protectorate of Bismarck Archipelago and that of the northern Solomon Islands, now diminished by the cession of the Howe group, the French colony of New Caledonia, and the New Hebrides and smaller islands under native rule, all the islands of Australasia are British colonies and dependencies. The five colonies of Australia and the colonies of Tasmania and New Zealand are self-governing, having each its representative Legislature, with a responsible ministry, disposing of its own revenues, and making its own laws under a charter granted by the British Parliament, subject to a certain reserved veto power of the Imperial Government. The British Crown is represented in each colony by a governor, who as the executive head of the colonial Government acts on the advice of the responsible ministers selected from the party or coalition that forms the majority in the Legislative Assembly. The Crown colony of Fiji is administered in accordance with native laws and customs, and its Gov

ernor is High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, intrusted with the supervision of British interests in the islands under native rule.

Area and Population.-The area in square miles of the British Australasian colonies, according to the latest surveys, and their estimated population on Dec. 31, 1898, or June 30, 1899, are given in the following table:

Population.

1,357,050 1,176,854 498,523

362,897 168.480 198,700 796.389

4,680,631

An estimate made for the purpose of apportioning representation under the federation scheme gives New South Wales 1,348,400; Victoria, 1,162,900; Queensland, 482,400; South Australia, 370,700, and Tasmania, 182,300 inhabitants.

The population of New South Wales on June 30, 1899, was composed of 725,900 males and 631,150 females. At the end of 1899 it was estimated at 729,005 males and 627,645 females; total, 1,356,650, including 8,250 aborigines. The population of Sydney, the capital, was estimated in 1898 at 426,950, including suburbs.

In Victoria it was estimated in 1899 that 666,110 of the total population lived in towns. Melbourne, the capital, in 1897 contained 469,880 inhabitants, nearly two fifths of the population of the colony, while in Ballarat there were 44,848, in Bendigo, or Sandhurst, 42,992, and in Geelong 23,334. The emigration from the colony has for five years past exceeded the immigration, chiefly owing to the exodus to the gold fields of Western Australia.

Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, contained at the end of 1898 a population of 107,840 souls, its environs included. The Chinese immigrants into Queensland in 1898 numbered 742, and the emigrants 478; the Polynesian immigrants numbered 1,182, and the emigrants 731.

The population estimated for South Australia on Dec. 31, 1898, consisted of 187,251 males and 175,646 females. In the northern territory there were 4,903 inhabitants, of whom only 409 were females, the bulk being Chinese coolies. Adelaide, the colonial capital, had a population of 147,616.

The population of Western Australia comprised 111,354 males and 57,126 females. In 1891 there were 49,782 persons in the colony, and then the increase had been 68 per cent. in ten years. Perth, the capital, had an estimated population of 39,600 in the beginning of 1899.

The white population of New Zealand at the census of April 12, 1896, was 703,360, consisting of 371,415 males and 331,945 females. Of this total 690,003 were British-born, and of these 441,661 were born in New Zealand and 215,161 were born in the United Kingdom, 116,541 of the latter in England, 2,148 in Wales, 50,435 in Scotland, and 46,037 in Ireland. Of the total population, 15.13 per cent. were agricultural, pastoral, mineral, or other primary producers, 7.18 per cent. were employed in commerce, 4.11 per cent. were domestics, 2.74 per cent. were engaged in the professions, 8.93 per cent. were of undefined occupations, and 58.25 per cent. were dependents. The population as estimated at the end of 1899 includes 39,854 Maoris and 3,711 Chinese. Of the Maoris, the number including 3,503 half-castes

The movement of population in the several colonies for 1898 was as follows:

Of the revenue of New South Wales, £2,511,298 came from taxation, £1,976,816 from lands, £4,610,546 from services, and £205,593 from miscellaneous sources. The net revenue for the year ending June 30, 1899, was £9,572,912. The revenue from services consists chiefly of the net receipts from railways, tramways, posts, and telegraphs. The revenue from taxation in 1899 amounted to £2,558,958, of which £1,621,062 came from import and excise duties and the remaining £937.896 from stamps, land tax, income tax, and licenses. The net expenditure for 1899 was £9,553,144. Of the expenditure of 1898 railways and tramways took £1,812,039, posts and telegraphs £694,862, interest on the public debt £2,548,794, immigration £186, instruction £747,468, and other public works and services £3,754,019. Of the public debt, 80 per cent. was expended for railways, tramways, telegraphs, water supply, and sewerage, and these public services paid a net return of 3.46 per cent. on the total amount expended, which, exclusive of redemptions, up to June 30, 1899, amounted to £62,154,540, the expenditure from loans on railways

and tramways having been £41,226,478, on telegraphs and telephones £1,013,484, on water supply and sewerage £8,999,531, and on other works and services £10,915,047. The estimated wealth of the colony at the end of 1898 was £547,821,500, of which £169,705,500 was public and £378,116,000 private wealth.

Of the revenue of Victoria, taxation produced £2,910,237, of which £1,840,404 came from customs and other duties, £301,318 from excise, £115,451 from the land tax, £238,780 from duties on estates of deceased persons, £ 18,844 from the duty on bank notes, £ 172,400 from the stamp duty, £36,815 from tonnage dues, etc., and £186,225 from the income tax. The income from railroads was £2,602,547; from posts and telegraphs, £ 526,399; from public lands, £385,518; from other sources, £462,762. The expenditure for debt charges was £1,852,056; for railways, £1,559,379; for public instruction, £571,590; for posts and telegraphs, £508,851; for pensions, £336,836; for police and jails, £300,723; for charitable institutions, £279,043; for various public works, £242,294; for general expenses, £220,362; for defenses, £184,677; for law courts, £ 157,457; for mining and agricultural, £142,780; for public lands, £74,508; for other purposes, £156,495. The revenue for the financial year 1900 was estimated at £7,156,225; expenditure, £7,136,755.

In Queensland, customs produced £1,367,426 of the total revenue; excise and export duties, £143,905; stamps, £120,814; licenses, £57,279; dividend duty, £60,487; rent from pastoral leases, £334,960; other rents and sales of land, £240,145; railroads, £ 1,322,606; posts and telegraphs, £284,179. The principal expenditures were £1,326,963 for interest on the public debt, £79,785 for municipal and divisional endowments, £275,715 for public instruction, £181,470 for the Colonial Treasurer's department, £76,980 for the Department of Public Lands, £50,401 for the Department of Agriculture, £783,311 for the expenses of the railroads, £328,463 for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. The expenditure from loans amounted for the year to £1,054,787, mostly for public works, including £628,812 on railways. The revenue for 1900 was estimated at £ 4,388,445 and expenditure at £4,364,420.

In South Australia the revenue is derived from customs duties, excise, posts and telegraphs, railways, and lands, and it is expended on railroads and public works and services and interest on the debt. Three quarters of the debt was contracted to build railways, waterworks, and telegraphs. The railroads earn 34 per cent. a year. The customs receipts for 1900 were estimated at £603,321, the total receipts at £2,711,335; estimated expenditure, £2,711,140.

The revenue of Western Australia is obtained from customs, railroads, and public lands. The public debt on June 30, 1898, was £8.947.954. The expenditure of Tasmania for 1898 includes a sum derived from territorial revenues that was applied to the redemption of loans. For 1899 the revenue of Tasmania was estimated at £946,780 and expenditure at £ 856,600.

Of New Zealand's revenue for 1899, customs supplied £1,965,018; stamps, posts, and telegraphs, £779,399; railways, £1,465,507; land tax, £298,053; income tax, £115,480; sales of land, £92,578. The chief expenditures were: £1,767,468 for public debt charges, £968,917 for railroads, £475,218 for education, £388,546 for posts and telegraphs, and £234,344 for constabulary and defense. The total expenditure on public works, including the expenses of raising loans,

from 1870 to March 31, 1899, was £31,985,750. The debt amounted to £61 148. per capita. Fiji derives its revenue mainly from customs, which produced £45,300 in 1898, and a tax on the natives, which produced £18,923. This tax is paid in produce, which they deliver to the Government, to be sold on their account. The expenditure on salaries in 1898 was £37,946; for other purposes, £49,648.

Commerce and Production. The value of the foreign trade of the several colonies for 1898 is given in the following table:

The

Of the total imports into New South Wales in 1898, the Australasian colonies furnished the value of £12,467,059, while of the exports £8,675,199 went to other colonies. The overland trade was £5,678,201 for imports and £4,121,784 for exports. The imports from the United Kingdom were £7,744,418; from British possessions besides Australasia, £864,420; from the United States, £1,602,954; from other countries, £1,774,709; exports to the United Kingdom, £7,734,880; to other British possessions, £725,383; to the United States, £5,951,287; to other countries, £ 4,561,368. The total exports of home produce in 1898 were £ 17,727,067 in value; exports of foreign produce, £9,921,050. The quantity of wool exported was 280,948,406 pounds, valued at £9,457,535. export of tallow was £495,918 in value; coal, £962,668; hides and skins, £840,533; leather, £340,400; preserved and frozen meat, £721,457. The export of gold coin was £6,529,060. The value of the gold obtained from the mines of New South Wales in 1898 was £1,244,330, and in 1899 it was £1,936,885. The value of silver produced in 1898 was £59,278; of silver lead ore and metal, £1,644,777; of copper, £272,686; of coal, £1,271,832. The tin mines from their opening in 1872 to the end of 1898 produced the total value of £6,292,056. The production of sugar in 1899 was 282,206 tons; of wheat, 9,286,216 bushels; of oranges, 7,839,216 dozen. On Dec. 31, 1898, the colony possessed 41,241,004 sheep, 2,029,516 cattle, 491,553 horses, and 247,061 hogs. The duty on imports in New South Wales averages 5.15 per cent., taking free and dutiable goods together. In Victoria there is a protective tariff, and the duties collected amount to 12 per cent. of the total value of the imports. Wool, skins, and tallow, large quantities of which are imported from other countries to be re-exported or manufactured, are free of duty. The value of wool imported into Victoria in 1898 was £1,808,492; of hides and skins. £262,638; of cotton goods, £1,140,393; of woolen goods, £602,255; of sugar and molasses, £665,014; of live stock, £732,001; of iron and steel, £ 644,890; of timber, £ 344,024; of coal, £257,688; of silks, £ 345,633; of tea, £300,940; of oils, £239,593; of all other goods, £9,425,343. The exports of gold coin and bullion from Victoria in 1898 were £5,947,195; of wool, 131,850,560 pounds, valued at £4,036,968; of live stock. £255,664; of leather and harness, £318,868; of cereals and flour, £638,047; re-export of tea, £160,873; exports of sugar and molasses, £150,431; of clothing, £136,776; of tallow, £94.508; of hides and skins, £373,054; of butter, £736,325;

of frozen meat, £177,348; of all other articles, £2,746,189. Of the total imports in 1898 the United Kingdom furnished £6,195,134; Australasian colonies, £7,670,126; India, £287,829; Ceylon, £149,397; Canada, £33,745; other British possessions, £265,379; the United States, £883,472; Germany, £578,298; France, £199,849; Belgium, £122,236; Sweden and Norway, £107,833; Java and the Philippine Islands, £59,116; China, £56,844; other foreign countries, £159,646. Of the total exports, the United Kingdom received £6,740,420; Australasian colonies, £6,642,230; India, £509,332; Ceylon, £ 15,484: Canada, £651; other British possessions, £220,731; the United States, £67,561; France, £806,470; Germany, £544,041; Belgium, £225,402; Java and the Philippine Islands, £14,523; other foreign countries, £85,401. The value of the gold raised in Victoria in 1899 was £3,449,644, against £3,349,032 in 1898. The factories of the colony, having a total valuation of £12,000,000, produce many of the articles used by the colonists. Agriculture is developed further than in other parts of Australia. The yield of wheat in 1899 was 19,581,000 bushels.

Of the imports into Queensland in 1898, the value of £2,757,981 came from Australasian colonies, £2,559,244 from the United Kingdom, £155,299 from other British possessions, £278,837 from the United States, and £255,905 from other foreign countries. Of the exports, £6,269,090 went to Australasian colonies, £4,352,067 to the United Kingdom, £100,974 to other British possessions, and £133,996 to foreign countries. The chief exports were gold of the value of £2,855,781; wool, £3,018,098; sugar, £1,329,876; hides and skins, £466,265; tin, £31,871; silver, £49,825; copper, £6,430; peas, shelled, £ 109,588; frozen meat, £676,698; preserved and salted meat, £265,872; meat extract, £216,640; fruit, £96,313. The gold output of 1898 was 920,048 ounces, and in 1899 it was increased to 947,626 ounces. The value of the coal raised in 1898 was £150,493; of tin, £36,502; of silver, £ 10,585. There were 17,552,608 sheep, 5,571,292 cattle, 480,469 horses, and 127,081 hogs in the colony in 1898.

Of the commerce of South Australia for 1898 the share of the other Australasian colonies was £3,348,622 of the imports and £3,332,286 of the exports; the share of the United Kingdom, £1,974,818 of the imports and £2,306,202 of the exports; that of British possessions not in Australasia, £193,829 of the imports and £565,467 of the exports; that of the United States, £310,886 of the imports and £915 of the exports; that of all other foreign countries, £356,650 of the imports and £590,904 of the exports. The export of wool was £945,589 in value; wheat, £15,911; flour, £235,752; copper, £244,865. The wheat crop was 8,778,900 bushels. The value of the mineral exports was £350,372. There were 161,774 horses, 260,343 cattle, and 5,012,620 sheep in 1898. 1899 there were made 1,080,772 gallons of wine, of which 504,065 gallons were exported.

In

Of the imports of Western Australia, £2,051,872 in value came from, and of the exports £2,293,652 went to, the United Kingdom. The export of gold was £3,990,698; of pearls, about £20,000; of pearl shell, £49,480; sandalwood, £31,812: of timber, £326,195; of wool, £287,731; of skins, £44,545. The trade with other Australasian colonies was £2,743,761 of imports and £2,462,961 of exports; with other British possessions, £165,123 of imports and £138,692 of exports; with the United States, £91,268 of imports; with other countries, £189.941 of imports and £64,701 of exports. The value of gold exported has increased

from £879,748 in 1895. There were 3,069 leases of gold mines in 1898, and 16,468 men were employed in the mines, the output of gold being 1,050,184 ounces. In 1900 the export of gold was £6,431,063 in value, bringing the total production up to £20,000,000. For mining copper 27 leases have been issued; for tin mines, 2; for lead mines, 41; for coal mines, 63. The live stock at the close of 1898 consisted of 62,442 horses, 245,907 cattle, and 2,244,888 sheep.

was

In Tasmania, the wheat crop in 1899 2,303,512 bushels. Oats, potatoes, and hay are important crops, and fruit-growing is a great industry, large quantities of apples and other fruits being exported to the other colonies and to England. The live stock in 1899 consisted of 29,797 horses, 148,558 cattle, 1,493,638 sheep, and 45,294 hogs. Iron, tin, galena, copper, gold, and coal mines are worked. The value of gold exported in 1898 was £188,478; of silver, £167,618; of copper ore, £378,565; of tin, £141,162. The export of wool was £254,960 in value; of timber and bark, £60,012; of hops, £22,012; of fruit and jam, £183,345. Of the total imports, £465,544 came from the United Kingdom, £ 720,684 from Victoria, £273,227 from New South Wales, £140,158 from other British colonies, and £50,405 from foreign countries. Of the total exports, £431,518 went to the United Kingdom, £614,640 to Victoria, £ 635,110 to New South Wales, £99,948 to other British possessions, and £22,153 to foreign countries.

The exports of colonial produce from New Zealand in 1898 amounted to £10,324,988. The export of wool was 149,385,815 pounds, valued at £4,645,804; of gold, 280,175 ounces, valued at £1,080,691; of Kauri gum, 9,905 tons, valued at £586,767; of frozen meat, 1,551,773 hundredweight, valued at £1,698,750; of butter, 96,801 hundredweight, and of cheese, 68,711 hundredweight, valued together at £539,466; the value of grain, pulse, and flour, £142,066; of tallow, £302,141; of hides, skins, and leather, £427,256; of live stock, £19,708; of bacon and hams, £8,211; of preserved meats, £97,171; of grass seed, £78,519; of phormium, or New Zealand hemp, £74,556; of other colonial produce, £623,882; of British and foreign produce, £124,850; of specie, £68,117, against £19,191 of imports. The gold mines of New Zealand are mostly situated on Government lands. The production of gold since they were first opened in 1857 has been £54.453,325. The production of silver in 1898 was 293,851 ounces, value £33,107; of coal, 907,033 tons, value £ 453,517; of Kauri gum, 9,905 tons. value £586,767. The production of gold for 1899 was 470,585 ounces, value £1,513,242. The wheat crop for 1898 was 13,073,000 bushels, nearly 33 bushels to the acre; the oat crop, 16,511,000 bushels; the barley crop, 1,678,000 bushels. The live stock in 1899 consisted of 258,115 horses, 1,203,024 cattle, 19,673,725 sheep, and 193,512 hogs. The total value of imports in 1899 was £8,739,633; of exports, £11,938,335. The exports of dairy products were valued at £701,742; gold export, £1,513,173.

In Fiji the European settlers had 22,078 acres in 1898 planted to sugar cane, 21,544 acres planted to cocoanut palms, and 1,537 acres planted to bananas. The export of sugar was 34.156 tons, valued at £409,884: of rum, 111,088 gallons, valued at £13.886; of copra, 6,474 tons, valued at £63,140; value of bananas, £25,478.

Navigation.-The number of vessels entered at the ports of New South Wales during 1898 was 3,316, of 3.464.867 tons, of which 2,985, of 3,005,748 tons, were British or colonial, and 331, of