membership of 1,751 men, who were formed into a reserve corps. The naval force is composed of 579 men, making the total defence force 9,516. These forces were divided as follows:·- Headquarters and General, Permanent, Honorary, and Naval Defence Force Staff, 135; Lancers, 385; Mounted Rifles, 373; Artillery, 1,065; Field Engineers, 118; Submarine Miners, 102; Electricians, 75; Infantry, 6,493 (including Reserves); Medical Staff Corps, 123; Army Service Corps, 68; Naval Defence Force Staff, 4; Naval Brigade, 328; Naval Artillery, 242; torpedo boats, 5; total, 9,516. A naval establishment, the main works of which are at Garden Island, Sydney, has been completed, and, in addition to shore works, torpedo and other boats have been provided. Sydney is the headquarters of the squadron in Australian waters, and has a dockyard, naval coaling station, and victualling and other stores. The cost of the defence of the colony during the year 1897-98 was 264,4271., inclusive of 31,1831. from loans. Production and Industry. 66 I. AGRICULTURE. In 1897-8 there were 1,821,829 acres, or about 0.9 per cent. of the area of the colony, under crop. About one fourth of the total area of the colony is under forest. The cultivated land is principally to be found in small holdings of less than 500 acres. The colony is divided legally, in accordance with its natural apportionment, into three parts, viz., the Eastern, Central, and Western divisions, and land is obtainable under the following conditions :1st, as a "conditional purchase," by free selection before survey in the two first-mentioned divisions, at the rate of 17. per acre, payable under a system of deferred payments. A conditional lease" may be taken in conjunction with a 66 conditional purchase," and with it is carried the right of conversion into a "conditional purchase," at any time after confirmation of the application. In the Eastern division the minimum area to be conditionally purchased is 40 acres, and the maximum 640 acres ; a similar maximum limiting the area which may be conditionally leased; in the Central the maximum is 2,560 acres, which may be taken up either as a conditional purchase, or as a partlypurchased and partly-leased area. 2nd, by additional purchases of the same areas and under like conditions after the completion of the condition of residence upon the original selection. 3rd. In the Central division the Land Act of 1895 provides for the acquisition of land on easy terms, but with stringent residential conditions attached, either as homestead selections" or as "settlement leases," the maximum area of the former being 1,280 acres, and of the latter a similar extent of agricultural land, or 10,240 acres of grazing land. The obligations attached to a homestead selection are the payment of an annual rental based on the capital value and perpetual residence. The term of a settlement lease is twenty-eight years, with continuous residence during that period. 4th, by purchasing at 21. per acre, without the condition of residence, the maximum area being 320 acres. 5th, Government land is also sold at auction, the upset prices being 87. for town, 21. 10s. for suburban, and 17. 58. per acre for country lots. The area sold is not to exceed 200,000 acres annually, and the maximum area for purchasers is 640 acres in one block. In the Western division the land is leased by the State to pastoral tenants under various forms. Land of more than ordinary value in each of the three divisions may be declared to be a special area, the price per acre not being less than 30s., and the maximum area that may be selected 320 acres in the Eastern division, and 640 in the Central and Western divisions. 66 (1897), 1,824; deaths, 1,163. Education (1897): 34 schools (10 Protestant, 24 Roman Catholic), 4,447 pupils; Government grant, £2,844 3s. 8d. In 1897 there were 1,013 summary convictions, and 12 convictions in superior courts. Sugar, cocoa, rum, and logwood are chief products. Savings banks (end of 1897), 1,294 depositors, 8,4987. deposits. Letters and postcards despatched, 72,718; books and papers, 6,324; parcels, 459. Customs revenue (1897)-Bahamas, 53,4567.; Barbados, 106,8807.; Jamaica, 283,0427.; St. Lucia, 29,8447.; St. Vincent, 10,9617.; Grenada, 26,2921.; Virgin Islands, 7201.; St. Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla, 24,7207.; Antigua, 23,8007.; Montserrat, 3,6847.; Dominica, 10,6527.; Trinidad, 244,6857.; Tobago, 2, 6877. The chief branches of expenditure (1897) were :-Jamaica: charges of debt, 112,6517.; police, 62,4107.; public works, 40,9827.; Bahamas: public works, 7,2197.; debt charges, 8,3857.; salaries, 18,2187.; police, 5,5497.; Barbados: salaries, 78,4067.; debt charges, 1,5617.; police, 23,3707.; St. Vincent public works, 2,7697.; St. Lucia public works, 6,2921. ; salaries, 17,7347.; Grenada: public works, 9,6157.; Trinidad: public works, 97,5407.; police, 44,0447.; debt charges, 37,0467.; salaries, 214,5947. In 1897 the Public Debt of Jamaica was 1,994, 1847. ; of Bahamas, 119, 0267.; of Barbados, 409, 150l.; of Trinidad, 516,5187.; of St. Vincent, 19,1007.; of Grenada, 127,7701.; of Tobago, 9,500l.; of Montserrat, 24, 600l.; of St. Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla, 89, 4507.; St. Lucia, 191,9807.; Antigua, 150,6717.; Dominica, 70,9007. Trinidad alone, in 1897, exported sugar valued at 537,1077.; cocoa, 605,6907.; molasses, 16,9917. Jamaica exported sugar, 120,9597.; rum, 92,0531.; coffee, 165,4947. Barbados: sugar, 447,4307.; molasses, 86,0947. St. Vincent: sugar, 25,5927. ; arrowroot, 21,8597. Grenada cocoa, 132,6427.; spice, 13,5037. St. Lucia: sugar, 59,3981.; cocoa, 17,1587. Leeward Islands: sugar, 236, 2091. In 1897, Jamaica imported cotton goods worth 208,3187.; fish, 116,2407.; flour, 162,3787.; rice, 40, 4327. Trinidad imported flour, 127,3837.; textiles, 309,6117.; rice, 148,7777.; Bahamas: cottons, 39,4367.; flour, 25,4177. Barbados: cottons, 131,5627.; flour, 57,8437.; rice, 50,6647.; fish, 82,4577. ; St. Lucia cottons, 23,3087.; flour, 17,7567. St. Vincent: flour, 8,6107.; Leeward Islands: cottons, 42,8287.; flour, 47,000l.; Grenada, flour, 23,1587. Total imports into Great Britain from the British West Indies in 1897, according to Board of Trade returns, 1,453,0891. (sugar, 560,2887. in 1896; 338,7897. in 1897; rum, 159, 1557.; cocoa, 418,9967. ; and dye-woods, 58, 1947. Exports from Great Britain to West Indies in 1897, 1,784,1857. (cottons, 442,5317.; apparel, 197,0337.; leather and saddlery, 92, 4877. ; iron, 132,5047.; manure, 56,2571.; machinery, 48,7857.). The total tonnage entered and cleared (foreign trade) in 1897 was as follows: Of the total tonnage returned in 1897, 7,246,859; in 1896, 6,517,418 was British. 228,715 Total (1896) 8,234,484 Currency, weights and measures throughout the islands are those of Great Britain, though in several of them various American coins are current. The Royal Commission appointed in January to inquire into the condition of the West Indian sugar-growing colonies, presented its report in August, 1897. The general conclusions are that the sugar industry in the West Indies is in danger of great reduction, in some cases of extinction, not on account of mismanagement, but from the competition of sugar-growing countries assisted by bounties; that in several of the islands there is no other industry which could profitably take its place, and that the total or partial extinction of this industry would seriously affect the condition of the labouring classes, and so reduce the revenues of the colonies, that in many cases they would be insufficient to meet the cost of administration. Measures of relief have been adopted. Books of Reference on the West Indies. The Jamaica Gazette. Weekly. Kingston, Jamaica. The Official Gazette. Twice a week. Bridgeton, Barbados. Report of the West India Royal Commission, 1897, with Appendices. 4 vols. London, 1897. Correspondence relating to the Sugar Industry in the West Indies. London, 1897. Statistical Abstract for the Colonies, &c. Annual. London. Colonial Office List. Annual. London. Blue Books of the respective Colonies. Bates (H. W.), Central America, the West Indies, and South America. 2nd ed. S. London, 1882. Bulkeley (O. T.), The Lesser Antilles. 8. London, 1889. 8. London, 1888. Caldecot (A.), The Church in the West Indies. London, 1898. Powles (L. D.), The Land of the Pink Pearl. S. London, 1888. Reclus (E.), Nouvelle Géographie Universelle. Vol. XVII. 8. London, 1888. Rodway (J.), The West Indies and The Spanish Main. 8. London, 1896. Schomburgk (Sir R. H.), History of Barbados. 8. London, 1848. "Stark (J. H), Guides to the West Indies. 6 vols. London, 1898. AUSTRALASIA AND OCEANIA. FIJI. Constitution and Government. FIJI was ceded to the Queen by the chiefs and people of Fiji, and the British flag hoisted by Sir Hercules Robinson, on October 10, 1874. The government is administered by a Governor appointed by the Crown, assisted by an Executive Council consisting of the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Receiver-General, and the Native Commissioner. Laws are passed by a Legislative Council, of which the Governor is president. It comprises six official members, and six unofficial members nominated by the Crown. The official members are the Chief Justice, the Attorney-General, the Receiver-General, the Commissioner of Lands, and the chief medical officer. Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific.-Sir G. T. M. O'Brien, K. C.M.G. The Governor also exercises the functions of Her Majesty's High Commissioner and Consul-General for the Western Pacific. He has a salary of 2,2001. per annum, paid from colonial funds, and 3007. from Imperial funds. There is no military establishment in the colony, but there is a force of armed native constabulary numbering 100. For the purposes of native government the colony is divided into 16 provinces, in 12 of which a superior native chief exercises, under the title of Roko Tui of his province, a form of rule which recognises to a large degree the customs and the system of administration by which the people governed themselves prior to the establishment amongst them of a European form of government. In three of the provinces there are resident European officers as commissioners. About 170 native chiefs of inferior degree are employed by the Crown in subordinate administrative capacities, and receive salaries from the Government. There are also 34 native stipendiary magistrates associated with 13 European magistrates in the administration of justice. A European commissioner resides in Rotumah Area and Population. Fiji comprises a group of islands lying between 15° and 20° south latitude, and 177° east and 178° west longitude. The islands exceed 200 in number, about 80 of which are inhabited. The largest is Viti Levu, with an area of about 4,250 square miles (about the same size as Jamaica); the next largest is Vanua Levu, with an area of about 2,600 square miles. The island of Rotumah, lying between 12° and 15° of south latitude, and 175° and 177° of east longitude, was added to the colony of Fiji by authority of Letters Patent in December 1880. Including Rotumah, the total area of the group is 8,045 square miles. At the census of April 5, 1891, the population of the colony numbered 121,180. The estimated population on December 31, 1897, was 121,798 (67,410 males, and 54,388 females). The Europeans numbered 3,401 (2,116 males, and 1,285 females); Indians, 12,025 (8,143 males, and 3,882 females); Fijians, 99,773 (53,208 males, and 46,565 females); Polynesians, Rotumans, half-castes, and others, 6,599 (3,943 males, and 2,656 females). Among Europeans in 1897 the births were 51 and deaths 30; Fijians in 1897, births 3,451, deaths 3,999; indentured Indians in 1897, births 424, deaths 254 (registered). Suva, the capital, is on the south coast of Viti Levu ; European population, (estimated) 850. |