SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Constitution and Government. THE Constitution of South Australia bears date October 27, 1856. It vests the legislative power in a Parliament elected by the people. The Parliament consists of a Legislative Council and a House of Assembly. The former (according to a law which came into force 1881) is composed of twenty-four members. Every three years the eight members whose names are first on the roll retire, and their places are supplied by two new members elected from each of the four districts into which the colony is divided for this purpose. The executive has no power to dissolve this body. It is elected by the whole colony voting as one district. The qualifications of an elector to the Legislative Council are that he must be twenty-one years of age, a natural-born or naturalised subject of Her Majesty, and have been on the electoral roll six months, besides having a freehold of 50l. value, or a leasehold of 201. annual value, or occupying a dwelling-house of 251. annual value. The qualification for a member of Council is merely that he must be thirty years of age, a natural-born or naturalised subject, and a resident in the province for three years. The President of the Council is elected by the members. The House of Assembly consists (1884) of fifty-two members, elected for three years. The qualifications for an elector are that of having been on the electoral roll for six months, and of having arrived at twenty-one years of age; and the qualifications for a member are the same. There were 59,176 registered electors in 1884. Judges and ministers of religion are ineligible for election as members. The elections of members of both Houses take place by ballot. The executive is vested in a Governor appointed by the Crown and an Executive Council, consisting of the responsible ministers, and specially appointed members. Governor of South Australia.-Sir William C. F. Robinson, K.C.M.G.; born 1832; Governor of the Falkland Islands, 1866-70; Governor of Prince Edward Island, 1870-3; Governor of the Leeward Islands, 1873-4; Governor of Western Australia, 1874–7; Governor of the Straits Settlements, 1877-80; again Governor of Western Australia, 1880-2. Appointed Governor of South Australia, November 1882. The Governor, who is at the same time commander-in-chi the troops, has a salary of 5,000l. per annum. The is divided into six departments, presided over by the following members: Chief Secretary.-Hon. John Cox Bray. Commissioner of Crown Lands.--Hon. J. H. Howe. Commissioner of Public Works.-Hon. John Brodie Spence. Minister of Education.-Hon. John Alexander Cockburn, M.D. The Ministers have a salary of 1,000l. per annum each. They are jointly and individually responsible to the Legislature for all their official acts. The colony possesses an efficient volunteer military force, and for purposes of naval defence, a war vessel of the latest design and construction. Revenue and Expenditure. The total annual revenue and the total annual expenditure of the colony of South Australia for each of the five financial years, ending June 30, from 1881 to 1885, were as follows:— The revenue for 1886 is estimated at 2,344,1247., and expenditure 2,407,5847. The greater part of the revenue of the colony is derived from customs duties, posts and telegraphs, railways, and territorial receipts, while the main portion of the expenditure is on account of public works, railways, and interest on public debt. The customs duties and territorial revenue produce together about one-half of the total revenue. During 1885-86 an addition of 270,000l. is expected from a new tax on land and income, being two years' receipts. It is also proposed to introduce a bill for the imposition of stamp duties and for the rearrangement of probate and succession duties. About one-third of the expenditure is for administrative charges, comprising salaries of judges, &c., civil establishments and police, gaols, and prisons. The disbursements for public works amounted in recent years to about one-third of the total expenditure. The public debt of the colony, dating from 1852, amounted, on July 1, 1885, to 17,034,2001. The whole of the existing debt was raised for productive public works, mainly railways, telegraphs, and harbour improvements. The real property of the colony in 1884 50,000,000l., and personal property at 20,000,0007. Area and Population. was valued at The original boundaries of the colony, according to the statutes of 4 and 5 Wm. IV. cap. 95, were fixed between 132° and 141° E. long. for the eastern and western boundaries, the 26° of S. lat. for the northern limit, and for the south the Southern Ocean. The boundaries of the colony were subsequently extended, under the authority of Royal Letters Patent, dated July 6, 1863, so as to embrace all the territory lying northward of 26° S. latitude and between the 129th and 138th degrees of East longitude. The total area of the colony is calculated to amount to 903,425 English square miles. South Australia was first colonised in 1836 by emigrants from Great Britain, sent out under the auspices of a company called the South Australian Colonisation Association, which in 1835 obtained a grant from the Imperial Government of the lands of the colony. The conditions were that the land should not be sold at less than 17. per acre; that the revenue arising from the sale of such lands should be appropriated to the immigration of agricultural labourers; that the control of the company's affairs should be vested in a body of commissioners approved by the Secretary of State for the colonies, and the Governor be nominated by the Crown. The total population in 1844 was 17,366, in 1861 it was 126,830, in 1871, 185,626, and in 1881, 279,865; 149,520 males and 130,335 females. The increase in 1871-81 was 94,239, or 57 per cent.-57 per cent. per annum. The enumerations here given, except the two last, did not include the aboriginal population. The number of aborigines living in settled districts was found to be 3,369, namely, 1,833 males and 1,536 females, at the census of March 26, 1876. In 1881 the number of aborigines was stated to be 6,346-3,478 males, 2,868 females. Of the population in 1881, 2,734 were Chinese (adult males). As regards religion, the census returns of 1881 stated the most numerous body to be that of the Church of England, counting 75,812 members, next to it coming 42,628 Roman Catholics, and 42,103 Wesleyan Methodists. On December 31, 1884, the population was estimated at 312,781 -164,877 males, 147,904 females. During 1884 there were registered 11,847 births, 4,789 deaths, and 2,555 marriages. The population of Adelaide, the capital of the colony, was, in 1881, 8,479, exclusive of suburbs. Immigrants, 1884, 17,290; emigrants, 16,082. Trade and Industry. The total value of South Australian imports and exports, inclusive of bullion and specie, from and to various countries, in each of the five years 1880 to 1884 was as follows: The imports into the colony consist of numerous articles of general consumption, textile manufactures, and British colonial produce, the principal article being drapery goods. The three staple articles of export are wool, wheat and flour, and copper ore. The total ex ports of wool in 1884 amounted to 2,618,6267.; the exports of wheat and flour to 2,491,8967.; and the exports of copper, including copper ore, to 375,3257. The subjoined table shows the commercial intercourse of South Australia with the United Kingdom, giving the value of the total exports, exclusive of gold, from the colony to Great Britain, and of the imports of British produce into South Australia, in each of the five years from 1880 to 1884 :— The staple export article from the colony to the United Kingdom is wool, of the value of 2,165,8587. in 1880, of 2,345,2317. in 1881, of 2,303,7891. in 1882, of 2,007,3017. in 1883, and of 1,976,0037. in 1884. The next most important articles of export to Great Britain are wheat, flour and copper. The wheat and flour exports were of the value of 1,025,0777. in 1880, of 496,741/. in 1881, of 402,3551. in 1882, of 107,6197. in 1883, and of 861,2587. in 1884. The exports of copper amounted to 219,315l. in 1883, and 182,9647. in 1884. The imports of British produce in 1884 comprised iron, wrought and unwrought, of the value of 320,3371.; apparel and haberdashery, of the value of 304,6417.; cotton fabrics, of the value of 236,6947.; woollen fabrics, of the value of 187,2047.; machinery, 126,9147. Of the total area (578,272,000 acres), 10,670,572 acres were alienated at the end of 1884. The total land enclosed amounts to 53,444,411 acres, of which 2,785,490 acres were under cultivation in 1884-5. Of this 1,942,453 acres were under wheat, 308,429 under hay, 5,825 under orchards, 4,590 vineyards, and 450,536 fallow. The gross produce of wheat in 1879-80 was 14,260,964 bushels, and in 1884-5, 14,621,755 bushels. In 1884, 473,535 gallons of wine were produced, of which 50,080 gallons were exported. The live stock in 1885 numbered horses, 168,420; cattle, 389,726; sheep, 6,696,406. Of the total area 226,130 square miles are held under pastoral leases. In 1884 the number of leases was 1,785. Mining operations are pursued on a very extensive scale in the colony. The mineral wealth as yet discovered consists chiefly in copper. The value of the copper ore produced in 1884 was 181,4771.; and of copper, 287,7531.; and the total value of all minerals produced 491,950l. The colony had 1,060 miles of railway open for traffic in December 1884, and 262 miles of lines in course of construction. The colony had 5,291 miles of telegraph in operation at the end of 1884, with 9,067 miles of wire. Inclusive of the total is an overland line, opened in 1872, constructed at the expense of the South Australian Government, running from Adelaide to Port Darwin, across the centre of the continent of Australia, a distance of 2,000 miles, in connection with the British Australian cable, forming telegraphic communication with all parts of the world. In connection with the telegraph department a telephone exchange has been established. In 1884 there were 555 post-offices in the colony; and during 1883 there passed through them 12,679,142 letters and packets, and 6,890,810 newspapers. Agent-General of South Australia in Great Britain.-Sir Arthur Blyth, K.C.M.G. |