There are several coal mines in the State, the produce of which amounted to 507,801 tons in 1903, valued at 164,7987. Gold-fields were discovered in 1858; the production for the year 1903 amounted to 921,363 ounces, of the value of 2,839,8137.; and from the commencement of gold mining to the end of 1903, to 17,454,418 ounces, of the value of 58,312,1277. The quantity and value of ores and other minerals raised in the year 1903 were

In the western portion of the State water is comparatively easily found by sinking artesian bores. Up to June 30, 1902, 934 bores were recorded as having been sunk, aggregating a depth of 1,135,412 feet. Some of these yield large supplies of water, there being 105 in which the flow was between 750,000 and 1,500,000 gallons daily, whilst 67 bores exceeded the latter quantity. The deepest bore reported was returned as at Bimerah, namely, 5,045 feet, and fourteen others are shown to be 4,000 feet and upwards.

Commerce, Shipping, and Railways.

The commerce of Queensland, exclusive of inter-State trade, is comprised in the Statement of the Commerce of the Commonwealth of Australia. The total value of the imports and exports of Queensland, including interState trade, in the last six years, is given in the following table :

In 1903 the customs duties amounted to 856,9371. or about 13 per cent. of the total value of imports. The chief exports are gold, silver, copper, tin, coal, meat (preserved or frozen), hides, skins, tallow, and sugar.

The registered shipping in 1903 consisted of 174 sailing vessels of 9,079 tons, and (including river steamers) 99 steamers of 14,823 tons; total, 273 vessels of 23,902 tons. In 1903, 727 vessels of 902,670 tons entered, and 726 of 895,785 tons cleared the ports of the State; of the former, 49 of 114,962 tons were from, and of the latter, 30 of 91,094 tons, were to the United Kingdom. In 1903 477 vessels of 557,503 tons entered from, and 480 of 550,253 tons cleared for other Australian colonies. Vessels entering and clearing more than one port on the same voyage are only counted at one port of arrival and departure. In the coasting trade 6,186 vessels of 3,954,684 tons entered, and 6,174 of 3,943,866 tons cleared.

At the end of 1903 there were 2,997 miles of railway open for traffic in the State. The railways have a gauge of 3ft. 6in.; they are nearly all in the hands of the Government, and the cost of construction of State railways up to December 31, 1903, was 21,360,6277. The revenue from railways during 1903 was 1,256,0277., and the expenditure in working them 832,4407. The total expenditure to December 31, 1903, including apportionment of cost of floating loans, losses on sales of stock, &c., has been 23,369,4211. For Posts and Telegraphs see under Commonwealth of Australia.

Banks.

There are eleven banks established in Queensland, of which the following are the statistics for the end of 1903-Notes in circulation, viz., 388,8337. Treasury notes issued by the Government through the banks; deposits, 12,259,5297.; total liabilities, 12,826,3397.; coin and bullion, 2,036,1137.; advances, 13,222,9947.; landed property, 736,2497. ; total assets, 16,922, 3331. There is a Government savings bank with 176 branches; on December 31, 1903, there were 79,958 depositors, with 3,681,9997. to their credit.

Books of Reference.

Statistical Register of Queensland, Annual. Brisbane.

Census of the Colony of Queensland, taken on March 31, 1901. Fol. Brisbane, 1902. Queensland Official Year-Book, 1901. Brisbane.

Report from the Government Statistician on Vital Statistics. Annual. Brisbane. Report from the Government Statistician on Agricultural and Pastoral Statistics. Annual. Brisbane.

Report of the Department of Agriculture. Annual. Brisbane.

Report of Commissioner for Railways. Annual. Brisbane.

Report of the Department of Mines. Annual. Brisbane.-Reports of Geological Survey. Annual. Brisbane.

Report of the Department of Public Lands. Annual. Brisbane.

Report of the Department of Public Instruction. Annual. Brisbane.

Bicknell (A. C.), Travel and Adventure in Northern Queensland. London, 1895.
Kenuedy (E. B.). The Black Police of Queensland. London, 1902.

Pugh's Queensland Almanac. Court Guide, Gazetteer, &c.

Annual. Brisbane.

Roth (J. W. E.), Ethnological Studies among North-West Central Aborigines. Brisbane. Rowan (Mrs.), Australian Sketches. [Queensland and New Zealand.] London, 1897. Russell (H. S.), The Genesis of Queensland. 8. Sydney. 1888.

Rutledge (C. S.), Guide to Queensland. London, 1899.

Satge (O. de), Pages from the Journal of a Queensland Squatter. London, 1901. Sernon (R.), Im australischen Busch und am den Küsten des Korallenmeeres. Leipzig, 1896. [Also Eng. Trans. London, 1899.]

Weedon (T.), Queensland Past and Present. Brisbane, 1897.

Many works relating to Queensland can be obtained from the Agent General in London.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

Constitution and Government.

Founded in 1836 (Act 4 and 5 Will. IV. c. 95) the present Constitution of South Australia bears date October 24, 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 is composed of eighteen members. Every three years the three members for the Central District and two members for each of the other three Districts whose names are first on the roll retire, and their places are supplied by new members elected from each of the four districts into which the State is divided for this purpose. The executive has no power to dissolve this body. The qualifications of an elector to the Legislative Council are to be twenty-one years of age, a natural born or naturalised subject of His Majesty, and have been on the electoral roll six months, besides having a freehold of 507, value, or a leasehold of 201. annual value, or occupying a dwelling-house of 251. annual value. By the Constitution Amendment Act, 1894, the franchise was extended to women. There

were 52,058 registered electors in 1903. The qualification for a member of Council is merely that he be thirty years of age, a natural born or naturalised subject, and a resident in the State for three years. The President of the Council is elected by the members. Each member of the Council, and also of the House of Assembly, receives 2007. per annum and a free pass over government railways.

The House of Assembly consists of 42 members elected for 3 years, representing 13 electoral districts. The qualifications for an elector are that of having been on the electoral roll for 6 months, and of having arrived at 21 years of age; and the qualifications for a member are the same. There were 163,587 registered electors in 1903. Judges and ministers of religion are ineligible for election as members. The election of members of both houses takes place by ballot.

The executive is vested in a Governor appointed by the Crown and an Executive Council, consisting of 4 responsible ministers and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Governor of South Australia.-Sir George Ruthven Le Hunte, K. C. M. G. The Chief Justice, being also Lieutenant-Governor, acts pending a new appointment, or during the absence of the Governor.

The Governor has a salary of 4,000l. per annum. The ministry is divided into 4 departments, presided over by the following members :

Premier, Chief Secretary, and also Minister Controlling the Northern Territory-Hon. J. G. Jenkins, M.P.

Attorney-General and Minister of Education.-Hon. R. Homburg, M.P. Treasurer, Commissioner of Crown Lands, and Minister for Agriculture. -Hon. R. Butler, M. P.

Commissioner of Public Works and Minister of Industry.-Hon. J. Vardon, M.L.C.

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, as in the United Kingdom.

Agent-General for South Australia in London.-H. A. Grainger.
Secretary and Registrar of Stock.-J. B. Whiting.

The settled part of the State is divided into counties, hundreds, municipalities, and district councils, the last being the most general, as they cover most of the settled districts. The ratepayers have the power of levying rates, &c., and applying the funds for road-making purposes. There are 46 counties, blocks of country thrown open for agricultural purposes. There are 3 extensive pastoral districts-the western, northern, and north-eastern. There are 32 municipalities and 140 district councils. The Northern Territory is presided over by a Resident, assisted by a small staff.

Area and Population.

The original boundaries of the State, according to the statute of 4 & 5 Will. 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 were subsequently extended, under the statute of 24 and 25 Victoria, cap. 44. By Royal Letters Patent, dated July 6, 1863, all the territory lying northward of 26° S. latitude and between the 129th and 138th degrees of East longitude, and now known as the Northern Territory, was added. The total area of the State is calculated to amount to 903,690 English square miles.

The following return shows the population of South Australia (including the Northern Territory) at the date of each census from 1846 to 1901 (exclusive of Aborigines): :

There were December 31, 1903, 183,584 males, 181,107 females. There is only one person to about 3 square miles. The population of Adelaide, the capital of the State, and suburbs is about 186,066; of the Northern Terri tory, 4, 132, of whom 563 are females.

In

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. 1891 the number of aborigines was stated to be 3,134; in 1901, 3,888-2,007 males and 1,881 females. Of the population in 1891, 3,848 were Chinese; in 1901, 2,567.

The following are the statistics of births, deaths, and marriages for five years;

The following are statistics of immigrants and emigrants by sea :

The aggregate number of churches and chapels in the State in 1900 was 969. At the census of 1901 the number belonging to the leading denominations were as follows:-Church of England, 106,987; Roman Catholic, 52,193; Methodists, 90,125; Lutherans, 26,140; Baptists, 21,764; Presbyterians, 18,357; Congregationalists, 13,338; Church of Christ, 6,103; Salvation

Army, 4,030; other Christians, 5,130; Jews, 786; Mohammedans, 449; Confucians, &c., 3,190; other non-Christian, 184; not stated, 13,828. No aid from the State is given for religious purposes.

Public instruction is under charge of the Educational Department. Teachers are paid from the general revenue, public lands being set apart for educational purposes. In 1901, of the population of all ages, 17.54 per cent. could neither read nor write, 2:28 per cent. could only read. Education is secular, free, and compulsory. Government grants exhibitions and scholarships, carrying the holders to higher schools and universities. In 1903 there were 276 public schools and 439 provisional schools; the number of children under instruction during 1903 being 67,697. There is a training college for teachers. The University of Adelaide, incorporated in 1874, is authorised to grant degrees in arts, law, music, medicine, and science. Its endowment amounts to 131,2007. and 50,000 acres of land. There are several denominational secondary schools. There were 205 private schools, with 10,269 pupils, in 1903.

Justice and Crime.

There is one supreme court, a court of vice-admiralty, a court of insolvency 81 local courts and police magistrates' courts. There are circuit courts held at several places. There were 134 convictions for felonies and misdemeanours in 1897, 157 in 1898, 95 in 1899, 82 in 1900, 134 in 1901, 100 in 1902, and 130 in 1903. The total number of white persons in gaols at the end of 1903 was 109 males and 33 females, and in the labour prison 119 males. For defence, see under Commonwealth of Australia. For the purposes of local defence a small cruiser, the Protector (920 tons), launched in 1884, is stationed off the chief port of the State, which is defended by two well-armed forts.

Finance.

The total annual revenue and the total annual expenditure of the State of South Australia for each of the last five years ending June 30 were as follows:

The revenue for 1904-1905 is estimated at 2,618,9477., and expenditure 2,585,4767.; customs revenue, 1903-1904, 542,6997.

The greater part of the revenue of the State is derived from inland revenue, railways, and territorial receipts, while the main portion of the expenditure is on account of public works, railways, and interest on public debt. The total revenue averages 81. per head, of which customs and other sources of taxation contribute 21. 16s. 7d. About one-tenth of last