Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/512

Rh 470 NEW ZEALAND Tasmania, whilst ten are found in New Zealand and other places, but not in the Australian seas. &quot;New Zealand ichthyology,&quot; he states, &quot;presents, a very distinct character, the thorough decipher ing of which affords a wide field for future observation and scientific investigation.&quot; Oyster fisheries exist, and are protected by law. Cray-fish are in abundance. Whaling formerly flourished on the coast, but since New Zealand has become a colony whaling stations have disappeared. Whales, however, of valuable kinds are nume rous in the adjacent ocean, and a few whaling ships are owned in New Zealand. Efforts have, for several years past, been made by the Government, but chiefly by local acclimatization societies, private and self-supported bodies, to introduce and acclimatize &quot;European and American edible fish. Ova, in considerable quanti ties, of British salmon, of California!! salmon, of brown trout, and of American whitefish have been imported, and the fish hatched from them distributed. 1 No instance of the survival of British salmon has as yet been authenticated ; but three or four cases of grown Californian salmon having been found are reported. The success of brown trout in many streams has been great, and fish of 11, 14, and even 21 ft weight have been caught. Trout-fishing has become a common sport in many places. Salmon trout fry hatched in 1870 spawned in 1875. The Canterbury Acclimatization Society in 1880 liberated nearly 25,000 American whitefish in Lake Coleridge. The acclimatization of other fish has also been successful. Commu- The natural features of the country were, for a long time after its nieation. colonization, a bar to overland internal communication, but good coach roads now traverse the country in every direction, and railways especially have enabled solitudes to be peopled, and wastes to be made productive. The total length of railways opened for traffic in March 1883 was 1443 miles. In the North Island, the chief working lines are Kaipara to Waikato, 141 miles ; Wellington to Napier, 138 miles open ; Foxtonto New Plymouth, 169 miles open ; in the South Island Hurunui to Bluff, 671 miles, and Invercargill to Kingston, 89 miles. 10,400,000 in round numbers have been expended on opened lines of Government railways from 1870 to March 31, 1883, and the net earnings as a whole were yielding 3, 8s. lOd. per cent, on that expenditure. In addition to road and railway communication, intercourse between the chief ports is carried on two or three times a week by swift and commodious steamers. The telegraph wire runs through every settled district, and is extended to Australia and England. Trade The following table shows the value of imports and exports for five years respectively: Imports. Exports. 1S78 1879 1880 1881 1882 8,755,G(3 8.374,585 6,162,011 7.457,045 8,609,270 6,015,700 5.743,126 6,352,692 6,060,866 6,658,008 The total exports for 1882 included the following values : from mines, 956,803; from fisheries, 5693; from forests, 390,242; animals and animal products, 3,601,242, of which wool alone was 3,118,544; agricultural products, 1,140,839; and colonial manufactures, 96,628. The export of frozen sheep to Europe seems likely to become very valuable. In an able paper on the Public Debt of Australasia, read before the, Royal Colonial Insti tute in London on November 21, 1882, Sir Francis Dillon Bell, K. C.M.G., agent-general for New Zealand, stated that 5000 frozen sheep had recently come in good condition in one lot from New Zealand, that &quot;the meat was readily taken into consumption,&quot; and that &quot;the sheep netted 21s. 9d. a-piece, a return eminently satisfactory to their owners, because they would not have sold for more than 12s. in New Zealand.&quot; Shipping. The total shipping inwards during 1882 was 795 vessels of 461,285 tons, as compared with 765 vessels of 420,134 tons during 1881. The total outwards during 1882 was 764 vessels (436,793 tons), as compared with 762 vessels (413,487 tons) in 1881. The number of vessels on the New Zealand register, on 31st December 1881, was 572, altogether 72,387 tons, of which 443 (56,751 tons) were sailing vessels and 129 (15,636 tons) were steamers. There were in 1883 twenty-three coastal light-houses, among which six were of the first and twelve of the second order of apparatus. Adminis- New Zealand was not colonized in the ordinary manner around tration. one centre. There were in its early years six distinct settlements Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, New Plymouth, Canterbury, and Otago between which communication was for several years irregular and infrequent. To meet their political wants, the Constitution Act of 1852 created them into provinces, with elective councils and superintendents respectively, subordinated to one colonial legisla ture. In 1876 the provincial system was abolished by that legisla ture. The general assembly, as it is called, is composed of the governor, the legislative council, and the house of representatives. 1 According to a paper read by Mr W. Arthur before the Otago Institute in 1881, the numbers distributed by the various societies were British salmon, 4000 ; Calif ornian salmon, 417,000 ; brown trout, 332,000; salmon trout, 1000; and American whitefish, 34,000. The governor is appointed by the crown. The legislative council consists of members appointed for life by the governor ; the number of legislative councillors in 1883 was 50. The house of representa tives consists of 95 members chosen by the electors. The franchise is manhood suffrage, conditional on a previous residence in the colony for a year, including six months in the electoral district for which a claim to vote is registered. Every elector is qualified for election. Four members of the house must be Maoris elected by their own race. The duration of the house is for three years, but it is subject to re-election whenever the governor dissolves the general assembly. Legislation is subject to disallowance by the crown, but practically that power is seldom if ever exercised. Executive administration is conducted on the principle of English responsible or parliamentary government. Its seat is at Wellington. Local administration is vested in local elective bodies, such as municipal councils, county boards, road boards, and others, with power to levy rates. The colonial revenue is chiefly derived from customs, stamp duties, property tax, postal and telegraphic services, railways, and crown land sales. The proceeds of land sales are applied to surveys and public works. Crown lands are acquired at auction, or by selection, or on deferred payment, or by lease with right to purchase on certain conditions. The price is rarely less than 1 an acre. The chief feature of public policy in New Zealand from 1871 to 1883 has been to borrow and expend large sums on railways, immi gration, main roads, native land-purchases, telegraphs, and other important public works. During that time about 19,000,000 has been expended on those objects collectively, and there are good grounds for the general conclusion that, as a whole, this policy of investing loans in large reproductive services has been, and will be, if prudently continued, a substantial success. The gross public debt of the colony on March 31, 1883, was 30,357,111, subject to a deduction of 2,571,829 for accrued sinking funds. The annual charge, including sinking fund, was 1,525,281. The loan of 1,000,000, raised in January 18S3, for railways and other works was a 4 per cent, loan inscribed in stock at the Bank of England. Another similar loan was raised in January 1884. The New Zealand state has encouraged public thrift by a system of Government life insurance, which is working with remarkable success. On 31st December 1882, when the population may be estimated at 505,000, the total sum assured on 23,439 policies in force in both branches (ordinary and industrial) of the department, exclusive of insurance in private offices, was 5,355,900. The Government post-office savings banks, at the end of 1882, had 57,517 open accounts, amounting altogether to 1,470,950. Under the Education Act of 1877 state schools are established, in Educa- which teaching is free, secular, and compulsory, with certain excep- tion. tions, for children between the ages of seven and thirteen. A capi tation grant is given for every child in average daily attendance at the schools. Grants are also made for scholarships from primary to secondary schools, for training institutions for teachers, and for school buildings. Large reserves of public lands have been made for primary, secondary, and university education. The progress in the education of children is shown in the census of 1881. In 1874 the number of children attending school was 6678 per cent, of the population between five and fifteen years ; in 1878 it was 73 64 per cent., and in 1881 80 76 per cent. Native schools are also provided by the state in native districts. There are, moreover, industrial schools, orphanages, and an institution for the deaf and dumb. There are several secondary schools with public endow ments. The university of New Zealand is an examining body, and grants honours, degrees, and scholarships. It is empowered by royal charter to confer degrees entitled to rank and consideration throughout the British dominions, as fully as if they were granted by any university in the United Kingdom. It has also the privilege of nominating one of its students in each year for a cadetship at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. The Canterbury College and the Otago University, both academical institutions of a high order, are affiliated to the New Zealand University. Provision made by the legislature in 1882 for a university college at Auck land has been given practical effect to. The state in no way con trols or interferes with religious administration. Each denomi nation attends to the religious instruction of its own adherents. State school -buildings can be used for such instruction on days and at hours other than those fixed by law for ordinary school work ; but no child can be required to attend, except at the wish of its parent or guardian. The average daily attendance of scholars at the state schools throughout the year 1882 was 68,288. In 1881 the number returned as attending private schools was 13,538; Sunday schools, 78,891; and receiving tuition at home, 7348. Exclusive of the aboriginal population, the estimated popula- Popula tion of New Zealand on December 31, 1883, was 515,000. The tion. census of 1881 returns the number in April of that year as 489,933 (269,605 males and 220,328 females). The average number of persons to an inhabited dwelling was 5 12. The popu lation under twenty-one years of age was 258,774, of whom 128,791 were females. The number of those born in the colony was 4 5 &quot;60 per cent, of the whole population ; of those born in England,