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PROGRESS OF THE COLONY—FINANCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND MATERIAL.

Australia has not, like the other Australian Colonies and New Zealand, had any rapid increase of population, either from immigration, under associations having large capital at command, or induced by the discovery of gold fields. The progress has therefore been slow, but it has also been regular; the only stimulus it has received has been from the introduction of convicts in 1850; in other respects it has been dependent on the industry of its small population.