Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/317

AUSTRALIA. ferent States.) The States formerly assisted immigration, defraying in whole or part the expenses of transportation. At present, Queensland alone continues this plan. In this State farm laborers and female servants between the ages of 17 and 35 are free of transportation charges. Assistance is rendered also to other classes of immigrants.

Manufacturing is always one of the later industries to develop in a country. Australia has not yet reached this stage. The production of food products and raw materials has been so remunerative, and induced so high a standard of wages, that even the protective tariffs maintained by all the colonies except New South Wales, and the strenuous efforts put forth in other directions to the end that the manufacturing industry be developed, have not persuaded capital and labor to venture far on lines that would bring them in competition with the cheap labor and the well-established industries of Europe. Whatever manufacturing there is, therefore, is largely of the domestic or local type. The work done on a large scale is confined largely to the preparation of food products and raw materials for foreign shipment. The foregoing table represents approximately the number of people employed in the various industries of the Commonwealth, though the statistics of the various States on that subject are not uniform.

One of the most serious problems with which Australia has had to contend is inland transportation. Being an almost riverless continent, she is mainly dependent on artificial systems. These must largely precede civilization and open up the country for industrial development. The construction of railways through uninhabited or sparsely settled regions necessitated an enormous cash outlay in the face of a light estimate of immediate returns, and an uncertainty as to the ultimate outcome. This burden and responsibility were assumed by the Government itself. It has sought to further the development of the country and at the same time reap the benefits of the growth occasioned by the construction, ownership, and management of its own railways. As a result, less than 500 miles of line remain in private hands. The construction and equipment of the railways has cost the States over $600,000,000, which amount constitutes 62 per cent, of the total public debt. After the interest on this debt and the running expenses have been paid there is almost invariably, in all the States, a deficiency to be met by taxation. Western Australia and South Australia (excepting the Northern Territory) were exceptions to this rule in 1900, while in New South Wales the net loss was but 0.14 per cent., and the largest net loss, that in Tasmania, has not exceeded 2.68 per cent.

Number of People Employed in

INDUSTRIES Treating raw material, the product of pastoral pursuits Connected with food and drink, or the preparation thereof Clothing and textile fabrics Building materials Metal works, machinery, etc Ship building, repairing, etc Furniture, bedding, etc Books, paper, printing, etc Vehicles, saddlery and harness Light, fuel, and lieat Miscellaneous Total New S. Wales (1899) 2,690 9,356 10.984 6.277 11,901 1,499 1,701 5,064 1,950 987 3,247 65,646 Victoria (1899) 1,942 9,657 17.728 5.131 9.423 168 1,446 5,168 2,312 895 6,300 60,070 Queensland (1899) 1,502 9,023 3,795 3,214 4,013 183 676 2,108 1,445 307 1.034 27,200 S.Australia (1899) 1,990 2,927 1,198 6.629 81 32 989 641 65 1.303 15,165 Western Australia (1899) 1,008 1,147 3,617 1,745 27 160 782 406 140 353 9.407 Tasmania (1898) 641 473 987 316 647 300 40 192

In all the States the results are becoming more satisfactory. Victoria, in 1883, and subsequently South Australia. New South Wales, and Queensland took the control of the railways out of the hands of the minister of railways or public works, and vested it in special commissions or commissioners. The Government administration of railways has not been entirely free from grave faults and wasteful undertakings, yet it has advanced the settlement of the country in a way that could never have been expected of private enterprise. Thus, not only have cheap passenger and freight rates been secured, but new industries have been fostered by special freight rates, and various emergencies have been met, such as the transportation of sheep to watering places in times of drought, or laborers to different parts of the country, as their interests demanded, etc. The employees are enjoying an eight-hour law and are receiving comparatively high wages.

The following table shows the course of railway development in Australia and the separate States:

Number of Miles of Railway I? £ s » a^S g°c ga>a State 1861 1871 1881 1891 1900 S g N. S. Wales... 73 358 1,040 2,266 2,896 468 107 114 276 1,247 2,903 3.218 361 27 Queensland... 218 800 2,320 2.801 172 238 66 133 845 1,823 1.901 194 475 W. Australia 92 667 1,632 105 698 Tasmania 45 168 425 647 333 48 Com'nwealth 243 1,030 4,192 10,394 12,995 287 228

The capitals of the four eastern States are connected by railway lines. The plan is being considered of connecting the South Australia system with that of Western Australia, making a trans-continental east and west line; while another plan purposes to establish a north and south trans-continental line connecting the