Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/32



given a general sketch of the country and climate, I now come to the inhabitants, and their means of acquiring wealth and comfort. The population of the district of Port Phillip is estimated at 20,000; of these about 9,000 are supposed to be resident in Melbourne and its suburbs. This is far too large a proportion; in fact, the town of Melbourne is large enough to supply the wants of a rural population of 60,000 souls. This will in time cure itself, but not without considerable individual distress. At present the population is diminishing, by the inhabitants dispersing themselves over the rural districts, and there is a large number of houses unoccupied. This huddling together of a large population in a town, is the result of the present mode of disposing of crown lands, combined with the system, adopted by the Emigration Commissioners, of encouraging the emigration of artizans in preference to that of agricultural labourers, and of men with families in preference to that of single men. The artizans naturally remain in towns to seek employment in their trades, but these being soon overstocked they find it impossible to succeed in obtaining it, and if they have not energy to look for situations as farm-servants in the bush,