Page:The three colonies of Australia.djvu/343

 of ship letters, 178,533; inland letters, 383,353; town letters, 47,135; ship newspapers, 277,787; inland, 457,197; total letters, 609,201; newspapers, 734,984; income, £15,462 9s. 10d.; expenditure, £13,751 7s. 11d. In 1850, when the new Act came into force, the number of post-offices was increased to 96, and in 1851 to 101; the number of persons employed, to 123; in 1851, to 137; the number of miles travelled, to 686,614; and in 1851, to 751,154; the number of ship letters, not affected by the new Act, to 179,406; and in 1851, to 202,480; the number of inland letters, from 383,353 to 592,026; and in 1851, to 694,356; the number of town letters, to 70,877; and in 1851, to 78,482; the number of inland newspapers in the first year rather decreased, as there was a postage charge of one penny made upon them for the first time. The total number of letters in 1850 was 842,309; and in 1851, 975,318. The income in 1850 was reduced from £15,462 9s. 10d. to 13,646 5s. 9d., while the expenditure was increased from £13,651 7s. 11d. to £15,732 11s. 4d.; but in 1851 the revenue had increased to £18,252 1s. 11d., while the expenditure was £16,324 13s. 4d.

IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.

The value of the total imports and exports of the colony of New South Wales, in each of the last eight years, was in round numbers as follows:—

The imports of last year exceeded those of the previous year by £230,500, or rather more than seventeen per cent.; while the exports show the far larger increase of £439,100, or thirty-two per cent. So that in the first year of our gold discovery, the increase of our exports was nearly double that of our imports.

Comparing the figures of 1851 with those of 1844, it will be seen that during the last seven years both the imports and exports had rather more than doubled themselves.

Last year the exports exceeded the imports by £233,000, or about 15 per cent. It should not be overlooked, however, that the exports