Of the births, 476 or 4.08 per cent. in 1885 were illegitimate. In 1885, 117 persons were tried before the higher courts, and 86 convicted. At the census of 1881 it was found that 33,267 persons were directly occupied with agriculture, 33,117 in industry, 10,742 in commerce, 4,325 in professions, and 122,438 were classed as domestic (wives, children, servants, &c.). Trade and Industry. The total value of the imports and exports of Queensland, in the five years from 1881 to 1885, is given in the following table : The commercial intercourse of Queensland is chiefly with the other Australasian colonies, and, next to them, with the United Kingdom. The leading exports besides gold are wool, valued at 1,779,6827. in 1885; hides and skins, 125,6037.; sugar, 720,9217.; and tin. The leading imports are textiles and apparel, metal goods, liquors, provisions, grain, and flour. The subjoined tabular statement gives, according to the Board of Trade returns, the value of the exports, exclusive of gold, from Queensland to the United Kingdom, and of the imports of British and Irish produce and manufactures into Queensland in each of the five years 1881 to 1885 : Years Exports from Queensland Imports of British Home Produce £ 1,284,138 The staple article of export from Queensland to the United Kingdom is wool, the value of which was 881,255l. in 1881, 1,087,811). in 1882, 1,302,7627. in 1883, 1,517,7667. in 1884, and 1,385,7021. in 1885. The only other notable articles of export to Great Britain are preserved meat, of the value of 40,6791., and tallow, valued 31,1427. in 1885. Among the imports of British produce into Queensland in the year 1885, the chief were apparel and haberdashery, of the value of 261,1197.; iron, wrought and unwrought, of the value of 421,7381.; cottons, of the value of 254,8021.; and woollens, of the value of 140,6167. In 1885, 920 vessels of 496,277 tons entered, and 967 of 532,904 tons cleared, the ports of the colony; of the former, 226 vessels of 228,917 tons were British, and of the latter, 205 of 212,970 tons. This does not include, as was the case in former years, vessels entering and clearing more than one port. There are 9 banks established in Queensland, of which the following are the statistics for the end of 1885:-Notes in circulation, 661,1687.; deposits, 7,188,9581.; coin and bullion, 1,404,1581.; advances, 11,448,1997. About one-half the area is under forest, though little has been done hitherto to develop the forestry of the colony. A large proportion of the area is leased in squatting runs for pastoral purposes, amounting to 480,142 square miles, or 307,290,880 acres; the number of runs was 9,292. The live stock in 1885 numbered 260,207 horses, 4,162,652 cattle, 8,994,322 sheep, and 55,843 pigs. The total area under cultivation in 1885 was 209,130 acres, and of this 198,334 acres were under crop. The leading grain crop maize. The growth of sugar-cane has in recent years been successful, though the want of labour hinders its development: in 1885 there were 59,186 acres under this crop; of this the produce of 38,557 acres yielded 55,796 tons of sugar, valued at 1,075,235l. In 1885, 50 acres were under cotton, yielding 14,968 lbs. of clean cotton, valued at 4731. is There are several coal mines in the colony, the produce of which amounted to 209,698 tons in 1885, valued at 87,2281. Gold-fields were discovered in 1858, the produce of which to the end of the year 1877 amounted to 2,646,916 ounces, 310,247 for the year 1878, 288,556 for the year 1879, 267,136 for the year 1880, 270,945 for the year 1881, 224,893 for the year 1882, 212,783 for the year 1883, 307,804 for the year 1884, 310,941 for the year 1885, and 4,840,221 to the end of the latter year, which at 31. 108. per oz. = 16,940,774l. Tin, copper, and lead are also mined to some extent, the quantity and value of these minerals raised in the year 1885 being At the end of 1885 there were 1,434 miles of railway open for traffic in the colony, and 558 miles more in course of construction or authorised. The railways are all in the hands of the Government, and the cost of construction up to the end of 1885 has been 9,484,6541. The revenue from railways during 1885 was 691,5417., and the expenditure in working them 444,1407. The post office of the colony in the year 1885 carried 9,776,407 letters, 8,794,633 newspapers, and 1,155,017 packets. There were 623 post and receiving offices in the colony at the close of 1885. The post office revenue was 97,6517., and the expenditure 203,5347. At the end of 1885 there were in the colony 7,533 miles of telegraph lines, and 12,290 miles of wire, with 259 stations. The number of messages sent was 1,082,183 in the year 1885, and 119,897 received from places outside the colony. The receipts of the Department during that year were 82,0371., and the working expenses 92,9331. Agent-General for Queensland in Great Britain. The Hon. Sir James Francis Garrick, Q.C., K.C.M.G. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Constitution and Government. THE Constitution of South Australia bears date October 27, 1856. It vests the legislative power in a Parliament elected by the people. The Parliament consists of a Legislative Council and a House of Assembly. The former (according to a law which came into force 1881) is composed of twenty-four members. Every three years the eight members whose names are first on the roll retire, and their places are supplied by two new members elected from each of the four districts into which the colony is divided for this purpose. The executive has no power to dissolve this body. It is elected by the whole colony voting as one district. The qualifications of an elector to the Legislative Council are that he must be twenty-one years of age, a natural-born or naturalised subject of Her Majesty, and have been on the electoral roll six months, besides having a freehold of 50l. value, or a leasehold of 20l. annual value, or occupying a dwelling-house of 251. annual value. The qualification for a member of Council is merely that he must be thirty years of age, a natural-born or naturalised subject, and a resident in the province for three years. The President of the Council is elected by the members. The House of Assembly consists of fifty-two members, elected for three years. The qualifications for an elector are that of having been on the electoral roll for six months, and of having arrived at twenty-one years of age; and the qualifications for a member are the same. There were 59,176 registered electors in 1884. Judges and ministers of religion are ineligible for election as members. The elections of members of both Houses take place by ballot. The executive is vested in a Governor appointed by the Crown and an Executive Council, consisting of the responsible ministers, and specially appointed members. Governor of South Australia.-Sir William C. F. Robinson, K.C.M.G.; born 1832; Governor of the Falkland Islands, 1866–70; Governor of Prince Edward Island, 1870-3; Governor of the Leeward Islands, 1873-4; Governor of Western Australia, 1874-7; Governor of the Straits Settlements, 1877-80; again Governor of Western Australia, 1880-2. Appointed Governor of South Australia, November 1882 The Governor, who is at the same time commander-in-chief of the troops, has a salary of 5,000l. per annum. The ministry is divided into six departments, presided over by the following members: : Premier and Attorney-General.-Hon. John William Downer, Q.C. Commissioner of Crown Lands.-Hon. J. H. Howe. Minister of Education.-Hon. John Alexander Cockburn, M.D. The Ministers have a salary of 1,000l. per annum each. They are jointly and individually responsible to the Legislature for all their official acts. The colony possesses an efficient volunteer military force, and for purposes of naval defence, a war vessel of the latest design and construction. Revenue and Expenditure. The total annual revenue and the total annual expenditure of the colony of South Australia for each of the five financial years, ending June 30, from 1882 to 1886, were as follows: : The revenue for 1886-87 is estimated at 2,218,1247., and expenditure 2,214,5637. The greater part of the revenue of the colony is derived from customs duties, posts and telegraphs, railways, and territorial. receipts, while the main portion of the expenditure is on account of public works, railways, and interest on public debt. The customs duties and territorial revenue produce together about one-half of the total revenue. It is also proposed to introduce a bill for the imposition of stamp duties and for the rearrangement of probate and succession duties. About one-third of the expenditure is for administrative charges, comprising salaries of judges, &c., civil establishments and police, gaols, and prisons. The disbursements for public works amounted in recent years to about one-third of the total expenditure. The public debt of the colony, dating from 1852, amounted, on December 31, 1885, to 17,029,9001. The whole of the existing debt |