George Collins Levey

“ Wool is the staple export, and represents, in most years, one-third the value of the exports. Gold coin and bullion form one of the principal items in the export list, but only a small portion of the export is of local production, the balance being Queensland and New Zealand gold sent to Sydney for coinage. ”

“ The most important mineral in New South Wales is coal, of which the state has probably a larger available supply than any other country in the southern hemisphere. The coal-fields occupy 24,000 sq. m. The coal is present in such vast amount as to offer the possibility of very economical working of the abundant iron ores of Australia. Kerosene shale occurs in the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney, in the Upper Carboniferous rocks. Gold is widely distributed through the highlands. ”

“ The visit of the Australian premiers to England on the occasion of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee gave an additional impetus to federation, and in September 1897 the convention reassembled in Sydney and discussed the modifications in the constitution which had been suggested in the local parliaments. In January 1898 the bill was finally agreed to and submitted to a popular referendum of the inhabitants of each colony. Those of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania agreed to the measure; but the majority in New South Wales, 5458, was not sufficient to carry the bill. ”

“ The tableland varies greatly in elevation, but nowhere does it fall below 1500 ft., and in places it reaches an average of 5000 ft. The great plain district, lying West of the tableland, is part of a vast basin which comprises portions of Queensland, South Australia and Victoria, as well as of New South Wales. The great plains are traversed by a few rivers, whose long and uncertain courses carry their waters to the river Murray, which empties itself into the Southern Ocean through the state of South Australia, and during 1250 m. ”

“ Before the arrival of Macquarie schools and churches had been erected, a newspaper, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, had been started, and attempts had been made to acclimatize the drama.Captain Macquarie’s governorship. But he was the first governor to open up the country. He constructed permanent buildings at Sydney and Parramatta, formed roads and built bridges in the districts along the coast, and commenced a track across the Blue Mountains, which had been crossed in 1813 by Wentworth and others, thus opening up the rich interior to the inhabitants of Sydney. ”

“ The want of progress in agriculture was not to be ascribed to defects of climate or soil, but chiefly to the great distance of Australia from the markets of the world. This difficulty has, for the most part, been removed by the establishment of numerous important lines of steamers trading between Australia and Europe, and recent years have therefore seen considerable expansion in all forms of agriculture.
In 1882 the area of land under cultivation was 733,582 acres, which is slightly less than 1 acre per inhabitant. ”

“ The copper lodes of New South Wales contain ores of a much higher grade than those of many well-known mines worked at a profit in other parts of the world, and, with a fair price for copper, the production largely increases. Iron is widely diffused, principally in the form of magnetite, brown haematite, limonite and bog iron. Coal mining is carried on in three districts. In the northern or Hunter river district there were 63 collieries, employing 10,500 men, and the quantity of coal raised was in 1904 about 4,100,000 tons ”

“ There were 76,000 occupiers of rural holdings in 1905, and the area occupied by them, exclusive of lands leased from the state, is 48,081,000 acres. The great majority, 80% in 1905, of occupiers are freeholders; the practice of renting farm lands is not followed to any considerable extent, except in the dairying lands on the coast district. New South Wales took up its position amongst wheat-exporting countries in 1900; the bulk of the grain exported goes to the United Kingdom. Hay crops and maize rank next in importance to wheat. ”

“ The coastal district has an area of 38,000 sq. m., over which there is an average rainfall of 42 in. The rainfall is greatest at the sea-board, diminishing inland; the fall also diminishes from north to south. Sydney has an average fall of 50 in., while the Clarence Heads, in the north, has 58 in., and Eden, in the south, 35·5 in. The tableland is a distinct climatic region. On the high southern plateau, at an elevation of 4640 ft., stands the town of Kiandra, with a mean summer temperature of 56·4° and winter of 32·5°. ”

“ The rocks of the Devonian system rest unconformably upon the Silurian; but some beds of which the age is still uncertain are called Devono-Silurian. The Devonian beds are well developed in the Blue Mountains, where the lower Devonian sediments at Mount Lambie are estimated to be 10,000 ft. in thickness. They are extensively developed along the Cox river and along the slopes of Mount Canoblas. They are also developed in the New South Wales highlands, to the south-east of Goulburn. ”

“ Vote by ballot was introduced; the number of members in the assembly was increased to 80, and the franchise was granted to every adult male after six months’ residence in any electoral area. Meanwhile the material progress, of the colony was unchecked. A census taken at the end of 1857 showed that the population of Sydney was, including the suburbs, 81,327. Telegraphic communication was established between Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Tasmania in 1859; and during the same year the Moreton Bay district was separated from New South Wales and was constituted the colony of Queensland. ”

“ But although the free settlers prospered, and were enabled to purchase land on very easy terms, they were dissatisfied with the administration of justice, which was in the hands of a judge-advocate assisted by military officers, and with the absence of a free press and representative institutions. ”

“ The cultivation of fruit is receiving increased attention, but the growing of sugar cane and tobacco and the production of wine, until recently so promising, are, if not declining, at least stationary, in spite of the suitability of the soil of many districts for these crops. ”

“ Artesian water is also obtainable in other than Cretaceous rocks. This is shown by palaeontological evidence; and some of the most successful bores, such as those at Coonamble, Moree, Gil Gil and Euroka, have pierced rocks of Triassic age, corresponding with the Ipswich Coal Measures.
Population.—The population on the 1st of July 1906 was 1,504,700, viz. 799,260 males and 705,440 females. The total includes 105,000 Chinese and 7500 aborigines and half-castes. Since 1860 New South Wales had added more largely to its population than any of the other Australian states. ”

“ In 1851, when separate autonomy was granted to Victoria, New South Wales had a population of 187,243, the annual imports were £2,078,338, the exports £2,399,580, the revenue was £S75,794, and the colony contained 132,437 horses, 1,738,965 cattle and 13,059,324 sheep. ”

“ Mining.—The mining industry has made great strides. In 1905 there were about 38,000 men engaged in the various mines, besides 3300 employed in smelting. Of these, 10,700 were employed in gold-mining; in coal-mining there were 14,100; silver, 7100; tin, 2750, and copper, 1850. The value of mining machinery may be approximately set down at £2,900,000. The following summary shows the value of the various minerals won in 1905. It is impossible to separate the values of silver and lead contained in the ore obtained at Broken Hill ”

“ Those on the right bank all come from Queensland and bring down enormous volumes of water in flood time; on the left bank the most important tributaries are the Gwydir, Namoi, Castlereagh, Bogan and Macquarie. ”

“ In the western division, or great plains, severe heat is experienced throughout the summer, and on occasional days the thermometer in the shade ranges above 100° Fahrenheit, but it is a dry heat and more easily borne than a much less degree of temperature at the sea-board. The mean summer temperature ranges between 75° at Deniliquin in the south and 84° at Bourke. ”

“ Women are entitled to the franchise: there are the usual restrictions in regard to the pauper and criminal classes. An elector has only one vote, which is attached to the district in which he resides. ”

“ The majority of the private schools are controlled by one or other of the religious bodies. The Roman Catholic Church has 361 schools, with 1835 teachers and an attendance of 33,000 pupils. The total expenditure of the state on public instruction, science and art during the year ended 30th June 1906 was £911,000. ”

“ About 5·3% of the males and 10·6% of the females employed are under sixteen years; the total number of male employees in 1905 was 56,117, and of females, 16,058 About two-thirds of the hands are employed in Sydney and the adjacent district. ”

“ The western or mountain collieries were seventeen in number, employing 540 men and raising about 418,000 tons. About 52% of the coal obtained is exported. Kerosene shale (torbanite) is abundant and is systematically worked. ”