Our First Half-Century Part 26

APPENDIX F.

IMMIGRATION TO QUEENSLAND.

[OFFICIAL COMPILATION.]

a.s.sISTED IMMIGRANTS.

1. Immigrants approved by the Agent-General, who deposit with him the sum of 50, shall be provided with pa.s.sages by a steamer from the United Kingdom to any port in Queensland for 5, the 50 deposit to be returned to them on their arrival in Queensland.

NOMINATED IMMIGRANTS.

2. Persons resident in Queensland wis.h.i.+ng to obtain pa.s.sages for their friends or relatives in the United Kingdom, or on the Continent of Europe, may do so under the provisions of the 9th section of "_The Immigration Act of 1882_," at the following rates:--

_s._ _d._ Males between 18 and 40 years 4 0 0 Females between 18 and 40 years 2 0 0 Males and Females over 40 and under 55 years 8 0 0

A full description of the nominee must appear on the application form supplied by the Immigration Department of Queensland. The application must be signed by the nominor, who must be of full age.

The Immigration Agent or Clerk of Petty Sessions must satisfy himself by personal inquiry that the person for whose pa.s.sage application is made is a relative or personal friend of the applicant.

Pa.s.sage warrants shall be made out in duplicate. One copy, to be marked "provisional," will be issued to the applicant and the other copy, to be marked "final," will be sent to the Agent-General, who will cause inquiries to be made through his agents as to the eligibility of the persons named therein to be nominated under the provisions of this Order.

If the Agent-General is satisfied that all the conditions of this Order have been complied with he will, upon surrender of the provisional warrant, issue the final warrant to the person nominated, which will ent.i.tle him to a pa.s.sage contract ticket.

A memorandum shall be printed on the provisional warrant stating that it must be surrendered and exchanged for a final warrant at the office of the Agent-General before a pa.s.sage can be obtained.

The Agent-General will refuse to issue a final warrant to any person named in a provisional warrant if he finds that such person is not eligible to be nominated under the provisions of this Order, or that the description in the application is incorrect in any material particular, or that the nominee is otherwise undesirable.

CONTRACT IMMIGRANTS.

3. Free pa.s.sages may be granted from the United Kingdom to any part of Queensland to agricultural labourers introduced under contract if the employer pays a fee of 5 for each labourer introduced, provides him with suitable accommodation, and guarantees him a year's employment at wages approved by the Chief Secretary. The choosing of such labourers to be left to the Agent-General, unless they are known to the applicant, in which case the Agent-General's duty is restricted to pa.s.sing or rejecting them.

FREE IMMIGRANTS.

4. The Agent-General may grant free pa.s.sages to the wives and children (under the age of 18 years) of a.s.sisted, nominated, and contract immigrants and to female domestic servants who are desirous of emigrating to Queensland.

5. The Chief Secretary may direct that a pa.s.sage warrant be not issued in respect of any person nominated or proposed to be indented.

6. The Order in Council of the fourth day of June, 1891, published in the _Government Gazette_ of the 5th June, 1891, shall be and is hereby rescinded.

And the Honourable the Chief Secretary is to give the necessary directions herein accordingly.

APPENDIX G.

SOME STATISTICS AND THEIR STORY.

The figures contained in this Appendix, save those for 1908, and in relation to certain financial matters for 1908-9, are drawn from the Statistics for 1908 laid before Parliament this year, but all are official.

GROWTH OF POPULATION.

The population of Queensland, estimated at 28,056 on 31st December, 1860, a little more than a year after separation from New South Wales, more than doubled during the succeeding three years. Thence it again more than doubled in the next eight years, the census of April, 1871, providing a basis for the estimate of 125,146 at the end of that year.

Thence to 1882, two years before the close of the quarter-century, the figures had again nearly doubled, the population on 31st December, 1884, reaching 309,913.

Of the number of arrivals in excess of departures there is no record for 1860 or 1861, but of the total increase, 51,509, for the four years ended 1865 the recorded arrivals in excess of departures aggregated 46,422, leaving only 5,087 for excess of births over deaths for the period. In 1866, in spite of the crisis resulting from the Agra and Masterman's Bank failure, there was still an excess of 6,632; but by the next following year the number of such excess had fallen to 917, while the net increase of population in that year was only 3,648.

The census of 1886, the second year of the new quarter-century, showed a total population of 342,614, and the next census five years later 410,330. This marked the end of the "boom" period, and the amount spent on immigration, as compared with 1883 and 1884, was cut down in the next year by nearly three-fourths, or from the maximum of 361,632 in 1883-4 to 91,143 in 1889-90. In 1891 there was severe commercial depression, and by that time arrivals had annually decreased, and departures came very near in numbers to the arrivals. During the next ten years the increase in population, as shown by the census, was 95,614, bringing the total up to 505,944.

Here it may be explained that the intercensus estimates between 1891 and 1901 proved fallacious, for the total number in the latter year was 6,660 less than the estimate had been for two years previously, although the arrivals for the intervening period recorded an excess over departures of 6,389. So that adding to that number the 17,350 increase by excess of births over deaths the population in 1901 would have been shown as 536,343 had the estimates between the censuses been continued on similar lines. The error would therefore have been 30,399 had not the census figures in 1901 enabled an adjustment to be made.

Similar over-estimating had occurred previously, it is understood, through many oversea departures not being recorded by those who supplied information to the department. Of late years allowances have been made for unrecorded arrivals and departures in preparing the intercensus returns, and it may be hoped that in future the discrepancies will be less disconcerting than in the past.

The population at the end of the first quarter-century having been 309,913, and on 31st December last year (1908) 558,237, the increase for the period was 248,324. But the second quarter-century does not actually close until 31st December next, when the total population should be approximately 570,000 souls. During the half-century, therefore, the number of people in Queensland as compared with the population in 1859 may be taken to have multiplied by twenty-two.

In other words, at the time of separation, a year earlier than the official record begins, the total population was scarcely greater than it now is in several of our provincial cities.

PUBLIC FINANCE.

Public revenue, which began in 1860 with a total of 178,589, reached 2,720,656 in 1884-5, the figures of the natal year being multiplied nearly fifteen times at the close of the quarter-century. The second quarter-century showed continued increase until 1888-9, but the figures of that year were not again reached until 1895-6. They progressed until in 1899-1900, the last year before federation, they reached over 4 millions sterling, an amount not again realised till 1908-9. In 1901 the State figures were considerably disturbed by the proclamation of the Commonwealth on 1st January. In 1901-2 there was a large apparent decline of 1,053,145, the Commonwealth having taken over the whole of the postal and telegraph revenue and about one-fourth of the Customs. There was also a considerable loss by the discontinuance of State border duties, as well as by the Commonwealth tariff, which took effect in the second quarter of 1901-2, many revenue duties being either sacrificed or lowered in favour of protectionist imposts which only yielded revenue until they excluded imports. By 1908-9, despite the loss of post-telegraph and Customs revenue, the total receipts at the State Treasury formed the half-century record of 4,766,244.

The expenditure on loan account began with the foundation of the colony. At the end of the first quarter-century the public debt amounted to 16,570,850, exclusive of Government Savings Bank and Treasury bills obligations. In the first decade of the second quarter it had almost doubled, standing at the end of 1894 at 30,639,534.

By the end of 1900 there had been a further increase of nearly 5 millions, and on 30th June, 1909, it stood at 41,568,827, or at the rate of 74 per head of the estimated population. But the railway net earnings alone of the last two financial years (1907-8 and 1908-9) have provided a mean sum of 884,616 per annum towards the interest charge.

LAND STATISTICS.

In 1860 there were 108,870 acres of land alienated in Queensland.

In 1872 the area exceeded 1 million acres, the first quarter-century closing in 1884 with over 7 million acres. The 10-million-acre limit was pa.s.sed in 1890, and the 15-million-acre limit in 1908, when the total area alienated was 15,108,439 acres.

The cash received at the Treasury from land sales up to the close of 1884 was over 4 millions, and at the close of 1908 exceeded 8 millions sterling. In process of alienation there were then over 6 million acres. For the last ten years the total area leased or otherwise in occupation has been recorded. In 1899 the area thus occupied was 296 million acres, and in 1906 only 247 million acres. Since then there has been some recovery in this respect, the total occupied area of Crown lands being now 273,180,864 acres. The unoccupied area in 1899 was over 131 million acres, and in 1902 only 121 million acres. Since then there has been both an increase and a decrease, the area unoccupied in 1908 being almost 135 million acres, equal to nearly one-third of the total area of the State. This unoccupied land consists largely of rangy and waterless country, but a not inconsiderable area would be occupiable were water and transport facilities provided, and much of it is in what the geologists have delimited as the artesian area.

LIVE STOCK.

In 1860 the number of live stock in Queensland totalled--Horses, 23,504; cattle, 432,890; sheep, 3,449,350; pigs, 7,147. There was an almost continual yearly increase in horses until 1902, when drought reduced the number by 62,997, or at the rate of about 14 per cent. Not until 1907 was this loss recovered, when the total number of horses stood at 488,486, the number being still further increased in 1908 to 519,969. There was an almost uninterrupted increase of cattle until 1882, when the total exceeded 4 millions. At the close of the quarter-century the number was 4,266,172. In 1885 and 1886, owing to a drought, there was again a small decline in cattle numbers, but from that time there was a continued increase until 1894, when the total of 7 millions was recorded. But droughts and the tick pest had cut them down to less than 2 millions in 1903. In 1908 the number had recovered to 4,321,600. The enlarged Australian consumption has been a factor in the shrinkage of numbers, but the large increase in prices fully compensated the owners for the diminished numbers of their herds. The increased price of wool during recent years renders the same remark applicable to the sheep-owners of the State; and it may be said generally that the pastoral industry was never in a more flouris.h.i.+ng condition.

Sheep, which totalled fewer than 3 millions in 1860, reached 7 millions in 1866, and 9 millions two years later. Thence till 1878 there was a series of fluctuations which brought the total in that year below 6 millions. But in 1882 the number had vaulted to over 12 millions, after which there was a descent to a little more than 9 millions at the close of the quarter-century. The year 1885 closed with a further decrease, but by 1887 the number had increased to nearly 13 millions. Three years later it reached 18 millions, and in 1892 it touched the record of nearly 21 millions. By 1900, which had been preceded by bad seasons, the number of sheep had dropped to 10-1/3 millions, and in the second year of the twentieth century the low-water mark of less than 7 millions was touched. Since then there has been a rapid increase, and the numbers in 1908 had recovered to 18,348,851, or within 3,359,459 of the record number of seventeen years ago. It must be mentioned that, while scanty rainfall on the Western pastures was accountable for much of the depletion in stock numbers, overstocking and absence of possible provision for bad seasons had much to do with the losses incurred. However, the second quarter-century will close with flocks in number almost equal to those of 1892, and with fleeces immensely more valuable than the pastures then carried, and the stock-carrying capacity of the country has also been much increased by fencing, water conservation, and artesian wells.

Pigs are also becoming a valuable a.s.set of the Queensland dairy farmer. In 1860 they numbered 7,147; at the close of the quarter-century, 51,796; and in December, 1908, 124,749.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HAULING TIMBER, BARRON RIVER, NORTH QUEENSLAND]