1900 was less than that of 1899. The total was 3,802,818 ounces, valued at £15,211,272, as compared with 4,071,547 ounces in 1899. The output for 1890 was 1,394,754 ounces, valued at £5,579,016.

Statistics have been compiled showing the output of gold in the various Australian States for the years 1890, 1899, and 1900. The figures in the following table are taken from "The Australasian," Jan. 19, 1901. The output of New South Wales and Tasmania in 1900 is approximate. The production of each State (omitting New Zealand) is as follows:

15,471,017

6,723,450

13,553,893

5,124,713

26,057,530

10,196,739

26,159,899

11,635,168

The total shipments of Australian butter to the United Kingdom show a decrease of 1,698 tons for the last season.

1

Exports of butter from New South Wales into the United Kingdom are less than those from Victoria. However, conditions in New South Wales are favorable to this pursuit. Grasses suited to dairy cattle are abundant and the winters are mild, so that the expenses of stall-feeding are light. In March, 1899, the area of land devoted to green food and artificially sown food amounted to 429,136 acres. At the end of 1898

the number of breeding cows was estimated at 676,500, of which 416,053 were dairy cows. The yield of milk per cow is estimated at 290 gallons a year, making a total of, 120,655,000 gallons for the whole colony. The greater part of this milk is used in making butter and cheese. The extension of the factory system has been marked during the last ten years. In 1890 the quantity of factory-made butter was 71,872 cwts.; in 1898 it had increased to 236,808 cwts. In the same period the quantity of farm-made butter decreased from 93,611 cwts. to 44,296 cwts. In 1900 the farms produced 4,216,134 pounds, while the output of the factories was 18,817,747 pounds. The average quantity of milk needed for a pound of factory butter is said to be 2.6 gallons, as compared with 3 gallons for hand-made butter. The price of factory butter is from 1⁄2 penny to one penny greater than that of farm-made butter. The export of butter in 1890 was 2,512 cwts.; that of 1899 was 69,652 cwts.; of 1900, 81,000 cwts. to Great Britain. In 1900 Victoria contributed more than 260,000 cwts. of butter to the British market.

In 1898 the production of cheese was 28,976 cwts. Conditions are not so favorable to cheesemaking in New South Wales as in Canada, its chief competitor

GOLD, ETC.-The gold output of Australia in 1 Compiled from "The Australasian," March 2, 1901.

South Australia.

Western Australia.

Totals.

588,560

22,806 1,643,876 1,580,949

1,394,754 4,071,547 3,802,818

In New South Wales the minerals won in 1899 reached a value of £6,157,557, or over a million in excess of the output for 1898 (£4,866,997). The largest increases were in gold, silver-lead, silver, and copper. The output of gold in 1900 was 345,650 ounces, valued at £1,194,521. The yield for the first quarter of 1900 (Jan.-March) was 57,073 ounces, valued at £197,091.

In Queensland, from 1877 to 1899 inclusive, 13,858,340 ounces of gold have been taken out, a total value of $236,045,641.

The gold yield in Victoria for 1900 showed a falling-off, as compared with that of 1899. The output in 1900 was 807,407 ounces, valued at £3,229,628, being a decrease of 47,092 ounces in comparison with the total for 1899. The entire quantity of gold obtained in Victoria since its discovery, about 1850 to 1900 inclusive, is 64,346,612 ounces, valued at £257,386,448. The yield for the four months, January-April, 1901, was 229,526 ounces, valued at £918.112.

In West Australia the yield of gold in 1899 was £1,600,768, as compared with £1,041,712 in 1898. In Australasia the output of gold rapidly increased from 1895 to 1900. The total for 1896 was 2,375,735 ounces; for 1897, 2,929,959 ounces; 1898, 3,547,079 ounces; for 1899, 4,461,105 ounces; and for 1900, 4,174,811 ounces. These returns include the gold production of New Zealand.

The total value of Australasian gold, estimated at £3 15s. ($18.24) per ounce for the years 1890, 1899, and 1900, is as follows:

South Australia.

32,917,000 57,920,600 33,502,700 40,822,100

The total of imports for 1900 was $345,000,000; of exports, $360,000,000.

The larger part of the trade of Australia is with Great Britain and the British colonies. The imports from the United States into New South Wales amounted to $12,191,796 in 1899, and exports thereto were $11,640,700. Exports from France were valued at $1,344,500 and from Germany $4,565,800.

In 1899 the United States sent to Victoria goods valued at $6,442,000. Goods valued at $3,560,000 were sent from Victoria to the United States. England took $27,500,000 worth of the exports and sent $29,000,000 of the imports. Goods valued at $3,071,700 were imported from Germany and $3,735,200 worth shipped to Germany.

Of the imports of Queensland for 1899, which were $32,917,000, the largest proportion, $12,286,000, came from the United Kingdom and British colonies. Goods from the United States were valued at $1,617,100. Of the total exports, $57,920,600, those sent to the United Kingdom and to Britain were $55,393,100. Exports to the United States were $142,300.

The following table relates to the sugar export of Queensland for the four years, 1896-1899:

1896.

1897

1898.

1899.

YEARS

Bark.

687,549

940,393

377,129

.$9,197,223

5.710,624

2,756,712

2,241,150

2,005,799

1,976,811

1,648,868

457,913

378,482

340,582

The imports of West Australia amounted to $21,771,200 in 1899, of which more than half came from the United Kingdom. Exports from the United States were $992,800. The exports of West Australia in 1899 amounted to $21,771,200, of which the greater part went to other Australasian colonies and to the United Kingdom.

The chief articles of the imports of Tasmania, which amounted to $8,610,400 in 1899, are mechanical art productions, textiles and garments, edibles and potables, and minerals and metals. Minerals and metals are the staples of export. Imports from the United States to Tasmania amounted to $97,300 in 1899.

During the last three years our export trade with Australia has increased rapidly. The following table sets forth the exact amount of our exports to the five Australian States (excluding Tasmania):

Bicycles and parts.

Textiles, diverse.

Watches.

Soap and perfumes.

Value in round

numbers .$1,218,100

990,400

721,400

416,900

370,900

300,200

272,800

207,325

174,000

149,400

During the past ten years our trade with Anstralasia has increased from $13,000,000 to over $26,000,000. For the last fiscal year, ending June 30, 1900, the imports of merchandise from the United States into Australasia amounted to $26,725,702. Imports from Australasia into the United States for this year amounted to $5,468,196. The commerce of New Zealand, as well as that of the six Australian States, is included in this total.

Of our manufactured exports to Australasia in the year ending June 30, 1900, a few items may be mentioned. The exports of agricultural iniplements, consisting chiefly of reapers and mowers, amounted to $898,282. Of scientific instruments and apparatus, including telephones and telegraphs, the amount was $535,057. We shipped 18,473 tons of steel rails to Australasia, and 1,135 tons of structural steel. Australasia is one of our best customers for builders' hardware, saws, and tools, the exports amounting to $1,325,

793, out of a total of $9,648,924. Australasia is the largest buyer of our boots and shoes, the exports for this year being $1,174,497, out of a total of $4,276,656 distributed to foreign countries.

The commerce between Australasia and the United States shows a marked gain for the nine months ending March, 1901, as compared with the corresponding period in 1899-1900. Of agricultural implements we shipped to Australasia $789,088 worth, as compared with $609,323 for the nine months ending March, 1900 Of books, maps, engravings, etc., the exports amounted to $151,555, as compared with $123,068 in 1900. Of carriages, cars, cycles, etc., the total was $904,846, as compared with $412,254 in 1900. Of clocks and watches the total was $203,579, as compared with $157,065 in 1900. Of cotton and manufactures of cotton the total was $194,184, as compared with $179,838 in 1900. Of fruits and nuts the total was $271,831, as compared with $250,057 in 1900. Of instruments and apparatus for scientific purposes, including telephones, etc., the total was $334,143, as compared with $462,073 in 1900. Of builders' hardware, saws and tools the total was $1,111,961, as compared with $936,476 in 1900. Of sewing machines and parts of sewing machines the total was $394,843, as compared with $339,964 in 1900. Of leather and manufactures of leather the total was $365,402, as compared with $450,913 in 1900. Of boots and shoes

PANORAMA OF CITY AND HARBOR.

the total was $929,916, as compared with $847,454 in 1900. Of oils, mineral, refined or manufactured, the total was $1,737,202, as compared with $2,197,898 in 1900. Of tobacco and manufactures of tobacco the total was $1,854,525, as compared with $1,654,459 in 1900. Of wood and manufactures of wood the total was $1,303,618, as compared with $899,789 in 1900:

The total of our exports to Australasia for the nine months ending March, 1901 (as reported in the table of Imports and Exports of Domestic and Foreign Merchandise, "Monthly Summary of Commerce and Finance of the United States," March, 1901), was $21,654,715, as compared with $19,991,170 for the same period ending March, 1900. The total of Australasian imports into the United States for the nine months ending March,

8,938,363

£187,026,508

In New South Wales the greater part of the public debt, more than four fifths, was spent on railways, tramways, telegraphs, waterworks, and other public works. In 1899 there were 2,706 miles of government railways, and 84 miles of private railways. There has been a steady increase in the revenue from £9,254,152 in 1895-6 to £10,203,931 in 18991900. The increase in revenue for the eight months of the current year (July, 1900February, 1901) is £532,243. The finances of New South Wales are in a flourishing condition.

In Victoria the public debt has increased from £47,636,211 in 1896 to £48,354,277 in 1899, most of which sum was spent on railways, waterworks, etc. Of government railways there were 3,104, miles in 1899. Victoria was prosperous in 1900. The principal increases in its revenue for the six months, July-December, 1900, were:

The public debt of South Australia has increased about £600,000 since 1896. It has been expended on railways, telegraphs, etc. In 1899 the government owned 1,724 miles of railway, run at a profit of £441,017.

The public debt of Tasmania grew from £8,180,925 in 1896 to £8,253,912 in 1899. It amounted to £8,395,638 Jan. 1, 1900. There are 547 miles of railway open.

The public debt of West Australia has grown from £3,992,681 in 1896 to £11,804,178 in 1900, a great deal of which has been spent on railways. There are 1,850 miles of railway open.

Of securities of the public debts of Australia a large proportion is held in England, at rates of interest varying from 3 to 4% per cent.

HISTORY.-The story of the settlement and growth of the Australian Commonwealth is one of the most romantic chapters in the records of modern colonization. The discovery of another continent by Captain Cook, on those memorable voyages of exploration in the South Seas, in a measure compensated England for the loss of her American colonies. In 1788 the British government established a convict settlement at Sydney, in the southwest coast. In 1815 a colony was founded in the interior of New South Wales, and later (1829-32) several settlements were made in West Australia, and one in South Australia (1836). The work of colonization went on slowly until 1851, when the discovery of gold suddenly increased the tide of emigration to these remote places. The population in 1850 was only 50,000; it is now nearly 4,000,000. In the last half-century the Australian colonies have made astonishing progress in civilization.

In 1777 Captain Cook visited Tasmania, New Zealand, and innumerable other islands of the Pacific which have since been included among Great Britain's colonial possessions. These faroff regions were received into the family of English colonies through pressure of circumstances rather than by any definite and wide-reaching scheme of imperial policy. Tasmania was settled in 1803, and New Zealand became a Crown colony in 1840. Owing to the great distance of New Zealand from Australia, this self-governing colony remained aloof from the federation movement.

The confederation of the colonies is by far the most important event of recent Australian history. The federation movement was the growth of years. In the fifties and sixties there were far-seeing colonial statesmen who saw the advantage of a closer bond of union and advocated the establishment of some kind of central government. In 1885 the Imperial Parliament passed an Act, authorizing the formation of the Federal Council of Australia, to which each colony that wished might send two delegates. This council was not in any full sense a representative body, having delegates from only four or five colonies, and it had limited powers of common legislation. It could only recommend and advise The colonists in time came to realize the need of a closer confederation, but were slow in moving. the Sydney Convention of 1891 a bill "to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia" was drawn up, containing elements taken from the English constitution combined with others from the constitution of the United States. Public opinion, however, was not yet ripe for action.

At

In 1893, at the Corowa conference a resolution was passed in favor of a convention to frame a Federal constitution. The plan was widely dis

DUKE OF CORNWALL AND YORK, Who opened the first Federal Parliament.

cussed and found ready acceptance on the part of the Australian people. In 1895 the prime ministers of five of the six colonies met and, after conference, pledged themselves to secure the passage of bills in the local legislatures providing for another constitutional convention. The Federal constitution, when ready, was to be submitted to the people for approval by a "referendum" vote. This program was successfully carried out. The constitution was drafted in 1897-98, and was afterward ratified by popular vote. In 1900 the Commonwealth Act was passed by the Imperial Parliament, which designated Jan. 1, 1901, the first day of the twentieth century, as the date for celebrating the inauguration of the Commonwealth. This event begins a new era in Australian annals, the most important since the discovery of gold.

On New Year's Day, 1901, the new nation of federated colonies began its history as the Australian government. At that time the Earl of Hopetoun became Governor-General. The choice for a leader of the first Federal Ministry fell on Edmund Barton, who is the Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs of the new Commonwealth. The following men were named as members of the Cabinet. Sir John Forrest, Postmaster-General; Sir George Turner, Treasurer, Sir William Lyne, Minister for Internal Affairs; James R. Dickson (since deceased), Minister of Defense; Charles C. Kingston, Minister of Customs; Alfred Deakin, Attorney-General. Mr. R E. O'Connor and Mr. N. E. Lewis are ministers without portfolios. Later Mr. J. E. Drake was appointed Postmaster-General and Sir John Forrest became Minister for Defense.

The first Federal Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia was elected March 31. The formal opening took place May 9, in the Exhibition Building at Melbourne. It was the culmination of the Federation movement. Among other ceremonies of this impressive state occasion were speeches by the Duke of Cornwall and York and by Lord Hopetoun, also the reading of a

cablegram from King Edward. In the afternoon the House of Representatives met and elected Mr. F. W. Holder Speaker. The Senate elected Sir Richard Baker President.

The political union of the Australian colonies brings new problems to the front. The three leading questions that have occupied the attention of the members of the new Parliament are the Federal capital, the Federal finance, and the Federal tariff. The free-trade policy is popular in Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales. In the other States it is doubtful whether sufficient revenue can be raised by land taxation without unduly burdening the people.

Some of the measures proposed or discussed are the creation of an interstate commerce commission to consider the question of Asiatic immigration; the conferring of the ballot on women in West and South Australia; the removal of customs' duties and the shifting of the burden of taxation from the poor to the rich by land and income taxes; the passing of an Arbitration Bill which is looked upon as a measure in the interest of laborers. In the government program prominence is given to industrial arbitration, old-age pensions, and land agitation to encourage the occupation of crown lands. The Kanaka question is also to be considered, for the tropical climate requires the importation of natives from the South Sea Islands for field laborers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY-T. A. Coghlan, "The Seven Colonies of Australasia" (1901); Edward Greville, "The Year Book of Australia" (1901); Statistical Abstract for the Colonies of the United Kingdom, annual; J. G. Grey, "Australasia, Old and New" (1900); John Quick and R. R. Garran, "The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth" (1900).-EUGENE PARSONS.

BAPTISTS.-In the seventeenth century some Baptist churches were founded in America, but they were few in number and the records of their history in colonial days are scanty. In 1784 there were 471 churches, having 35,101 members; the number of ministers was 424. The figures for 1851 are: churches, 9,552; members, 770,839; ministers, 7,393. At this time there were four theological seminaries in the United States and twenty-eight universities and colleges.

The American Baptist Yearbook gives the following statistics of the Baptists in the United States for 1900: churches, 43,959; ordained ministers, 29,810; baptisms, 197,235; members, 4,233,226. Of theological seminaries there were 7, having 71 instructors and 1,040 students, with property and endowment valued at $3,916,190. Of universities and colleges there were 105, having 1,700 instructors and 27,241 students, with property and endowment valued at $27,551,526. Of academies, institutes, and other schools there were 90, having 692 instructors and 11,127 students, with property and endowment valued at $4,604,019.

The number of Baptist charitable institutions is 38. In the case of eleven hospitals, homes, etc., no figures are at hand, giving value of property. Of the other 27 the property is valued at $1,658,121. Of periodicals there are 21 from the press of the American Baptist Publication Society, and 97 weeklies, monthlies, etc., issued by other publishers. The number of churches organized in 1900 was 127; the number of meeting-houses dedicated, 185; ministers ordained, 381; ministers deceased, 201.

Of the eminent dead the greatest name is that of Dr. George W. Northrup, for many years President of the Baptist Union Theological Seminary at Morgan Park, later merged with the University of Chicago, in whose Divinity School he was professor of Systematic Theology.

The number of associations formed in 1900 was 25; of churches, 532. The increase in the membership of the churches was 51,540, (above losses by death, letter and exclusion). The Sabbathschool record at the beginning of 1901 is as follows: Schools, 25,200, as compared with 25,073 January, 1900; officers and teachers, 197,484, as compared with 188,033 of the previous year; scholars, 1,794,820, against 1,736, 182 of the previous year. Returns from some of the associations are incomplete. The total value of church property is placed at $88,146,386, as compared with $86,648,982 of the preceding year.

Contributions (so far as reported) for 1900 are: For church expenses, $10,785,586; S. S. expenses, $516,495; State missions, $339,140; home missions, $338,683: foreign missions, $442,815; Bible and publication work, $65,657; education, $202,353; miscellaneous, $997,830. The total (in round numbers) is $13,790,300, as compared with $12,348,520 in 1899.

Of American missionaries in foreign lands there are 591, including 3 in the Philippine Islands. These missionaries are sustained by the American Baptist Missionary Union and by other societies (and in some instances by individual churches)

The Baptist anniversaries were held at Springfield, Mass., May 20-28, 1901. The first of the denominational meetings was that of the Women's Baptist Home Mission Society, whose twenty-fourth anniversary was held May 20-21. At the sessions of Monday, May 20, addresses on the work done among immigrants and the negroes were made by Mrs. W. R. Taylor, of New York, Mrs. B. A. Greene, of Illinois, and Miss M. G. Burdette. Tuesday's sessions were given chiefly to reports and the address of the President, Mrs. J. N. Crouse, of Chicago, who reported receipts, $69,976.79; expenditures, $72,970.74, with unpaid liabilities of $1,004.70. The number of auxillary societies reported is 2,453. A class of seventeen young women were graduated from the Baptist Missionary Training School in Chicago, and three from Shaw University Training School. Some of the graduates have been appointed to work among the negroes and the Indians. The number of missionaries bearing the commission of the Society at the close of the year is 140; the number who have labored during the whole or a part of the year, 159. Officers for 1901-1902: President, Mrs. J. N. Crouse; Corresponding Secretary, Miss M. G. Burdette, 2411 Indiana Avenue, Chicago, Ill.

The twenty-third annual meeting of the Women's American Baptist Home Mission Society was held Tuesday evening, May 21. Addresses were given by Mrs. M. C. Reynolds, Miss G. L. Davis, Mrs. William Scott, and Mrs. A. M. Coleman, of Hartshorn Memorial College, Richmond, Va. Officers: President, Mrs. A. B. Coleman; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. M. C. Reynolds, 510 Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass.

At the meetings of the American Baptist Publication Society, May 22-28, the following addresses were delivered: by Dr. B. L. Whitman, on Work for the New Century"; by Dr. D. D. MacLaurin, of Detroit, on "Chapel Car