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WESTERN AUSTRALIA
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WESTERN See also:AUSTRALIA , a See also:British colonial See also:state, forming See also:part of the See also:Commonwealth of Australia. (For See also:Map, see Aus-TRALIA.) This portion of Australia lies to the See also:west of 129° E. See also:long., forming considerably more than one- third of the whole; it has an See also:area of 1,o6o,000 sq. m., is 1400 M. in length and 85o in breadth, and has a See also:coast-See also:line of 3500 M. It is divided into five districts—Central, Central Eastern, See also:South-Eastern, See also:North and See also:Kimberley. The Central or settled See also:district, in the south-west, is divided into twenty-six counties. Apart from the coast lands, the map presents almost a See also:blank, as the See also:major portion is practically a dry See also:waste of See also: Still farther north, where the coast trends eastward, the See also:principal rivers are the See also:Ashburton, the See also:Fortescue and the De See also:Grey. Kimberley district to the north-See also:east has some See also:fine streams—the See also:Fitzroy and Ord and their tributaries, on some of which (the See also:Mary, See also:Elvira, &c.) are the goldfields, 25o m. south of See also:Cambridge Gulf. The See also:Darling See also:mountain range is in the south-west, See also:Mount See also: The rocks See also:form a See also:plateau, which faces the coast, in a See also:series of scarps, usually a See also:short distance inland. The edge of this plateau is separated from the See also:Southern Ocean by the Nullarbor limestones, at the See also:head of the See also:Great Australian Bight; but they gradually become narrower to the west; and the Archean rocks reach the coast at See also:Port See also:Dempster and to the east of See also:Esperance Bay. Thence the southern boundary of the Archean rocks extends due west, while the coast trends southward, and is separated by a See also:belt of See also:Lower Palaeozoic and Mesozoic deposits; but the reappearance of the granitic rocks at King George See also:Sound and See also:Albany may be due to an outlier of the Archean tableland. Along the western coast, the scarp of the Archean plateau forms the Darling Range behind Perth. Further north, behind Shark's Bay, the plateau recedes from the coast, and trends north-westward through the Hammersley Mountains and the See also:highlands of Pilbarra. The Archean rocks underlie the Kimberley See also:Goldfield; but they are separated from the main Archean plateau to the south by the Lower Palaeozoic rocks, which extend up the See also:basin of the Fitzroy See also:river and form the King Leopold and Oscar Ranges. The Archean rocks are of most See also:interest from the auriferous lodes which occur in them. The Archean rocks of the area between the Darling Range and the goldfield of See also:Coolgardie were classified by H. P. See also:Woodward into six parallel belts, See also:running northward and southward. but with a slight trend to the west. The westernmost belt consists of See also:clay slates, quartzites and See also:schists, and is traversed by dykes of See also:diorite and felstone; the belt forms the western See also:foot of the Archean plateau, along the edge of the coastal See also:plain. The second belt consists of gneisses and schists: and forms the western part of the Archean plateau. Its chief See also:mineral See also:deposit is See also:tin, in the See also:Green-bushes tin-See also: The Upper Palaeozoic is well represented by an area of some 2000 sq. m. of Devonian sedimentary and, volcanic rocks in the Kimberley district, and by the Carboniferous system, including both a lower, marine type, and an upper, terrestrial type. The Lower Carboniferous limestones occur in the Napier,. Oscar and Geikie Ranges of Kimberley, and in the basin of the Gascoyne river, where they contain the glacial deposits discovered by Gibb-Maitlan between the Wooramel and Minilya rivers. The upper and terrestrial type of the Carboniferous include sandstones with Stigmaria and Lepidodendron in the Kimberley district, and the coals of the Irwin coalfield, the See also:age of which is proved by the interstratification of the See also:coal seams with beds containing Productus subquadratus, Cyrtina carbonaria and Aviculopecten subguinquelineatus. The Mesozoic rocks were discovered in 1861, and their chief outcrop is along the western coast plains of Westralia between See also:Geraldton and Perth. They have been pierced by many bores put down for artesian See also:wells. The fossils indicate a Lower See also:Jurassic age ; and, according to See also:Etheridge, some of the fossils are Lower Cretaceous. The Collie coalfield, to the east of See also:Bunbury, is generally regarded as Mesozoic. Its coal is inferior in quality to that of Eastern Australia, and contains on an See also:average of 34 analyses 11.77% of moisture, and 8.62 % of ash. According to Etheridge its age is Permo-Carboniferous. The Kainozoic rocks include the marine limestones in the Nullarbor Plains at the head of the Great Australian Bight, whence they extend inland for 15o m. They have no surface water, but the See also:rain-fall in this district nourishes artesian wells. The occurrence of marine Kainozoic beds under the western coastal plain is proved by the bores, as at See also:Carnarvon, where they appear to be over moo ft. in thickness. The coastal region also includes sheets of clay and See also:sandstone, with deposits of See also: 7-23, also issued in the See also:Year-See also:book of Western Australia. The main literature of the geology of Westralia is in the Bulletins of the Geol. Survey, and in the reports of the Mines De- Eartment. A See also:general See also:account of the See also:gold-mining has been given by A. G. Charleton, 1902; and also by Donald See also:Clark, Australian Mining and Metallurgy (1904). (J. W. G.) See also:Flora.—Judged by its See also:vegetable forms, Western Australia would seem to be older than eastern Australia, South Australia being of intermediate age. See also:Indian relations appear on the See also:northern See also:side, and South See also:African on the western. There are fewer See also:Antarctic and Polynesian representatives than in the eastern colonies. See also:European forms are extremely scarce. Compared with the other side of Australia, a third of the genera on the south-west is almost wanting in the south-east. In the latter, 55, having more than ten See also:species each, have 126o species; but the former has as many in 55 of its 8o genera. Of those 55, 36 are wanting in the south-east, and 17 are absolutely See also:peculiar. There are fewer natural orders and genera westward, but more species. See also:Baron von See also: Palms and zamias begin in the north-west. The Melaleuca Leucadendron is the paperbark tree of settlers. The rigid-leafed See also:Banksia is known as the See also:honeysuckle. Casuarinae are the he and she oaks of colonists, and the Exocarpus is their See also:cherry tree. Beautiful flowering shrubs distinguish the south-west; and the deserts are all ablaze with See also:flowers after a fall of rain. See also:Poison See also:plants are generally showy Leguminosae, Side and the Gastrolobium. The See also:timber trees of the south-west are almost unequalled. Of the Eucalypts, the jarrah or See also:mahogany, E. marginata, is first for value. It runs over five degrees of See also:latitude, and its wood resists the See also:teredo and the See also:ant. See also:Sir See also:Malcolm See also:Fraser assigns 14,000 sq. m. to the jarrah, moos) to E. viminalis, 2300 to the karri (E. colossea or E. diversicolor), 2400 to See also:York See also:gum (E. loxophleba), 80o to the red gum (E. calophylla) and 500 to tuart or native See also:pear (E. gomphocephala). Not much See also:good wood is got within 20 M. of the coast. The coachbuilder's coorup rises over 300 ft. Morrel furnishes good timber and See also:rich oil. An ever-increasing See also:trade is done in the timber of the south-western forests. See also:Fauna.—Among the mammals are the Macro pus giganteus, M. Irma, M. dama, M. brachyurus, Lagorchestes fasciatus, Bettongia penicillata, Phalangista vulpecula, Pseudochirus cooki, Dasyurus geoffroyi, Tarsipes rostratus, Antechinus apicalis, Perameles obesula, Perameles myosurus, Myrmecobius fasciatus. Fossil forms partakeof the existing marsupial See also:character, Diprotodon being allied to the See also:wombat and See also:kangaroo. See also:Nail-bearing kangaroos are in the north-west ; the banded one, See also:size of a See also:rabbit, is on Shark's Bay. Nocturnal phalangers live in holes of trees or in the ground. Carnivorous Phascogalae are found in south-west. There are three kinds of wombat. The See also:rock-loving marsupial Osphranter is only in the north-east, and Perameles bougainvillei at Shark's Bay. The dalgyte or Petro See also:gale lagotis is at Swan river and Hypsiprymnus in the south. The See also:colony has only two species of wallabies to five in New South See also:Wales. The Halmaturus of the Abrolhos is a sort of See also:wallaby; a very elegant species is 18 in. long. The See also:pretty Dromicia, 6 in. long, lives on stamens and See also:nectar, like the Tarsipes, having a See also:brush at the tip of its See also:tongue; its tail is prehensile. The See also:hare-like Lagorchestes fasciatus is a great leaper. The Hapalotis of the interior has nests in trees. See also:Beaver rats and other small rodents are trouble-some, and bats are numerous. The See also:dingo is the See also:wild See also:dog. The See also:platypus (Ornithorhynchus) and the See also:Echidna are the only forms of the See also:Monotremata. The See also:seal, See also:whale and See also:dugong occur in the adjacent seas. The west is not so rich as the east of Australia in birds. Many forms are absent and others but poorly represented, though some are peculiar to the west. The timbered south-west has the greatest variety of birds, which are scarce enough in the dry and treeless interior. Of lizards the west has 12 genera not found in eastern Australia. Of See also:snakes there are but 15 species to 3 in See also:Tasmania and 31 in New South Wales. While the poisonous sorts are 2 to 1 in the east, they are 3 to 1 in the west. The turtle is obtained as an See also:article of See also:food. The See also:freshwater fishes are not all like those of the east. They include the See also:mullet, snapper, See also:ring See also:fish, guard fish, bonita, rock See also:cod, shark, saw fish, See also:parrot fish and cobbler. Under the head of See also:fisheries may be mentioned the See also:pearl See also:oyster, which is dived for by natives at Shark's Bay; the trepang or beche-de-mer is also met with in the north. See also:Insects are well represented, especially See also:Coleoptera, See also:Lepidoptera, See also:Hymenoptera, See also:Hemiptera and See also:Diptera. See also:Climate.—With little or no See also:cold anywhere, the See also:heat of summer over the whole area is considerable. Western Australia differs from the country to the east in having no extensive ranges to collect vapour, while the trade winds See also:blow off the dry See also:land instead of from the ocean; for these two reasons the climate is very dry. See also:Thunder-storms often See also:supply almost the only rainfall in the interior. The south-western corner, the seat of settlements, is the only portion where rains can be depended on for cultivation; but even there few places have a rainfall of 4o in. As one goes northward the moisture lessens. The north-west and all the coast along to Kimberley, with most of that district, suffer much from dryness. The north-east comes in summer within the See also:sphere of the north-west monsoons, though just over the low coast-range few showers are known. The south coast, exposed to polar breezes, with uninterrupted See also:sea, has to endure lengthened droughts. In the Swan river quarter the rainfall is in See also:winter, being brought by north-west winds, and summer days have little moisture. While the south See also:wind cools the settled region, it comes over the parched interior to the northern lands. The hot wind of Swan river is from the east and north-east; but it is from the south in summer to Kimberley and the north-west. In one See also:season the land See also:breeze is hot, in another cool, but always dry.
The climate of Perth is typical of the south-western districts. There are two distinct seasons, the winter and the summer. The winter commences somewhat abruptly, being ushered in by heavy rains; it begins usually not earlier than the See also:middle of See also:April or later than the middle of May, and continues until towards the end of See also:October. The winters are, as a See also:rule, very mild, but there is some cold See also:weather in See also:July and See also:August, and though there is little at the coast, See also:frost is not uncommon inland. The summer is heralded by an occasional hot See also:day in October, in See also:November the weather becomes settled and continues warm until the end of See also: In the four months, See also:December to March, the maximum temperature in the shade exceeds 9o° on an average on 37 days, but as a rule the heat does not last long, the evenings and nights being tempered by a cool breeze. In the interior the climate resembles that of the south-west in regard to the occurrence of two seasons only. The winter, however, has much less rain than on the coast, and is cold, clear and bracing. The summer is, as a rule, hot, but is tempered in the south by occasional cool changes, though unrelieved as the tropic is approached. Within the tropics there are two seasons, the wet and the dry. The wet season is most unpleasant, the temperature rarely falling below See also:loo°; the dry season, which lasts from April to November, is usually fine, clear and See also:calm. The average rainfall at Perth is 333 in. falling on T10 days; the mean maximum temperature is 74.9° and the minimum 54.80; at Coolgardie the mean maximum is 77.8° and the mean minimum 52.40; at See also:Wyndham, on the north-west coast, the mean maximum is 93.9° and the mini-mum 75.4°. See also:Population.—Population made very slow increase under the old conditions of settlement, and even when gold was discovered in 1882 at Kimberley, and five years later at Yilgarn, no great impetus was given to the colony, and at the See also:census of 1891 the population was still under 5o,000. The sensational gold finds at Coolgardie in 1892, however, had a most important See also:influence in See also:drawing population, and in three and a half years the population was doubled: during a portion of this time the See also:rush of miners to the gold-See also:fields was so great as to be reminiscent of the experience of the eastern colonies during the 'fifties. At the end of 1905 the population was 254,779, comprising 150,495 See also:males and 104,284 See also:females. The slowness of the See also:early growth and the more rapid strides of later years will be gathered from the following figures: pop. (186o) 15,227, (1870) 25,084, (188o) 29,019, (1890) 46,290, (1895) 101,238, (1901) 194,889. The chief towns of Western Australia are: Perth—the See also:capital—56,000, See also:Fremantle 23,008, Kalgoorlie 678o, Boulder 5658. The number of See also:people in all gold-field towns fluctuates very greatly. Coolgardie, for example, was returned in July 1894 as having within its municipal boundaries 12,000 people; in 19o5 it had only 3830. The births during 1905 numbered 7582 and the deaths 2709, the rates per thousand of population being respectively 30.30 and 10.83, showing a See also:net increment of 19.47 per moo. In the period 1861–1865 the See also:birth-See also:rate was 39.07 per moo. Between 1886 and 1890 it stood at 36.88; then came a rapid decline, and in 1896 was reached the low level of 22.67 per moo. In 1904 the rate was 30.34 per moo. The decline in the birth-rates has been a See also:common experience of all the Australian states; in Western Australia it was due in a large degree to the decline in the proportion of females to males. In 187o the females numbered 62 % of the males, and in 188o 75%, while in 1895 the proportion was only 45%. The illegitimate births during 1905 were 4.19 % of the See also:total births. The See also:death-rate, which in 1897 was 16.99 per moo, has steadily declined in See also:recent years. The large influx of See also:young unmarried men in the years 1894–1898 was followed by the arrival of a large number of single See also:women, and the See also:marriage-rates increased from 7 per moo in the five years 1891–1895 to 10.7 per See also:I000 in 1897. In 1905 the rate stood at the more normal level of 8.48. Except for a slight influx of population in the three years 1885–1887, due to the gold discoveries at Kimberley, there was very little See also:immigration to Western Australia See also:prior to 1891 ; in that year, however, there was a consider-able inpouring of population from the eastern colonies, notably from Victoria and South Australia, and in the seven years which closed with 1897 the population of the colony gained nearly i io,000 by immigration alone. In 1898 there was still a large inflow of population, but the outflow was also great, and in 1898 and the following year the two streams balanced one another; but 1900 showed an excess of 6000, and 1905 of 7617 gained by immigration.
Western Australia is the most sparsely populated of all the states; only the coastal fringe and the gold-fields show any evidences of settlement, and if the area were divided amongst the population there would be but ten persons to 52 sq. m. The population is almost exclusively of British origin, and only differs from that of the other states in that there is a larger See also:body of Australian-See also:born, who are not natives of the colony itself. About 45% of the population are members of the See also: There were in 1905 ninety-four such boards in existence. Some of the districts are of enormous size: Pilbarra, for example, has an area of 14,356 sq. m.; Coolgardie North has 75,968 sq. m.; Nullagine has 90,438 sq. m., and the Upper Gascoyne has 136,000 sq. m. Over areas so vast little effective See also:work can be accomplished, but where the districts are small the administration is much the same as in the municipalities. The receipts from rates of all See also:local districts in 1905 was £104,760, and the grants by the government £80,938, making a total of £185,698. See also:Education.—Attendance at school is compulsory upon all See also:children over six years and under fourteen years of age. Instruction is imparted only in See also:secular subjects, but the See also:law allows See also:special religious teaching to be given during half an See also:hour each day by clergymen to children of their own See also:denomination. Children can claim See also:free education on account of inability to pay fees, of living more than a mile from school, or of having attended school for more than 400 half-days during the preceding year, The state expended in 1905 £131,585 on public instruction, the great bulk of which was devoted to See also:primary See also:schools. The number of schools supported by the state in that year was 335, the teachers numbered 888, the net enrolment of scholars was 27,978, and the average attendance 23,703. There were in 1905 99 private schools with 350 teachers and 7353 scholars, the average attendance being 6128. Judged by the number of persons arrested, See also:crime is more prevalent than in any other part of Australia. The gold-fields have attracted some of the best and most enterprising of the Australian population; at the same time many undesirable persons flocked to the state expecting to reap a See also:harvest in the See also:movement and confusion of the gold diggings. These latter form a large part of the criminal population of the state. The arrests in 1905 numbered 14,646, of which 2104 were for serious offences; so that for every thousand of the population 49 were arrested for trivial and 8 for serious crimes. See also:Finance.—The See also:discovery of gold and the settlement on the gold-fields of a large population, for the most part consumers of dutiable goods, has entirely revolutionized the public finances of the state. In 1891 the See also:revenue was £497,670, that is, £10, 15s. per inhabitant; in 1895 it See also:rose to £1,125,941, or £12, Tos. per inhabitant; and in 1897 to £2,842,751, or £20, 12s. 2d. per inhabitant. For 1905 the figures were £3,615,340, or £14, 18s. 5d. per inhabitant. The chief See also:sources of revenue in 1905 were: customs and See also:excise, £1,027,898; other See also:taxation, £221,738; See also:railways, £1,629,956; public lands (including mining), £207,905; all other sources, £527,843. The See also:expenditure has risen with the revenue, the figures for 1905 being £3,745,224, equal to £15, 9s. 2d. per head of population. The chief items of expenditure in 1905 were: railway working expenses, £1.297,499 ; public See also:works, L337,927; interest and charges upon See also:debt, £578,704; mines, £248,496; education, £149,552. The public debt is of comparatively recent creation. In August 1872 an See also:act was passed authorizing the raising- of certain sums for the construction of public works; in 1881 the amount owing was not more than £511,000, and in 1891 only £1,613,000 or £30, 5s. 8d. per inhabitant; from the year last named the indebtedness has in-creased by leaps and See also:bounds, and in 1905 had mounted up to £16,642,773, a sum equal to £66, Ios. 4d. per inhabitant, involving an interest charge of £574,406 or £2, 5s. Id. per inhabitant. The proceeds of the loans were used largely for the purpose of railway See also:extension—the expenditure. on this service at the middle of 1906 was £9,618,970; on water supply and See also:sewerage works, £2,892,390; on telegraphs and telephones, £269,308; on See also:harbour and river improvements, £2,182,529; on development of gold-fields, £973,082; on development of See also:agriculture, £597,189. See also:Defence.—The local defence force of Western Australia in 1905 comprised 57 permanent artillerymen, 772 See also:militia, 58o See also:volunteers, and 2534 riflemen—a total of 3943. The defence of the state is undertaken by the federal government. Minerals.—Gold-mining is the main See also:industry, and in 1905 16,832 miners were directly engaged in it; as large a number is indirectly engaged in the industry. Gold, See also:silver, coal, tin and See also:copper are the chief minerals See also:mined; the mineral See also:production of the state in 1905 was valued at £8,555,841. The value of the gold produced was £8,305,654, a falling off of £118,572 as compared with 1904. The dividends paid by the gold-mining companies for that year amounted to £2,167,639 as against £2,050,547 in 1904. Up to 1905 the total recorded mineral production of Western .Australia amounted in value to £65,012,499—gold representing £63,170,911 of that sum; while £13,739,842 had been paid in dividends. Western Australia ranks as the largest gold producer of the Australian group. Coal is worked at Collie, 25 M. E. of Bunbury; See also:boring operations which had been going on between Greenough and Mullewa on the Geraldton-Cue railway line were discontinued in 1905, the See also:bore hole, carried to a See also:depth of 1418 ft. having failed to disclose any coal seams. The export of copper in 1905 was valued at £16,266; of tin, £86,840; of silver, £44,278. The value of the coal produced in that year was £55,312. See also:Industries.—The agricultural possibilities of the state are more restricted than those of the eastern states, as the rainfall in the southern and temperate portion does not extend far from the coast, and the land where the fall is satisfactory is only good over small areas. The area cultivated in 1871 was 52,000 acres; in 1881 it was 53,000 acres; in 1891, 64,000 acres; and in 1905, 467,122 acres. The principal crops grown in the year last named were: See also:wheat, 195,071 acres; oats, 15,713 acres; See also:hay, 124,906 acres. The wheat yield was 11.83 bushels per See also:acre, and the hay See also:crop 1.12 tons per acre. In 1905 the number of See also:sheep depastured was 3,120,703 ; See also:cattle, 631,825; horses, 97,397. These figures show an increase for all classes of stock. There are in the state about 2000 camels. The number of sheep has increased considerably in See also:late years. In 1871, 2,000,000 lb of See also:wool were exported; in 1881, 4,100,000 lb; in 1891, 8,800,000 lb; in 1900, 9,514,000 lb; and in 1905, 17,489,402 lb; the value of the latter being £594,872. Western Australia has very extensive forests of timber, and it has been estimated that the See also:forest surfaces See also:cover more than 20 million acres, of which 8 million acres are jarrah; 1,200,000 acres, karri; 200,000 acres, tuart; 7 million acres, wandoo; and 4 million acres, York gum, yate, sandalwood and jam. The principal timber exported is jarrah, karri, and sandalwood, the value of the exports being about £656,000 annually. There are 30 saw-See also:mills in operation, employing altogether 2750 hands. Fisheries are taking an important position; they comprise pearl See also:shell fishing beche-de-mer, and preserved or tinned fish. The pearl shell fisheries in the north-west and in Shark's Bay have been a considerable source of wealth, the export of pearls and pearl shell being valued at £See also:I10,667 in 1899, £106,607 in 1900 and £171,237 in 1903. In 1892 the export was valued at £119,519. Mandurah, at the mouth of the Murray, and Fremantle have preserving sheds for mullet and snapper. See also:Guano beds are worked to much See also:advantage at the Lacepede Isles. Salt is produced largely at Rottnest Island. Raisins are dried, and the oil of See also:castor trees is expressed. The mulberry tree succeeds well, and sericulture is making progress. Dugong oil is got from Shark's Bay. See also:Honey and See also:wax are becoming valuable exports; from the abundance of flowers the hives can be emptied twice a year. See also:Manna and gums of various kinds are among the resources of the country. Among the wines made are the Riesling, See also:Burgundy, Sweetwater, Hock and See also:Fontainebleau. See also:Commerce.—All the great lines of steamers trading between Australia and See also:Europe make one of the ports a See also:place of See also:call both on the inward and outward voyage; this makes the See also:shipping See also:tonnage very large compared with the population. In 1891 the tonnage entered and cleared equalled 21 tons per head, and in 1905 14.3 tons. The increase of tonnage is shown by the following figures: 1881, tonnage entered, 145,048; 1891, 533,433; 1905, 1,839,227. In 1905 the tonnage entering Fremantle was 1,176,982, and the imports were valued at £6,030,415. The shipping entering Albany had a tonnage of 519,377, and the imports were valued at £160.305. The trade of Bunbury was : shipping 92,281 tons, imports L59,197; See also:Broome, shipping 32,191 tons, imports £48,653; other ports, shipping 18,396 tons, imports £182,739. The trade has increased very rapidly under the influence of the gold discoveries, as the following figures show: Imports. Exports. Year. Total. Per Head. Total. Per Head. £ s. d. £ s. d. 186r 147,913 9 9 8 95 789 6 2 10 1871 226,000 9 0 10 209,196 8 6 11 1881 404,831 13 14 3 502,770 17 0 8 1891 1,280,093 25 2 5 799,466 15 13 9 1901 6,454,171 34 4 5 8,515,6z3 45 3 0 1905 6,481,309 25 18 1 9,871,219 39 9 1 About 54% of the trade is with Great See also:Britain and 21% with the other Commonwealth states. Railways.—Western Australia is the only state of Australia in which there is any considerable length of railway lines not owned by the state. The total railway mileage in 1905 was 2260, of which 655 M. were privately owned. The divergence of the policy of Western Australia from that pursued by other states was caused by the inability of the government to construct lines at a time when the extension of the railway was most urgently required in the interests of settlement. Private enterprise was therefore encouraged by liberal grants of land to undertake the work of construction. Changed conditions have modified the state policy in respect of land grants, and in 1897 the government acquired the Great Southern railway, 243 M. in length, one of the two See also:trunk lines in private hands. The cost of constructing and equipping the state lines open for See also:traffic in 1905 was £9,808,458; the earnings for that year amounted to £1,610,129, the working expenses were £1,256,003, and the net receipts £354,126; this represents a return of 3.61% upon the capital cost. Posts and Telegraphs.—The postal business has grown enormously since the gold discoveries. In 1905 there were 295 See also:post offices as compared with 86 in 1891. In the latter year the letters despatched and received numbered 3,200,000, and the See also:newspapers 1,665,000; in 1905 the letters and postcards totalled 22,107,000, and the See also:news-papers and packets-14,800,000, being respectively 88 and 59 per head of population. There were in the same year 188 See also:telegraph stations, 6389 m. of line, and 9637 M. of telegraph See also:wire in use, while the number of telegrams sent and received was 1,634,597. There were sixteen public See also:telephone exchanges and 4857 telephones in use at the end of that year. Banking.—There are six See also:banks of issue, with 109 branches in various parts of the country. The liabilities of these banks in 1904 averaged £5,206,170, and the See also:assets £6,399,305; the See also:note circulation was 354,810; the deposits bearing interest £1,475,616; depositsnot bearing interest £3,258,294, making the total deposits £4,733,910. The gold and silver held by the banks, including See also:bullion, was £2,129,304. The savings banks are directly controlled by the government and are attached to the post offices; in 1904 there were 54,873 depositors in these banks with £2,079,764 to their See also:credit—an average of £37 18s. per depositor. In 1891 there were only 3564 depositors and £46,181 at credit. See also:History.—Beth the western and northern coasts of the colony are pretty accurately laid down on maps said to date from 1540 to 1550, where the western side of the continent terminates at Cape Leeuwen. The discovery of the coast may be attributed to Portuguese and See also:Spanish navigators, who were in the seas northward of Australia as early as 1520. The next visitors, nearly a See also:century later, were the Dutch. See also: The earliest settlement was made from Port See also:Jackson, at the end of 1825. Owing to a fear that the French might occupy King George Sound, Major See also:Lockyer carried thither a party of convicts and soldiers, seventy-five in all, and took formal British See also:possession, though Vancouver had previously done so. Yet the Dutch had long before declared New See also: The others struggled on, finding a healthful climate, and a See also:soil favouring fruits and vegetables, whilst their stock grazed in the more open but distant quarters. The overland See also:journey of See also:Eyre from See also:Adelaide to King George Sound in 1839-1840, through a water-less waste, discouraged settlers; but Grey's overland walk in 1838 from Shark's Bay to Perth revealed fine rivers and good land in Victoria district, subsequently occupied by farmers, graziers and miners. The difficulties of the settlers had compelled them to seek help from the British See also:treasury, in the offer to accept convicts. These came in 185o; but transportation ceased in 1868, in consequence of loud protests from the other colonies.
The progressive history of Western Australia may be said to commence in 187o, when its energetic and capable governor, Sir See also:Frederick Weld, began to inaugurate public works on a
large See also:scale. It was still the day of small things, for the colony, though of the enormous extent of 1,oeo,000 sq. m., was practically unknown, its resources were restricted, and its population scanty. However, a beginning was then made, and the first See also:Loan See also:Bill to raise See also:money for pushing on telegraphs, for See also:surveying lines of projected railways, and above all for starting exploring expeditions, passed the Legislative Council. The colony was fortunate in possessing two See also:brothers of the best See also:practical type of explorer, John and See also: Although, in consequence of the vast amount of gold which had been found in the eastern colonies, principally in Victoria, all these explorers had carefully examined any likely country for traces of gold, it was not until 1882 that the government geologist reported indications of auriferous country in the Kimberley district, and the first payable gold-field was shortly afterwards " proclaimed " there. Exploring expeditions in every direction were then started both privately and publicly, and prosecuted with great vigour. Within five years gold-fields were proclaimed at Yilgarn, about 200 M. to the east of Perth, and the discovery of patches of rich alluvial gold in the Pilbarra district quickly followed, but the rush for the Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie gold-fields did not begin until 1893.
The year 1889 found the colony on the See also:eve of responsible government. Two years before, a practically unanimous See also:vote of the Legislature had affirmed the principle of See also:autonomy, and the general See also:election in the following year showed still more plainly the See also:desire of the people of Western Australia for the self-government which had enabled the eastern colonies to See also:control their own affairs successfully for thirty years. The new Legislative Council of 188g therefore drafted a Constitution Bill, which after some discussion was forwarded to See also:Lord See also:Knutsford, the Secretary of State for the Colonies. This Bill was duly laid before the Imperial Parliament; but the measure was then rejected by that assembly, chiefly owing to the misunderstanding of vital questions, such as the control of crown lands, the scantiness of the scattered population, and other less important details. However, the governor of that day, Sir Frederick Napier Broome, K.C.M.G., having satisfied himself that the constitutional See also:change was necessary not only for the immediate needs of the rapidly growing colony, but in view of the larger question of Imperial Federation, supported the demands of the Legislature in every possible way. A clear and able statement of the colonists' See also:case, which appeared above his See also:signature in The Times in the summer of that year, helped to bring about a better understanding of the subject.; and a slightly modified Constitution Bill having been passed by the new Legislative Council, the governor and two members of the Legislature (Sir T. C. See also: See also:Parker, Q.C.) were selected to proceed to England as delegates to explain find urge the wishes of the colonists upon the Imperial Parliament. A select See also:committee, with Baron de See also:Worms as chairman, was appointed, and the See also:matter was carefully considered; with the satisfactory result that the Bill enabling the See also:Queen to grant a constitution to Western Australia passed its third See also:reading in the See also:House of See also:Commons on 4th July, and received the royal assent on 15th August 1890. Since then the colony has made great progress. Sir John Forrest, who was for ten years its Premier, brought to his arduous task not only administrative ability of a very high See also:order, but a thorough and intimate knowledge of the needs and resources of the vast colony over so much of which he had travelled. For a long time the advantages of Federation were not so apparentto the people of Western Australia as to those of the eastern colonies. and although Sir John Forrest consistently and patiently laboured at every opportunity to explain the principles of the Bill framed by the Federal See also:Convention which had held its sittings since 1886 in Adelaide, Sydney and See also:Melbourne, the desire to federate was of slow growth. Among the objections was the feeling that so far as Western Australia was concerned the step was premature, and that the colony had more to lose than gain by Federation. This applied chiefly to the questions of See also:tariff and free trade; and to the loss of the individual control' of such sources of revenue as customs, postal and telegraph services. On the subject of defence there could be but one See also:opinion, in favour of Federation, but that was hardly enough to counterbalance the fears of the local producer, who had become accustomed to a protective tariff. Then the gold-fields expressed a desire to be made into a See also:separate colony, and although a numerously signed See also:petition to that effect was forwarded to the Queen, it was regarded in the See also:light of a party move, and did not prove successful. Still there was great hesitation on the part of many of the colonists of Western Australia to join the Commonwealth without receiving a See also:pledge for the retention of their own customs dues for five years, and early in 1900 Sir John Forrest made a See also:personal See also:attempt to obtain this concession from the See also:sister governments. He was, however, unsuccessful, as was Mr S. H. Parker, Q.C., who in the same year accompanied the delegates from the eastern colonies to See also:London, and endeavoured to obtain the insertion in the Enabling Bill of certain recommendations of the select committee in Perth. Yet as a whole the people of Western Australia were loyal to the Federal cause. and therefore it was considered best to submit the Bill to a See also:referendum of the See also:electors, when a See also:majority of over 25,000 votes decided in favour of Federation, as the Constitution Act provided that this state should have the right to enact her own tariff as against the sister states for the desired five years, decreasing annually at the rate of one-fifth of the amount of the See also:original See also:duty until the whole disappeared. (M. A. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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