The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-20 00:00:00

PROGRESS OF AUSTRALLI

•In 1636 the first settlement was made inVictoria,
whence, up to 1851, the population went on increas-
ing gradually until it reached 77,345 souls in a
period of 16 years ; but from that date to March
31, 1851, little more - than six years; it jumped, it
may be said, to 469,637 souls. The revenue, which
in 1651 was only £316;532. derived fronfall sources,
was £3,3.8,589 in 1857 ; of which latter sum
£1,595,283 was derived from receipts atthe Custoni-
house, inclusive of gold export duty. The expen-
diture in 1851 was £409,498, consequently in excess
of receipts by nearly £lOO,OOO ; but increased popu-
lation required greatly increased expenditure, and
unavoidable outlays for roads, bridges, and other
public works. The expenditure in 1157 was, not-
withstanding, far within the revenue, and amounted
to £3,163,689. The number of vessel's employed in
carrying on the export and import trade of the
colony , has increased .208 per cent, since 1851,
when there were 710 'ships entered' inwards at the
Custom-house at Melbourne, but 2,190 in 1857 ;
the tonnage has advanced between the same dates
438 per cent., from 128;959 to 694,564 tons •
.and
the hands employed 549 per cent., from 7,735 to.
34,777 men. The:exports in 1851 were declared at
the value of £1,422,909, but at £15,079,512 in
1857. The imports- in 1851 gave a total value of
£1,056,439 ; but. in, 1857 they were returned at
£17,256,209, the greater proportion of which. were
from the mother country. As to postal inter-
course, which is a safe barometer of the progress
of nations we find that no less than 2,415,933
letters, and. 1,333,639 newspapers were • de-
livered inland ; and a • shipment made to
,
other countries of 1,484,048 letters, and
1,648,531 newspapers, in 1857. In reference to pub-
lic works, these statistics show that in 1851 there
was not a single mile of macadamised road made
w
beyond the tons of MelboUrne and Geelong ; but
at the close of 1847 there were 450 miles of road
formed, 270 of which were macadamised ; 300
bridges erected, and many mils of viaducts • con-
structed, at a -cost altogether of £4,121,848; and
without reference to outlays to a considerable
extent by district road boards. Two lines of rail.
way had been constructed by private companies.
The first from Melbourne, to Hobson's Bay, with a
branch to St. Kilda, at a cost of £365,240 inclusive
of rolling stock, on which the profits are about 19
per cent., and after deducting expenses and adding.
to the reserve fund, leave 14 per cent. per annum
to the shareholders. The other line is that of the
Geelono. and Melbourne, open to Williamstown, 40
miles, at a cost of £590,576. Two trunk lines are
to be eqnstructed'by the Government. Of conunu-
nications by electric agency, no less than 701 miles
have been established in the colony, at a cost of
£70,006. There . are 22 stations; at an annual
expense of £lB,OOO. The lines are to Sandhurst,
via Castlemaine, 102 miles ; to Belvoir, Murray
River, 191 miles ; to the South Australian boun-
dary, near Nelson, Glenelg River, via Geelong,
Ballarat, &c., 336 miles ; to Port Phillip Bay, at
Queenseliff, via Geelong, 70 miles ; and to Sand-
ridge and the harbour of Hobson's Bay, 21 miles.
Such are some of the heads given in the report, and
they are sufficient, we think, to show the vast im-
portance of this colony, and the probability there is
of still greater increase in every department ; but
if anything further is necessary, we will mention
that in 1851 there were only six banks, and that
now there are 54, the paid up capital of which is
£5,423,694.—Mining Journal of Sept. 18,