The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-14 00:00:00

We have frequently had occasion to notice the
rapid development of political liberty in our Aus-
tralian Colonies, and to point to the success there
of measures against which all kinds of imaginary
cavils are raised here. And the inhabitants of
these colonies being to such a very large extent
Englishmen, who have but recently left their mother
country, and who carry with them all the views
and habits of those they leave behind, we have
justly thought that a fairer example to argue from
could not well be furnished us than that of Aus-
tralia. With Englishmen, however, the connec-
tion has always been very intimate between com-
mercial enterprise and political freedom ; indeed, it
has been the same in most countries ; and we are
therefore not surprised, when the commercial ad-
vances of Australia are placed before us in the dry
statistical form, to find that they are almost some-
thing miraculous. The piecemeal accounts which
we receive from time to time have indeed prepared
us for the totals, but the results are such as will
strike most of us as marvellous at least.

It seems that, by order of the Governor, the
Itegistrar-General has published a complete sum-
mary of the progress and statistics of Victoria,
rom the year 1851, when Victoria became a dis-
tinct colony from New South Wales and gold began
to form a part of the exports of the colony, to the
year 1857—a report comprising almost everything,
beginning with telling us of extent of territory and
range of temperature, and ending with telegraphs
and.railways. It is, in fact, a Conspectus Victorice
for the six years referred to, and is certainly calcu-
lated to make the Victorians think something of
themselves. We do not remember that any colony
of our own, nor even California itself, has advanced
so rapidly in all that constitutes the most valuable
growth. of a new country.

To begin where the report begins, we find " am-

pie room and verge enough," not less than equal to
that of England, Wales, and Ireland combined,
90,000 square miles of territory-, and that in a cli-
mate so suitable to European constitutions, that its
mean temperature is not quite ten degrees above
that of Greenwich, and the difference.of extreme
temperatures, the chief point for weak constitutions,
also less than with us. The severe and damp cold
of our winters, too, so fatal to weak lungs, is un-
known, the lowest mean monthly temperature being
about fifty degrees of Fahrenheit.
The rapid increase of population under the gold.
mania is, of course, what we look for ; yet it is sur-
prising, even though expected. In 1851 the popu-
lation amounted to 77,345 persons ; by the end of
March, 1857, it had increased to 410,766 persons.
Of these 109,000 were distributed over the rural
districts, and 166,550 belonged to the gold-fields.
The result is that in seven years the population has
increased sixfold. The increase, it is to be ob-
served, promises to be steady and progressive, since
during the last three years the proportions of
deaths and births present,_ perhaps, one of the most
marvellous on record. There have been respec-
tively for the three years—Births, 10,210, 12,799,
and 15,937; against deaths, 6,572, 5,760, and
6,521. The immigration of nearly five-and-thirty
thousand Chinese, consisting almost entirely of
males, is a subject of annoyance, and special taxes
are laid on them to discourage them ; the immigra-
titn, on the whole, for the six years, has amounted
to 441,811 persons ; but the return, or counter
emigration, in the same time, has been consider-
able, amounting to 176,455. This consists in great
Part of persons who have returned home to enjoy
the independence they have achieved, and also of
many wl2o have failed to succeed, or who have left
for other parts of Australia itself.
However absurdly agriculturists here may dread
the collection and publicati 6n of the statistics of
their business, it is just the reverse in Victoria, and
the consequence is that the colony knows what it
is doing in the most essential department of human
industry. We had not expected that cultivation
had made such progress—Australia and sheep runs
being naturally associated in our minds. Yet it
seems that in March of this year the land under
crop was 237,729 acres, producing nearly two mil-
• lions of bushels of wheat, nearly as many of oats,
and a full proportion of barley and potatoes, with
six or seven thousand bushels of Indian wheat ;
while the average produce per acre considerably
exceeds, in some cases almost doubles, that of the
corn-growing states in North America. In 1852
there were only about fifty-seven thousand acres

under cultivation. The progress of agriculture has
surpassed considerably that of population, and if it
continues, which seems likely, the country will
soon not only supply its own wants, but become an
exporting country also. The value of last year's
crops, at the prices ruling in the colony, was up-
wards of £3,000,000. The quantity of live
stock, the strength of agriculture, is enormous
—nearly five millions of sheep, with more than
six hundred thousand horned cattle; and in all
kinds there has been a large increase during the
last year ; no apprehension exists, therefore, of al
diminished supply of animal food. The increase

in horned cattle alone, in the preceding year, was
between eighty and ninety thousand, and of sheep
nearly two hundred thousand. These facts are
especially interesting, as iatogethor negatiying the

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THE SUN.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1858.