The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-08-01
IMPORTANCE OF SYDNEY.
THE CHIEF PORT AND CAPITAL OF
NEW SOUTH WALES.
A Population of All .0OO-It Ranks
Fourth to Exports of Britnfn's
Big TOwns-It Has Surplus of the
Things That America Wants
WeslIthiest People of the Globe


people in the business world of America. or
even in the world Of books. have appreci-
ated the commercial importance of sgd
ney, the chief port and capital OF New
South Wales and the metropolis of Au-
stralasia. Few Of our people realise that
this colony has a superficial area OF 3d.,
75e square miles. or 1913, 4SO.0 600 acres, an
area nearly equal to the three great Pa
cific states, California, Oregon and Wash
ington, or great as the combined
states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illi-
nOis, Iowa and Missouri, or that ii has
great commercial value. Nor is this the
largest of the Australian colonies,
Western Australia mas 100000 square
miles, South Australia 9O3,69O square
miles and Queensland Sos, 497 square
miles, while Victoria has S7,SS4 square
miles, making a total of 3,03O,71 square
miles on the Australian continent, or an
area more than equal to the land sur
face Of the whole United States and ter
ritories, aside from Alaska. New Zeal
and, one of the "seven colonies, has an
area of 104,4 All and Tasmania, another,
has 26240 square miles, giving a total
area Of 3,l6T,45S square miles for the
seven colonies.
New South Wales is, however, the most
peOpled and the most wealthy Of the
groups, its population being about 1900,
600 souls and its gross wealth about 49,
SIC, OOO, OOO
The commercial Importance of this
country cannot be properly estimated by
a mere reference to the population, for
TO those whose attention has not been
directed this way there are many sur
prises. To many very intelligent per-
sons the fine exhibit of New South Wales
at Chicago conveyed the first knowledge
that this was a country of any cOnsid
cradle Importance. Few people in Amer
lea realize that Sydney has a population
of All 900, that it is as substantially and
beautifully built as any city of its size
i'm America and better paved than any
other city in any country, or that in the
value of its export and import trade Ii
ranks fourth among the great ports Of
English-speaking Britain-only London,
Liverpool and Hull leading-and sixth
i'm the whole British empire, only Cal
cutta and Bombay being added to the
cities above enumerated. The harbOr,
Port Jackson. upon which the city is
situated, is probably the finest, safest
and most cOmmOdiOus on the globe, and
Sydney is a center in which the ships
and trade of the world meet in open,
equal and fair competition for the trade
of this most distant Of all the great COM
mercial centers of Christendom.
The per capita export and import trade
of New South Wales, in 1891 was about
$240. over twice as gefat a per capita as
that of Great Britain, and nine times
great as that Of the United States. There
was entered and cleared from her ports in
1S91-chiehy Sydn ey-6,121 vessels, with
a registered tonnage of 1854, 236 tons No
other country on earth shows a trade,
even of approximate magnitude, consid
ering population. l regret 10 say that,
of this enormous tonnage but AIS was
of American bottoms. which was but lit
tie over IL per cent. of the total l. re-
gret further TO say, that since that time
our trade has further greatly declined,
not only relatively, but but actually; for
while there was $3.50 entries in and de-
partures of vessels from New South
Wales ports in 1898. there were but six
teen steamers and forty-two sailing YES
sells flying the stars and stripes, and that
the value of trade between this colony
and the United States declined from
19.953,525 in 1891, to S5,764,SS5 in 1898.
This enormous decline in our trade can
not wholly be attributed to the almost
universal depression. for. beside a ma
terial advance in the rate Of duties in
each country against the products of the
other influences hardly less potent have
been at work on other lines and in other
directions.
However. the trade between the United
States and New South Wales has been
more of a reciprocal nature than the
trade of the colony with any other coun-
try-eXcept the United KingdOm-for, of
a total trade of S5,764, 4S5 in 1893, the
United States sold to the colony 2,63l,
665. worth, and bought So, 132, $50 worth, or
an excess of but S501,175. The same year
the total trade between France and New
South Wales, as shown by Mr.. COghlan.
was $3.50, 800, of which the colony bought
from France but S247,1S0 worth, and
France bought from the colony S5,423.1S0
worth. an excess of s5.17S. 600. The same
was largely true of Germany, though not
TO so great an extent.
Mr. Coghlan, in his Seven Colonies"
1898. says: I'm 1891 Americas Gu. S. Al
share of the trade of Australasia with
foreign countries was about 40 per cent.
of the whole
suppose Mr.. Coghlan's estimates are
correct. 1t must be remembered that
each of the seven colonies" tO-wit,
New South Wales, Victoria, South Aus
tralia, Queensland. Western Australia,
New Zealand and Tasmania, have
separate and distinct governments, with
no political connection or relation eX-
cept through the ''home government"
that they are as independent of one
another as each of these are from Canada.
and that each has a schedule of duties
varying greatly from one another; so when
we speak of the foreign" trade Of Aus
tralia we mean the Australian trade with
Europe, Asia, Africa, America and the
outer islands of the sea, while to speak
of the trade of New South Wales, it
means added to all of these the 'inter-
colonial trade" with the Australian
colonies as we'll as the rest of the world
1t appears from the statistics at hand
that in 1898 Americas share of the trade
with New South Wales did not exceed
215 per cent, and that our share of the
foreign trade of Australasia as a whole,
did not exceed 81 per cent. of the whole.
The total trade Of New South Wales in
1898 was $205, 141, 900, and her trade, other
intercOlonial (really foreign), was SILL
al 600. Why had we not more than 51a
per cent of this enormous and desira BILE
foreign trade?
Eliminating the intercolOnial trade,
Australasia had a foreign trade in 1891
of 6457, $50 tons, valued at fS4, 641, 4SS, or,
in round numbers, 1923, 200, 900. This is
an enormous and valuable trade. Why
have we, Of America, with our greater
cessability to these markets, no more
Of this trade? Is it because either pro-
duces what the others wants or are there
artificial barriers?
Now, Australia has a surplus of just
the things we want, and want badly.
She produces an annual clip of over
500 900 600 pounds of wool, she can pro-
duce the soft, lustrous woods cheaper
than we can produce our dry and dead
looking woods. We need fully 100000
pound per year of this wool, to mix with
ours, before we can clothe with truth our
boast of being the "best-dressed people
on earth" Australia has. too, produced
over 81, 700, 100000 worth of gold. and is
still producing large quantities, and If
we are to maintain a "single standard,
we need some of this surplus yellow
metal She produces tin for export,
hides and skins in enormous quantities,