CHAPTER XXIII GENERAL CONDITION OF VICTORIA IN 1855 As the chief ostensible ground for the grant of Responsible Government was the increased material prosperity of the colony, it may be well to pause for a moment, as at the end of former periods, to glance at the general condition of Victoria on the eve of the new system. That the discovery of gold had produced a startling effect upon the circumstances of the colony is of course beyond doubt. But it will be better if we confine ourselves to pointing out a few of the unquestioned facts which helped to constitute the change. We have already noticed the condition and extent of the Government revenue and expenditure at the period of Separation.1 During the year 1854, less than four years after Separation, the general revenue had risen from £122,781 to £1,726,935. To this had been added a sum of £601,155 from the Land revenue (afterwards to be explained), and a sum of £118,619, surplus from the previous year, making a grand total of £2,446,710. Of the ordinary general revenue, the chief items were as follow: 1. Customs 2. Gold revenue 3. Trade licences £853,598 423,920 151,555 But against this large income there had been the enormous expenditure of £4,479,527,2 or a deficit of upwards of two millions sterling. The chief items were 1 Ante, p. 137. 2 Of this, however, £400,000 was repayment of loans (V. and P., 1855-6, i. p. 1071). The startling amount of the items for police, military and naval, and store charges, are, of course, accounted for by the unhappy disturbances which took place on the gold fields in the year 1854, and to the symptoms of lawlessness which the attractions of the gold discovery had developed. Of the huge item for "Public Works," nearly one half is occasioned by the cost of making and repairing roads and bridges, and the bulk of the remainder by the erection of and repairs to public buildings in Melbourne, Geelong, Williamstown, Portland, and Belfast.3 The huge deficit in the year's accounts was met by loans. raised hastily in all directions. The corporation of Melbourne contributed £300,000. The appropriated moiety of the Land fund was drawn on for £866,000. The local banks advanced £290,000 as a first loan, and allowed overdrafts to the extent of £232,000 in addition. Nearly £40,000 was borrowed from the Police Reward Fund.1 It is satisfactory, however, to notice that of these loans £400,000 were paid off before the close of the year.5 We have seen that the "unappropriated" moiety of the Land fund was by this time practically under the control of the colonial legislature, and that in this exceptional year a draft was also made upon the moiety still nominally appropriated by the Imperial government to the expenses of immigration. But the accounts of the Territorial revenue were still kept distinct from the general income of the Government, and from the returns for the year 1854 we learn that they had produced the total of £1,355,832, of which about nineteen 1 Abstract in V. and P., 1855-6, i. pp. 1063-1071. 1067. 2 Apparently the work was not effected by the Central Road Board, ibid. p. 3 Statement in ibid. p. 1073. 6 Ante, p. 179. 4 Ibid. p. 1070. 5 Ibid. p. 1071. CHAP. XXIII REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE 219 twentieths were the produce of the sale of 400,000 acres of land, the occupation licences producing £46,000. The expenses chargeable upon the fund, including the charges of the Surveyor-General's department and the expenses of the immigration offices at Melbourne, Williamstown, Geelong, and Portland, amounted to upwards of half a million sterling, leaving, with the balance left over from the previous year, a sum of about one million and a half, which on this occasion was transferred to the general revenue in manner before described.2 The expenses of the permanent Civil List for the year had been kept, as we have seen, well within the revenue assigned to it. It must be remembered that the List had been increased. from the £20,000 provided by the Constitution Act of 1850 (Sched. B) to £157,839, by various Acts of the colonial legislature. The expenses of the judicial department had risen from the £6,500 contemplated by the Constitution Act to £79,000, those of the executive administration from £5,500 to £49,000. The expenses of the ecclesiastical establishment alone remained stationary. But in each of the former cases the expenses had been kept within the income, and there was a total balance of nearly £30,000 to go towards the dire needs of the unappropriated expenditure." Happily the accounts for the year 1855 were infinitely better. Though they only go down to the date of the proclamation of the new Constitution (23d November), the revenue shows an amount (£1,595,667) nearly equal to that of the preceding twelve months, while the expenditure has fallen to £1,319,544, or an amount well within the revenue. With the help of a sum of £300,000 from the unappropriated moiety of the Land fund, the Treasurer is able to pay off half a million in reduction of the debt. The saving has been effected in various ways. The expenses of the Customs department have been reduced by one-half, though its revenue has substantially increased, the police expenses are also reduced by one-half, while the expenditure on Public Works has been cut down to nearly one-third of its former amount. The "Stores 2 Ibid. p. 1085. 1 V. and P., 1855-6, i. p. 1078. 3 16 Vic. No. 7 ( 30), 17 Vic. No. 7, and 18 Vic. No. 35. 4 V. and P., 1855-6, i. p. 901. But this does not include the ecclesiastical grants to the Gold Fields, not under the 16 Vic. No. 28. 5 Accounts in ibid. p. 900. and Transport" item may be said to have almost disappeared. On the other hand, the grants for educational purposes have more than doubled.1 It does not follow that the change is necessarily to be attributed to bad administration in 1854. The events of the early "fifties" were so abnormal, that it is no wonder if they paralysed the government which had to deal with them. Men came out to manage a large estate, and they were called upon suddenly to face the problem of governing a community with the interests and revenue of a kingdom. No wonder if they lost their heads. But, at the same time, it would be well if those interested in the reputation of the men of 1854 were to offer some substantial explanation of the facts. If the expenses of a Government department are cut down 50 per cent as the consequence of a Royal Commission, while at the same time the business of the department continues to increase, we require to know the reason of the change.2 Passing beyond the limits of revenue and expenditure, we are able to gain very valuable information as to the general condition of the colony towards the close of the period from the full statistics laid before the Parliament in December 1856.3 From these it appears that at the close of the year 1855 the total population of the colony (exclusive of aborigines) was 319,379, in the proportion of about 207,000 males to 112,000 females. During the year the population had been increased by 66,000 immigrations and nearly 12,000 births. With regard to the pursuits of the population, 4326 persons carried on agricultural operations on 115,000 acres of land, chiefly in the counties of Bourke, Grant, and Villiers. The principal crops were— 1. Wheat, of which 1,148,000 bushels were raised on 42,600 acres. 1 Accounts in V. and P., 1855-6, pp. 1095-1101. 2 For details of expenditure in Government departments for year 1855, cf. V. and P., 1855-6, ii. pp. 785-814. 3 Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly, 1856-7, iv. p. 91. It appears that the last previous census was actually taken on the 26th April 1854. CHAP. XXIII INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS 221 Squatting pursuits were carried on at 1029 licensed stations in the various districts. Of these stations the old districts of Portland Bay and Western Port claimed 349 and 253 respectively, the newer districts of the Wimmera, Murray, and Gippsland having 152, 171, and 88 respectively. On these runs rather more than half a million head of horned cattle and rather more than four and a half millions of sheep were fed. Turning to pursuits of a less patriarchal character, we find that there were a total number of 115 mines or quarries in the colony, of which 63 were either gold-mines or quartz-reefs, while in the counties of Bourke and Grant there were 153 brick-yards. Of the industries which usually establish themselves in towns there were 1893 at work. By far the greater number of these were connected immediately with the new mining adventures. There were no less than 1267 factories for mining machinery at Sandhurst, 100 at Ballaarat, and 30 at Fiery Creek. Melbourne had lost the lead early established in the number of her factories, being only third in the race to Sandhurst and Ballaarat, though it is, of course, quite possible that many of the numerous works" at Sandhurst may have been of an elementary character. Unfortunately no returns of the number of hands employed during the year 1855 are given, but in April of the previous year, when the population of the colony was about thirty per cent less than in 1855, the number of persons returned as employed in "Commerce, Trade, or Manufacture" was just short of 53,000.1 In the matter of foreign trade, the colony exported during the year 1855 goods to the value of thirteen millions and a half, of which gold and coin accounted for eleven millions, and wool for a million and a half. The imports slightly exceeded twelve millions in value, of which about half a million was coinage, and the rest are unclassed in the Return from which these figures are taken.2 The non-material wants of the people were provided for by 349 places of worship, having an average attendance of 65,000 persons, and an estimated capacity of 76,000. It may fairly be inferred, therefore, that the supply in this particular was well abreast of the demand. Amongst the various religious bodies, 1 V. and P. of L. A., iv. p. 237. 2 Ibid. 1856-7, p. 299. |