n ATLAS OF AUSTRALIA—18S6.
DIVISIONS.—As different settlomenU arose on tlie seaboard of Anstralin,
and with tlioni interests wLicli were frequently not identical,
so in tlie conrse of time, tlie necessity for aeparnte governing centres
became endent.
The divisions of Australia with their chief towns aro as follows :—
istmlln, (Vnclutiing tlie
lera lOTitory)
LAN D.—Connected with the soil of Australia, ever since its annexation
by the British Crowu in 1788, there has been an interest which
has iiiauifosted itself iu every phase of society. Perhaps no subject in
the histoiy of tlie colonies has given more ti-ouble and less satisfaction,
in the matter of legislation, for its occupation or alienation. It would
certainly be difficult to point to any other question which has arisen
so often for settlement, each recurrence sliowiug how far from finality
was the last attempt to produce a land law which would mete out equal
justice to all, and leave no opportunity for abase, There is no doubt
that the scarcity iu this respect in Britain, and the low value which
it-s almost unlimited area places upon it iu the colonies, ai-e among the
causes which tend to keep it ever present in the minds of tho great
body of the population. The earth-hunger of the immigiant, accustomed
from his childLood to regard the possession of land as far
beyond his reach, is at once roused when he reaches a country where
the value of land at a minimum, owing to the want of a people to
use it. Millions of acres, now lying idle and waste, travoi-sed by the
aboriginal, and pastured upon by tho kangai-oo and emu (some, indeed,
of the best grazing land that has fallen from the hand of Nature), only
require the teeming thousands of the great cities of the Old World, to
rise, from no value, to prices iu excess of that which obtains at pi-esent
throughout the settled districts of Australw. It is an axiom only too
self-evident, that laud, without a people to own and till it, can have
no value attaching to it. Alter the ciroumstances, by placing upon it
a race which requires it for its support anil pleasiu'e, aud the inherent
desire, and necessity for the use of it, at once create a measure by
which it may be valued. This, it will be found, has obtained in the
histoid of every colonization from the early Phcenician colonies on the
shores of the Mediterranean, to the populating of America and Austi'alia
in modern times by the British race. The tendency to reduce
the extreme coucentration of population in the cities anil tomis of the
Old AVorld, where jjower to exist, for a very large uumbei-, has been
pushed to the verge of possibility, is increasing; aud the advance of
such principles -will have the eifect, ultimately, of peopling a land that
isopentoreoeivethem. ltmay,thei-efore, beexpectedthatthesubject
of land in A\istralia, will ever possess an intei est whicb has ceased to
attach to it, in older countries.
Owiiereliip of laud, in the early days of Australian colonization, was
obtained by means of free grants fi'om the Crowu. In most cases,
the-se were held lightly, and iu very many, the recipients parted with
thoii- easily-acquired rights, for almost nominal ainoimts. The fii-st
grants took place in the neighbourhood of Sydney, and included
part of what is now the metropolis of New South Wales, and the
suburbs of Pyrmont and Balmaiii. Later on, several farms were
granted at Prospect Hill. These free gifts of kinl were made
to persons in various positions in the pioneer colony. Subseiiucintly,
every military ofticer and free settler received a grant of land.
Very hberal occupation rights wore also aUowed to private soldier.":
serving on the Australian penal station, in order to guard the
small colony from the approach of famine, which more than once
threatened its existence. Clorgj-inen wore iucluded among the
recipients of the land-gifts of the State. In this way, some of the best
and most fertile lands in the Illawarra and Uawkesbury districts became
settled upon, and ])laced under cultivation.
In 1813, the (ireat Dividing Range, which had hitherto baffled all
attempts to proceed inland, was successfully ci'osaed by tho enterprising
explorer», Blaxlund, Lawson, and Weutworth, aud subsequently the
' •• upland plains of the En thurst district becami; kuo^vn to the small
colony. L arge g 111 nt.s •
free labour wa.s added in cases where
permanently occupied. ^ Vit hin two
practicable route across the Blue iloi
country weie stocked with sheep an
Bathui-st made its coiuinencemeut at
spo.
During the administration of Sir Th
system, uiuler which land grants wen
manner that lost to tho State some
i-al aud 1 1 lauds
•ly-discovered territory, and
and was entered upon, and
-.5 from the discovery of a
ns, largo areas of the new
:tle. 'I'he present town ot
Australian history.
Brisbane, we ilud that the
d, was manipulated iii a
ids of acres of the best
ia, without any return
whatever. Many obtained these grants of land, who could not show
even the slightest claim, and who never intended to use them. They
simply secured areas, which were great or small, in proportion to their
own inliuenoe, or that of thoir friends, with the governing authorities,
for purposes of speculation. T'he effect of this squandering of the
public lands, in the early days of settlement, on those who held them
for purposes other than occupation, is felt even now iu the neighbmir.
hood of more than one of our inland towns, where the utmost difficulty
is frequently e.\perienced in obtaining even a few acres for a homestead.
Grants, at this time, were also made to companies, in proportion
to the capital introduced. Less objection could be raised against
concessions of this character, but in more than one instance the gift
was on too liberal a scale.
In 1832, a system of public auction was introduced, and a genei al
upset price of Ss. per acre was fixed. During 1S40, it was raised to
12s, per acre. In 1842, in the neighbourhood of Port Phillip, the
minimum rose to iil per acre, and in the following year, it was
increased, generally, to that amount. The subsequent division of
Australia into the different colonies, considerably affected the
alienation of the public lands. T'he dominant principles of different
leaders now became an element in the general result.
In 1829, the colony of Western Australia was founded, and a
settlement commenced on the Swau Hiver. Some of the largest
grants in Australia were made at the initiation of the colony of the
west coast. These gifts of land were in proportion to the labour or
capital introduced into the new settlement. One grant amounted to
the very large area of 07ii million acres.
In 188(>, South Australia was constituted a separate colony, but
in this case a much fairer system was put into practice. The land was
sold at auction, the upset price being fixed at 12s. per acre, and part
of tho proceeds used in connection with immigration, to this, the
then latest scene of British enterprise. Tho minimum value was
subsequently i-aised to £1 per acre, the same as that which obtained
in the older colony.
Victoria was seimratod from New South Wales in 1851, The
Si-st sale, however, ot town lands in Melbourne, took place so far back
as 1837. Allotments, which now foi'm some of tho most valuable building
sites in the great city of the south, found purchasers then at about
£70 per aero,
Queensland, tho youngest of the Australian colonies, received her
autonomy in 1859. The pioneers of the north, as in fact almost all
over Austialia, were tho squatters. This part of the east coast
aftenvards became known in connection with the Fitzroy Gold
Diggings, and the subsequent settlement of the Eockhampton district.
The Imperial enactment of the year 1842, provided fur the sale of
waste lands in the Australian colonies, which included also Tasmania
(then known as Van Diemen's Land), and New Zealand, This statute
provided that conveyance should not take place unless by the ordinary
method of sale, or private contract, and free grants became a matter
of the past. The minimum upset price was ti.^ed at £l per acre.
Lands of a sjjecial value, on account of their position or character,
were offered at much higher amounts at tho auction sales, appointed
to take place eveiy three mouths.
In August, I8 K5, an Amending Act passed the Imperial Legislature,
which also included within its scope the regulation of the
Pastoral Leases. Tho term of lease for the various runs was fixed at
a maxinianj of 14 years, aud tho rent at £1 per section ot 040 acres.
This statute was tho anthority for the subsequent " Orders in Council."
It provided for a sale of leases remaining in the hands of the Crown
at the end of each year. In 1847, the law was again amended by tho
Imperial Parliament. This Act pwvided for ii special division of
New Soutli Wales, which then included the \vhole of tho eastern aud
south-eastern coasts of Australia. The divisions, which wore based
on the progress of settlouent, wove styled—tin- Pir.^t Class Settled,
tho Second Class Settled, and tlio Unsettled Districts, During 1853,
farther provision was nuide in tho Home Legisliituro for tho ronewal
of pastoral leases iu the Uusettled Districts. At this stage in Australian
history tho whole of the relations of the colonies with regard to tho
¡larent country came before the House of Commons, [n 1842, ¡m Act
had received the Royal assent, which conferred on the senior colony
a mixed Legislative Council. This body, ho^vever, possessed no control
over the lauds, or rents received from the lessees, ririevancos, which
the colonists, removed eo far from the scat of tiovernmont, now
suffered imder, caused some agital iou, and the result ivas t.hat a now
Constitution was granted, which carried iu its tmin local government,
with full powiu' to detennino upon all matters not ot an international
character. From this point a new era cuinmcncod in the history ot
tho colonies, and, as it invigorated with new life, tlioy have since
advanced, and kept apace with the civiliziitiim of the foremost
countries of the Old World.
AUSTRALIA.
The powor of self-government, which was received by the colonists,
contained absolute authority to deal with the public lands as they
thought fit, and entirely for their own benefit. It is easy now to
see the beneficial effect of such a, measure on the small oommunitios,
situated at so great a distance from the controlling power. A very
conservative policy—one almost of complete stagnation—had long
obtained in regard to the occupation of tho waste lands. The auction
sales had not r ; tliis s in a large ir
the faulty and inefBcient character of tlio administration. Delays of
vexatious nature faced the applicant for land at every point. An
unnecessarily long time was occupied in settling the. prelhninaries ot
application, survey, and auction an-angements; and it not unfrequontly
happened that the poor intending settler, who, after exploring new
country, had succeeded in getting a particular blook ctFered, was
piu-jiosoly outbid by some richcr holder of laud in the neighbourhood,
and ho himself compolled to go elsewhere. The feeling among the
colonists culminatod at last in one of general discontent, for it was
seen that influence was the only means of success. At last, in the
year 1861, in New South Wales, tho famous Bill of Sir John (then
Mr,) Kobertson passed the Colonial Legislature, and became law. By
its pi'ovisions, the land, which had hitherto been locked up, except to
those who held rims, was thrown open from the sea-coast to the South
Australian border.
From one extreme the popular feehng was suddenly changed
to one of an opposite character. That which was closed in 18(51
was opened indiscriminately in 1862. Previously, the long delays
caused by survey. See,, had to be endured; now, immediately upon
tho payment of 5s. per acre deposit, possession could be obtained,
and the land placed under cultivation. It is not üie place here to
discuss the wisdom of such au enactment. The other colonies
have also passed laws, from time to time, in connection with their
public lands. There are many points of similarity. All have
attempted, with varying success, to hold out inducements to settlement
on the soil. The several laws now in force throughout
Australia mil bo found treated separately in coimection -with the
geogi-aphy of each colony.
POPULATION,—Since 1788, when the first colony was founded on
the east coast of Australia, up to the present date, tho progress of
these dependencies of the British Crown has boon ever onward, and
now the term Australia ia known among nations in connection with
success, enterprise, and the steady advance of part of the Old World
civilization over a land pi'eviously inhabited by the savage and th©
beasts of the forest. Within the first century of the history of
Australia, we find on the eastern, southern, and western coa-its, and
for considerable distances into tho interior, the homes of prosperous
settlers dotted over the face of tho land, and, in the midst ot the
primeval forest, are seen the meadow-lands, flocks, herds, and fields
if green waving corn, where, but a few years previously, existed tho
brush and jungle-growth of the
gold-fields
ind othei
irithii .few
petals, hav,
lonsiderabU
Australian bush,
its vast snrfaco, and on areas c
ich
ally less stabh
character than those connected mt h agricultural settlement, but yet
forming a part of the whole. Scattered over tho plains, which extend
inland, the homes toads ot tho pastoralists are met with, and at distant
intervals, the towns and villages, \»hich form ml/repSl.s for their
produce, the latter generally occuring at the junctions of roads or
In some parts of Australia, notably tho south and east coasts,
e been t
settlement, and with it the increase in population, h
more rapid than in other portions. Climate and natur
among the facts which have produced this result.
The statistical returns of the vai-ious colonies show that the
popnlotion of Australia at the end of 1884 amounted to 2,538,196.
This estimate does not include the aborigines of tho noi'theni part of
the continent and those of the interior. In some of tho colonies they
are employed to assist in farm-work, and have become partly ci\Hli5ied;
•where this is the case they have been included. The numbers aro,
however, small, and become less each year. The following table
will illustrate the increase of population in .-Vusti-alia, and also the
commereial progress from the beginning ot 1873 to the end of
1884 :—