AUEA AND POPULATION
289
John
Secretary for AgricicUure and Minis/cr for Public Lands, — Hon. J. Y, Chataway.
Home Secretary. — Hon. J. F. C. Foxton.
Postmaster-General and Minister for Just ice. — Hon. W. H. Wilson.
Treasurer and Secretary for Mines. — Hon. Robt. Philp.
Secretary for Public Instruction. — Hon. D. H. Dalvymple.
Secretary for Railways and Secretary for Public Works. — Hon. Murray.
IVithout Portfolio.— The Hon. A. H. Barlow and Hon. George Wilki*; Gray.
Each of the ministers who liolds a portfolio has a salary of 1,000Z. pei annum. The Vice-President of the Executive Council receives 300/. per an- num in addition. They are jointly and individually responsible for their acts.
Provision is made for Local Government by the subdivision of the Colony into areas denominated respectively municipal boroughs, municipal shires, and divisions. These are under the management of aldermen, councillors, and members, who are elected by the ratepayers and are charged with the control of all matters of a parochial nature, more especially the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges within their allotted areas.
The principal towns of the Colony are formed into boroughs. Shires mostly comprise adjoining suburban areas, whilst the divisions for the most part consist of purely rural districts.
The number and area of these subdivisions, together with the receipts and expenditure for the year 1897, were: —
No.
30
6
117
153
Area square mile.
Receipts
Expenditure
—
Boroughs Shires . Divisions
Totals
374A 57i 667,8201^
£ 225,896 19,191 179,171
205,511
17,722
175,749
668,252
424,258
398,982
The revenue is mainly derived from rates supplemented by a pro rata endowment paid by the central government from the consolidated revenue. The rates are levied on the assessed value of the land only exclusive of improvements.
Area and Population.
Queensland comprises the whole north-eastern portion of the Australian continent, including the adjacent islands in the Pacitic Ocean and in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The territory is of an estimated area of 668,497 English square miles, with a seaboard of 2,250 miles. In 1825 a branch penal settle- ment was made at Moreton Bay; in 1842 free settlers were admitted to the country and during the next twenty years great progress was apparent.
The increase in the population at different periods since 1846 has been as follows: —
Tears
Population
Increase per | years cent, per annum
Population
Increase per cent, per annum
1846 1856 1861 1871
2,257
18,544
34,367
125,146
.— 1 1881 72-16 1886 17'06 1891 26-41 1 1898
213,525
322,853 393,718 493,704
7-06
10-23
4-39
