Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/152

The rapid increase in the ordinary revenue may further serve to illustrate this subject. The following is a statement of it : —

AMOUNT OF ORDINARY REVENUE.

	£	s.	d.
1837	2,358	16	10
1838	2,826	17	10
1839	14,703	6	10
1840	36,866	1	6
1841	81,673	10	3
1842	84,566	9	3
1843	73,724	19	10
1844, estimated	83,390	0	0

During the eight years that this country has been occupied, three towns have been built — Melbourne, Geelong, and Portland. In 1841 Melbourne contained about 9,000 inhabitants. This number is supposed to he now reduced to about 8,000, by persons going into the bush. The number of houses amounts to 2,400. There are in this town a Church of England church, a Scotch Church, a Roman Catholic, a Methodist, and an Independent chapel. All the congregations of these, with the exception of the Independents, receive government support, consisting of salaries for the ministers,^[1]

1. The grants for salaries of ecclesiastical ministers in the district are as follows:—

   	£
   3 clergymen, Church of England—one at £200, one £150, one £100	450
   3 clergymen, Presbyterian—one at £200, one £150, one £100	450
   1 clergyman, Wesleyan, at £200	200
   2 clergymen, Roman Catholic—one at £300, one £150	350
   	1450