at Coolgardie in 1892, however, had a most important influence in
drawing population, and in three and a half years the population
was doubled: during a portion of this time the rush of miners
to the gold-fields was so great as to be reminiscent of the experience
of the eastern colonies during the ’fifties. At the end
of 1905 the population was 254,779, comprising 150,495 males
and 104,284 females. The slowness of the early growth and the
more rapid strides of later years will be gathered from the following
figures: pop. (1860) 15,227, (1870) 25,084, (1880) 29,019,
(1890) 46,290, (1895) 101,238, (1901) 194,889. The chief
towns of Western Australia are: Perth—the capital—56,000,
Fremantle 23,008, Kalgoorlie 6780, Boulder 5658. The number
of people in all gold-field towns fluctuates very greatly. Coolgardie,
for example, was returned in July 1894 as having within
its municipal boundaries 12,000 people; in 1905 it had only 3830.
The births during 1905 numbered 7582 and the deaths 2709, the rates per thousand of population being respectively 30·30 and 10·83 showing a net increment of 19·47 per 1000. In the period 1861–1865 the birth rate was 39 07 per 1000. Between 1886 and 1890 it stood at 36·88, then came a rapid decline, and in 1896 was reached the low level of 22·67 per 1000. In 1904 the rate was 30·34 per 1000. The decline in the birth-rates has been a common experience of all the Australian states; in Western Australia it was due in a large degree to the decline in the proportion of females to males. In 1870 the females numbered 62% of the males, and in 1880 75%, while in 1895 the proportion was only 45%. The illegitimate births during 1905 were 4·19% of the total births. The death-rate which in 1897 was 16·99 per 1000 has steadily declined in recent years. The large influx of young unmarried men in the years 1894–1898 was followed by the arrival of a large number of single women and the marriage-rates increased from 7 per 1000 in the five years 1891–1895 to 10·7 per 1000 in 1897. In 1905 the rate stood at the more normal level of 8·48. Except for a slight influx of population in the three years 1885–1887 due to the gold discoveries at Kimberley there was very little immigration to Western Australia prior to 1891, in that year, however there was a considerable inpouring of population from the eastern colonies notably from Victoria and South Australia and in the seven years which closed with 1897 the population of the colony gained nearly 110,000 by immigration alone. In 1898 there was still a large inflow of population, but the outflow was also great, and in 1898 and the following year the two streams balanced one another; but 1900 showed an excess of 6000, and 1905 of 7617 gained by immigration.
Western Australia is the most sparsely populated of all the states, only the coastal fringe and the gold-fields show any evidences of settlement, and if the area were divided amongst the population there would be but ten persons to 52 sq. m. The population is almost exclusively of British origin, and only differs from that of the other states in that there is a larger body of Australian-born, who are not natives of the colony itself. About 45% of the population are members of the Church of England; one-fourth belong to other Protestant denominations, and one-fourth are Roman Catholics.
Administration.—In 1890 Western Australia, up to that time a crown colony administered by a governor, was granted responsible government. The legislative authority is vested in a parliament composed of two Houses—a Legislative Council, whose thirty members are elected for six years, and a Legislative Assembly of fifty members, elected by adult suffrage (men and women). As a portion of the Commonwealth, Western Australia sends six senators and five representatives to the federal parliament. In a country so sparsely settled municipal government has little scope for operation.
So far forty-four municipalities have been gazetted. Besides the municipalities there are district roads boards elected by the ratepayers of their respective districts to take charge of the formation construction and maintenance of the public roads throughout their districts. There were in 1905 ninety-four such boards in existence Some of the districts are of enormous size: Pilbarra, for example, has an area of 14,356 sq. m., Coolgardie North has 75,968 sq. m.; Nullagine has 90,438 sq. m., and the Upper Gascoyne has 136,000 sq. m. Over areas so vast little effective work can be accomplished, but where the districts are small the administration is much the same as in the municipalities. The receipts from rates of all local districts in 1905 was £104,760, and the grants by the government £80,938, making a total of £185,698.
Education.—Attendance at school is compulsory upon all children over six years and under fourteen years of age. Instruction is imparted only in secular subjects, but the law allows special religious teaching to be given during half an hour each day by clergymen to children of their own denomination Children can claim free education on account of inability to pay fees of living more than a mile from school, or of having attended school for more than 400 half-days during the preceding year. The state expended in 1905 £131,585 on public instruction, the great bulk of which was devoted to primary schools. The number of schools supported by the state in that year was 335, the teachers numbered 888, the net enrolment of scholars was 27978 and the average attendance 23,703. There were in 1905 99 private schools with 350 teachers and 7353 scholars, the average attendance being 6128.
Judged by the number of persons arrested, crime is more prevalent than in any other part of Australia The gold-fields have attracted some of the best and most enterprising of the Australian population, at the same time many undesirable persons flocked to the state expecting to reap a harvest in the movement and confusion of the gold diggings. These latter form a large part of the criminal population of the state The arrests in 1905 numbered 14,646, of which 2104 were for serious offences; so that for every thousand of the population 49 were arrested for trivial and 8 for serious crimes.
Finance.—The discovery of gold and the settlement on the gold-fields of a large population, for the most part consumers of dutiable goods, has entirely revolutionized the public finances of the state. In 1891 the revenue was £497,670, that is £10, 15s. per inhabitant; in 1895 it rose to £1,125 941, or £12, 10s. per inhabitant, and in 1897 to £2,842,751, of £20, 12s. 2d. per inhabitant. For 1905 the figures were £3,615,340, or £14, 18s. 5d. per inhabitant The chief sources of revenue in 1905 were: customs and excise, £1,027,898; other taxation £221,738; railways £1,629,956; public lands (including mining), £207,905; all other sources, £527,843. The expenditure has risen with the revenue the figures for 1905 being £3,745,224, equal to £15, 9s. 2d. per head of population. The chief items of expenditure in 1905 were railway working expenses, £1,297,499; public works, £337,927; interest and charges upon debt £578,704; mines £248,496; education, £149,552. The public debt is of comparatively recent creation. In August 1872 an act was passed authorizing the raising of certain sums for the construction of public works, in 1881 the amount owing was not more than £511,000 and in 1891 only £1,613,000 or £30, 5s. 8d. per inhabitant from the year last named the indebtedness has increased by leaps and bounds, and in 1905 had mounted up to £16,642,773, a sum equal to £66, 10s. 4d. per inhabitant involving an interest charge of £574,406 or £2, 5s. 1d. per inhabitant. The proceeds of the loans were used largely for the purpose of railway extension—the expenditure on this service at the middle of 1906 was £9,618,970; on water supply and sewerage works, £2,892,390; on telegraphs and telephones, £269,308; on harbour and river improvements, £2,182,529; on development of gold fields, £973,082; on development of agriculture £597,189.
Defence.—The local defence force of Western Australia in 1905 comprised 57 permanent artillerymen, 772 militia, 580 volunteers, and 2534 riflemen—a total of 3943. The defence of the state is undertaken by the federal government.
Minerals.—Gold-mining is the main industry, and in 1905 16,832 miners were directly engaged in it, as large a number is indirectly engaged in the industry. Gold, silver coal, tin and copper are the chief minerals mined; the mineral production of the state in 1905 was valued at £8,555,841. The value of the gold produced was £8,305,654, a falling off of £118,572 as compared with 1904. The dividends paid by the gold-mining companies for that year amounted to £2,167 639 as against £2,030,547 in 1904. Up to 1905 the total recorded mineral production of Western Australia amounted in value to £65,012,499—gold representing £63,170,911 of that sum; while £13,739,842 had been paid in dividends.
Western Australia ranks as the largest gold producer of the Austrian group. Coal is worked at Collie, 25 m. E. of Bunbury, boring operations which had been going on between Greenough and Mullewa on the Geraldton-Cue railway line were discontinued in 1905 the bore hole carried to a depth of 1418 ft. having failed to disclose any coal seams. The export of copper in 1905 was valued at £16,266, of tin, £86,840, of silver £44,278. The value of the coal produced in that year was £55,312.
Industries.—The agricultural possibilities of the state are more restricted than those of the eastern states as the rainfall in the southern and temperate portion does not extend far from the coast and the land where the fall is satisfactory is only good over small areas. The area cultivated in 1871 was 52,000 acres, in 1881 it was 53,000 acres in 1891, 64000 acres, and in 1905 467,122 acres. The principal crops grown in the year last named were wheat 195,071 acres oats 18,713 acres, hay 124,906 acres. The wheat yield was 11·83 bushels per acre and the hay crop 1·12 tons per acre. In 1905 the number of sheep depastured was 3,120,703; cattle 631,825, horses 97,397. These figures show an increase for all classes of stock. There are in the state about 2000 camels. The number of sheep has increased considerably in late years. In
1871, 2,000,000 ℔ of wool were exported, in 1881, 4,100,000 ℔, in