720,599; in 1880, 860,067; and in 1890, 1,133,266. The state had gained little, if anything, by immigration during these years, for the excess of immigration over emigration from 1861 to 1870 and from 1881 to 1890 was counterbalanced by the excess of departures during the period 1871 to 1880 and from 1891 to 1905. The mean population of Melbourne in 1905 was 511,900.
The births in 1905 numbered 30,107 and the deaths 14,676, representing respectively 24.83 and 12.10 per 1000 of the population. The birth-rate has fallen markedly since 1875, as the following statement of the averages arranged in quinquennial periods shows:—
| Period. | Births per 1000 of Population. |
| 1861-65 | 43.30 |
| 1866-70 | 39.27 |
| 1871-75 | 35.69 |
| 1876-80 | 31.43 |
| 1881-85 | 30.76 |
| 1886-90 | 32.72 |
| 1891-95 | 31.08 |
| 1896-1900 | 26.20 |
| 1901-1905 | 24.97 |
The number of illegitimate births during 1905 was 1689, which gives a proportion of 5.61 to every 100 births registered. The death-rate has greatly improved. Arranged in quinquennial periods the death-rates were:—
| Period. | Deaths per 1000 of Population. |
| 1861-65 | 17.36 |
| 1866-70 | 16.52 |
| 1871-75 | 15.64 |
| 1876-80 | 14.92 |
| 1881-85 | 14.65 |
| 1886-90 | 16.07 |
| 1891-95 | 14.10 |
| 1896-1900 | 13.67 |
| 1901-1905 | 12.71 |
The marriages in 1905 numbered 8774, which represents a rate of 7.24 per 1000 persons. This was the highest number reached during a period of fourteen years, and was 564 more than in 1904 and 1169 more than in 1903. In the five years 1871-75 the marriage-rate stood at 6.38 per 1000; in 1876-80, 6.02; in 1881-85, 7.37; in 1886-90, 8.13; in 1901-5, 6.86.
Outside Melbourne and suburbs, the most important towns are Ballarat (49,648), Bendigo (43,666), Geelong (26,642), Castlemaine (8063), Warrnambool (6600), Maryborough (6000) and Stawell (5200).
Religion.—The Church of England, as disclosed at the census of 1901, had 432,704 adherents; the Roman Catholic Church came next with 263,710; the Presbyterians had 190,725; Wesleyans and Methodists, 180,272; Congregationalists, 17,141; Baptists, 32,648; Lutherans, 13,935; Jews, 5907; and the Salvation Army, whose Australian headquarters are in Melbourne, 8830.
Education.—There were in 1905 1930 state schools, in which there were 210,200 children enrolled, the teachers numbering 4689. There were also 771 private schools with 2289 teachers and a net enrolment of 43,014 children; the majority of them being connected with one or other of the principal religious denominations. The total cost of primary instruction in 1905 was £676,238, being 11s. 2d. per head of population and £4, 14s. 4d. per head of scholars in average attendance. Melbourne University maintains its high position as a teaching body. In 1905 the number of matriculants was 493 and the graduates 118.
Crime is decreasing. In 1905 the number of persons brought before the magistrates was 48,345. Drunkenness accounted for 14,458, which represents 11.92 per 1000 of the population: in 1901 the proportion was 14.43. Charges against the person numbered 1932, and against property 4032.
Administration.—As one of the six states of the Commonwealth, Victoria returns six senators and twenty-three representatives to the federal parliament. The local legislative authority is vested in a parliament of two chambers, both elective—the Legislative Council, composed of thirty-five members, and the Legislative Assembly, composed of sixty-eight members. One-half of the members of the Council retire every three years. The members of the Assembly are elected by universal suffrage for the term of three years, but the chamber can be dissolved at any time by the Governor in council. Members of the Assembly are paid £300 a year.
The whole of Victoria in 1905 was under the control of municipalities, with the exception of about 600 sq. m. in the mountainous part of Wonnangatta, and 64 sq. m. in French Island. The number of municipalities in that year was 206; they comprised 11 cities, 11 towns, 38 boroughs and 146 shires.
Finance.—The public revenue in 1905 showed an increase on that of the three previous years, being £7,515,142, equal to £6, 4s. 2d. per head of population; the expenditure amounted to £7,343,742, which also showed a slight increase and was equal to £6, 1s. 4d. per inhabitant. The public revenue in five-yearly periods since 1880 was: 1880, £4,621,282; 1885, £6,290,361; 1890, £8,519,159; 1895, £6,712,512; and 1901, £7,722,397. The chief sources of revenue in 1905 were: Customs duties (federal refunds), £2,017,378; other taxation, £979,029; railway receipts, £3,609,120; public lands, £408,836; other sources, £501,379. The main items of expenditure were: railways (working expenses), £2,004,601; public instruction, £661,794; interest and charges on public debt, £1,884,208; other services, £2,793,139. On the 30th of June 1905 the public debt of the state stood at £51,513,767, equal to £42, 9s. 7d. per inhabitant. The great bulk of the proceeds of loans was applied to the construction of revenue-yielding works, only about three millions sterling being otherwise used.
Up to 1905 the state had alienated 26,346,802 acres of the public domain, and had 17,994,233 acres under lease; the area neither alienated nor leased amounted to 11,904,725 acres.
The capital value of properties as returned by the municipalities in 1905 was £210,920,174, and the annual value £11,743,270. In 1884 the values were 104 millions and £8,099,000, and in 1891, 203 millions and £13,734,000; the year last mentioned marked the highest point of inflation in land values, and during the following years there was a vast reduction, both in capital and in annual values, the lowest point touched being in 1895; since 1895 a gradual improvement has taken place, and there is every evidence that this improvement will continue. The revenues of municipalities are derived chiefly from rates, but the rates are largely supplemented by fees and licences, and contributions for services rendered. Excluding government endowments and special grants, which in 1905 amounted to £90,572, the revenues of the municipalities in the years named were: 1880, £616,132; 1885, £789,429; 1890, £1,273,855; 1895, £1,038,720; 1900, £1,036,497; 1905, £1,345,221. In addition to the municipalities there are other local bodies empowered to levy rates; these and their revenues in 1905 were: Melbourne Harbour Trust, £189,983; Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, £390,441; Fire Boards, £53,279. The Board of Works is the authority administering the metropolitan water and sewerage works. Excluding revenue from services rendered, the amount of taxation levied in Victoria reached in 1905 £4,621,608; of this the federal government levied £2,488,843, the state government £979,029, the municipalities £986,009, and the Melbourne Harbour Trust £167,727.
Productions and Industry: Minerals.—About 25,400 persons find employment in the goldfields, and the quantity of gold won in 1905 was 810,050 oz., valued at £3,173,744, a decrease of 10,967 oz. as compared with 1904. The dividends paid by gold-mining companies in 1905 amounted to £454,431, which, although about the average of recent years, showed a decline of £168,966 as compared with the sum distributed in 1904. Up to the close of 1905 the total value of gold won from the first discovery in 1851 was £273,236,500. No other metallic minerals are systematically worked, although many valuable deposits are known to exist. Brown coal, or lignite, occurs extensively, and attempts have frequently been made to use the mineral for ordinary fuel purposes, but without much success. Black coal is now being raised in increasingly large quantities. The principal collieries are the Outrim Howitt, the Coal Creek Proprietary, the Jumbunna and the Korumburra, all in the Gippsland district. The production of coal in 1905 was 155,185 tons, valued at £79,060; £4100 worth of silver and £11,159 worth of tin were raised; the value of other minerals produced was £93,392, making a total mineral production (exclusive of gold) of £187,711.
Agriculture.—Judged by the area under tillage, Victoria ranks first among the states of the Australian group. The area under crop in 1905 was 4,269,877 acres, compared with 2,116,000 acres in 1891 and 1,435,000 acres in 1881. Wheat-growing claims the chief attention, 2,070,517 acres being under that cereal in 1905. The areas devoted to other crops were as follows: maize, 11,785 acres; oats, 312,052 acres; barley, 40,938 acres; other cereals, 14,212 acres; hay, 591,771 acres; potatoes, 44,670 acres; vines, 26,402 acres; green foliage, 34,041 acres; other tillage, 73,574 acres; land in fallow comprised 1,049,915 acres. Victorian wheat is of exceptionally fine quality, and usually commands a high price in the London market. The average yield per acre in 1905 was 11.31 bushels; except for the year 1903, the total crop and the average per acre in 1905 were the highest ever obtained. The yield of oats was 23.18 bushels per acre, of barley 25.95, and of potatoes 2.58 tons. Great progress has been made in the cultivation of the grape vine, and Victoria now produces more than one-third of the wine made in Australia.
Live Stock.—The number of sheep in 1905 was 11,455,115. The quality of the sheep is steadily improving. Systematic attention to stock has brought about an improvement in the weight of the fleece, and careful observations show that between 1861 and 1871 the average weight of wool per sheep increased about one-third; between 1871 and 1881 about one pound was added to the weight
