326
THE BRITISH EMPIRE: — WESTERN AUSTRALIA
—
1893
1894
1895 1896
1 1897
Imports from Wes- tern Australia Exports of British produce to W. A. .
£ 263,489
525,131
£ 318,739
589,754
£ : £
336,120 466,895
1
987,004 2,307,614
£ 361,370
2,348,847
The imports into Great Britain from the colony consist mostly of wool, pearl shells, and timber. The value of the wool imports was 146,202Z, in 1878, 265,180/. in 1888, 251,765Z. in 1895, 339,705/. in 1896. 265,083/. in 1897. The quantity of wool imported into Great Britain in 1897 was 9,486,272 lbs. The chief exports from Great Britain to the colony in 1897 were iron, value 472,542/.; apparel, 200,538/.; beer and ale, 87,833/.; cottons, 95,050/.; machineiy, 289,294/. ; leather, 75,008/.
Shipping and Communications.
There were on the West Australian register on December 31, 1897, 17 steamers of 3,898 tons, and 135 sailing vessels of 5,812 tons; total, 152 vessels ot 9,710 tons. In 1897, 721 vessels of 1,196,760 tons entered, and 707 of 1,181,072 tons cleared, the ports of the colony.
There were 1,456 miles of railway open for traffic on 30th June, 1898 including 464 miles of private line), and 360 miles under construction.
On 31st December, 1897, there were 5,958 miles of telegraph poles within the colony, 8,111 miles of wire, and 965 miles under constniction. Two wires, one from Albany and a second vid Coolgardie, extend to South Australia, and Roebuck Bay is connected with Banjowangie b}' the alter, native cable of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Cable Company. The number of stations on 31st December, 1897, Avas 142. The number of messages sent was 1,306,003, the expenditure amounted to 261,328/., which includes the Post Office expenditure ; and the net revenue from telegraphs alone to 98,696/.
In 1897 there passed through the Post Office 12,898,552 letters and post- cards, inclusive of registered letters, 6,744,536 newspapers, and 3,952,025 packets, each counted once onl3^
Money and Credit.
Thei^ are six banks in Western Australia besides the Post Office Savings Bank. The following statement relates to the quarter ended March 31, 1898 : —
BankB
Western Aus- tralian Bank .
National Bank of Australasia
Union Bank of Australia . .
Bank of New South Wales .
Commercial Bank of Aus- tralia, Ltd. .
Bank of Aus- tralasia. . .
£ £
100,000 1132,985
1,973,678 I 47,259
1,500,000 74,171
1,950,000 19,550
Deposits
Total
Average
Liabilities
2,990,869 1,600,000
7,784 54,862
£ £ £
1,458,00511,686,843 2,039,701
Total Average Assets
Reserved Profits
293,0221 348,357
996,538 336,454
100,757 396,925
1,075,048 358,835
108,887 456,479
Total of average 10,114,547 336,611 3,581,701 4,034,449 5,598,850 3,087,059
1,097.011 1,031,625
£ 182,862
34,197
812,003
716,676|l,200,000
334,679
379,158 857,997
