The international geography . ed, gold was unearthed in the nearest ranges, and in a short time richer fields were revealed than any previously known. Melbourne was soon emptied of its male inhabitants, and in a few weeks Tasmania and South Australia were largely depicted. By the end of the year immigrants came flocking in from all parts of the world. This influx continued for four years, the arrivals being from one to five thousand weekly, the population increasing (in spite of departures) from 78,000 in 1851 to 400,000 in 1856. A Commission assisted the Governor in Council in controlling the
The international geography . ed, gold was unearthed in the nearest ranges, and in a short time richer fields were revealed than any previously known. Melbourne was soon emptied of its male inhabitants, and in a few weeks Tasmania and South Australia were largely depicted. By the end of the year immigrants came flocking in from all parts of the world. This influx continued for four years, the arrivals being from one to five thousand weekly, the population increasing (in spite of departures) from 78,000 in 1851 to 400,000 in 1856. A Commission assisted the Governor in Council in controlling the operations on the gold-fields, which soon extended over the greater part of the colony. Government.—Responsible government was conferred upon the colony in 1855 in the form of two Houses of Parliament, the lower house, whose members are paid, being elected by ballot and manhood suffrage, and a Cabinet of Ministers, responsible to Parliament, presided over by a Governor appointed by the Crown. The population as in New South. Victoria 607 Wales, is largely concentrated in the capital. From the beginning ofthe influx of population the government was beset by the difficulty ofsettling the people upon the unoccupied lands. Acts and regulationsmore and more favourable to that end continued to be passed ; lands weresurveyed expeditiously, and all possible facilities granted. Public worksalso were undertaken upon an extensive scale—main roads and bridges,railways and telegraphs, waterworks and reservoirs for towns and miningoperations as well as harbours and lighthouses—with the result that morethan half of the present largely-increased population is now settled inrural districts, 15 per cent, in country towns and not more than one-thirdin the metropolitan area, which is a very large one. As a further induce-ment, in recent years, over 150,000 acres have been set aside in eighty-fivedifferent localities for homestead and village communities financiallyassisted by government, and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectgeography, bookyear19
