WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
Western Australia is frequently referred as the Cinderella of the Australian group. An examination of the resources of the enormous territory included within its area support the belief that when aroused by the fairy touch of the godmother, which, in this instance, we may take to mean an influx of population, the western colony will not log behind its more advanced sisters. At the present time the small number of its people is swallowed up within the vast expanse of its area, and their efforts, energetic though they be, make no appreciable show against the wide background. It may be true that much of Western Australia is a barren wilderness, though it must be borne in mind that we have found in the eastern colonies that the earlier reports of explorers were submitted to subsequent correction. Yet making all allowance it is known that within what are termed the settled districts, there is enough of good land to satisfy all requirements for many decades to oome. The prime necessity is more people. Land, gold, or other mineral resources are not a cause of wealth, unless there is the population to develope them. By the land grant system under which two railways are being constructed, it may be anticipated that a direct encouragement will be given to immigration, for it will be to the interest of the syndicates to render the land valuable by rromoting settlement. The one line is from Albany to Beverly, 245 miles in length, bringing Albany into communication with Perth ; the other from Guildford to Greenough, a distance of over 290 miles. The Government are also willing to adopt a similar system for the construction of a line from Albany to Eucla on the South Australian border, which would form a long step towards the completion of railway communication between all the Australian capitals. Land can be takeu up in Western Australia on liberal terms of deferred payment, or can be leased at a cheap rate. At the present time the quantity held for psatoral purposes is over 130,000,000 acres, bringing a rental of about £52,000. The area under cultivation is under 100,000 acres. The miueral resources arc hardly kuown, but the discoveries at Kimberley indicate that Western Australia is not without concealed wealth in this direction. There arc now about 1000 miners at work ou the Kimberly reef. At Champion Bay, there is lead and copper yet unworked. The pearl fisheries off the Western coast offer an excellent field for enterprise, the exports in shells and pearls now reaching over L 125.000 a year. The colony possesses valuable timber, especially the iarrah, but in this, as in other respects, the wealth of the country has only been touched. Western Australia, when it gets population, has a brilliant future before it. __________
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Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2450, 24 March 1888, Page 1 (Supplement)
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466WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2450, 24 March 1888, Page 1 (Supplement)
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