LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.-ELECTORS, 1880 AND 1882, AND VOTES

Electors and voters for

bly.

Deduct for uncontested provinces

183. At the general election for the Legislative Assembly held on the Assem- the 14th July 1880 all the seats were contested except seven. Returns have been received from all the districts, and these show that nearly 66 per cent. of the electors in contested districts voted. At the previous general election, which took place on the 28th February 1880, whilst the electors on the rolls numbered about the same as on the last occasion, 66 per cent. in contested districts recorded their votes. The following table shows the results for each electoral district at the more recent election referred to; also the total population and the number of males over 21 years of age in each district as enumerated at the last census, together with a statement of the number of electors in each district according to the rolls, 1881–2 :—

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.-POPULATION AND ELECTORS.

LEGISLATIVE AASEMBLY.-POPULATION AND ELECTORS-continued.

Electoral Districts.

Enumerated Population on the 3rd April 1881 (exclusive of Chinese and Aborigines).

At the General Election, July
1880, Number of Electors-

Number of Electors on the Rolls, 1881-2.

Who Voted.

On the

Rolls.

Ages.

age.

on Rolls.

Proportion of electors

and members to

184. At the time of the last census, excluding the Chinese and the Aborigines, 25 per cent. of the population were males over 21 years population. of age, and of these 94 per cent. were electors. The proportion of electors to the population was nearly 1 to every 4; the proportion of members to the population was 1 to every 9,833; the proportion of members to the males over 21 years of age was 1 to every 2,481; and the proportion of members to the electors was 1 to every 2,335.

tralasian

colonies.

Members, 185. In the following table is shown the number of members and electors, &c., in Aus- electors of the Lower House of Parliament in each of the Australasian colonies, except Western Australia, together with their proportions to the population; also, in five of those colonies, the number and percentage of electors who voted at the general elections which took place in the years named :

LOWER HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT IN AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES.-
MEMBERS, ELECTORS, AND VOTES POLLED.

Proportion

of members,

186. From this table it appears that, in proportion to population, &c., in each Victoria has fewer members of the Lower House than any other of the colony. colonies named, and fewer electors than either New South Wales,

Representation to

Tasmania, or New Zealand. Of the four colonies of which the records are at hand, the colony in which the largest proportion of electors exercised the franchise was Tasmania; but the proportion who exercised the franchise in Victoria exceeded that in New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia.

187. A simple calculation will show that Victoria, instead of sending population 86 members to the Legislative Assembly, would return, were she and other represented in the same proportion to population as New South Wales,

in Victoria

colonies.

* In those contested districts only from which returns were received.
↑ General election of 14th July.

In New Zealand 4 of the members and 830 of the electors are Maoris.,

126; as South Australia, 188; as Queensland, 217; as New Zealand, 142; as Tasmania, 238.

of members

Parliament

tion.

188. The United Kingdom returns 650 members to the Imperial Proportion Parliament, viz., 485 for England, 60 for Scotland, and 105 for Ireland. of Imperial The proportion of members to the population of the United Kingdom in to popula1881 was 1 to every 54,255; or, for England, 1 member to every 53,543 persons; for Scotland, 1 member to every 62,240 persons; and for Ireland, 1 member to every 45,332 persons.

tion to

in Victoria

189. If Victoria were to be represented according to population in the Representa same proportion as the United Kingdom, she would, instead of sending population 86 members to Parliament, return only 16; if in the same proportion and United as England, she would also return 16; if in the same proportion as Ireland, about 19; and if in the same proportion as Scotland, 14.

Kingdom.

PART II.-FINANCE.

finance

190. There are in most countries two bodies which have the power Public of levying taxes for certain defined objects, viz., the Central or General accounts. Government, and the Municipal or Local Government; therefore, in dealing with questions affecting the total amounts raised and expended, it is desirable that the accounts of both these bodies should be taken into consideration. It has been too often the custom, in making statements respecting the finances of a country, to take no account of municipal revenue, taxation, and expenditure. It will, however, be at once obvious that these elements cannot be ignored except at the expense of accuracy. Taxation for local purposes forms part of the burdens of a people just as much as that for general services; and in some countries certain functions are performed by the one government which in other countries are performed by the other. It should further be pointed out that, in comparing the amounts raised in the same country in different years, allowance should be made for changes arising from transfer of portion of the revenue of the General Government to Local Bodies, and vice versâ; also for the abandonment of revenue for special public purposes which it is considered desirable to carry on by means of trusts, &c., and of the resumption of such revenue, should these be abolished. Of trusts in operation by which revenue has been affected, there is only one in Victoria, viz., the Melbourne Harbor Trust, which, for the sake of convenience, is treated in this work as a local body.

Finance

account, 1880-1.

191. The financial year 1880-1* commenced with the large debit balance of £388,000; but the revenue of the year exceeded the expenditure by £77,000, and thus the deficiency was reduced to £311,000. The following are the exact figures :—

Treasury

bonds.

Excess of

receipts and contrary.

Debit balance

311,285 1 2

192. This debit balance, which had been accumulating for years past, but had been most largely added to in the years of commercial depression, 1878-9 and 1879-80, it was deemed desirable to discharge, together with other anticipated liabilities, by means of Treasury bonds; and accordingly, on the 19th October 1880, such bonds were issued to the extent of £500,000, divided into three nearly equal portions, repayable in one, two, and three years respectively.§ If the amount thus raised be set against the deficit at the end of 1880-1, there would remain a net credit balance of nearly £189,000, or much more than sufficient for the repayment of the first instalment of the bonds, thus::

193. It has been shown that during the year under review there was a surplus of revenue amounting to £77,369. If, however, recoups, &c. —which do not properly form part of the transactions of the year, but are included for the sake of convenience-be deducted, the actual surplus will be reduced to £11,769. This was only the second occasion during the last eight years in which the receipts were in excess of the expenditure. The following figures show the surplus or deficiency in

* Year ended 30th June 1880.

According to the Treasurer's Finance Statement, made up whilst these pages were going through the press, but not yet audited, the revenue of 1881-2 was £5,592,362, and the expenditure was £5,617.661. The estimated mean population of the same twelve months was 880,280; so that the revenue per head was £6 78. 1d., and the estimated expenditure per head £6 7s. 8d.

Not including £500,000 raised by means of Treasury bonds.

§ For further particulars relating to these bonds, see paragraphs 296 to 298 post.