IN 1879 Mr. M’Ilwraith acceded to power as Premier for the first time. The strong personality and vigorous originality of the man were immediately felt in every department of government. The project of a transcontinental, railway on the land-grant system was revived, and the Ministry had no difficulty in carry g through Parliament a railway companies preliminary Act, which invested the government of the day with the power to enter into treaties for the construction of railways on that system, subject, however, to the confirmation by Parliament of any bargains which might be arranged. A combination of British capitalists was speedily in treaty with the government with a view to the construction of the long-talked of transcontinental railway from Charleville to the Gulf of Carpentaria. A suitable locality for a terminal station was discovered, or fixed upon, at a place called Point Parker, where, it was alleged, the general shoalness of the Gulf seaboard was less deterrent than at other places, and vessels of burden could be laid alongside appropriate jetties. An expedition of engineers and others was sent out under the charge of General the Hon. W. Fielding, and traversed the line of the proposed operations. The progress of this party was conducted with a pomp and circumstance which exceedingly tickled the bushmen of the frontier districts, accustomed to overlanding with the simplest of equipments and the most Spartan description of provender. The impression formed by General Fielding and his assistants was so favourable that a preliminary agreement was, after considerable negotiation and chaffering, duly signed between the government and the syndicate; but the bargain was ever carried further. Mr. M’Ilwraith had been borne into power chiefly by the support of the conservative and squatting party. The latter section took fright at the immense resumption from the "runs" traversed by the proposed railway which the land-grant system of railway construction would involve, and withdrew their allegiance from the Ministry, which thus weakened awaited its dismission on the first chance which should unite the " third party," as the revolted squatters were termed, with the Opposition led by Mr. Griffith. This gentleman, though at first favourable to the principle of land-grant construction, had found reason to object to the particular application of it by Ministers, an ultimately led his followers in a determined antagonism to the whole business. The junction of two elements so mutually repellent as the ultra-squatters and the extreme liberals was not to be brought about in a day. Mr. M’Ilwraith retained a solid party alike in the Assembly and in the country where his comprehensive views and masterful grasp of the processes of material advancement had made a profound impression. Affairs were in this situation when —after long and vain applications to Earl Derby to take formal possession of New Guinea on behalf of the British nation —Mr. M’Ilwraith delighted the Queenslanders and astonished the Political coteries of Europe by quietly instructing Mr. Henry Majoribanks Chester, police magistrate at Thursday island, to cross Torres Straits, and on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government in Queensland to hoist the British ensign and proclaim the annexation to the colony of that part of the island not claimed by the Dutch. This audacious proceeding seemed for a space to paralyse the fainéant Earl Derby, then Secretary of State for the Colonies. A period of suspense followed, and at last, after obvious doubts and hesitations, the Imperial authorities disallowed and repudiated the annexation. Lord Derby retorted to the strong instances of the Queensland Premier, to the effect that he had good reasons for believing that his action had merely anticipated and averted an intended annexation by the German Government, a rejoinder that the Colonial Office had full assurances that nothing of the kind was contemplated by Germany, and that any attempt of the kind by a foreign power would be regarded by Great Britain as "an unfriendly act." Mr. M’Ilwraith not long after was honoured by knighthood, and shortly afterwards the long impending combination of ultra-squatters with the regular Opposition threw him out of power. Lord Derby, with characteristic feebleness, declared a protectorate over a part of unannexed New Guinea, and Germany instantly, and with contemptuous effrontery, annexed the balance.

THE formation of an Administration by Mr. Griffith —now Sir Samuel —was effected in 1886, and as that Government is still in office, its history remains to be completed. Here, therefore, we may conveniently conclude our sketch of the history of Queensland so far as a narration of occurrences is concerned. A rapid comparison, chiefly statistical, contrasting the condition of the colony in various respects at the date of separation and twenty-five years later, will be of interest. Thus, the population of Queensland in 1860 numbered twenty-eight thousand; in 1885 it was three hundred and twenty-seven thousand. At the earlier date there existed forty-one schools, at which one thousand eight hundred and ninety children attended; in 1885, there were five hundred and sixty schools, with an attendance of sixty-five thousand scholars, and in the State schools education was imparted absolutely free of cost. During the same period the acreage under crop increased from three thousand three hundred and fifty-three to one hundred and ninety-eight thousand three hundred and thirty-four. The number of horses and of horned cattle had augmented just tenfold; sheep numbered in 1860 about three millions, and in 1885 just nine millions. Even this was a reduction, owing to drought, as compared with a few years earlier; in 1882, the number was twelve millions. After the Canoona rush, and for several years, Queensland included no gold among her exports. It is noteworthy that the standard annual of the colony, "Pugh’s Almanac," has no mention of mining as one of the leading industries of the colony until the issue for 1869. In 1885, the estimated value of gold exported was over a million sterling, which, indeed, nearly represented the average yield for each of the eight preceding years, Copper first appears as an export in 1862, when forty-nine tons, valued at one thousand four hundred and fifty pounds, are set down. There was a rapid rise, culminating in the period from 1872 to 1875, when from fifteen thousand to twenty-two thousand tons were annually exported, representing values of from one hundred and fifty-two to one hundred and eighty-one thousand pounds. After the last-mentioned year, a sudden and very heavy fall in the market value of the metal, concurrently with the exhaustion of the Peak Downs mine, smote the industry with paralysing force. In 1885, only one thousand three hundred and forty tons were raised, valued at about nineteen thousand pounds. The tin discoveries near the southern border in 1870 yielded nearly one hundred thousand pounds’ worth of the metal in that year, a quantity which rose to two hundred and eight thousand pounds’ worth in the following year, despite a heavy fall in price. In 1881, the output again rose to one hundred and six thousand tons, valued at over two millions sterling. From that date there was a rapid decline to three thousand two hundred and fifty-three tons, worth one hundred and fifty-one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one pounds, in 1885; but recent discoveries at Herberton and other localities in the Cape York Peninsula promise a strong revival of this production. Of coal, the output rose from twelve thousand tons in 186o to two hundred and nine thousand in 1885 by a steady and sustained increase. Sugar was not produced at the time of separation; in 1885, the value of raw sugar exported was over half a million sterling, independent of home consumption and by-products, such as rum and molasses.

At the date of separation, there did not exist in all Queensland a single mile of telegraph wire. By the close of 1861 there were one hundred and sixty-nine miles constructed, and by 1885 the colony had been traversed by a cobweb of wires aggregating in length seven thousand five hundred and thirty-three miles, while extensions constantly continue to be added.

The first introduction of a railway has already been mentioned. At the present time, from nine different seaports distinct lines start towards the interior. These coastal termini are Brisbane, Maryborough, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, Cairns, Cooktown, and Normanton. The longest stretch of rail in a direct course is the main line of the Southern and Western Railway from Brisbane, which extends westerly to Morven four hundred and twenty-seven miles. This railway has numerous branches diverging at various points, and extending respectively to Sandgate, fourteen miles; to Esk, forty-one; to Crow’s Nest, twenty-nine; to South Brisbane, seven; to Beenleigh, twenty-four; to Logan Village, seven; to Dugandan, thirty-five; to Wallangarra, on the New South Wales border, one hundred and twenty-four; to Beauaraba, fourteen; to Killarney, twenty-eight. The distances are not from Brisbane, but from the point of divergence from the main line. From the Maryborough to Gympie line, sixty-one miles, there is a branch northerly, thirty-two miles to Gregory; and one easterly, twenty-six miles, to Kilkivan. From the Central Railway, Rockhampton to Barcaldine, three hundred and fifty-eight miles, a branch northerly extends to Clermont, sixty-two miles, and one south-westerly to Fernlee, twenty-two miles. The Mackay to Mirani line, twenty-four miles, has a branch to Eton, eight miles. The Townsville-via Charters Towers-to Prairie line, two hundred and seven miles, throws off a branch line twenty-four miles long to Ravenswood.

The total mileage of railways constructed up to, and including 1887, is one thousand six hundred and ninety-two miles, and additional mileage of one thousand five hundred and sixteen has been authorised by Parliament. A considerable proportion of this increase is actually under construction, including lines parallel with the coast to connect Brisbane with Southport and with Gympie, and one to connect Maryborough with Bundaberg. Late in the year 1887, in consequence of the demonstrated richness and extent of the Croydon goldfield, it was determined to authorise a line from Normanton to that district, appropriating the necessary amount from a sum already voted for a line from the same port to the Cloncurry goldfield, which the later discovery had quite eclipsed in magnificence of promise.

cont...