* Total land sold and alienated to 31st December, 1880, 15,417,727 acres. This is no guide, as the prices of land vary in different parts of the Colony from 5s. to 10s. per acre, and in Auckland and Westland Districts land can be acquired without any payment. Not yet tabulated. *For year ending 31st December, 1879. Public Debt: The figures given represent the total amount of Public Debt, but in 1871 the accrued sinking Fund was £503,544, leaving the indebtedness of the Colony £8,397,447; in 1881 the accrued sinking Fund was £2,000,320, leaving the indebtedness of the Colony £26,582,911. Namely-Ballarat, Sandhurst, Geelong, Castlemaine, and Stawell. The opening of the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880 to some extent swelled the returns of immigration and emigration for that year. The returns of Chinese emigration are imperfect. The decrease is accounted for by the establishment of the boarding-out and licensing systems. § Including sums received from Government, such as endowments, &c.; such receipts amounted to £255,206 in 1871, and in 1880 £205,821. The number on the rolls of State Schools in 1871 was 131,145; 1880, 229,723. **The figures for 1871 represent the scholars on the rolls during the first quarter of the year; those for 1880 represent the number in actual attendance on the day of the Schoo! Census, April, 1881. The actual decrease therefore is not so great as that shown. The average yield of most of the principal crops, especially in the case of wheat, barley, potatoes, and rye, was exceptionally low, but that of maize was exceptionally high in 1880. + Exclusive of land in process of alienation under the deferred payment system, which amounted at the end of 1880 to 7,668,344 acres. Such land is not considered as alienated until the whole of the purchase money has been paid, all conditions fulfilled, and a Crown Grant issued. On the other hand, the area actually selected under the deferred payment system during the years named amounted to 477,685 acres in 1871, and 736,210 in 1880. |