Vogel was the principal figure. He
started and carried out a bold policy of borrowing and spending the
money so obtained in bringing out fresh settlers and in opening up the
land by railways. This plan plunged the colony deeply into debt, but it
changed the look of the place, and although it had its dangers and its
drawbacks, it has done a great deal for the colony. At first the natives
refused to let the railways pass through their districts, but in 1872 a
great meeting of chiefs agreed that it would be good for all to have the
country opened up. Some maintained a dull hostility till 1881, but all
the same the railways were made, until at length 2,000 miles were open
for traffic.

Between 1856 and 1880 nineteen different ministries managed the affairs
of New Zealand, one after the other, the same Prime Minister however
presiding over different ministries. The most notable of these have
been, Sir William Fox, Edward W. Stafford, Major Atkinson, and Sir
Julius Vogel.

In 1880 the colony had increased to 500,000 white people, owning
12,000,000 sheep and exporting nearly L6,000,000 worth of goods. The
Maoris were 44,000, but while the whites were rapidly increasing, the
Maoris were somewhat decreasing. They had 112,000 sheep and nearly
50,000 cattle, with about 100,000 pigs.

The heavy expenditure of the borrowing years from 1870 to 1881 was
followed by a time of depression from 1880 to 1890, during which Sir
Robert Stout and Major Atkinson were Prime Ministers; but at the end
of that period the colony began rapidly to recover. Its population
approached 750,000, with 42,000 Maoris; its sheep were nearly 20,000,000
in number; and its farms produced 20,000,000 bushels of wheat and oats.
It sent L4,000,000 worth of wool to England, and about L1,000,000 worth
of frozen meat. The general history of the last twenty years may be
summed up as consisting of immense progress in all material and social
interests.

[Illustration: VICTORIA DEFENCE FLEET.]

* * * * *

INDEX.

PAGE
Abolition of Transportation 83
_Active_ 196
Adelaide 70
Agricultural Co., N.S.W. 44
Albany 118, 136
Alexander, Mount 97
Alexandrina, Lake 53
Alfred, Prince 171
_Alligator_