Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 June 1901 — RICHEST NATION ON EARTH. [ARTICLE]

RICHEST NATION ON EARTH.

Naw Common wealth in ths Antipodes Can Boast the Distinction. It will surprise many to learn that the new commonwealth of ilustralla is per capita, the richest nation on the'' face of the globe, except the republic of Switzerland. But per capita wealth is not real wealth. Last year the total value of the products of the colonies forming the Australian commonwealth amounted to fully $550,000,000, of which their pastoral industries represented $150,000,000, their agricultural $140,000,000, their mineral products fully $100,000,000 and their manufacturing and other Industries the remain, ing $160,000,000. The alone from the 120,000,000 sheep raised in 1900 was worth $100,000,000. The mineral resources of Australia cannot even be guessed at. In the last forty-eight years the country has produced gold to the value of $1,800,000,000, in the last twenty silver to the value of $150,000,000. Diamonds are found in one district, rubies in another. There is at least one emerald mine in New South Wales, and opals equal to any in the world are found in Queensland, while the pearl fisheries of the northwestern coast produce a considerable portion of the most valuable pearls of 'commerce.