three-fourths of the debentures were left in the hands of the underwriters.29

Loans for the city of Sydney are raised under the provisions of special acts of the New South Wales Parliament. As a rule, a municipality of New South Wales may borrow to an amount which, together with existing loans, does not exceed 20 per cent of the capital value of its ratable land. If the statutory maximum is exceeded, further borrowing is not permitted until the total amount falls below the authorized limit.

WATERWORKS ACCOUNT

As already said, the Sydney metropolitan water and sewerage system is not subject to the control of the city government as is the case in other municipalities. These public utilities are under the control of the metropolitan board of water supply and sewerage, composed of 18 members a president appointed by the governor, and 17 others. elected by the aldermen and councilors of the local areas concerned, the city of Sydney electing two. In view of the large capital expenditures involved in this undertaking the following facts may prove of interest: Total capital cost (interest-bearing only) of the waterworks to June 30, 1926, nearly £26,856,000; receipts during 1925-26, £2,131,471; outgo, including interest on the capital cost and provision for renewals, £2,225,184; net deficit for the year, nearly £94,000.

The costs, revenues, and expenditures of the separate systems of the waterworks as of June 30, 1926, were as follows:

TABLE 51.-SYDNEY WATERWORKS ACCOUNT ON JUNE 30, 1926

The new board constituted under the metroplitan water, sewerage, and drainage act of 1924 is expected to have a large measure of control over its finances when the act becomes fully operative. It will take over, if it has not already done so, the existing capital indebtedness and will be required to pay interest and make contributions to the sinking fund from its revenues. The construction of new works, excepting some now in progress and nearing completion, will also be conducted by the board.

HARBOR ACCOUNT

Reference may also be made here to the arch bridge over Sydney Harbor, work on which was recently started. The bridge is to be completed in 1930. Its cost will approximate £6,000,000, one-third of which is to be borne by the city of Sydney and several adjacent suburbs by means of special levies on the capital value of unimproved land. Incidentally, Sydney Harbor (Port Jackson) is administered

20 Australasian Banking and Insurance Record, Nov. 21, 1927, p. 953.

93545°-28-7

by a trust appointed by the government of New South Wales. The trust has control over the port and shipping, harbor lights, buoys, and wharves; it has authority to undertake works for the preservation and improvement of the port, and is charged with the levy of rates and dues with respect to vessels, goods, and the use of property. The total capital debt of the harbor trust stood at £10,956,555 on June 30, 1926; its total revenues during 1925-26 amounted to £1,015,878 and expenditures, including interest, to £852,547, leaving a credit balance for the year of £163,330.

MELBOURNE

Melbourne, whose population (including suburbs) was estimated at 1,000,000 as of June 30, 1927, is the second largest city of Australia and is the capital and metropolis of the State of Victoria. The Melbourne metropolitan area contains 22 industrial and residential suburbs with populations ranging from 7,000 to 51,000. The population of the city proper approximates 109,000. Until recently (May 9, 1927), and for more than two decades past, Melbourne was also the temporary capital of the Commonwealth. Like Sydney, it is a great commercial center. Its harbor facilities are adequate. Melbourne is making rapid progress through the development of electric power. In the governor's speech at the opening of the State parliament on July 16, 1927, attention was called to a measure to be introduced during this session having in view the establishment of a Greater Melbourne municipality by the consolidation of the present municipal corporation of Melbourne with other municipalities and certain corporate bodies within the Melbourne metropolitan area.

Melbourne was incorporated as a town in 1842 and as a city in 1849; the provisions of these acts of incorporation with a few slight amendments are still in force. The city is now divided into 7 wards, each of which is represented by 1 alderman, 3 councilmen, and 2 assessors. The lord mayor, as the executive head of the city, is elected annually by the councilmen and aldermen from among their number. The aldermen are elected by the councilmen for a period of six years; the tenure of the councilmen is three years. Candidates for office must possess certain property qualifications; electors must have certain leasehold qualifications. The duties and powers of the city council are the same as those commonly possessed by such bodies.

The revenues of the municipality of Melbourne are derived chiefly from property "rates," the sale of electric power, and operation of the several municipal enterprises. The financial transactions of each of the business undertakings are recorded separately, but at the end of the fiscal year their accounts are brought together under the general account. The general revenue account defrays the general administrative expenses and helps to meet the cost of the public works and services rendered by the municipality. The municipal business undertakings, with few exceptions, usually yield a surplus. The fiscal year of Melbourne corresponds to the calendar year.

MUNICIPAL FINANCES

The receipts of the city of Melbourne from all sources (including the electric light and hydraulic power accounts, but excluding loan receipts) for the year 1926 totaled £1,275,875, but with ordinary payments of £1,210,687 the result for the year was a surplus of £65,188. Of the total receipts, £538,605, or 42 per cent, constituted receipts from the operation of the municipally owned electric and hydraulic plants; and £477,434, or 36 per cent, came from ordinary "rates," including arrears and the street-lighting rate; the remaining amount represented gross receipts from the operation of the various business enterprises conducted by the city, license fees, fines, and miscellaneous small items.

On the payments side, the working expenses of the electric and hydraulic plants, together with interest payments, sinking fund, and provision for depreciation of plant, absorbed £494,312, or 40 per cent of the total; £277,683, or more than 20 per cent, was spent on public works, including street-cleaning services; £198,270, or 15 per cent, went for markets, abattoirs, parks and grounds, etc.; and £141,020, or 10 per cent, for interest, sinking-fund, and redemption payments on other than the electric and hydraulic account. The remainder was distributed among such items as salaries, allowances, fire brigades, and street lighting.30

The following table shows the ordinary revenues and expenditures of the city of Melbourne proper and the results for each year beginning with 1915:

TABLE 52.-MELBOURNE ORDINARY REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES, 1915 TO

Sources: Official Year Book of the State of Victoria (annual editions); figures for 1926 furnished by the city treasurer.

As the table indicates, from 1916 to 1921 the financial transactions of the municipality have shown annual deficits totaling £108,950. Since then, however, the results have been quite satisfactory, the accounts showing annual surpluses with a total of £138,335 for the five years between 1922 and 1926.

BONDED INDEBTEDNESS

The bonded indebtedness of Melbourne stood at £3,482,971 (almost $17,000,000) on December 31, 1926. Against this may be set off £393,568 in the sinking fund, which reduces the indebtedness to a net of £3,089,403, or over £28 ($136) per capita. Compared with 1915 the bonded indebtedness shows an increase of 53 per cent.

The figures as presented are the result of an analysis of the "Statement of accounts for the year ended Dec. 31, 1926," and "Report of the finance committee of the city of Melbourne" submitted Mar. 28, 1927.

The liabilities of the city as of December 31, 1926, amounted to £4,492,153. Among the assets are buildings, properties, and works appraised at £2,462,514.

Loan receipts during 1926 were £498,808. In this amount is the sum of £350,000, representing a loan floated in Australia during the year. The loan expenditures were £364,615, of which £141,418 was expended on account of electric supply and £132,831 for paving. Loans paid off during the year totaled £12,258 and interest payments £160,099. The municipality also made arrangements with the State Savings Bank of Victoria for the renewal of a 61⁄2 per cent loan of £250,000 that matured on October 1, 1926. The renewed loan will mature on February 1, 1932; its interest rate is 51⁄2 per cent. The total indebtedness on account of permanent works and for business undertakings of any municipality in the State of Victoria must not exceed ten times the average amount received from general "rates" during the preceding three years. The city council may borrow money for permanent works on security of all or part of its income, but the amount of such borrowing may not exceed five times the average income of the municipality for the previous three years. Besides, the city council of a municipality is authorized to obtain advances from banks by overdrafts, but such overdraft must not exceed one-half of the revenues for the previous year. Loans obtained on the security of the revenues must be repaid within 30 years; the principal of debenture loans must be redeemed within 40 years.

WATERWORKS, HARBOR TRUST, AND TRAMWAYS

Melbourne waterworks.-The water supply and the sewerage and drainage systems of the Melbourne metropolitan area are managed by the Melbourne and metropolitan board of waterworks. The board is composed of 40 members, of whom 9 are appointed by the Melbourne city council. The borrowing powers of the board are limited to £14,250,000, exclusive of the £2,389,934 representing loans originally contracted by the government for the construction of waterworks for the supply of Melbourne and suburbs. The liability of the board on June 30, 1925, under loans raised, was £15,854,650: but on that date the board was authorized to borrow £1,055,284 before reaching the limit of its borrowing powers. The total capital cost of the waterworks, including sewerage and drainage, to June 30. 1926, was £17,215,193. The revenues of the waterworks for 1925-26 amounted to £1,265,371; expenditures, including interest payments. redemption, and sinking fund, were £1,086,569, with a resulting surplus of £178,802.

Melbourne Harbor Trust.-The Melbourne Harbor Trust is a corporate body established in 1876 to regulate, manage, and improve the port of Melbourne. The board is composed of five commissioners appointed by the governor in council. The board has power to borrow money on its own account, but the limit of such borrowing is set at £3,000,000. The outstanding loans of the trust to June 30, 1925, totaled £2,964,288, while the total capital expenditures amounted to £6,578,283 on December 31, 1926. During 1926 the trust took in £759,933 in the form of tonnage and other dues and receipts; of this amount £143,002 was paid into the consolidated revenue fund of the State government. Expenditures of the trust during that year, including interest pay ments and provision for sinking fund, depreciation, and renewal,

were £711,378. The surplus for the year was therefore £48,555. Capital expenditures during 1926 amounted to £399,337.31

Melbourne tramways.-The tramways and motor-bus lines of Melbourne and suburbs are controlled by the Melbourne and metropolitan board. The municipality of Melbourne is represented on this board, but its financial transactions form a separate account independent of the municipal finances of Melbourne. A certain percentage of the gross receipts is contributed annually to the consolidated revenue fund of the Victoria State government. During 1925-26 gross receipts from the system controlled by the board totaled £2,152,927 and working expenses £1,775,568, thus leaving a surplus of £377,359. However, after providing for loan service, the statutory reserve and consolidated revenue fund, and other similar items amounting in all to £620,915, the deficit for the year was £242,477. This deficit was met out of a reserve established chiefly to meet losses on the operation of the tramways. At the end of the fiscal year 1926 this reserve stood at £710,782.

BRISBANE

Besides being the capital and metropolis of the State of Queensland, Brisbane is the commercial center and port for a rich area devoted to agriculture, dairying, and wool growing. Its harbor accommodates large vessels. When the Hamilton Basin project, providing for about 5 miles of quay frontage, is carried out, the harbor accommodations will be greatly enlarged and the city's commercial importance enhanced.

By the passage of the city of Brisbane act of 1924 the metropolitan area of Brisbane, which theretofore had included the separate municipalities of Brisbane and South Brisbane, 6 suburban towns, and the whole or portions of 12 shires, was incorporated under one city council on October 1, 1925. The new area extends in a 10-mile radius from the center of the city, comprises 385 square miles, and contains an estimated population of 364,000.

The municipal affairs of the Greater Brisbane City are now administered by a council consisting of 21 aldermen, each of whom represents a single ward. The mayor, as chairman of the council and executive head of the city, is elected by the aldermen from among their own members. His term of office is one year, but he is eligible for reelection. The aldermen are elected for three years. In addition to the performance of general administrative and legislative functions, the new city council assumed control over the street-car system; eventually it may also have control over the water and sewerage systems, which as in the other metropolitan cities are at present managed by independent boards.

MUNICIPAL FINANCES

The finances of Brisbane both before and since its incorporation into Greater Brisbane City have been in an unsatisfactory condition. During the period 1915-1924 with the exception of one year (1923) the city budget never balanced. The largest deficit, £209,296 (over $1,000,000) occurred in 1922. The total deficit from 1915 to September 30, 1925, was £614,287 (about $3,000,000), which makes an

The figures relating to both the Melbourne waterworks and the harbor trust are taken from the Official Year Book of the State of Victoria for the year 1925-26 (46th issue) and from Commonwealth Year Book (1927 edition).