10. RELIGION. There is no established Church in Australia. All religions are now on an equal footing so far as the governments are concerned; grants in aid were formerly given by the leading religious bodies, but one by one the states relinquished the practice. South Australia led the way in this abolition in 1851, a few years after the foundation of the colony. Queensland, in 1860, shortly after the assem bling of its 1st Parliament, limited future pay ments to the clergy actually in receipt of grants; New South Wales followed suit in 1862 and Victoria in 1875. Western Australia voted periodical subsidies until 1895, when future annual payments were commuted by the distri bution of two grants of f17,715 each in that and the following year among the Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Wesleyans and Presbyterians, which are the only denominations that have received state aid in recognition of their religious work. The members of these four Churches constitute the great bulk of the population and their rela tive numerical strength has remained almost constant for the last 30 years. The Common wealth is debarred from legislating in respect to religion. Clause 116 of the Constitution Act provides that: eThe Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth?' In the convention which framed the Federal instrument after long and earnest debate the words °humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God>> were inserted in the Preamble to the Act in recognition of the deeply religious sentiment of the people. At the census of 1911 the numbers of adherents of the various denominations in the Australian Commonwealth were given as follows: Australia was originally included for ecclesi astical purposes in the province of Canterbury and up to the year 1836 was attached as an archdeaconry to the diocese of Calcutta. For 15 years after the foundation of New South Wales the only denomination recognized by the government or possessing a minister was the Church of England. There is now a general Synod of this Church which meets every five years under the presidency of the archbishop of Sydney, who has the title of primate of Aus tralia, although each state preserves its auton omy in church affairs. Melbourne and Brisbane also have archbishops. There are six dioceses in New South Wales; five in Victoria; four in Queensland, together with that of New Guinea; and two in Western Australia. There is also the diocese of Adelaide in South Australia and of Tasmania. The Roman Catholic Church occupies, so far as numbers are concerned, the second place in each of the states, with the exception of South Australia, where, the Metho dists are numerically stronger. Its organiza
tion in Australia as elsewhere is superb. At the head of the Church stands the archbishop of Sidney. There are archbishops in Mel bourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart, and 14 bishops in the six states. Until 1834 Australia, so far as the Roman Catholic Church is con cerned, was under the bishop of Mauritius. Sydney was in that year constituted a sec; eight years later the prelate was invested with the title of °Archbishop of Sydney and Vicar Apostolic of New Holland?' In 1885 the arch bishop of Sydney was created a cardinal and placed at the head of the Roman Catholic Church throughout Australasia. In 1876 Mel bourne was made an archidocese as were also Adelaide and Brisbane in 1887, and Hobart a year late. The cathedrals of Saint Mary in Sydney and Saint Patrick in Melbourne are especially magnificent structures. The Roman Catholic Church takes a prominent part in furthering social and industrial legislation and in temperance work. The Wesleyan Methodist Church was established in New South Wales in 1812, at a class meeting attended by 12 per sons. Up to 1855 this Church was regarded as a mission, but in that year it was constituted an affiliated conference. In 1873 the Austral asian Wesleyan Church was raised to the rank of an independent conference. On 1 Jan. 1902, the Wesleyan Methodist, the Primitive Metho dist and the United Methodist Free Churches of Australia and New Zealand were united under the name of the Methodist Church of Australasia. In South Australia this Church includes 25 per cent of the whole population and throughout Australia its members form a compact, enlightened and progressive body, which has exercised a preponderating influence in promoting temperance legislation and meas ures tending toward a higher plane of morality. The Presbyterians erected in 1810 one of the first places of worship in New South Wales. The Presbyterian Churches in all the states are united under the title of the Presbyterian Church of Australia in a General Assembly which meets every year in the capital cities in rotation. The Church in each state, however, acts independently in local administration and is autonomous so far as property is concerned. There is a Union of the Congregational Churches in each state federalized in the Con gregational Union of Australasia. Thus per vading the Churches and leading to interstate Unions is witnessed the same synthetic spirit which was materialized in Australian Federa tion. By this means strength is acquired with out the sacrifice of local liberty, for a Federal union combines firmness with flexibility.
The youngest and one of the most active religious bodies in Australia Is the Salvation Army. It started in South Australia in 1880 and two years later officers were sent from Adelaide to organize forces in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania, and in 1886 to