Although the waters washing the Australian continent are not so thickly intersected with steamship lanes, and the mercantile traffic is not so dense there as in the seas of the Northern Hemisphere, yet, owing to the activity in emigration from Great Britain, as well as to the increasing prosperity of the various rising industries under the Southern Cross, they are becoming more crowded with each succeeding year. The efficient lighting of the coasts is an inevitable corollary of this expansion. Lighthouse engineering, however, is unavoidably expensive, especially when sea-rocks demand indication. From time to time severe strictures are passed by European shipping interests upon the apparent lack of coastal lights in Australasian waters, and the various Government departments concerned with this responsibility are often accused of parsimony and neglect. Unfortunately, the greater number of these critics are apt to consider the situation through European glasses; to take the countries of the Old World and the United States as a basis for their arguments, and to ignore local conditions. It has taken a century or more for Europe and the United States to develop their respective organizations, and in the majority of instances there are ample funds from which expenses in this direction may be met, especially when passing shipping is mulcted a small sum in light-dues for the purpose. When the shipping is heavy, these levies are certain to represent in the aggregate a large sum every year. From time to time New Zealand has been roundly assailed for its apparent negligence in the extension of its lighthouse system. It maintains thirty-four lighthouses and beacons, which represent a capital outlay of over £200,000, or $1,000,000. The total maintenance charges average about £16,500, or $82,000, per annum, while the dues collected from shipping for the maintenance of these aids to navigation approximate £38,000, or $190,000, per annum. The balance is not amazing, and certainly is not sufficient to warrant heavy expenditure towards new lights, as the installation of such warnings nowadays is highly expensive if they are to conform with modern requirements. If the demands of the critics were met, and a comprehensive scheme, such as is advised, were taken in hand, the shipowner would have to pay to meet the deficiency on the revenue account, and this individual complains that he is overtaxed already. Those Australian States which possess what may be described as a normal coastline--that is, one fairly free from solitary rocks rising from the sea some distance from land--are fortunate, since the sea-rock light is notoriously costly. On the other hand, lights placed on the mainland, even of the most powerful type, may be completed for a small outlay, relatively speaking.