THE CENSUS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 30, 4 February 1916, Page 3

THE CENSUS.

11 POPULATION REPRESENTATION jit ' —___t THE DRIFT NORTH. (From Our Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, February 2. ! In the ordinary course the census — , ! the quinquennial counting of the people I and the enumeration of their minor pos- '■ I sessions—would have taken place in | j j April next; but when the Estimates) I were being hurried through the House |' ' of Representatives last session some! | frugally-minded member suggested that j ' it should be abandoned, and that New Zealand should fall into line with the j Mother Country and other parts of the i Empire by holding what another mem-! jber tenr.pd its "national stock-taking" I ( jevery tenth year, instead of every fifth; ! I year. '■•■■■ immediately attractive I bure of the suggestion was that itej' j adoption would save the Dominion the j • expenditure of £ 60,000 or £70,000 dur-1 ! ins war time, and though Ministers ex-! J pressed no opinion on the matter at the j ; time, they appear to have borne it j j steadily in mind, at least to the length ■ I of making no arrangements for the work j being done this year. Apparently they looked favourably upon the idea of saving the money, and it is certain now that the census cannot be ' vken before July or August, and probably that it will not be taken before February or March of next year. AUCKLAND OBJECTS. Auckland is not necessarily less anxious than the other provinces are to secure economy as well as eflrciency in the administration of the country's affairs, but more than half suspecting , there has been a large increase in its population during the la3t four or five years, it naturally has raised a protesting voice against the suggestion to ; postpone the census. The "Auckland i Star," which first took the matter up, ; claimed in a recent leading artie'e that ; the available evidence .showed the nor- ! them province would be entitled by its I increase in numbers to aend three or ■ four additional members to the next ! Parliament, and that it would be a flagrant injustice to deprive it by a mere cry for economy of toe representation to j which it was fairly entitled. For once ■ the Press seems to have made an im- ! pression upon the Government, and the ! Minister of Internal Affairs is now in- | vestigating the whole matter with a j view, it may be presumed, to ascertaining if the parliamentary representation can be readjusted on* any equitable ! basis without incurring the cost of I taking the census in war time. ! THE DRIFT OF POPULATION. j How Mr. Kussell, with the advice and I assistance of the Electoral and Statisti--1 ■ caJ Departments, is proceeding with his j task the outsider is not permitted to ! know, but it is obvious that the elecI toral rolls for 1911 and 1914 provide the I best information that can be obtained j concerning the drift of population during ! the three years between the last two i general elections. Aji examination of i the enrolments over a series of year 3 j shows that an average of 55.08 per cent. ' I of the total population has been regisj tered-at the time ol polling. If it is as- : I sumed, for the sake of convenience, that '< j i>6 per cent, of the population were ; registered in 1!)11 and 1914 and 44 per cent, unregistered, a very simple calculation gives the population in each elec- ■ j torate, though, of course, the percent- ; ] age would not be precisely the same in j every district. The figures are inturestj ing, not merely on account of the light i they throw upon the representation 1 question, but perhaps to a greater extent ou account of the insight they give into the expansion of settlement and the growth of industries. A GENERAL VIEW. The figures, which go a long way to confirm calculations that have been made from lees reliable data, will afford more satisfactory reading to the good people of Auckland than to those of Wellington and of most parts of the South Island. The three North of Auck- j land constituencies, which are scarcely j more than names to the average iiews- ■ paper reader, show an increase of popu- i jlation during the three yeare of 2,911; ! the eight Auckland city constituencies j jan increase of 17,430, and the six South of Auckland constituencies an increase of 7,608. The four East Coast constituencies, Bay of Plenty, Uisborne, Hawke's Bay and Napier, have grown by 6,646 souls, while i'aumarunui, the most remarkable instance of all, has jumped up by some 5,000 on its own account. The four Taranaki constituencies have remained practically stationary, while the six • \\ ellington city constituencies have lost 3,761- in population, and the eight Wellington rural constituencies have gained only 827. In the South Island there is a loss of 2,356 on the West Coast, of 269 in North Canterbury, of 117 in the Otago rural constituencies, and of 676 in the Dunedin city constituencies. Nekpn and Marlborough show a gain of Ijlß2, Christchurch city of 5,(49, South Canterbury of 2,013, and Southland of 3,206. The net result is an increase of 39,542 in the North Island, mainly contributed by the Auckland province, and a gain of 5,722 in the South Island, nearly three-quar-ters contributed by the city of Christchurch. WHAT THE FIGURES MEAN. So far as the figures can be trusted— and apparently they can be trusted/a long way—they indicate that population ie moving to .the points at which it can find the widest opportunities and the most congenial (Conditions. Auckland is attracting people by its climate, which includes no severe "winter in its rotations, and by ite good and comparatively cheap land. Its great city is absorbing no more than a reasonable proportion of the people that drift northward, and the development of its country districts is simply astounding. The East Coast is slowly but eurely coming. into its own, though the hand of the land monopolist still lies heavily over its broad acres. Taranaki'e rich soil is not yet all in small holdings, and till rt is the province can make little further progress. Wellington is experiencing the fate that overtakes every community that is content with things as they are, and strives for nothing better. Its city is losing population because with all its enormous natural advantages which, mark it off for the political and commercial capital, whatever its fauks may be, it remains the least attractive centre in the Dominion. Its country districts are only a quarter peopled, because the great majority of them hare endorsed by their Parliamentary representation the creed that people are not the first requirement of a young country. The same tale Iβ re-told in the South Island. The only material progress there has been made in Canterbury and Southland, where the spirit of divine discontent has burned longest and bright-

est. The need for Mr. Maasey% "land settlement, more settlement, and still more settlement," which the Prime Minister has done so little to promote, is the outstanding lesson of thie informal census. CABINET'S DECISION. WELLINGTON, this day. It may be taken for granted now that the proposal to postpone the census till after the war has been definitely rejected by the Cabinet, and that the postponement will be for no longer than !to February or March of next year. The j Minister of Internal Affairs has made an j exhaustive investigation of various ! schemes lor ascertaining the move- ! nients of population since the census of 1911, and has decided that none of them would give sufficiently precise results for the readjustment of the Parliamentary • representation. That the proposal was 'seriously considered may be judged from 'the fact that no preparations have bee-i Imade for taking the census at the usual ! time in April, and as this will occupy 'four or five months it is practically cer|tain the postponement wSI he to the i time indicated, which will make the fig- : ures cover a six-year instead of a fiveyear period. . A j