RATES OF MORTALITY

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17401, 11 March 1922, Page 2

RATES OF MORTALITY

; AMERICA'S DISQUIETING FIGURES. {taon ovr own cobbsspondent.) ! SAN FRANCISCO, February 7. iji spite of all America's wealth and supposed.' superior of living and of hygiene, the rates of/mortality in the "United States, the expectations of life by a person of either sex at any given age, compare unfavourably with j those of many countries that lack the advantages enjoyed by the average citizen of tho United States. This disquieting fact is revealed in the volume of the United States lite tables, soon, to be issued'by the Census Bureau of the. Department of Commerce at Washington. In that comprehensive tome, life tables are given, by rex, for Australia, Denmark, England, Hoi and, Itfaly, Norway, ; Sweden; France, India, and Japan. All those countries, except the last three, show more favourable conditions than those that obtain in the Republic of the United States. . • • For example, the lowest annual rate of mortality per thousand at birth, is found in Norway, where the rate is 81 per thousand, for males.-and 67 for females. For the white inhabitants of this country, the rate is. 127 per thousand for males and 105 for females. In other words, the proportion of children that die at birth in America, is much greater than in Norway. Mortality, at all ages, according to the tables, is greater among men than among women; the rural classes average a lower mortality rate than the city dwellers; but whereas the expectation of life in most classes has steadily and materially- increased since 1901, there is no indication that the span or life has been' lengthened. Tlmt is to say, more people arrive at middle age but more ao not live past the age of seventy. Almost all classes of individuals now live to an older age on an average, but the limiting age has not been advanced-

The expectation of life among white females at birth was about three years more than that of white males in 1901. Now it seems to be about three and a-half years better. The ratio of. mortality among men over 40 and women over 50 was actually less favourable in 1910 than it was in 1901. .

The Census Bureau, announcing pro'visional infant mortality, rates in 51 cities based on estimated births for 1921, indicated that? record lqw rqtep had occurred throughout America'last year.For the ; group of 51 cities, the infant mortality is 74 per 1000 births. against a rate of 90 in 1920 for 44 cities. The lowest infant mortality rate of '47 per 1000 births appeared for the cities of Portland; Oregon, St. Paul, arid Seattle, and the highest rate of 111 for Fall River. The greatest decrease since 1920 appears for Lowell, Massachusetts, with a rate of 90 for 1921, against_ a rate of 135 for 1920. No city Bhows a higher rate for 1921 than for 1920, though Albany and Salt Lake City maintain the same rates for the two years, 77 and 72, respectively.