TURNING MEN INTO FIGURES

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 132, 30 November 1935, Page 27

TURNING MEN INTO FIGURES

"There is an increase in the marriage and death rates and a fall in the birth rate."

Each quarter an announcement such as this is made by the Registrar-Gene-ral in his returns, writes a Registrar in the "Daily Mail."

His figures are not guesswork, hut probably the most accurate of all statistics ever published. They represent the combined efforts of thousands of officials throughout the country, tabulated at Somerset House by hundreds of clerks equipped with the latest machines.

The registration of a birth by a proud father, or of the death by a sorrowing relative, is only the first step in the collection of these vital statistics. At the end of each quarter the local Registrar supplies aii exact copy of each entry in his books to the Superintend-ent-Registrar of the district, who in turn makes further copies for transmission to the Registrar-General.

Over a quarter of a million certificates under these two heads alone are received at Somerset House every three months, yet in a week or less it is possible to publish figures which ara eagerly awaited by Government' Departments and local authorities.

Marriage statistics call for the co-

operation "of an even greater number of persons. At the end of each quarter, every rector, vicar, or curate of a church, or the registering officer of a synagogue must, when he is asked, but not before, supply to the Superin-tendent-Registrar a copy of the certificate of every marriage which has been solemnised by him, and, in the words of Ihe Act, these copies must be "on durable material," as they will be preserved for ever. ' ■

Many a parish priest has had to cut short his holiday to comply with this requirement, for failure to do so involves a severe penalty. A telegram stating that there had been no weddings would not be acceptable. A sworn declaration to that effect must be furnished.

All these certificates must be copied by the-iSuperintendent-Registrar and sen,l, with copies in respect of all the marriages he has himself performed at the register office, to Somerset House within fifteen days.

Approximately 200,000 certificates are received by the Registrar-General at the end of each quarter, but within a few days he is able.to publish; such interesting details as the ages of the happy couples, their occupations, and whether they have been previously married or divorced. • ■ ~. '.