CITY POPULATIONS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIX, Issue 14682, 13 May 1908, Page 6

CITY POPULATIONS.

Tue Wellington "Post" very courteously tolls us that if wo. had examined tho " Gazette'' of April '2t, in which the vital statistics appear, wrs miglifc have ''postponed" our eomplktint that Christchurch \va.~ being unfairly treated in the Registrar-General's return of tho populations of 11,0 four largo cities of the dominion. Hut we had no opportunity to examine the " Gazette " of April 24 when we made

our complaint at the beginning of last month, for the very simple reason that this particular number of a very useful publication had not been issued. Now thiat wo have seen it, wo are more satisfied than ever that some one in authority is very reluctant to do justice to Ghristchurch. In deference to our protest against the manner in which the. statistics for February were presented the Registrar-General bus attached a note to tho statistics for March, giving the populations of the four cities at the census of 1906, and has included Sumner and New Brighton in the population area of Ghristchurch. But this tardy concession is made in a way that only aggravates the original injustice. To p ople who see the note at all it will convey the idea that tho population of Ghristchurch has fallen by 10.000 during the past two years, while that of Wellington has risen by 7000, and that of Dunedin by 3500. But the most astounding thing of all is to find that the populations of Sumner and New Brighton, which have been added to the population of Ghristchurch, arc the populations of two years ago. Wellington and. Dunedin are assisted by the populations of their suburbs brought right up to date, which in the case of Dunedin means an addition of 1400 or 1500 upon the figures of two 3 T ears ago; but Christchurch is credite-d only with the populations which Sumner and New Brighton contained in 1906, and is still denied the suburban populations of Spreydon, Biccarton, Avon and Heathcote altogether. The inclusion of the seaside boroughs, which wo did not ask for, by the way, has raised the population of Christchuroh by 2313 in a single month; but it is still 104 behind the population of Dunedin, and tho city is still at the bottom of the list. After all this elaborate adjustment of tho figures, tho Registrar-General tells us that they " are not for the purpose of contrasting mere masses of population, but to give the totals of boroughs in relation to births, marriages and deaths, and so on." Auckland and Ghristchurch are deprived of large parts of their suburbs, because these suburbs have not yet been brought under municipal government, " and the vital statistics do not deal with such portions as still remain in road districts." In these circumstances it surely would be better to exclude the population figures from tho vital statistics entirely. They aro in no way necessary to the value of the returns,* and it is obviously unfair to deduct 10,000 from tho population of Christchurch in order to simplify the necessary calculations for tho officers of the Registrar-General's department.