Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1936 THE CENSUS—NEXT TUESDAY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 21 March 1936, Page 6

Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1936 THE CENSUS—NEXT TUESDAY

SINCE the year 1881 a census lias been taken in New Zealand every five years, except in 1931, when for tlie sake of economy (the country being in a state of financial depression) the Government cancelled the usual quinquennial census. Originally, as among the ancients, a national census was simply a numbering of the people, but in modern times it is used for the purpose of obtaining for tlie government information upon a wide range of subjects of national importance, ..esides accurate knowledge of the population and its distribution. Therefore when the householder received his census paper he found he was required to give information upon a wide range of subjects far removed from the enumeration of the population of New Zealand. In all, there are seventeen questions (oil the census paper) which relate to the names of each man, woman, and child in the householder’s dwelling, including the sexes of the persons in tlie house, “their ages, marital status, dependent children, the industry and occupation of the occupants, occupational status, unemployment, religion, birthplace and duration of residence, race, war service, income for the year ended 31st December 1935, and domicile.” Referring recently to the returns in connection with incomes (which do not have to he stated in full detail) the Government Statistician said that “Census statistics are required for the purpose of (1) acting as the basis of an estimate of the aggregate private income ; and (2) to indicate the spread of incomes. This is one of the most valuable portions of the Census inquiry, and the Government and the Census and Statistics Office are hopeful of getting some excellent statistical data from replies to this question.” The Statistician asks especially “that particular care be taken in giving the correct age, as statistics of ages are widely used. The age should be given in years and completed months.” It is made clear that all information contained in the returns will be treated as strictly confidential; they (the returns) will be used solely for sta tistical purposes, and no individual information will be given to any other State Department, or to any person or body.” The penalty for wrongful disclosure is £SO ,and it is to be noted that the information contained in the various statements is only used for the purpose of compiling aggregates, and is not used for interfering with the individual in any way. A celebrated authority on tlie subject, the late Dr. Farr, F.R.S., has laid it down as an inflexible rule that “a census, to be accurate, must be taken on a uniform system, and must be taken simultaneously, since any enumeration going over a tract of time, were it but two days, must be more or less inaccurate, and destitute of correcting its own inaccuracies ; for, besides the mere abstrict numbers of the people, there is much collateral information to be recorded, which, besides of intrinsic value in itself, is necessary as a check on the numbers.” The first country where a census was taken on a scientific basis was not England, as might b‘e supposed, but Sweden, in 1749. It is not generally known that the United States took their first regular census (1790) eleven years before England took her first regular census (1801), in which year France (where an enumeration had been made in 1700) copied England’s example. Tlie reason why a proper census Was not made in England until tlie year mentioned above, was the strong objection which the people had to being numbered. In the Dliddle Ages (when the term census was applied to taxation) the people strongly objected to those in authority taking ' any measures which might be used to undermine their liberties and reduce them to subservience, and as a result resort was made to enumerations, which could never be more than approximate, and necessarily were inaccurate. It remains to be seen what the results of our population census next Tuesday will be, but the higher they are within certain limits, the better it will be. The country needs more people, if only for safety’s sake. While large cultivable tracts of it are used only for the pasturing of sheep, there will be those in foreign countries who may desire to make trouble for us. The solution of tlie problem is not difficult, for England contains surplus people who could fill the Dominions empty spaces. Selection of migrants, their transportation to these comparatively young countries, and their settlement upon selected areas, should not present insuperable difficulties, the greater of which would probably be financial. If tlie Dominions’ Governments undertake to find tlie land, it would not Tie unreasonable to ask the British Government to do the financing. Neither need the Governments concerned be at any loss over the undertaking, since the migrants could be transported and settled on their farms, on a timepayrnent system, whereby they could, if they so wished, pay for their land out of their earnings. It is granted that such a plan would require great foresight and careful management on tlie part /of the Governments concerned, .but it is well worth the consideration of our statesmen, both in the Dominions and in Great Britain. It would seem that the time is ripe, as New Zealand’s Prime Minister has suggested, for the

Empire’s statesmen to convene a Conference for the purpose, among other things, of formulating a comprehensive plan of migration of British people to tlie Dominions with a view of populating the latter’s empty spaces, and thereby removing a potential danger and solving Britain’s greatest problem, which is found in those areas where the congestion of her population contributes materially to unemployment.