THE CENSUS FOR 1864.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume XX, Issue 2038, 11 February 1865, Page 4

THE CENSUS FOR 1864.

# (From the " New Zealand Spectntor," Feb. 8.) The results of the late Census of this Province having 'been forwarded to us, we now proppse to lay before our readers a brief com. parison between the Census of 1864 and that 0f.1'861, in order that the relative condition «£ the Province at those two periods may be clearly seen, only premising that the last Census was taken just while the members of the General Assembly were in Auckland; and although this very slightly, affects the total number of the population, it makes an im- •* po'rtant difference in one particular, as will be noted, in its proper place, ' jFh'e-first thing is the total number of the population. This is given as 14,938(8307 m$ lea and 6631 females) against 12,56& (6626 ' males ,arrd 5940 females) in 1861. The inefcease, • therefore, is 1681 males and 691 females, or 2372 in all; while the increase in tbs ,|hree years prior to 1861 was but 102 ingles and 71 1 females, or 813 in all. At that time, it is true that many were absent at the ;.Qtagb diggings then recently discovered, but ' «.still after making due allowance for that, the comparative rate of increase is very striking, Iraing, as it is, wholly anterior to and independent of the additions that have recently been made through the change of the Seat of Government. Putting it iv another form,- the centesimal increase between 1858 and 1861 is given; by (he Registrar General was males 1..56, females 13,5&,. t0tal 6 91 ; while the increase Wween 1861 and 1864 is males 20.25, fe,maleB 10.42, total 18.87, or nearly one fifth fopon the' whole! In the number of houses there is a decrease of IBi. Tins is partly accounted for lay the fact that mr the towns of Wellington ancT — the decrease in which is 68 sad IU3 respectively — many stores have now no one living in them, and are therefore returned among the uninhabited houses (of which tiiere axe l^fr in the Province) while several others are< inhabited by, the families - of 'officers and soldiers, and are thus excluded from the return.. That notwithstanding this decrease the social condition of the people must have considerably improved', may be hrferred from the fact that thenumber of houses containing one or two rooms is but 670 now,, and" was 886 in< JB6l\ while thenumber of houses containing six rooms and upwards is 919 at present, and 1 was but 793 at the former period, the decrease being 216" on the description,, against which- there is an increase of 120 on the larger, showing a total increase of at least 550 rooms, to whiob may be added 66 houses which are reported as being built at the time the Census- was taken. \ The respective numliers of those who aremarried as compared with the unmarried, ' shows an increase in a Similar ratio to that of (he total increase of population., There ore now 2309 males and 2266 females married ns against 1889 males and 2002 females „ in 1801, the (relatively) large increase of males being probably due* to the return of " diggers " to their homes.

On the important subject of education the Census gives us the following particulars. Of the whole population of the Province 1856 males and 174V females are unable to read, 748 males and 842 females can only read, and 5708 males and 4042 females can b6th"read and write. As the ages under which the population is classified in Ibis return are not identical with the former, the comparison is not so exact as could be desired; but deducting the children under five years of age in the present return from its total, and the number under six years of age in die former return from the total then shown, we get the follow■ingTesults: — 1861. 1864. Onteaitnal proportion, unable to read 4.84 7.92 do. able to read only 15.80 12.88 'do. able to read and write J9.90 79.2 This shows a very similar state in the two periods, as the numbers deducted for the basis of the calculations are less in the second period than in the first. The exact returns for the population above 15 years of age are: — Males. Femnlei. Total. Unablttoread »73 157 480 Able to read only 222 299 521 ' Able to rend -and write.. 4575 2917 7492 The state of Education in the province cannot -therefore be regarded as unsatisfactory, although there is decidedly room for improve-, ment, and much will yet have to be done before the benevolent wish of the grandfather of the, Queen — King Geoege ill. — can be realised, by every child in this part of her Majesty's dominions being able to read the Bible. The numbers at present attending schools are as follows : — In Schools receiving Government Aid — Boys 480 t Girls » 348 828 In private Schools or Schools not receiring Government Aid — / Boyi. ..*...♦ 570 Girl» 660 1230 In Sunday Schools only — Boys 146 Girls.... ...*..... 201 * 347 Making a total of children under instruct tion of 2406, of whom 933 attend both day and Sunday Schools* This total makes nearly -one in six of the population to be attending schools of some kind — a most unusually high average. It is also to be observed that out of our small population, 34 gentlemen have enjbyed the advantages of education in {^British University, and eight others 'in Foreign Universities, making 43 in all; to which at least 4 would have -been added but for the circum> stance that they were attending in their plac< i as members df the Legislature, this being the point referred to in the opening paragraph of this article. The returns of the religious denominations are as usual not quite conclusive, many causes operating to make these more or less vague as in all similar cases. The numbers returned are for the English Church 6770, Church of Scotland 402, Eoman Catholic Church 1581, Free Church of Scotland 850, other Presbyterians 1523, Wesleyan Methodists 1775, the rest being distributed among a great number of designations, embracing a great variety of opinions from five who pall themselves " Believers" to one who styles himself an " Infidel." There are some curiosities under this head as " Bible believers," " Bible examiners," and one professor of "Cosmo-theism," whatever that may mean. As regards places of birth 5144 were born in England* 853 in Ireland, 1353 in Scotland, 41 in Wales, and 6694 in New Zealand, the residue coming from various parts of the world, including 70 born afsea* This shows that the increase is mainly natural and not by immigration, as the proportion of those born in the United Kingdom (including Wales) is but 49.47 per cent, though it was 51.9 in 1861; while the proportion born in New Zealand is 44.81 per cent, against 43.34 in No doubt two or three more triennial periods will mark this still more strongly. The points that remain to be noticed indicate the progress of the Province in material wealth. In fenced land the increase is 50.738J acres, or 66.23 per cent., there having been 76,611 acres reported in 1861 and 127.349J acres in 1864. The lands under crop der not present any particular differences excepting under the head tr sown grasses." The quantities reported are Wheat 764 acres, Oats 1720£, Barley 116, Maize 14|, Potatoes 6 64 J, Garden or Orchard 1023£, Sown Grasses 90,2865, other crops 825^, making a total of 9*5,415 acres under crop, or 72.5 per cent, of increase siuce 1861. The greatest amount of this increase is in the Wairarapa district, which has more than trebled the extent under grass during the past years, the quantities being 3402 acres in 1861, and ]0,862| acres in 1864. Under the head Live Stock, the only remarkable increase is in Horses and Sheep. Cattle' are slightly fewer than they were, there being but 49,200 reported against 49.323 at' the former census, but considering the large numbers that have been exported the only wonder is that the deficiency was not much greater. Horses now reported are 7265, being an increase of 2148 or 29.56 per cent, while Sheep have increased* frorrr247,94o t0411,502, or nearly 66 per cent. The' other itemß are, Mules and Asses 90, Goats 1016; Pigs 13,072, j and Poultry 42.051, in each of which there is an increase, excepting in Goats, which are not quite half their former number — a change not t& be regretted. There are other details which may invite j notice when more fully In the meantime we print these' to show that whatever may have been 1 the progress of the colony as a whole, Wellington is enabled 1 to shovr that" it bus done its part.