CENSUS 1906.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13875, 12 April 1907, Page 2

CENSUS 1906.

CONJUGAL CONDITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. BACHELORS AND SPINSTERS. It is found that in April, 1906, there wore 9633 bacholors aged 20 years and upwards in oxcess of tho number of the spinsters aged iS years and up. In 1901 the revonso ■\vii6 Iho case, the spinsters having boon 3572 in excess ot tJio bachelors, and in 1696 similarly the spinsters cxcorxictl tho bachelors by 1786. No doubt tho preponderance of' bacholors in 1905 (for tho wholo colony) has been l-o a great oxtent brought about by increased arrivals of male population from abroad. But in regard to portions of tho colony other causcs may havo operated. At each of tho above quoted censuses tho provincial districts of Canterbury a,nd Otago are remarkable as having more spinsters than bachelors, while all tho othors exhibit, more or less, the opposite position. But tho figures for 1906 show that tho excess of spinsters in Canterbury and Ot&go has much diminished. Excess of Spinsters over Bachelors. Provincial District. 1899. 1901. 1906. Canterbury .. .. 3937 4918 2117 Otago 2060 1699 954 Excess of Bachelors over Spiksters. Wellington .... 5f7 32 4383 Auofeltrad .... 703 521 3383 Nelson 680 637 1550 H&wke's Bay 1142 425 1161 Wesil&nd 501 668 935 Tara-naki 624 605 754 Marlborough .... 183 158 532 EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE. Of every 100 persons in New Zealand at the time of the census of 19G6, 83.50 could read and write, 1.60 could read only, and 11.90 could neither read nor write. Tho proportion ablo to read and write, and that of persons able to read only has increased steadily since 1874. The figures are given for foiir censuses:— Head Read Cannot and write, only. read. Census, 1874 .. GS.IS P.Oi) 23.76 Census, ISSG ~ 74.01 4,80 21.19 Consna, ISSG .. SO.GD 2.59 10.51Census, 1900 ' .y .83.50. 1.60 l-i,!W . To ascertain, however, hov; completely education is carried out., accepting as a test tho knowledge of reading and writing, it is necessary to show the position at present in respect of ago periods, which is accordingly given. At the period under live years none are found to read and write, and only 0.37 were ab!o to read; 99.63 being unable to do either on account of extreme youth. At five to 10 years 65.51 could road and write, and 10.14 read only, leaving 24.55 who could not road. But this last only includes three years of the school-going period. With the subsequent- periods up to 40 years, fiqurcs under " road only" and "cannot" are reduced to small fractions as under Read ' Read Caanol and write, only. . read. 10 to 15 yearn .. 99.45 ■ 0.22 0.33 15 to 20 years .. 99.(3 O.OS 0.09 20 to 25 years .. 99.50 0.03 0.36 25 to 30 yeair.l .. 99.43 0.13 0.44 • 30 -to 35 years .. 99.35 0.16 0.49 35 to 40 yoar 8 .. 83.12 . 0.24 0.G4 At 40 to 45 years those who "cannot, read" are over 1 po'r_ cant., and the proportion ;.;ccs on iucreasiug regularly thus:— Read Read Cannot and write. only. read. Isoto 55 vears .. 96.32 1.53 2.15 PO to 05 yMi3 .. 91.03 2.53 3.42 70 to 75 yoars .. 50.15 5.12 . 5.73 30 and upwards .. S6.IJ 6.12 7.74 Tho improved cpnditions of tho young reor.lc are clearly shown above. At tho . last two periods given, which belong to . advanced life, 10.85 per cent, and 13.86 per j cent, are found to bo cither "reading j only" or quite illiterate.