PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2454, 27 March 1901, Page 67

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

\ THE CENSUS?. \ j Before another issue of the Witness I j makes its appearance, the census of 1901 will be a thing of the past, though it will \ be some months piobably before we know , j any of the results, and perhaps a year be- ' I fore the statistics are fully worked out. ; More than, one reference is made in the i I Bible lo the numbering of nations ; and we J " know that the Greeks and Romans had . censuses taken. In Rome, there was a ' S building called the "Villa Publica," which ! ! contained a complete catalogue of the citil : zens, stating in detail the age of each, the ! amount of his property, and the number of , his children. '. I suppose that the Domesday Book may > be regarded as the first census in connection ' with our ICmpire. '"Domesday" means 1 "the Day of Doom or Judgment," a very good name, seeing that the records it contained were the supreme authority on any [ matter connected with the people, land, and . wealth of the nation. The census was so , accurately taken that a writer in the Angloi Saxon Chronicle says : "There was not a 1 single hide (of ground is meant, I think) nor — it is shameful to say what he thought '. no shame to dc — was there an ox, or a ■ cow, or a pig passed by that was not set I down in the accounts ; all these writings were brought to him." This great English record was published at the nations cost in 1783, special type being cast to represent the contractions of the original, and it took ten years to &cc the work through the press. During the Middle Ages, the superstitions and prejudices of the .people made census-taking an impossibility ; and even now census returns are only approximately accurate. In 1753 a census of England was pro- , posed, but was opposed on various grounds. It was "subversive of liberty" ; it would bs "an engine of oppression." One M.P. said he did not think that any man could be so presumptuous and abandoned as to make stfch a proposal. Some thought that to number the inhabitants would acquaint England's enemies with the weakness of England ; while' others looked upon the proposal as ominous, and feared lest some public misfortune or euidemic disordeis should follow the numbering. The st:iti.-iic.s gathered by the present census will be specially interesting. The paper issued throughout Xew Zealand is identical in detail with tho&e issued in the States comprising the Australian. Commonwealth. Further, the cerais is taken throughout the Biiti&h Empire on the same night, though I cannot say whether the paper used will be the same ; it would appear not, for ours is the foim agreed upon j at a conference of Australian statisticians held in Sydney last year. It will t>e noticed that the census is ns far as possible | purely a domestic one, for there is no re- | ference to wealth, factories cities, value of ! land, and so on. Even' detail depends upjon family life. From a physical point of view, I should have liked two additional i columns which would give valuable infor- ! mation, though the entering up of it would, |no doubt, create some amusement — I mean . the weight and height of every individual j It is well known that the weight and stature of country people exceed those of city folk ; and it would be interesting and instructive to compare weight and height of New Zealanders with those of Australia, and again with Londoners, or those connected with the cotton, wool, and iron industries of England. i " The census has been called the measuring rod of a country's progress, guiding us in determining growing tendencies, and en- • a.bling us to make intelligent provision for checking the evil and fostering the good."' Ho "the vital, material, and social well-being of v nation depends in a larger degree than is, ordinarily realised upon the accuracy of its knowledge concerning the number, character, and condition of its peoj>le." Indeed, it is hardly possible to over-estimate the value of a census. It gives in a compact form the number at any

age, the number married and single, the average size of families, and the size of families in the country as compared with the towns, the ages where disease is most deadly, the average length of life, the percentage of those who are weakly, the ratio between numbers engaged in farming and in manufacturing, and a hundred and one other details of great value to those who take an interest in the welfare of ihe colony. Buc the statistics given by the census will be of gieat value in instituting comparisons between ourselves ai:d other.*, especially between States and colonies havioothe same form of householders' schedule At a glance it is seen which industries in any state of colony are the principal ones • not only that, but after a series of censuses, it will "be ssen which industries are thriving, and which are languishing ; which stand alone, and wiiicn are bolstered up by protection. It will be seen, too, how colonies will perhaps gradually urhat is called differentiate, or develop along lines of their own. Queensland, for instance, will perhaps develop the sugar, cotton, tobacco, and kindred industries ; while South Australia will make «i specialty of wines raid wheat, and New Zealand of dairy produce. But I needn't pursue the subject any further, for anyone who takes an interest in what is called sociology, which is, after all, nothing but the knowledge of the social life o£ a people— though that is a big subject to study — knows the necessity for reliable information. It has struck me, however, that one instance rop'- be given where statistics show the growth or the decay vf a nation. I happen to have by me the first issue of "HazeU's Annual," which was published in 1886. The population of France is given a a 37,670,000; in the jssue "for 1900—1 haven't the '01 edition Eandy just now — it is given as 38,519,000, or a gain of less than 850,000 in 14 years. I then turn up Germany. and see 'the figures 45,230.000 and 52,280,000, or an increase of 7,050,000. In percentages the increases are 2| per cent, and over 11£ per cent. In other words, the increase appears to be in Germ any five times as rapid as in Prance. To make the figures still more interesting, the corresponding figures for the British Empire may be added. In 1886 the population is given, in round numbers. as 316,000,000, and in 1900 as 400,000,000— details are giver. — making an increase of 84.000,000. or nearly 28 per cent. Bufc tnis growth is one including additions by conquest, and the French and Ocimitii figures do not cro beyond their own frontiers Taking the British Isles, the figure"? are 36.400,000 and 40,600,000. ;> gain of 4,200,000. or 13 nor cent., which Is an inc'.case ahead of Germany. But here again, though these figures show the actual population, they do not f-how the birth rate, because so many have migrated from, both countries : and it is necessary to have tha emigrant and immigrant rsturrs to mike sure. But the figures sliow in a general way that (iermATiv ar>d Great Britain si« full of vitslitv. fp;l i la n t Franco is doing little more t] an holding her o-.vn jr. population, and by comparison with the othe'ivrn nations ib shov.n to be a decivii"; nation . Tn, answer io a coirevpondent signing himself "Mac"' T may say that "How we kept the Fhg Fa ing" isn't procurable in town iusi now, bub ov.e booWllev expects a Miprf.v in two or tl u-e week's. The price jbb 2s 6d in piper and 3- 6d m cLth, postage extra.

BRONCHITIS, COLDS, CATABEII, ETC. TUSmCURA. h especially efficac'ous in BROICCHIAL COLD; quickly leheves the breathing and at once allays the fever^hiipps, the lunnng at the nose and eyes being usually checked by the first dose. TUSSICURA. Ip one of the most ->-aluable remedies known, and should always be kept ready for immediate use. As a powerful Lun°and Stomach Tone it is ur.equallecl. COLDS are the most common of all ailments, and the importance of CHECKING THEM IN" THE EAKLY STAGES CANNOT BE OVERESTIMATED. Sole manufacturer and proprietor, S. J. EVANS. Procurable all merchants throughout the colony.

—Dr J. B. Cohen, of Yorkshiie College, Leeds, has. studied the jquestion of soot in the air Over the four square miles of Leeds 800cwt of soot is suspended at any moment 1.2 milligramme per cubic foot. Twenty tons of soot go up into the air daily, which means a waste of £300 worth of coal annually. To this we have to add the high washing bills, which he has taken pains to comuara for town and country and all tho discomforts. One-half per cent, of the coal burned in works goes away as soot; the domestic hearth contributes 5 per cent, of the whole soot amount.