CITY OF LONDON.

Otago Witness, Issue 3025, 6 March 1912, Page 89

CITY OF LONDON.

CFbom Qua Ovfw Corbespondest.) LONDON, December 18. A mass of interesting fact has been elicited by a. special census concerning the square mile which is known as the' City of London. The Imperial census taken on April 2 showed the night dwellers to number 19,657. This was followed shortly by a day census which showed that there were employed in the city : 54,425 principals or employers, 247,984 male employees, 69,772 female employees, 11.889 children under the age of 15; —364,061. Rateable value of city property is £8899 per acre, against £525 per acre for all London, and the city total is £5,677.902. No fewer than 1620 firms (5231 people) give the vague description “agents.” There are 500 assurance and insurance companies or firms employing 1818 women and 12,234 men. There are 277 banks, with 12,190 male and 629 female employees. Caterers—refreshment houses, but not taverns —employ 5977 women and 3995 men. As an employer the corporation itself counts 2321. Government departments have 4097 women and 11,862 men. Law T has 10,663 persons engaged. There are 1552 firms of merchants with 17,317 hands. Newspapers have 8259 employees. Ostrich feathers give occupation to 1045 persons. Printing trades have 2277 women and 10.841 men employees. Of stock and share brokers there are 14,394 employees. Tuilors arc represented by 553 firms, with 3919 hands. Taken altogether, the printing, publishing, and stationery trades head the list with 38,249 principals and employees. Next to them are the drapery and allied trades, 35,000; brokers, etc.. 33,002; agents, 28,131; and groceries and provisions, 23,481. In all there are 389 distinct trades. The “floating” population is put down at 6700. Another return gives 1,077.155 as the number of people, and 94,095 as the number of vehicles entering the city on a particular day, but, allowing for counting the same person or vehicle twice, the committee estimates that from 450,000 to 500,000 different persons, and from 20,000 to 25,000 different vehicles, enter the city daily’. In 1891, on a particular day, 951,066 persons and 76,259 vehicles, and in 1881, 639,022 persons and 58,515 vehicles entered the city. Comparing these with this year’s totals, the increase in the traffic during the last 10 years has been enormous.