The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 1886.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 3515, 4 January 1886, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 1886.

We recently endeavored to show that the volume of statistics annually issued ljy the Registrar-General, was not altogether the dry and prosy publication which many people imagined it to be. It has its hidden romances, its bui ied tragedies, and even its concealed sermons, which are all to be brought to light with the exercise of a little thought and trouble. It affords information of the most suggestive kind regarding defects m our social system, which perhaps need only to be known for a remedy to be provided. Por example, we drew from its pages the other day the alarming fact that there was a lamentable falling-off m the number of marriages m New Zealand. We hope that the reminder we then gave has had a good effect on the colonial bachelors who have hitherto been oblivious of the glorious privileges within their reach. If we have succeeded m bringing them to a sense of their responsibilities and possible happiness, needless to say we shall experience a feeling of profound satisfaction and begin to believe that there is something after all m what people are constantly telling us about the mighty mission of the Press and its power to move the world. Since then we have again been dipping into the Registrar-General's statistics for 1884, and have come across a few other facts which seem

worthy of reproduction. To begin at ihe beginning, ffe will deal first with the births. We pointed out the other Jay that New Zealand has lost her proud preeminence m this respect, being now third on the list of Australasian colonies as regards largeness of birthrate. At one time she stood first, but now she is eclipsed both by South Australia and New South Wales. As regards sex, the proportion born m 1884 was 104.28 males to every 100 females. At first sight this looks promising, as likely to afford a settlement of the " disconsolate spinsters " question, but unfortunately the proportion is reversed as the population grows older. The boys seem to have less power of vitality than the girls — we must gallantly suppose that it is a case of " the survival of the fittest " — and hence it happens that when they become of a marriageable age it is found that there are fewer young men than young women. It is so m England, and the same fact, we believe, has been noticed m every country where regular returns are kept. The proportion of male to female births m New Zealand, the Registrar-General tells us, fluctuates witbin narrow limits, although once m the last ten years (m 1875) the proportion of male births has been aa high as 107.80 to 100 female births, and m 1878 it was as low as 101.57. Here is rather a wide range, and it would be an interesting nut for the physiologist to crack, if he could make out what caused such a difference m those particular years. We may add that there is one table m this part of the returns which reflects very satisfactorily on our morality. The proportion of illegitimate births registered m New Zealand m 1884 (2.96 to every 100 births registered), was lower than m England or m any of the Australian colonies. Taking the averages for the last ten years, we find that the rate of illegitimacy per 100 births registered was only 2.32 m New Zealand, as compared with 4.22 m New South Wales, 3.76 m Queensland, and 4.25 m Victoria. The marriage returns present several features of interest besides those to which reference was made m our former article. There is, for instance, the question as to the churches m which people who look upon marriage as a religious ordinance elect to be married, and then the proportion who prefer having the knot tied by the expeditious and always obliging Registrar. As regards the former, the Presbyterians, for some occult reason, easily carry off the palm. In 188-t 24.87 per cent of the total marriages were solemnised by ministers of Presbyterian congregations; 20.86 by ministers of the Church of England ; 13.70 per cent by ministers of the Wesleyan and other metbodist bodies ; 12.39 per cent by Roman Catholic ministers ; and 5.13 by ministers of other denominations. We have heard that the Presbyterian service is a very short one, but whether that has anything to do with its popularity or whether the canny frugal Scotch are peculiarly a marrying people we cannot say. The real significance of the figures we have just quoted, however, is not perceived until it is borne m mind that professing tnemhers of the Church of England form 41.50 per cent of the total population. While the Presbyterians are only 23.09 per cent. In point of fact the proportion of marriages to the professing members of the denomination is far smaller m the case of the Church of England than m respect to any other branch of the Church. The Registrars managed to run' the Presbyterian Ministers very hard, no fewer than 23.25 per cent of the total number of marriages being performed by them. The proportion of such marriages has increased year by year since 1875, when the Registrar's marriage fee was reduced from £3 to £1 : but the continuous increase, the Registrar-General thinks, must be attributed to other causeß m addition to that of the reduction of the fee. It is satisfactory to learn that there has been m the last ten years a decided improvement m the elementary education of the population, tested by the proportions who sign the marriage register by marks. The proportionate improvement, however, has not been so great among the males as among the females. The proportion per 100 marriages of those who signed by marks was, m 1875, males, 4.08 ; females, 9.19. In 1884 it had decreased to 2.82 among the males and 4.45 for the females. The proportion of such signatures was greatest among the Roman Catholics, the next largest being among those who were married before Registrars. The Church of England occupies the most favorable position on the list m this respect. Lastly, we may note the ages at which the people married. That early marriages are not unknown m the colony is evident from the fact that 71 of the males, and 1030 of the females married during the year, had not attained the age of 21. One female married was under the age of 15, and eight were between 15 and 16. On the other hand there were some marriages which certainly cannot be condemned on the ground of the parties being of immature age. In 0.48 per cent of the marriages the bridegroom was between 60 and 70 years of age, and m 0.05 per cent the ladies pleaded guilty to having seen a similar number of winters. In 0.08 per cent of the marriages the men were over 70 years of age, although none of the ladies would admit having passed the allotted span of three score years and ten. Still, it is significant to note that m 0.03 cases out of every hundred, the brides' age was " not specified." There was no Buch bashfulness or uncertainty among the men. In every single instance the RegistrarGeneral assures us, the bridegroom's age was boldly set down m black and white !