3

H.-7

The main proportions (excluding the Maori race) may be thus stated: The population of the colony is 888,578, of which 606,247 are native-born, and 282,331 are made up of persons who have come to the colony from all parts of the world; while the total number of the insane is 3,172, of which 988 are and 2,184 are not native-born : therefore, though the native-born are considerably more than two-thirds of the population, they contribute considerably less than onethird to the number of the insane. Or, to put it more accurately, though there is one person insane in 2804 of the total population, among New-Zealand-born there is only lin 613 - 6, and among persons who were born outside the colony, 1 in 1292. The following return, being germane to the subject, may be considered parenthically. It shows, according to grouped countries of origin, the number of persons who became insane during the year before completing a year's residence in the colony: —

This shows a considerable incidence of insanity during the first year's residence of new arrivals, and it will be noted that one-fifth of the number, being relapsed cases, were obviously predisposed to insanity before they came. During 1905, in round numbers, 32,000 persons arrived in the colony (eighteen and a half thousand born in the United Kingdom, twelve and a half thousand Australasians, and, excluding "race-aliens," one thousand from elsewhere), and many of these were tourists, commercial travellers, &.c, passing through, and many, of course, were returning New-Zealanders. Yet, to all intents and purposes, one in a thousand of all immigrants, tourists, &c, became insane within a year, and contributed 47 per cent, of the admissions (659) for the year. The proportion of total admissions to the estimated general population at the end of the year was o'7l per 1,000. The numbers in this last table are too few to theorise upon—too few, in fact, to quote, except as the beginning of an annual record, for any accidental circumstance may have halved or doubled them; but, such as they are, they are undoubtedly suggestive, and their practical aspect of providing accommodation for thirty-one new arrivals is not to lie ignored. The figures in Table A call for pause and sceptical analysis. It is obvious that the population from non-British countries is individually too small to draw conclusions from, but the principal foreign immigrants, taken collectively, number about fourteen and a half thousand, and have a high proportion of insanity—namely, lin 113. This is practically the proportion (actually 1 in 1129) contributed by the nearly 209,000 inhabitants who came from the United Kingdom. As against this there is one registered insane person in the United Kingdom in every 269 of the population, one is apt to hastily conclude that the liability to insanity is nearly two and onethird times greater among those who leave for our shores. Removing the levelling influence of the large population of the Predominant Partner, and taking each kingdom separately, it would seem that the English were practically twice as liable to insanity here as on their own soil, the .Scots two and one-fourth times more liable, and the Irish approximately two and three-fourth times more, the incidence of insanity among the Irish in the colony reaching the unexpectedlyhigh proportion of 1 in 684. The high rate of insanity among immigrants of Irish nativity has been commented upon by statists in the United States of America, and the general agreement of our small figures with their larger ones has its importance. A glance at Table 111 in the Appendix is sufficient to indicate that insanity is a disorder associated with adult life, and that there is comparative immunity below the age of 20. To gain a fairer conception of these age figures the admissions for twenty-one years—lBB6-1906—have been taken, transfers from one hospital to another being excluded, and the result is BoB per cent, under 20 and 91"92 per cent, over 20 j'ears. We may fairly assume that the age of the large majority of immigrants is from 20 upwards, and that almost all the youthful patients in our mental hospitals are native-born. The precise percentage figures of New-Zealand-boru (exclusive of Maoris), and of those born outside the colony above and below the age of 20 in the general population, is as follows: — Under 20. Over 20. Of total population ... ... ... ... .. 43-31 56-69 Of persons born in New Zealand ... ... ... ... 59-75 4025 Of persons bom outside New Zealand ... ... ... 798 9202 When these figures are compared with the percentage above they will rescue the disparity between immigrants and New-Zealanders (as shown in Table A) from being described as alarming, though some less stereotyped and less sensational epithet may be used.

Native of Stated to be First Attack. Previous Attack before ooming to Colony. Total. United Kingdom ... Australia ... Other parts of Empire Foreign countries ... 14 9 1 1 4 1 0 I 18 10 1 2 Totals 25 31 New Zealand (returning after absence from colony)