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Table No. 18.—Table showing Standardized Death-rates at Quinquennial Periods from 1875 to 1944 1875 .. .. 17-30 1915 .. .. 9-09 1880 .. .. 12-70 1920 .. .. 9-89 1885 .. .. 12-36 1925 .. .. 7-78 1890 .. ..11-25 1930 .. .. 7-63 1895 .. ..11-22 1935 .. .. 6-78 1900 .. .. 10-21 1940 .. .. 6-87 1905 .. .. 9-60 1944 .. .. 6-75 1910 .. .. 9-62 In 1915 the crude and standardized rates were nearly equal, being 9-06 and 9-09 respectively. This is because the sex and age distribution was approximately the same as in the standard year, 1911. By 1944, however, the crude rate had risen to 10-04, while the standardized rate had fallen to 6-75. Briefly, the relative change is due to an ageing population, as influenced by the greater longevity in recent years. _ The fall in the standardized rate'indicates that the liability to death in a given age-group was less in 1945 than in 1911. The improvement is undoubtedly due to improving health .services over the years. C. TOTAL NATURAL INCREASE Combining these two factors of birth and death rates we can arrive at the natural increase of the population, which is shown in the following table :

Table No. 19. —Table showing Average Annual Births, Deaths, and Natural Increase in the Quinquennial Periods from 1871-75 to 1941-45

The most outstanding fact of this table is the dramatic fall from the years immediately prior to the 1914-18 war, when the rate was over 16 per 1,000 of the population, to a little over Bin the quinquennium 1931-35. As already pointed out, this low figure was •due to economic conditions of the period, which acted as a disincentive to childbirth. 'The rise in the quinquennium 1936-40 is probably due to some extent to the consummation of marriages postponed during the depression, but more probably due to the •oncoming sense of economic security due to higher wage rates and better actual or potential economic environment, while the rise in the quinquennium 1941-45 is a normal phenomenon during war years. The vital factor, however, is the probabilities for the future.

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Period. Annual Hates per 1,000 Population. Births. Deaths. Natural Increase. 1871-1875 39-88 12-67 27-21 1876-1880 41-21 11-80 29-41 1881-1885 36-36 10-95 25-41 1886-1890 31-15 9*85 21-30 1891-1895 27-68 10-15 17-53 1896-1900 25-75 9-55 16-20 1901-1905 26-60 9-91 16-69 1906-1910 27-06 9-75 17-"31 1911-1915 25-98 9-22 16-76 1916-1920 24-32 10-73 13-59 1921-1925 22-26 8-63 13-63 1926-1930 19-76 8-60 11-16 1931-1935 16-98 8-23 8-75 1936-1940 18-36 9-20 9-16 1941-1945 21-81 10-08 11-73