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New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4, 26 January 1905, Page 6

Ihe census returns for 1901 were made the subject of an address by the Registrar-General for Ireland at a meeting held in Dublin the other day. In some respects the returns are satisfactory. In IR9I pnly 71 per cent, of the Irish population could read and write. In 1901 the proportion had risen to 79 per cent. Fn 1891 11 per cent, of t(he people could read, but not write In 1901 that percentage had fallen to 7. All this is to the good, but the other figures of the census are most depressing. The decrease in population is steady, constant, and undiminisdiing. The number of marriages in the country is also seriously reduced, as a natural consequence of the absence of any profitable employment. Diseases of a certain class are extremely rife. Consumption and cancer are dreadfully prevalent, anid the increase in lunacy is nothing short of appalling. Fifty years ago Ireland had nine millions of a population. Now it has lews than foiur and a half, and even yet the limit of depletion has not been reached. During the ten years preceding 1901 the population of Great Britain had increased from thirty-three millions to thirtyseven, an increase of about llfc per cent. In Ireland the population fell by about a quarter of a million, showing a Idecrease of over 5 per cent. It is significant that lister, vhich is supposed to be a nvost prosperous province shows the greatest percentage of decrease, and that the largely Protestant counties of Fermanagh, Derry, anH Tyrone rank equally with the Catholic counties of Monaghan and Cavan in the decrease of population.