The Press.
London, England, 1854-08-05 00:00:00

CENSUS RESULTS.

THE census of 1851, whatever its real or supposed in
accuracies as regards some controverted questions.

is a remarkable work, and perhaps the greate

popular interest attaches to that part of it which sets
forth the " ages, civil condition, and occupations " of
the people. This information is contained in a pre-
liminary or general report, of about 120 folio pages,
wherein the results of the various local inquiries are
summed up with much fulness and accuracy of
detail.

From the document here referred to it will be our
duty to select such particulars as 8 may best seem to
illustrate the social and, thus indirectly, the political
state of the country. We shall follow in general the

arrangement chosen by the commissioners, a .4 pre-
senting the greatest facilities for reference to, and
comparison with, the original from which we abridge.
1. AGES or TILE POPULATION.—It seems that, not-
withstanding the delicacy of the inquiry, no real ob-
jection is felt to supply the statistics required. In
1801 and 1811 the ages of individuals were not asked
for; in 1821 the answer was left optional, and might
be given or refused at pleasure, yet only one-ninth
of the people declined to give in a statement, and this
deficiency was owing to omission on the part of the
querists rather than to reluctance on that of the
questioned. In 18:11 the number of males of 20
years and upwards was demanded ; in 1841 and 1851
a full return was required, and the demand in each
case was readily complied with.
In 1821 and '3l it was ascertained that the number
of males under and above 20 years was nearly equal ;
or, in other words, that the number donates above
the age of 20 equalled one-fourth of the entire
people. These proportions are now altered ; for,
omitting the army, navy, and merchant seamen em-
ployed abroad, we have in 1851—

Males above 20 years
" under 20 yams 4,779,318

Excess
The division of age adopted in the report is fivefold,
the extreme limit, being taken at 100 years, and that
period divided into epochs of 20 years each.
Of centenarians, or persons whose ages exceed a
century, we have 319-208 women, and 111 men.
The greatest longevity recorded in the census extends
to 119 years ; but the evidence in such cases is rarely
conclusive, from the ignorance of the parties and the
want of early statistical record. There is no doubt,
however, that of those set down as centenarians many
have really reached the ages set down in the returns.
But the proportion of numbers living at the
various epochs into which life is divided will he
most clearly set forth as follows :—Assume 100,000
children to be born at the same time, of these we
shall have, according to the present estimate of
mortality,
Born

Living at 20 years, I Dead before the age of 20,
66,081. 33,939.
Living at 40 years, I Dead before the age of 40,
63,824. 46,176.
Living at 60 years, I Dead before the age of 60,
37,998. 62,002.
Living at 80 years, I Dead before the age of 80,
9,382. 90,018.

Living at 100 years, I Dead before the age of 100,
probably, 1 or 2. 00,908 or 09,909.
Or, putting these results in a more popular form,
we shall have at 20 years nearly two•thirds of the
whole number living • at 40, rather more than one-
half; at 60, considerably less than two-fifths; at HO,
something between one-eleventh and one-tenth of the
whole.
" The probable lifetime of a male at birth in Eng-
" land is nearly 45 years ; for, as by that time a
"given number born is reduced by one-half, the
"chances of their attaining and not attaining that
" age are equal."
The mean age of the male population of Great
Britain in 1851 is found to be 25.87 years, showing a
slight but perceptible increase. In 1821 it was 25.13
years, and 25.48 years in 1841.
The comparative numbers of the sexes stand
thus:—

Males between 20 and 40 in Great Britain 3,1413,490
Females, same ages

Excess 133,654

This excess increases in later life: it seems that a
larger number of boys is born than of girls, but that
the greater length of average female life reverses the
proportions. In London alone, to take no other in-
stance, the number of women who have passed the
age of 80 is nearly double (197-100) that of men
similarly circumstanced.
Passing to what the commissioners have entitled
the " civil or conjugal condition of the people," we
have these general conclusions :—The proportion of
the married to the unmarried at all ages (children
included) is in Great Britain 33 to 100 among men,
32 to 1(X) among women.
Excluding all below 20 years of age, we have 62
per cent. of the male population married, 57 per cent.
of the female ; that is to say, about four-sixths of tEe
men, and four sevenths of the women.
The mean age of marriage is, in England and
Wales, 25.8 years for males, 24.6 for females. Of
all who marry, more than one-half (54 per cent.) are
between the ages of 20 and 25 years.
It may be estimated from the tabular returns that,
of the population exceeding the age of 20 years,
about 1 man in every 10, and 1 woman in every S,
will never marry.
The births in 1851 were 615,865; the deaths
395,174 ; leaving an excess of 220,691 births ; and
this number differs little from the average on a
series of years. Here, then, we have the balance

"7"'"F

724

hat is to be set against yearly loss by emigration.
But these figures alone do not represent the whole
truth. We have seen that more than a tenth of the
population remain unmarried ; some doubtless from
choice, infirmity, or other private causes with which
the question of wealth or poverty has nothing to do ;
but many, probably most, from inability to obtain
employment for themselves and subsistence for a
family. This cause of celibacy diminishes in exact
proportion to the augmented demand for labour which
emigration produces. We may accordingly look for
an increase in the number of marriages contracted,
for their taking place at an earlier period, and, con-
sequently, for the more rapid augmentation of the
people—a result also brought about in some measure
by the increased employment which colonial trade
tends to create.* On the whole, it seems clear that
a depopulation of these islands, or even a stationary
condition of the population, is an evil, under present
circumstances, not to be apprehended. Let us ap-
peal here to past experience. The estimated inhabi-
tants of Great Britain were, in 1651, 8,378,000; in
1751, 7,392,000 ; showing an increase of little more
than a million in one hundred years. Between 1751
and 1851 they have increased from 7,392,000 to
21,185,000, or nearly . fourteen millions. For this
remarkable change in the ratio of births to deaths
various causes are assigned ; indeed, the report at
this place assumes the form of an interesting, though
rather discursive, historical essay, dealing with
political and social questions of every kind, some
very remotely connected with the ostensible subject.
The principal are, improvements in the art of medi-
cine—greater care in sanitary matters—a higher tone
of morality, especially as regards marriage, descend
ing from the higher to the lower classes—agricultural
and manufacturing improvements—and a general
spirit of industry in the people. The commissioners
deny, and to our thinking effectually confute, the
Malthusian doctrine that increase of population in a
limited area is an evil. They contend, in an argu-
ment of which we can give only the briefest possible
outline, that the amount of human dubsistence pro-
ducible within a given space varies with the industry
and intelligence of the inhabitants ; that mere small-
ness of territory is no reason why England should
not yield three, four, or five times as much as she
does now, with a proportionately greater amount of
labour bestowed upon her cultivation and improve-
ment—ergo, that increase of numbers, unless there
be a deterioration in the moral or physical qualities
of the people, does not necessarily leave a smaller
share of property to each, but rather the contrary.
The fallacy of MALTHUS'S argument is shown to be
this—that he confounded the natural produce of the
soil, assuming this as a constant quantity, with the
artificial produce, which is susceptible, so far as
experience enables us to judge, of almost indefinite
increase. (We have our doubts whether MALTHUS is
here quite fairly quoted, and, still more, whether a
report published by Goveinment authority, and pro-
fessing to contain only facts, is a proper vehicle for
individual opinions on political economy, however
just or however ably enforced. But let that pass.)