National Republican., 1875-11-15
PROPOSED ADVANCE IN SOCIAL sCIENi

O
During the session of the American Pub
lie Health Association, which was held in
Baltimore last week. the following i'm
portant resolution was suggested by Prof.
E. B. Elliott, ftbe Treasury Department,
and adopted by the association:
"Resoluod, That the executive committee is
instructed to memorialize, in the name of this
association, the Congress of the United States
in favor of such legislation as will bring about
proper cooperation between the General
Government OF the United States and the seve-
raj State governments for a uniform and effi-
cient system for the registry of deaths, births
and marriages of the population"
The subject embraced in this resolution,
Mr.. Elliott argues. is one which interests
alike the association and the State and Ma
tional Governments. Each of them, for
example, is Interested in determining the
relative salubrity of different localities and
the comparative prevalence therein of the
various types of disease. both of which
points would be indicated by an accurate
registry of deaths and their causes. He
points out various reasons which make it
important that the National Government
should keep itself constantly informed as to
the status and movement ofpopulation, the
rate of increase in which is one of the most
trustworthy criteria of the degree of pros
perity prevailing among the people; while
knowledge of the law of mortality would
afford the means of determining the value
of reversionary interests in estates, legacies
or pensions, and furnish basis for all cal
culations relating to life annuities and in
surance, and for the solution of various
problems which depend upon the mean or
average duration of human life. So init
mately are some of these problems related
to the provident habits of q large part of
the population that the means for their cor
rect solution are becoming every year
matter of more urgent public importance,
and as the requisite data cannot be obtained
without the high sanction of civil author
ity, the need for governmental action, State
or National, or both, is sufficiently appar-
ent. Moreover, problems of the class
under consideration are constantly liable to
be involved in cases brought before the
courts, and the collection of the facts nee
essary TO their correct solution is thus
made essential TO the proper discharge of one
of the chief and most universally conceded
duties of all Governments-that of admin
istering justice between their citizens.
Another interesting point TO which Mr..
| Elliott directs attention is the need which
the State governments have for authentic
information on births, marriages and deaths,
in connection with the descent of heritable
property, the title to which may often be
difficult or even impossible to decide, for
want of the authentic information which a
proper system of registration would furnish.
| In few of the States something has been
done in the direction indicated, and the
National Government has shown its appre-
citation Of the importance of social statistics
by establishing the decennial censuses pro-
vided for in the Constitution ITSELF In these
enumerations the status of the population
that is, the number of inhabitants at par
/ ticular time-is ascertained with fair ap-
proximation TO the truth; but registration
of births and deaths, coupled with the
statistics on immigration already provided
for, would afford the means for close
approximation to the actual population at
| any desired moment.
In connection with the decennial emu
merations, the General Government does
make an effort to obtain some Information
as to the movement of population-that is,
its change in number; but it does this with
respect 10 deaths alone, and these for only
one year Immediately preceding the enume-
ration. And even for this one year the
information obtained is very incomplete,
for the reason that the persons giving the
information are required TO depend upon
their memory for the deaths, often those of
persons in whom they had bat little IN
terest, which have occurred during the
period in question. That many deaths are
likely to be overlooked or forgotten in re-
turns SO made Is obvious, and Mr.. EIliott's
estimate, based upon careful attention to the
subject and superior opportunities for Its
thorough study, Is that the deficiency
amounts to about forty per cent.
] The present widespread interest In social