The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-03-23
STRIKING CENSUS RETURNS.
Statistics OF Insanity, Idiocy, blindness,
Pnuperism, Crime and Death

l
Pnuperism, Crime and Death.
The compendium of the "Tenth
Census" volume of 1869 pages, con-
tains, among other things, q summary
Of the report of Mr.. Frederick II.
Wines upon the defective, dependent,
and delinquent classes. The most
striking result of the work was the ap-
parently great increase in the number
of those included in the three classes
named. The number of insane persons
idiots, blind persons, and deaf-mutes,
as shown by the several censuses, was
50994 in 1850; 59,451 in 1860; 9S,59
in 1870, and 251, sos in 1880. In other
words, although the population has
little more than doubled in thirty
years, the number of defective persons
returned is apparently nearly five times
as great as it was thirty years ago.
The increase of population between
1870 and 1880 was only thirty per
cent, while the apparent increase of
these defective classes was 155 per
cent. While there were only 1854 de-
fective persons in each million in 1870,
there were 501S in each million in
1880 Mr.. Wines says that it is i'm
possible to believe that there has, in
fact, been so great an increase. Either
the enumeration in 1880 was excessive
or the enumeration in 1870 was incom-
plete. The bureau was assisted in the
work by $4,000 physicians, and Mr..
Wines believes that much more per-
feet enumeration of the defective
classes, especially of the insane and
idiotic, has been secured than was evec
! before presented in the history of this
or any other nation. OF the 81, 997 in
sane persons forty-four per cent. were
in hospitals and asylums; of 1896
idiots three per cent. were in training
schools Or the feeble-minded; of 1925
blind pGfsons, less than four and half
per cent. were in schools and indus
trial homes for the blind, and 33,S7S
mutes, nearly sixteen per cent, were in
schools established for them. OF the
deaf persons, one-half were between
the ages Of five and twenty-one, but
not more than one sixth OF the blind
were between those ages.
1t appears that insanity attacks
women more frequently than it does
men, but men on the other hand are
more liable to be idotic, blind or deaf.
The negro population is much more
liable to idiocy than insanity. Both
the negro and the foreign population
are singularly more liable to blindness
than to deafness. The tendency of the
foreign population to insanity is
especially worthy of attention. at
is startling to know" says Mr..
Wines, "that of 50,00O,000 of in
habitants, over 100000 are either insane,
idiots, deft-mutes, or blind, or are in
mates of prisons, reformatories, or poor
houses. If to those we add the out
door poor and the inmates of private
charitable institutions, the number will
swell to nearly or quite 100000, or one
per cent. of the total population. We
cannot begin too soon or prosecute too
vigorously the inquiry into the causes
of the prevalence of these evils, which
are like canker at the heart of all our
prosperity"
The number of mupers enumerated
in almshouses was 67,067 and the
number of prisoners in confinement
was 59,255. There were 1870 in
mates of reformatories for the young
OF the prisoners 10000 are maintained
in idleness.
The death-rate of the United States.
as established by the number of deaths
recorded, was fifteen, one to the thous-
and, rate decidedly higher than those
given in the censuses of 1860 and 1870
This does not indicate, however, any
actual increase in the rate, but shows
that the returns in 1880 were more
complete. Adding estimates of def
ciences, the agent in charge estimates
the actual death-rate at somewhere be-
tween seventeen and eighteen per
thousand. The rate in England in the
same year was twenty and half. OF
the total number of deaths reported,
which was 756,S93, the cause in 1851
cases was consumption; diphtheria
caused 3S,398 deaths; enteric or ty-
phoid fever, 32,905; malarial fever, 90
261, and accidents or injuries, 35,932.
The death-rate of the colored race is
much greater than that of the white.