The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1900-05-31
Objects Of
Federal Census


WASHINGTON, MAY 2S.-The objects
OF the federal census are Of three kind.
70 furnish a basis for the apportionmen,
or representatives in the lower house Of
congress; to ascertain the growth of the
United States in numbers wealth and in
dustry and to investigate the social or
CARNATIONS and institutions which deter
mine the growth of population and
wealth The first is a constitutional nee
essity, the second a study Of facts. and
the third study of causes.
Probably no social institution is so in
tmately connected with the growth of
population as that Of marriage. In inves-
tigating martial conditions the law re-
quires about each person a statement
whether he or she is single. married
widowed, or divorced: if married how
many years the marriage has lasted. If
mother, how many children she has
had and how many of these children are
now living
From the answers to the questions It
is possible to determine the birth rate.
the prevalence of marriage, the propor-
ton of women and children to the whole
population, the duration and fruitful
ness of marriage. SO far as the power
and Importance of nations are dependent
upon the size OF the popula ton to that
extent is the accurate determination of
these question a matter Of public neces-
sity.
In the United States there would seem
to be little danger of a decline in the pop
lot
the population is growing, it is still nee
essary to know how it is growing The
millions Of India are increasing because
a few more are born than die. 1t is
growth, but savage growth There is a
moro excellent kind of progress, that
resulting from a combination Of a mod
crate birth rate and a small death rate.
The marital statistics collected by the
census are in many respects very inter-
esting. Thus. the extent of power of the
anti-marital forces can eb estimated in a
way by ascertaining the proportion of
people between So and GA years Of age
who have never been married Census sta
tistics show the proportion of unmarried
females, between these ages is greater in
the East, North Carolina Rhode Island,
and Massachusetts, for instance, while
the proportion is smallest in the West,
South Dakota, Utah, and Oklahoma
bringing up the rear in the order named.
Men, on the contrary. are far more like
ly to remain single in the West than in
the East. The proportion of unmarried
men between So and GA is lowest in the
southern states, q. g.. Arkansas, Ala
bama and Georgia, and greatest in the
block Of western states west of the Mis-
sissippi In Nevada $50 per cent Of the
males between 50 and "a have never been
married. Idaho coming next with 32.4 per
cent, Montana next with 29.5 per cent,
etc.
That marriage is still pre-eminently the
sphere of women seems to be indicated
by the fact that more women marry than
men, and they marry at earlier ages.
Thus, only 81 per cent of females Is
years Of age and over are unmarried,
while among males of the same ages tn
proportion is Al pr cent Taking girls
and boys between 10 and 20 years Of age
it is found that one out of every ten girls
is married, while among the boys the
proportion falls to one in two hundred.
These were the proportions in 1890.
Whether these conditions have changed
since then is a question that can only be
answered by the census of 1900.