Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1900-06-05
THE QUESTION or THE CENSUS
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QUESTIONS.
The objects Of the federal census are
OF three kinds: To furnish . basis for
the apportionment Of representatives 10
the lower house of congress; TO ascer-
tain the growth Of the United States 10
numbers, wealth and industry; and to
investigate the social organic .ti0ns and
institutions which determine the growth
of population and wealth. The hrst 10
constitutional necessity, the second .
study Of facts, and the third study OF
causes.
Probably no social institution Is 30
intimately connected with the growth OF
population a. that Of marriage. In In
yestigating martial conditions the law
requires about each person Q statement
whether be or she Il single, married,
widowed or divorced; II married, how
many years the marriage has lasted II Q
mother how many children she has had,
and how many Of these children are now
living.
From the answers to the questions II is
possible to determine the birth rate, the
prevalence of marriage, the proportion
OF women and children to the whole
population, the duration and fruitful
ness of marriage. So far - the power
and Importance Of nations are depend
ent upon the size Of the population, to
that extent IL the accurate determination
OF these questions . matter OF public
necessity.
In the United States there would seem
to be little danger Of . decline In the
population. But even when we are sure
that the population Ia growing, 1t Ia nee
essaYy to know how II Is growing. The
millions Of India are increasing, but II is
by process Of many births and msny
deaths. In good years millions are
born; Ia times of famine millions die,
the population increasing because few
more are born than die. IL Is growth,
but savage growth. There Is more
excellent kind OF progress, that resulting
from the combination Of q moderate
birth rate and small death rate.
The martial statistics collected by the
census are In many respects very inter-
esting. Thus, the extent and power OF
the anti.marital forces can be estimated
In way by ascertsining the proportion
Of people between 50 and Ga years OF age
who have never been married. Census
statistics show that the proportion Of
unmarried females between these ages is
greatest In the East, In North Carolina,
Rhode Island and Massachusetts,, for
instance, while the proportion IL small
est In the West, South Dakota, Utah and
Oklahoms bringing up the rear In the
order named. Men, on the contrary,
are far more likely to remain single In the
West than In the East. The proportion
of unmarried men between So and 81 Is
lowest In the Southern States, Q. g.,
Arkansas, Alabam, and Georgia, and
greatest in the block of Western states
west Of the Mississippi. In Nevada 80 J
per cent Of the males between 55 and ~
have never been married, Idaho coming
next with 80 per cent, Montana next
with 29.5 per cent, etc.
That marriage IL still prominently 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 IL
years Of age and over are unmarried
while among males OF the same ages the
proportion Is Al per cent. Taking girl q
and boys between 10 and 20 years OF age,
II IL found that one out OF every ten
girls Is married, while among the boys
the proportion falls TO one 10 two hun
dred. These were the proportions In
1890. Whether these conditions have
changed since then is q question that car
only be answered by the census Of 1900