The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1900-05-30
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Inc 0uettlO1 cI census anesIons
The objects Of the federal census are Of
three kinds: To furnish a basis for the
superintendent Of Representatives in the
lower house Of Congress TO ascertain the
growth Of the United stetes il numbers,
wealth and Industry; n d to investigate
the social organizations and institutions
which determine the growth Of popula-
ton and wealth. The first is constitu-
tionsl necessity, the second a study OF
facts, and the third study Of causes.
Probably no social institution is so in
timateiy connected with the growth of
population as that cf marriage. In inves-
tigating marital Conditions the law re-
quirts about each perscn a statement
whether he or she is single, married,
widowed OF divorced If married, how
many years the marriage has lasted; II a
mother. how many children she has had
and how many of these children are now
living.
From the answers TO the questions i IS
possible to determine the birth rate. the
prevalence OF marriage. the proportion of
women and children TO the whole popu :
lstion, the duration and fruitfulncss of
marriage So far as the power and i'm
portance of nations are dependent upon
the size of the population, TO that extent
is 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 pop
ulatien. Bet even when we are sure that
the population Is growing, IL is still neces-
sary TO know how it is growing. The
millions Of India are increasing. but it is
! by a process OF many births and many
deaths. In good years millions are borni
In times Of famine millions die, the
population increasing because
few more are born than die. 1t is growth.
but savage growth. There is more ex-
eeIlent kind Of progress, that resulting
from the com n1bination of moderate birth
rate and small death rate.
The marital statistics collected by the
census are in many respects very inter
esting. Thus the extent aud power OF
| the anti marital forces can be estimated
in way by ascertaining the proportion
of people between 50 and Ga years OF age
who have never been married. Census
statistics show that the proportion Of un-
married females between these ages is
greatest in the East, in North Carolina,
Rhode Island and Massachusetts, for in
stance, 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 likely to remain single in the
West than in the East. The proportion
of unmarried men between % and 81 is
| lowest in the Southern States, e. g., Ar
kansas, Alabama and Georgia, and great
est In the block ofW estern States west OF
the Mississippi. In Nevada 3s.2 per cent.
OF the males between S. and 64 have never
been married, Idaho coming next with
32A per cent, and Montana next with
295 per cent, etc.
That marriage is still pre-eminently
| the sphere OF women seems to be indica-
ted by the fact that moro 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 the pro-
| portion is fl per cent Taking boys and
girls between Is and 20 years OF age, 1t is
found that one out OF every ten girls is
married, while among the boys the pro-
| D ,rtion falls to one in two hundred.
These were the proportions in $780,
Whether these conditions have changed
since then is question that can only be
! a lswered by the census Of 1900.