The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-06-20
Marriage Statistics.

cral census: To furnish basis for
the apportionment Of representatives
in the lower house Of congress; to
learn the growth of the United States
in numbers, wealth and industry, and
to investigate the social organizations
and institutions which determine the
growth of population and wealth.
The first is constitutional necessity,
the second study of facts and the
third a study Of causes.
Probably no social institution is
connected SO intimately with the
growth of population as that Of mar
riage. = ln investigating marriage con
ditlons the law requires regarding each
person statement ;Shcther he or she
is single, married, widowed or divorced;
if married, how many years the mar
riagc has lasted; if mother, how
inany children she has had. and how
many Of these children arc now living.
From the answers TO the questions
1t Is possible to determine the birth
rate, the prevalence Of marriage, the
proportion Of women and children to
the whole population, the duration
and fruitfulness of marriage So far
as the power and Importance Of nations
are dependent upon the size of the
population, TO that extent is the accu-
rate determination of these questions
a 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 is growing,
it is still necessary 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 born; 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 excellent
kind Of progreas, that resulting from
the combination of moderate birth
rate and small death rate.
These statistics collected by the
census are in many respects very in
tcresting. Thus, the extent and pow
cr of the anti-marriagc forces can be
estimated in way by learning the
proportion Of people between So and
G4 years Of age who have never been
married. Census statistics show that
the proportion of unmarried females
between these ages is greatest in che !
east, in North Carolina, Rhode Island
and Massachusetts,, for instance, while
the proportion is smallestin the west,
South Dakota, Utah and Oklahoma |
bringing up the rear in the order nam
ed. Men, on the contrary, are far !
more likely TO remain single in the |
west than in the east. The proper
tion of unmarried men between SIS and |
Ga is lowest in the Southern States,
Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia, and
greatest in the block of Western States /
west of the Mississippi. In Nevada |
1872 per cent Of the males between SIS |
and 81 have never been married, Idaho
coming nczt with 34.4 per cent, Mon
taua next wi.h 29.5 per Gems, etc
That marriage is still eminently |
the sphere Of women seems to be in
dicated 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 age the proportion is Al per cent.
Taking girls and boys between l5 and
20 years of age, it is found that one
out of every 10 girls is married, while |
among the boys the proportion falls to
l in 200. These were the proportions
in 1890. Whether these conditions
have changed since then is question
shat can be answered only by the seH