The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-12-04
MORE BIRTHS ruAN DEATHS.


Since the prosecution instituted by
the executive officer with regard to
registering of births. which resulted
in fine of one dollar in the district
court, much more attention has been
paid to registration and we are begin
ming to get our city statistics into
something like normal order. For the
first time during this year, we have
had some kind of a return of births.
But it was in its incipiency and we
used to get such ridiculous returns as
"a deaths and FIVE births, 12O deaths
and p births, at which rate the popu-
lation must have been visibly declin-
ing and would in the course of cal
culabe period of years be reduced to
zero.
Last month there was a notable in
crease in the number of births report
ed and this month the matter is be-
ginning to show up in a normal man
ner. For November, for the first time
in the history of our local statistics,
the number of births reported exceed
ed the number of deaths. There were
"A deaths, which is remarkably low.
Last year the number of deaths was
SO, and the November previous it was
Ill. But last year the number of births
reported in November for a city of
100000 people was only 80, and in Octo-
Der of the same year it was nine! This
November 81 births have been report
ed, being an excess of 10 over the num-
Der of deaths.
The Star has always maintained that
the law provided the Board of Health
with ample machinery for the collec-
ton of statistics, and it only rested
with that body to set it in motion.
Year in and year out The Star, and
years ago the old Gazette, when it was
an Independent weekly, used to labor
TO get the Board of Health to move in
this matter. To DR.. Pratt must be
given credit for his energy in pushing
this statistical work to some measure
of fruition. But we are by no means
through with the work yet. 1t is eX-
tremely doubtful whether the 81 births
reported represent all the births for
the Honolulu district for the month of
what are the births and deaths for the
whole Territory. This information
will be obtained in time and when it is
obtained will be of the utmost value,
There is nothing that tourists enquire
about more eagerly than health statis-
tics. When man intends to bring his
family down here for the sake of the
lF he
wants to know about sanitary condi-
ton. He wants to know the prevailing
diseases, the total population, the per-
centage of deaths, and the percentage
of births not only for the city, but for
the whole country. We have never
been able to supply this information,
and we can't do it even now. We have
something that makes a better show
ing in the city of our birth rate is
now reported as exceeding our death
rate, but outside the city limits we
know nothing as yet save the vague
generalities of reports hastily written,
in many cases upon hearsay, and ut
terly unsupported by statistics.
The success of the statistics in Ho-
nOlulu should stimulate the Board to
urge upon it's agents in the country
districts to follow in it's footsteps. A
determined effort will ensure success,
and we shall have one more blot re-
moved from u.s. and have gone forward
another pace in getting ourselves in
line with our sister States and Terri
tories on the mainland.