New-York tribune., 1909-01-02
RfRTEN M DEATHS.


Dr parlingron.s report Of vital sta tietscs for
Tho last voar IS. on the whole. gratifying. The
decrease in The number Of marriages might
cause regret were its causes and conditions not
So apparent In 50 far as il was due 70 the
business depression Of the early part of the
wear. il was purely temporary. Perhaps 1t was
due still more 20 the maria &c license law and.
if 50 II may he regarded with some degree Of
satisfaction as indicating more deLberation and
circumspection in marriages. and therefore =
presumptive lessening Of the danger ~ IN
happy and i'll advised matches \ smaller mum
ber of rongenial and prosperous marriages Is
assrlradlv nrpfera bic ~ \ greater number ending
in the divorce court.
The contrast between thn birth rate and the
death rate is decidedly encoura aging. The former
was 2S IS and the latter 1862 for each 1000 Of
the population There was thus net increase
Of the population. through the excess Of births
over deaths. OF ~ 792-tbe population OF con
siderable CITY added - New York in 4 single
year besides the multi'udos brought hifher by
steamships and railroads. That i. theoretically.
q course. the most heathful and desirable form
Of growth and Dr. Darlington's department j.
doing much 70 make II actually 80 by improving
the sanitary conditions Of child life in the city,
50 that the native children may grow up with
sound bodies and sound minds.
II X not claimed hat the birth rate fer 1905
vas the highest Oh record, though il was one
Of The highest II is stated that the death RI t.
was The lowest ever attained in this city. Meth
DDS Of computing thoS" statistics vary consider
ably in different cities. that II may not he
oi!itc fair - institute comparisons Rut II may
be observed that while New York birth rate
/ iS not tho highest and its death rate is not vet
The Io7veSt in the world, they rank among the
highest and tho lowest respectively. Recent
statistics give those for London tthe whole
1natropolis not merely the City proper as 27I
births and 1916 deaths. both figures being lower
( than those Of New York Those for Paris are
far less favorable. being only 1914 births and
IA deaths Bprlms are 246 and H. a less
favorable showing than ours, The statistics of
RirIninchaIn with its many great civic improve
nenfS approximate To those of New YORK. being
2a3 births and 49, deaths: Manchester has
o95 and is and Liverpool 3;3 and 1916. Of
other large cities with exceptional vital records
IT is 10 be remarked that while 81. Petersburg
has birth rate Of 293 higher than New York :.
II has Il death rate Of -: that BuenoS AyreS
has one of the highest birth rates in the world.
351. and the low death rate of 16: that Rio
de Janeiro. on the contrary, has the remarkably
low birth rate Of ia and death rate Of II .;
that Calcutta is distinguished for having the
lowest birth rate in the world-only 16.7-and
a high death rate-344; that sydney with the
good average birth rate of 2G.3, has of the
very lowest Of death rates-11; and that Madras
exceeds all other cities OF the world IN the pro
portionate number Of both births and deaths.
the former being as and the latter 5ST TO the
thousand.
Climatic. chronological and other conditions
affect vital statistics to some extent beyond the
power Of men, and hera in New York the caprice
and frequent inclemency Of the climate and the
bewildering mixture of ethnc and social condi-
tons asSuredly are not without their effect upon
the death rate and also the birth rate We
should say however that. the whole. our
birth rate ought 10 he ut least as high as the
average and the death rate somewhat below the
average in large cities and ii is gratifying to
see our approach to assurance Of such n status.