The Twin City star. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1910-19??, 1915-04-24
WHAT CENSUS FIGURES SHOW
Decrease In Death Rate and. lnorsass
In Home Ownership.


Decrease In Death Rate and, lnorsass
*.. In Home Ownership.
Washington.-The bulletin on Ne.
groes In the United States issued
March 20, by William j. Harris, direc.
tor Of the census, department of com
meree, contains for the first time a
statement regarding mortality among
Negroes. All previous census publ
cations have given statistics for the
total colored population, In which were
Included the Chinese, Japanese, sIndi-
ans and other non-whites. Thedata are
shown for the registration area Of the
: United States, the registration states
and certain selected cities-fifty- seven
tn al.
The Negro population Of the area was
197 per cent Of the total number of
Negroes In the United States in 1910,
and the deaths numbered 49, 499, with
. death rate Of 25.5 per 1000 popula-
don, . decrease as compared with the
rate In 1900, which was 29.4.
Tho selected cities shown are the
afUAsven registration cities which
had, in 1910, Negro population Of
1900 o. more, for which comparable
data are available in 1900. 90.
In the 6fty-seven cities Included In
the table the death rate among Negroes
n 1910 was 27.S and that among
whites 100 per 1000, the rate among
the Negroes being nearly twice as great
a that for the whites. In the thirty
three northern cities the death rate
among Negroes was PSI and that
among whites 1877 per 1000, while in
twenty -four southern cities the rate for
Negroes was 29.8 and that for whites
1873. Thus the death rates for each
race were higher In the southern than
In the northern cities, the difference be-
tween the races in respect to death
rate also being greater In the south.
Both Negroes and whites show de-
creases In death rate in 1910 as com
pared with 1900. when the ffty-s
cities are considered In the aggregats,
tho decline for the Negroes being 81
and for whites rs per 1000 population.
Every city In the south, except Key
West Fla, and Memphis. Tenn, show
Cd Q lower death rate for Negroes In
1910 than In 1900. The increase In Key
West was only OF, while In Memphis
It was 80 per LOCO.
The general tendency appears to be
In the direction of q declining death
rata for Negroes in registration cities,
the decrease being somewhat greater
for Negroes than for whites. As a re-
suit the difference between the death
rate for Negroes and for whites in
these cities was not as great in 1910
az q decade earlier.
The table presents the distribution Of
the Negro and white deaths for 1910
BY cause Of death for the registration
area and also for sixty nine of the sew
enty selected cities In the area, the
data for Springfield, Ill. not being
available. The table shows that deaths
among Negroes, as compared with the
whites, are relatively more numerous
for malaria, tuberculosis Of the lungs,
other forms Of tuberculosis, pneumo-
mia and whooping cough, while for
measles, scarlet fever. diphtheria, can
Ger, appendicitis diarrhea and violent
deaths Including suicide) the distribu-
ton Is noticeably higher among whites.
In other causes the differences In the
are slight.
The question as to whether the de-
crease in mortality among Negroes
IN 1910 as compared with 1900 was due
10 permanent causes, such as improved
housing conditions, better medical at
'ention and.in improved sanitary condi-
ions and not to the absence of epi-
lemics, Is an important and interesting
'ne. Undoubtedly one Of the factors
which has caused the decrease in the
leath rate, which decrease IL almost
universal In the cities Of the south, is
he increase In home ownership among
he Negro population.
The ownership of homes data for the
northern states and cities Is not avail
bSe' and what Is presented relates only
o the south. In the decade from 1900 |
o 1910 the number Of homes owned by
Negroes In the southern states increas-
d BY 102,912, or 31.4 per cent, this
Increase covering Increase In farm
ZONES Of 30,449, or 1877 per cent, and
q other homes Of TAGS, or 49.S per
emit The table presents the number
4 owned homes In 1910, the increase
Turing the decade, 1900 to 1910, and
lso the number Of Negro Inhabitants
o one owned home for each of the
outhern states.