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COMPLETION OF THE CENSUS REPORT.
55
COMPLETION OF THE CENSUS REPORT. Itself and work out the academic salvation of Italy. Into the provisions of the great enactment by which he counted on :achieving this desirable consummation Dr. Baccelli did not - enter with his interlocutor, but concluded by expressing his resolve to persevere until his retirement from public life in the noble words of a favourite poet of his :Æmatiis cecidi,
nec
Ut nequeam relevare
"Non omnis in arvis sic mea fata premuntur
caput."
COMPLETION OF THE CENSUS REPORT. THE publication, as we go to press, of Vol. IV., and of the copious Index to the Population Tables, completes the Detailed Report on the Census of England and Wales in 1891. ols. I. and II., containing the detailed results of the Census in the various subdivisions of England and Wales, were issued in May and June last ; and Vol. III., dealing with Ages, Condition as to Marriage, Birthplaces, Occupations, and Physical Infirmities, was published in August ; while Vol. IV., which has just been issued, contains the General Report on the results of the Census, with summary tables, in which these results are compared with those obtained at previous Censuses in England and Wales. The Index, which extends to more than 200 double-columned pages, affords a complete Gazetteer and Census Compendium showing the enumerated population in 1891 of each civil and ecclesiastical parish, and of each other recognised territorial subdivision ofE
manent Census staff should be retained in order to keep abreast of all these constant changes of areas and to make the desirable preparations for the next Census, which would necessarily enable the report to be issued more promptly. This permanent staff would, moreover, serve as the trained nucleus of the enlarged stafE employed at the time of the Census. Whether Government will be inclined to adopt
this often proposed small permanent Census staff or not, there is one other direction in which it may be hoped that the time necessary for the preparation of future Census reports may be abridged. Electrical tabulation by means of perforated cards representing each enumerated individual has been adopted at recent Censuses, not only in the United States, but also in Canada, Austria, and in several other states. It may reasonably be expected that any defects in this system which experience may have brought to light in these countries will have been rectified before the time arrives for taking another Census in this country, and that its adoption in the English Census Office will materially expedite the mass of tabulation which a Census report involves. The general report just issued appears to be full of varied interest on many topics intimately connected with public health and social conditions which we shall take an early opportunity to consider in detail.
THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA.
As a general rule, there exists considerable difficulty in what may be described as adequately accurate obtaining the country. it will 1 three after the of the Census reports concerning many of our accredited health resorts. It Nearly years taking .come as a surprise to many that the Census Report is only y is, therefore, not undesirable to record the result of perTo those who have had no opportunity toc) sonal observation made during a brief visit to so renowned a ow complete. realise the amount of labour involved in successively dealing winter resort as the island of Madeira. The search for an with a complex variety of facts and conditions appertaining ideal climate for prolonged residence has not been fully sucto 30,000,000 people the delay in the completion of the Census Report may well suggest a repetition of the frequentt cessful ; as yet the fortunate spot exists only in the imagina- charge of supineness on the part of Government departments. tion of the poets. For example, Tennyson has described Those who are well acquainted with the nature of the con" The island-valley of Avilion ; .
tents and the elaborate character of the
Tables, which fill1 than 2500 pages of the Census Report, and especially those who remember that the Preliminary Census Reportwas issued three months after the Census day, will not be) - disposed to make such a charge, although it is impossible to lose sight of the fact that the value of Census information is; ’in inverse ratio to the length of time devoted to its preparation. It may therefore be opportune to refer briefly to one or ’two of the obvious causes which appear to stand inI the way of a more rapid preparation and publication of the detailed Census Report. In the first place, there ’is no continuity in the Census arrangements. Hitherto, since; the beginning of this century, a Census of varying andl increasing detail has been taken in England and Wales everyr ten years. A new Census Act has, however, to be passed, a Census officer has to be provided, and a Census staffE has to be created on each occasion, which is dispersedL It follows as a .as soon as the Census Report is published. matter of course that, as no Census staff exists in intercensal periods, and as the precise nature of the Census inquiryr cannot be known until the Census Act is passed (which is; seldom the case until within a few months of the day fixedL for the enumeration), none of that careful preparation for the Census which would so materially facilitate the tabulation off the results is possible. The Census staff, moreover, has) hitherto consisted almost entirely of untrained clerks, who) naturally feel but a limited interest in their temporary occupation. It is pointed out in the opening of the final report justt issued that the boundaries of more than 20 per cent. of the) nearly 15,000 civil parishes in England and Wales, dealt witht in the report on the Census in 1881, were altered during the) interccnsal period 1881-91. Independently of these parish1 changes, the boundaries of boroughs (parliamentary andl municipal), of urban sanitary districts, and of ecclesiasticall parishes are matters of everyday occurrence, and since the) .creation of county councils are of increasing frequency. Suchi changes amount to thousands in the course of ten years, andl when a new Census is taken, the report on which is requiredl t) show the enumerated population for each area both in the ) new and in the preceding Census, it is obvious that an i -enormous delay is caused by the necessity for ascertaining the population of each altered area at the preceding Census. It has been suggested again and again that a small permore
,
*
’
,
,
-
-
.
.
Where fall-4 not hail, Nor ever wind blows
or
rain,
or
any snow,
loudly ; but it lies Deep-meadowed, happy, fair, with orchard 1?.wns, And bowery billows crowned with summer sea." And Swinburne, in Atlanta in Calydon, speaks of " Lands indiscoverable in the unheard-of west, Round which the strong stream of a sacred sea Rolls without wind for ever ;" A place where there is no snow, where neither the thunder "Nor swift rain saith anything, Nor the sun burns, but all things rest and thrive." This, however, is the climate found only around "the remote throne of souls." But, alas, we cannot bodily sojourn in these desirable climes. The climate of Madeira is one of the main factors on which the island depends for the visitors who bring to it its wealth, and, if not ideal, has at any rate a great deal to recommend it. Situated in mid-ocean, some 1500 miles from the shores of England, the island of Madeira lies between the parallels of 32° 49’ 44" and 32° 37’ 18" N. latitude and between the longitude of 16° 39’ 30" and 17° 16’ 38" west of Greenwichthat is, 10° north of the tropic of Cancer. Its position can be best mapped out by stating that a line from pole to pole passing through Madeira would cross Iceland and Greenland, and that a belt drawn round the world passing through Madeira would strike Alexandria. the Bermudas, and Charlestown, and would pretty nearly pass through Jerusalem. Most writers who have dealt with the group of volcanic islands ofE the African coast have spoken of them as classical islands, and besprinkled largely their description with classical fiction and myths. The terms "Elysian Shores," "Islands of the Blest," and "Fortunate Isles," are lavished upon each and all of them by different writers. Homer and Hesiod are invoked as authorities upon which to hang historical probabilities, and in later periods the descriptions of ancient mariners who sailed these seas are appealed to. Above all, it is remarkable that writers who have chanced to visit one particular is1and or group should, in dealing with that, attempt comparisons to the detriment of the other islands, in respect of which, however, opportunities of observation may have been less favourable. Without attempting such flights, however, it is obvious that the spot selected as a wintering resort should possess certain
COMPLETION OF THE CENSUS REPORT. Itself and work out the academic salvation of Italy. Into the provisions of the great enactment by which he counted on :achieving this desirable consummation Dr. Baccelli did not - enter with his interlocutor, but concluded by expressing his resolve to persevere until his retirement from public life in the noble words of a favourite poet of his :Æmatiis cecidi,
nec
Ut nequeam relevare
"Non omnis in arvis sic mea fata premuntur
caput."
COMPLETION OF THE CENSUS REPORT. THE publication, as we go to press, of Vol. IV., and of the copious Index to the Population Tables, completes the Detailed Report on the Census of England and Wales in 1891. ols. I. and II., containing the detailed results of the Census in the various subdivisions of England and Wales, were issued in May and June last ; and Vol. III., dealing with Ages, Condition as to Marriage, Birthplaces, Occupations, and Physical Infirmities, was published in August ; while Vol. IV., which has just been issued, contains the General Report on the results of the Census, with summary tables, in which these results are compared with those obtained at previous Censuses in England and Wales. The Index, which extends to more than 200 double-columned pages, affords a complete Gazetteer and Census Compendium showing the enumerated population in 1891 of each civil and ecclesiastical parish, and of each other recognised territorial subdivision ofE
manent Census staff should be retained in order to keep abreast of all these constant changes of areas and to make the desirable preparations for the next Census, which would necessarily enable the report to be issued more promptly. This permanent staff would, moreover, serve as the trained nucleus of the enlarged stafE employed at the time of the Census. Whether Government will be inclined to adopt
this often proposed small permanent Census staff or not, there is one other direction in which it may be hoped that the time necessary for the preparation of future Census reports may be abridged. Electrical tabulation by means of perforated cards representing each enumerated individual has been adopted at recent Censuses, not only in the United States, but also in Canada, Austria, and in several other states. It may reasonably be expected that any defects in this system which experience may have brought to light in these countries will have been rectified before the time arrives for taking another Census in this country, and that its adoption in the English Census Office will materially expedite the mass of tabulation which a Census report involves. The general report just issued appears to be full of varied interest on many topics intimately connected with public health and social conditions which we shall take an early opportunity to consider in detail.
THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA.
As a general rule, there exists considerable difficulty in what may be described as adequately accurate obtaining the country. it will 1 three after the of the Census reports concerning many of our accredited health resorts. It Nearly years taking .come as a surprise to many that the Census Report is only y is, therefore, not undesirable to record the result of perTo those who have had no opportunity toc) sonal observation made during a brief visit to so renowned a ow complete. realise the amount of labour involved in successively dealing winter resort as the island of Madeira. The search for an with a complex variety of facts and conditions appertaining ideal climate for prolonged residence has not been fully sucto 30,000,000 people the delay in the completion of the Census Report may well suggest a repetition of the frequentt cessful ; as yet the fortunate spot exists only in the imagina- charge of supineness on the part of Government departments. tion of the poets. For example, Tennyson has described Those who are well acquainted with the nature of the con" The island-valley of Avilion ; .
tents and the elaborate character of the
Tables, which fill1 than 2500 pages of the Census Report, and especially those who remember that the Preliminary Census Reportwas issued three months after the Census day, will not be) - disposed to make such a charge, although it is impossible to lose sight of the fact that the value of Census information is; ’in inverse ratio to the length of time devoted to its preparation. It may therefore be opportune to refer briefly to one or ’two of the obvious causes which appear to stand inI the way of a more rapid preparation and publication of the detailed Census Report. In the first place, there ’is no continuity in the Census arrangements. Hitherto, since; the beginning of this century, a Census of varying andl increasing detail has been taken in England and Wales everyr ten years. A new Census Act has, however, to be passed, a Census officer has to be provided, and a Census staffE has to be created on each occasion, which is dispersedL It follows as a .as soon as the Census Report is published. matter of course that, as no Census staff exists in intercensal periods, and as the precise nature of the Census inquiryr cannot be known until the Census Act is passed (which is; seldom the case until within a few months of the day fixedL for the enumeration), none of that careful preparation for the Census which would so materially facilitate the tabulation off the results is possible. The Census staff, moreover, has) hitherto consisted almost entirely of untrained clerks, who) naturally feel but a limited interest in their temporary occupation. It is pointed out in the opening of the final report justt issued that the boundaries of more than 20 per cent. of the) nearly 15,000 civil parishes in England and Wales, dealt witht in the report on the Census in 1881, were altered during the) interccnsal period 1881-91. Independently of these parish1 changes, the boundaries of boroughs (parliamentary andl municipal), of urban sanitary districts, and of ecclesiasticall parishes are matters of everyday occurrence, and since the) .creation of county councils are of increasing frequency. Suchi changes amount to thousands in the course of ten years, andl when a new Census is taken, the report on which is requiredl t) show the enumerated population for each area both in the ) new and in the preceding Census, it is obvious that an i -enormous delay is caused by the necessity for ascertaining the population of each altered area at the preceding Census. It has been suggested again and again that a small permore
,
*
’
,
,
-
-
.
.
Where fall-4 not hail, Nor ever wind blows
or
rain,
or
any snow,
loudly ; but it lies Deep-meadowed, happy, fair, with orchard 1?.wns, And bowery billows crowned with summer sea." And Swinburne, in Atlanta in Calydon, speaks of " Lands indiscoverable in the unheard-of west, Round which the strong stream of a sacred sea Rolls without wind for ever ;" A place where there is no snow, where neither the thunder "Nor swift rain saith anything, Nor the sun burns, but all things rest and thrive." This, however, is the climate found only around "the remote throne of souls." But, alas, we cannot bodily sojourn in these desirable climes. The climate of Madeira is one of the main factors on which the island depends for the visitors who bring to it its wealth, and, if not ideal, has at any rate a great deal to recommend it. Situated in mid-ocean, some 1500 miles from the shores of England, the island of Madeira lies between the parallels of 32° 49’ 44" and 32° 37’ 18" N. latitude and between the longitude of 16° 39’ 30" and 17° 16’ 38" west of Greenwichthat is, 10° north of the tropic of Cancer. Its position can be best mapped out by stating that a line from pole to pole passing through Madeira would cross Iceland and Greenland, and that a belt drawn round the world passing through Madeira would strike Alexandria. the Bermudas, and Charlestown, and would pretty nearly pass through Jerusalem. Most writers who have dealt with the group of volcanic islands ofE the African coast have spoken of them as classical islands, and besprinkled largely their description with classical fiction and myths. The terms "Elysian Shores," "Islands of the Blest," and "Fortunate Isles," are lavished upon each and all of them by different writers. Homer and Hesiod are invoked as authorities upon which to hang historical probabilities, and in later periods the descriptions of ancient mariners who sailed these seas are appealed to. Above all, it is remarkable that writers who have chanced to visit one particular is1and or group should, in dealing with that, attempt comparisons to the detriment of the other islands, in respect of which, however, opportunities of observation may have been less favourable. Without attempting such flights, however, it is obvious that the spot selected as a wintering resort should possess certain