BRITAIN'S GROWTH.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1482, 14 February 1887, Page 3

BRITAIN'S GROWTH.

A most noteworthy article appears In 'be Contemporary Revieiv for December, from too pin of Mr M. G. Mulhall, one of the most eminent of lmg statisticians. His conclusions are cFftiin to cause an animatf d cb'souaßion, a3 they cbul with ihe present material and moral condition of the Unitei Kingdom, oa which such a variety of continuing views are hold by tbo authorltl s conside ed competent to apeak on the subject at all. Mr Mikhail works ont bis figures with groat clearness, and hia paper 011 *' Ten Years of National Growth " is, at any rate, entirely free from the dryneßs almost inseparable from t.'ie troaitmnt of aatatisticil subject, and will be found readable by paraons who ordlnari y turn away from statistics with abhorrence. His conolusirinß are cot down under ten d fferent heads, and from their character it U nfcesaary, to avoid miaapprehension, they should be given m his own language: — Firs' ly we find that ih.3 re productive power of our people, as shown by the number of ohildren t) each mntriage, has. declined 4 per cent Bince 1880, and that this decline has boen coincident with a ride of emigration unprecedented m the records of the United Kingdom, it appeare, there ore, highly probable that there is a close relationship between those fao'B, and tint, as emigration increased, there will be a corresponding d'mloution m the fertility of marriigaa. , Secondly, that tho low ratio of marriage* and births m Ireland ehowa th«t oountry to be m a lamentable condition ; m f*ct, there fa no other oountry m tho world with so slow a bin h rat-a, which hai further declined 7 per cent since 1889. It would appear cb if agricultural depn shoos and tha exaction of landlords bad so far ruined the people that they oould not m^rry. Thirdly, that the death rate of the three kingdoms haa fallen very notably since 1880, which may be ascribed either to •anitary iraprovesnt-nta m towns or to '<ho increased ameuroption of meat and other fooi. Fourthly, that the moral condition of the people has improved marvi-U jusly since 1870, pauperism having deoreaeed 33> per cent, orimn 06 per cent. Moreover m the last ten years the consumption of liquor has dccl ned 24 per cent, and the numbar of school children to population risen from 8 to 12 per cent. Fifthly, that tbe savings of tho working olasßea have iroreußed steadily at the rate of seven millions per annum, having risen 82 per cent Bince 1875 g;Xthly, that 70 per cent of tho wheat and 30 per cent of the meat consumed <n the United Kingdom is imported, and that the more we import the cheaper is food, and to muoh the better fed are the working claese«. Seventhly, that British ebipping hi>B 'ncreaied ten million torn of parrying power m ten years, and that three seamen now perform as muoh as foordid m 1875. Eighthly, that our imports and exportß show an apparent decline of trade equal to 2 per cent since 1875, but that If prioea had remained the same the trade of 18.85 would have represented 772 millions, an iccreaso of 29 per cent. | Ninthly, tbtt the changn of prices has been profitable to Greufc Britain, the earing m imports being thirty-four million* m excess of the loss nn exports. Tenthly, that the increased production of coal and iron, and groat er consumption of fibre m our textile factories, shows that our industrial power has not dirair.. ished ; and. lnat'y that the increase of wealth since 1875 has averaged 180 millions yearly. — Home Neivs