POPULATION STATISTICS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 50, 18 February 1944, Page 8

POPULATION STATISTICS

MAORI AND EUROPEAN FIGURES INTERESTING LOCAL COMPARISONS The latent population statistics have come to hand and as a result of a census taken by the Zone 'K' Patriotic Committee the t'gures with regard to the ratio between Maori and Pakeha are, in the main, altogether different l'rom what is generally believed. In most of the surrounding districts the total number of Europeans exceeds the number of Maoris —a fact which is probably surprising to many who. thought otherwise. Otakiri, Manawahe, Edgecumbe, Wainui, Waimana, Awakeri, Thornton and Oliope, Taneatua and Oj)ouriao and Te Whaiti are the districts that have so far published statistics, and of these, Wainui, Waimana and Tc. Whaiti are the only ones in which the Maori population exceeds the number of whites. In all the others there are nearly four times as many Europeans as Maoris. The total number of householders in the districts mentioned reaches 1289, the largest number as could i well be expected being in the Bor- j ougli and Ohope. I The Borough and Ohopc likewise, has, the largest number of Euro- 1 peans, there, being 2279, 152-1 of these being over sixteen. In comparison, the total number of Maoris is only 197, 119 of whom are over sixteen. In certain districts such as Manawahe, Edgecumbe and Awaken, there are no Maoris at all the total population Avhich consists entirely of Europeans being 151, 790 and 70(J respectively. Whether the town air is not so suitable for children, or whether farmers are better able* to support large, families is a point in question, but whereas the Borough and Ohope with the largest adult population has only half the. number of children compared to adults, the majority of the country places have at least threequarters the number of children as adults. In some places their number is even well above the adult population. In Wainui, in particular, the number of children exceeds the number of adults' by at least 50 per cent. In the. districts mentioned tile total number of adults is i:521, while the total number of ehi.dren is 2611, showing that the number of children compared to adults is in the main roughly 50 per cent. Finally, one of the most interesting facts is that Maoris, popularly accredited with having large, families actually have no more children on an average than Europeans, the statistics showing that there are roughly [il'tv children to every hundred adults, listed in both Maori and European statistics. The above review might however be considerably altered with the inclusion of tlie figures from Te Teko, Matata, Galatea. Ruatahuna. Iluatoki and Ngatiawa which are exeluded owing to the absence of returns.