THE CENSUS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1664, 20 January 1917, Page 3

THE CENSUS.

FURTHER DETAILS,

Speaking on the subject of the Census, the Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. G. W. Russell) stated that one of the features of the figures is-the rise of Greater Wellington to the position of second largest city area in the Dominion, Christchurch having fallen to third position. Auckland retains the lead by a very large margin. “During last year,” said the Minister, “it was resolved to rearrange the metropolitan areas for the purpose of vital statistics. After consultation with the local authorities in each of the four centres, we formed metropolitan which included, in addition to the central borough and the surrounding boroughs, considerable areas of rural land adjacent, to and contingent on the cities. This change has made it impossible to compare the 191 G figures usefully with tlje figures secured at the census of 1911. “The returns that have reached me show that the populations of the four metropolitan areas are as follow : Auckland 134,099. Wellington 95,208 Christchurch 92,413 Dunedin 68,729 Under the scheme that was framed last year for the publication of vital statistics, certain suburban areas were selected, consisting of the towns of Gisborne, Napier, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Nelson, Grey Valley (including Greymouth), Tima.ru, and Invercargill. The populations of these areas are as follow: — Wanganui 19,546 Invercargill 17,870 Napier 14,743 Palmerston N 14,003 Timaru .13,939 Gisborne 12,664 Nelson 9,890 New Plymouth 9,795 Grey -Valley 8,356 The Grey Valley boroughs were included in this column in order to secure a West Coast district for the purpose of com parison in the preparation of vital statistics. “Of even greater interest,” added the Minister, “are the figures referring to the population of the electoral districts. Some surprising facts are revealed in the North Island. Ohinemuri, for example, has lost practically 3,000 of its population. The Auckland East constituency shows a reduction of 1,209, and Auckland Central a loss of 2,439. Oroua shows a decrease of over 1,009, and Master!on of about 600. Marsden remains practically stationary. It has to be remembered, in the consideration of these figures, that the districts have sent many men away with the Expeditionary Forces, and these departures may account for the loss in some cases. “Some big increases have taken place. Eden has added 7,400 persons to its population, and Manuka u nearly 6,000, and the other electorates in the vicinity of Auckland show substantial increases. The growth of population in the rural districts of Auckland is strongly marked. Tauranga’s increase is about 7,000, and the figures show expansions right down the east coast of the North Island. “The increases in Wellington include: Halt, 2,700; Wellington Suburbs, over 3,000; Wellington North, 2,600; Wellington Central, 720, and Wellington East, over 4,000. Wellington South has a decrease of 1,600.

“Turning to the South Island, the West Coast constituencies all show substantial decreases, while Nelson and Wairau have small increases. Hurunui and Kaiapoi have decreases, Avon shows an increase of about 1,700, and Christchurch North a similar advance. Christchurch East, has lost some 1,000, and Christchurch South and Riccarton have each a gain of, roughly, 000. Ellesmere, Otago Central, Dunedin West, Dunedin Central, Bruce, Wakatipu, Mataura, and Wallace are among the constituencies that show decreases. Lyttelton and Timaru show fair growth, while, Dunedin South has added 2,000 and Invercargill about 1,200. “The most populous electorate in the North Island is Eden, with 21,051 persons, while the South Island’s largest electorate in point of population is Dunedin South, with 17,108 persons. Christchurch North and Avon follow (dose with nearly 17,000."