THE VITAL STATISTICS OF NEW ZEALAND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 138, 11 June 1879, Page 4

THE VITAL STATISTICS OF NEW ZEALAND.

Tbe following letter from tho pen of Mr Charles R. Dysdale appears in the YEcho : — ** The Blue-book which treats of the statistics of the Australian Coloniea, and which is issued yearly by Mr Hayter, gives the most surprising and Wonderful description of hnman prosperity that lam acquainted with. A comparison between the population of China, which probably would not be mado to double even in a thousand yqars, and thafc of New Zealand, which, as I read the statistics might, without counting immigrants afc all, and by the mere force of the excess of births over deaths, donble in some fifteen years, is one of fche most instructive possible. In -China fche remarkable attention whicb has always been devoted to agriculture by fche ruling classes has caused long ago such a large population to come into existence, that it is probable fchafc fche 400,000,000 that are said to occupy the territory of thafc empire has been, maintained afc its present amount many , centuries, with occasional losses of some millions by famines, avsch as we have recently lived through. Tarn not able to ascertaiu whafc fche birth rato of China is, or its death rate, bat suspect: that both are very high. The birth , rate of England, we know, is about 35 per 1000 yearly; and the death rate, which is a very low one for Europe, about 23 per 1000. This shows a veryi high state of civilization from an old conntry ; bufc, alas ! we are enabled to! judge how far we still are, even in this wise country, cut off by the positive checks to population, when we turn toi ; New Zealana, which has the enormous birth-rate of 41 per 1000, whilst ifc had in 1876 the wonderfully low death-rate of 11-4 per 1,000. The excess of births over deaths, which in France is sometimes hardly appreciable, and which in . England and Wales is generally about ! some 55 per cent., rose in New Zealand in 1876 to 230 per cent ! What, thenj .is the reason for this extraordinary healthiness of New Zealand? It rei ■ sides greatly in the fact, disclosed in * : an account given by one of your con! temporaries, of the rate of wages gived •in that happy Colony. In New Zea- [ land, ifc seems, the lowest rate of agricultural wages is at present 8s a day of eight hours' work, in country where rwh&fc sells afc 4s. the bushel and butchers meat is 4d per pound. There . is np mystery in the matter, since we - know at Home thafc the mortality of Y[ the children of our richer classes (Anj -sell) is only 8 per cent, in the first year of life, whilst as much as , 30 per cent, among the poor in onr large towns die in fcheir first year. And again, the average age at death among our well-to-do classes is . found to-be about 55, whilst ifc is only ■ 35 among fche working classes, who are often too hard-worked and but ill-fed. * , The moral I would draw from the comparative statistics of New Zealand and England is as follows: — In order to have a low death rate tbere must be a very slight pressure of population on feed, supplies. This is .accomplished in New Zealand by the acquisition of: im- , i i mense tracts of fertile land capable, qf •raising wheat arid other; products with < little labor. In Europe, if we wist to . have such alow death rate, we must consent to have such a very slow birth \ rate as to enable our population to press as lightly" oii the powerrof lhe soil, and we shall never have true happiness until this time arrives.' ' v -X i. tT-ri.f -. •,. * ■: • ;