SOCIAL ASPECTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4459, 5 July 1875, Page 2

SOCIAL ASPECTS.

The social aspects of the last. New Zealand census are extremely interesting. Parts Y. and YL, which have_ been issued from the Government Printing Office, contain a fund of “ entertaining knowledge” for those who study their contents. At all events, the fault is not the Registrar-General’s if the information is not full enough. We shall not, however, attempt to analyse all the elaborate returns of the RegistrarGeneral, contenting ourselves upon this occasion with noting a few of the more salient points. . For the purpose of contrast, we shah select the census periods of 1867, 1871, and 1874. Under the caption, “con- “ jugal condition of the people,” we find thatlhe percentage of married and single persons to the population, excluding Chinese and Maoris, was as under : . Married. Single. I December, 1567 30'7G .. February, 1571.. • - So'69 .. 69 31 March, 1574 .. .. 30'53 .. 69-17 The relative proportion, theretore, during the last three census periods,' of married and single, to the total population of the colony, varied but slightly. Table 2, of “unmarried, married, and “ widowed,” appears to be an unnecessary elaboration of the table we have quoted from. It may be as well to have it, however, although for our own part we do not quite see its utility. The like remark applies to the remainder of part Y. The proportion of unmarried persons is greatest, as might be expected, on the goldfields. Coming, to the “ occupations of the “ people,” in part YL, the details, although equally elaborate, are more interesting. The occupations are arranged in seven classes. Tjius, on March Ist, 1874, we have these results

1. Professional C,4GO 11. Domestic HI. Commercial • .. •• 13,207 IV. Agricultural .. ♦ • «.» 34,390 V. Industrial 40,287 VI. Indefinite and non-productive 12,200 VII. Occupation not stated .. .. 1,011 Now we should very much like io know who and what manner of colonists compose classes YI. and YII. “Indefinite “ and non-productive,” and “occupation “ not' stated,” which is exceedingly indefinite and may be non-productive also. We have a theory regarding the non-producing classes which may not he generally accepted. It is this : we class the bulk of the “public servants” among non-producers. They toil not, neither do they spin ; but are maintained by the people to do the people’s work. They earn their money, doubtless, but as we understand the term “non-pro- “ ducers,” they clearly fall within that description. We say this, however, without meaning any offence to a highly respectable body of men. The tables before us throw some light upon the subject. We find the apparent proportion of drones to the working bees to be ; Males. Females. Class YI 11.185 .. 721 Class YII 1,718 .. 163 The proportional per centago of class YI. is; 6'787 males and '562 females. The greater number of the “indefinite and ‘‘non-productive ” class is to be found “ outside cities and towns,” and a comparatively insignificant number on goldfields. On the goldfields of the colony, when the census was taken, there were 1344 persons returned under the two non-productive heads, of whom 74 were females. This says a great deal for general industrial- pursuits on the goldfields. However, it is only fair to state that in class VI., in a subsequent classification, there are 9632 laborers who, we submit, ought to have appeared among the industrial classes. Pursuing this branch of our inquiry a little further, we find, table IY., that 2470 persons were “engaged in. the “ General or local Government, or the “ defence or protection of the country ; beihg ’B3O per cent, of the European population. Of these seventeen are females; and here, parenthetically, we' may remark that a great deal more might be done in the way of employing female labor ■in the Government departments, more especially in the Telegraph a,nd Post-office. To be sure, we are altering the classification by the Registrar-General, who places the Government and provincial servants first in the sub-sections of class 1., that is, the “ professional class,” and immediately before “ persons engaged in “ the learned professions, or in literature, “ art, science, (with their immediate “ subordinates).” It maybe very flattering to the 2470 persons, male and female, who are “ engaged in the General or “ local Government, or the defence or “ protection of the country,” to take precedence of members of the learned professions, but with all respect to the Registrar-General, we submit that our classification is the more correct one. The public officials are returned under the following heads

General Government officers .. .. 1457 , Local Government officers .. .. HO Defence .. .. . 897 We have a total of “ 2230 persons sup- “ ported by tho community and of no “specified occupation.” This is the number of unfortunates who were . inmates of the benevolent and charitable institutions of the colony and in gaol. Of these 1601 are males and 629 females. The number is not large certainly, but it is sufficient to tax tho benevolence of he population to the utmost. Our space does not admit of pursuing this subject further in our present issue. We may add, however, that the criminal

classes numbered 559 when the census was taken on .March Ist, 1874, and of these 452 were males. Singularly enough, the Registrar-General places policemen and turnkeys in the first order of professional men, ever so many degrees in advance of members of Local Councils, justices of the peace, officers of the army, navy, militia, and volunteers, who take rank in the second sub-section, and as a matter of course quite out of range beyond the members of the learned professions, who are marshalled, according to a capricious fancy, in .“Order II.” This -is doubtless one result of overminuteness in detail; but it is a great blemish on the very useful work the Registrar-General . and . his staff have done.