DOMINION’S GROWTH.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 March 1922, Page 5

DOMINION’S GROWTH.

IVHAT THE CENSUS REVEALED. NEW PLYMOUTH’S EXPANSION. LEADS THE SMALL CENTRES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington March 8. The rate of increase of New Zealand’s population during the five years 1916>1921, was the lowest ever recorded. This is one of the facts revealed by the official record of the results of the census taken in April last. The Dominion gained 119,464 in population during the five years, but a part of this increase was due to the return of soldiers who were on active service overseas in 1916. Another fact shown by the census is that the drift of population into the cities and boroughs is continuing. The blue books containing the results. of the census taken in New Zealand last year have just been issued, by the Census and Statistics Office. Masses of figures, rather dismaying to the eye of the layman, contain the story of New Zealand’s growth during the five years that elapsed between the 1916 census and the 1921 census. They present many interesting and important facts. Each census in the history of New Zealand has shown a substantial increase in the population. This is the normal condition of a vigorous young country, remarks the Government Stn tistician. But the rate of increase since 1916, after allowance has been made for the movements of the soldiers, is lower than in any preceding census period. Three factors have been responsible for the lowering of the rate. Immigration in the war years was severely restricted, while the emigration figures were swelled by the inclusion of the members of the Expeditionary Force, thousands of whom were fated never to return. The third factor was the reduction in the rate of natural increase owing to the absence of so many thousands of men in the war years. STAGES OF GROWTH. When the first census was taken in 1851, the white population of New Zealand numbered 26,707. The stages of growth since that time are indicated by the following figures: 11858 59,413 1867 218,668 1878 414,412 1886 578,482 1896 703,360 1906 888,578 1916 1,099,499 1921 1,218,913 The rate of increase has varied. The increase during the last ten years has been 20.87 per cent., and if this rate is continued the population of the Dominion will not pass the 2,000,000 mark for another generation yet. The idea that New Zealand has a shortage of babies and that the population grows chiefly by immigration persists in spite of official contradictions. The late President Roosevelt, of the United States, once quoted New Zealand as a horrid example of race suicide, and his inaccurate statements have been in circulation ever since. The Dominion, as a matter of fact, has just about the highest rate of natural increase. Its birth-rate is merely moderate, but its death rate is extraordinarily low, and during the last forty-five years the excess of births over dearths has accounted for 70 per cent, of the total increase of population. During the five years covered by the 1921 census the Dominion gained 76,607 citizens by excess of births over deaths, and only 14,854 by excess of arrivals over departures. The corresponding figures for the five years 1911-1915 were 89,005 and 35,561. The rate of natural increase has fluctuated very little during the last thirty years, though there was a break in its regularity on account of the low birth rate of the war years and the influenza epidemic .of 1918. The rate of increase due to migration has fluctuated violently in accordance with changed industrial conditions and Government policies. It reached its peak in 1874, when the vigorous immigration policy of the Government of the day was responsible for the arrival of 32,118 assisted immigrants. In the years 1888-1891 the departures actually exceeded the arrivals. NORTH ISLAND LEADS. The Government Statistician remarks that the outstanding feature of the movement of population in the provincial districts during the last decade has been the rapid growth of Auckland d strict. The districts of Nelson and Westland, suffering from the reaction of mining interests, have not held _ their own and they have fewer inhabitants than they had in 1911. The North Island as ‘a whole has gained 90,183 inhabitants in the census period, while the South Island has gained 29,281, the respective percentage of increase being 13.85 and 6.53. The percentage that the papulation of each province bears to the population of the Dominion is shonvn by the census figures be as follows: Auckland, 30.32; Taranaki 54)8; Hawke’s Bay 5.00; Wellington 20.41; Marlborough 1.46; Nelson 3.91; Westland 1.16; Canterbury 16.33; Otago 11.23; Southland 5.10. The growth of Auckland is illustrated forcibly by the fact that of the total increase of 119,464 in the population of the Dominion since 1916, no less than 61,094, or 51 per cent., is credited to the Auckland provincial district, the remainder of the North Island taking 24 per cent, and the South Island having the remaining 25 per cent. Another fact emphasised by the Government Statistician in presenting the returns is that the drift of population to the towns is continuing. The term “urban drift” is uged to indicate the gradual abandonment of rural life for that of the city and the growth of cities at the expense of their rural hinterland. It is a condition not peculiar to the Dominion, but is experienced in practically every country in the world. It naturally is viewed with anxiety in a country that is dependent largely upon its farming industries. The movement seems to have begun in New Zealand about the year 189 b. At that time 55.69 per cent of the peop le were living in counties and 43.69 in boroughs The position disclosed by the 1921 census is that 43.55 per cent, of the people are in counties and 55.9 a .n boroughs. GROWTH OF CITIES. These figures have a margin of error, since the population of some of the boroughs is distinctly rather rural than urban, while, on the other hand, some of the county areas contain urbrtn population. But,’ after allowing for these factors as far as possible, the Government Statistician calculates that the rural population is 51.23 per cent, and the urban population 48.77 per cent, of the total. The same method of calculation applied to the 1896 figures gives the percentages as 61.95 and 38.05 reipeotivaiy. Th« movement of the

people towards the I owns is apparently gaining in momentum. The great bulk of the urban population is contained in the four large cities, which have over one-third of the total population of the Dominion. Auckland has 138,712 people, Wellington has 95,235, Christchurch has 92,733, and Dunedin has 68.716, making a total of 390,396 people for the four cities. Tbe figures show, however, that the secondary and smaller towns are growing relatively more rapidly than the cities. New Plymouth has pride of place with an increase of 29.1 per cant for the five yean.