CENSUS RETURNS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 16, 18 April 1907, Page 12

CENSUS RETURNS

-+ . MARRIAGE AND EDUCATION It is found that in April, -1906, there were 9633 bachelors aged 20 years and -upwards in excess of the number of the spinsters aged 15 years and up In 1901 the reverse was the case, the spinsters having been 3572 in excess cf the bachelors, and in 1896 simalarly the spinsters exceeded the bachelors by 178& No dioubt the preponderance of bachelors in 1905 (for the whole Colony) had been to a great extent fr^ V" h »y4» y 4 Xl } creased arrivals of male population from abroad. But in regard to proportions of the Colony other causes may have operated. At each of ■Mie above quoted censuses the. provdncial districts of Canterbury and Otago a c .zemarkable as having more spanste than bachelors, while all the others' fxhibit! E? 100R & 11 th ! + °PP° slte Position.- But the figures hurv Jnd nZ \ at the IXCl XC , ess o£ s P iast ers in Canterbury and Otagci has muoh diminished.

Of every 100 persons in New Zealand at the time of the census cf 1906, 83.50 could ~ read and write? 1.60 could read only, and 14.90 could neither read nor write. The proportion able" to read and write, and tof^L^ml 0 * S le i° reaXi only hasinc^ased steadtty since 1874. Ihe figures (says the ' Otago Daily Times ') are given for four censuses :— -

To ascertain, however, how completely education is car rued out accepting as a test the knowledge of readina and TOtmg, i-t is necessary to show the- condition at present m respect of age periods, which is . accordingly given. , — ■■ ° ' At - under -five years none are * found to read and' wnte.and only 0.37 were able "to read • Inuth ?f i£ aM ? '*° + do either bn a ? count « f ext *™c SriS' o»hi2^ *° -* tel \ years 65.51 oould read and Sad ' i§2tftl 4 J¥ d T 17 ' caving 24.35 who could not school-g^in^pericd * Onl7 thlee years of «»

- With the subsequent periods up to 40 years, figures under « read only ' and * cannot ' are reduced to small fractions as under :—: —

At. 40 to 45 years those who ' cannot read ' are over 1 percent., and the - proportion goes on-increas-ing regularly thus :— • ■ -

The improved conditions of the young people are clearly shown above. At the last two periods given, which belong to advanced life, 10.86 per cent, and 13.86 per cent. . are found " tci be either ' reading only ' or quite illiterate. x

EXCESS OF SPINSTBR3 OTJBB BaCHELOBS. Provincial Diatriot. 1896. 1901. Canterbury .... ... 3997 4918 * Otago ... ... 2066 1899 * 1906. 2117 964 Excess of Ba.chbi.obs oveb Spinstbbs. Wellington ... ... 637 32 Auckland ... ... 703 521 Nelson ... ... sgo 637 Hawke's Bay ... ... 1142 425 Westland ... ... 601 666 Taianaki ... ... 524 805 Marlborough ... ... 183 158 4389 3383 1550 1151 935 754 532

Cenauß, 1874 Census, 1886 Census, 1896 Census, 1906 Read and write. 68-15 74-01 80-60 * 83*50 Bead - only. 809 4 80 2-89 1-60 Cannot read. 23-76 21-19 16-51 14 90

10 to 15 years 15 to 20 years . 20 to 25 years 25 to 30 years 30 to 35 years 35 to 40 years Bead and write. 99-45. 99-63 . 99-56 9943 99.35 9912 Bead only. 0-22 0 08 008 013 016. 0 24 Cannot read. 0-33 0-29 . 0-36 0 : 44 0-49 064

80 to 55 years ... 60 to 65 years ... 70 to 75 years ... 80 and upwards Read and write. 96 82 94 05 89-15 8614 Bead only. 153 263 512 6"12 Cannot read. 215 342 5-73 7-74 i