SPINSTERS AND BACHELORS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2126, 8 July 1907, Page 1

SPINSTERS AND BACHELORS.

SEXES eoualisj.no in new ZEALAND.

INTERESTING DEDUCTIONS I'TIOM 'l'llU CENSUS. Statistics have a renelhmt appearance to the man in the street, says the ■Wellington correspondent of the Auckland Star, hut they are necessary

ami may even become interesting when the subject of the cyphering is suitable. For instance, out of piles of figures furnished by census emunera- ! tors the Kcgistrar-Gcneral of New Zealand lias evolved some very interesting conclusions, which are made public for the- first time this week. The 1006 census proves that graduallv the sexes are equalising them-

selves in New Zealand. Naturally in the early days the pioneers whose wives accompanied them to the new and unknown colony were few, so the proportion of males to females about fifty years ago was two to one. Gradually the ladies have improved their numerical position. They threatened to overwhelm the rival sex in 1901, when the percentage of females in the population was 90.38 per cent of the number of males as against 88.96 ten years before. Hut this rapid increase was not kept up, and the sterner sex may still have no fear of losing elbow room, for there are a hundred males in New Zealand to about eight-eight and three-quarter females. Another interesting deduction to he made by comparison with previous ; census returns is that although the number of dwellings to the square ■ mile has nearly doubled in 2o years. • the number of persons to an inhabited dwelling is steadily decreasing. It

now stands at 1.82 occupants to each dwelling. Tho distribution of sexes is remarkable. Canterbury and Otago have consistently showed an oxcess of spinisters aged' 15 years and upwards over bachelors aged 20 years and upwards. In 1906 the spinistors out nil inhered their gentlemen acquaintances by 2117 in Canterbury and 954 in Otago, but in all the other provinces gentlemen easily show numerical superiority, Wellington to the tune of 4389, and Auckland 3888. Taking tlie colony as a. whole, there arc 9633 bachelors who could not got partners if tboro was a general determination to assort tlie population into pairs, though had tho bold experiment been tried ill 1901 no fewer than 3572 spinsters would have been left weeping and lonely. "No doubt.,” says the matter of fact statistician, “the preponderance of .bachelors ill 1906 lias 'been to a great extent brought about by increased arrivals of male population from abroad.” Last year, as a matter of fact, the males arriving in the colony nearly doubled the arrivals of females.

The colony has not yet had to face the problem of crowding into the towns, at any rate, this question lias not reached ijp acute stage, though tlm balance is perilously near dropping oil the side of the towns. Country population comprises 51.63 per rent, of the whole, and tlio figures show that the towns are drawing a larger proportion as time goes on. It cost's £25 ;is 5d to keep a prisoner mi gaol for twelve mouths, and there were 2795 state hoarded individuals luring 1905, the proportion per 1000 of the population being 32.14. Our orison population, which is'much loss '■ban that of New South Wales, has been reduced by 6.47 per ten thousand if the population in tho last ton years.