GENERAL REPORT WITH APPENDICES,

BY

WALTER A. GALE,

SUPERINTENDENT OF CENSUS,

AND CLERK OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY,

(LATE REGISTRAR GENERAL).

PERTH :

BY AUTHORITY : RICHARD PETHER, GOVERNMENT PRINTER.

PREFACE

THE complete Report upon the Census of the Fifth of April, 1891, was finished upon the 26th of August in the same year. The letterpress portion of the Report, epitomising the general results elicited at the Enumeration of the Population, was published on the 16th of October, 1891. The Census Results, in a complete from, it has not been found possible, in consequence of the bulky nature of the Appendices, and of the many demands recently made upon the Printing Department, to publish until now.

WALTER A. GALE.,

Superintendent of Census.

october, 1892.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.—GENERAL

CHAPTER II.—NUMBERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE PEOPLE

CHAPTER III.—PROPORTION OF THE SEXES

CHAPTER IV.—DOMICILIATION OF THE PEOPLE

CHAPTER V.—CONJUGAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE

CHAPTER VI.—AGES OF THE PEOPLE

CHAPTER VII.—BIRTHPLACES OF THE PEOPLE

CHAPTER VIII.—RELIGIONS OF THE PEOPLE

CHAPTER IX.—EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE

CHAPTER X.—OCCUPATIONS OF THE PEOPLE

CHAPTER XI.—SICKNESS AND INFIRMITY

CHAPTER XII.—THE CHINESE

CHAPTER XIII.—THE HALF-CASTE ABORIGINES

CHAPTER XIV.—THE ABORIGINES

CHAPTER XV.—AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK

APPENDICES.—Aborigines excluded throughtout.

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II.—NUMBERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE PEOPLE—

Table I.—Return showing the Population of Western Australia, as distributed amongst the Districts and sub-Districts of the Colony on the night of April 5, 1891

Table II.—Return showing the Population, Males and Females, in the Counties of the Colony at the date of Census 1843 and 1847

Table III.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the Population, Males and Females, in each District of the Colony, at the date of Census 1854, 1859, 1870, 1881, and 1891

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IV.—DOMICILATION OF THE PEOPLE—

Table I.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing Dwellings and Rooms contained therein

Table II.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing number of Dwellings, and Materials with which constructed

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER V.—CONJUGAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE—

Table I.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the Conjugal Condition of Males and Females, in each District in the Colony, at date of Census, 1891

Table II.—Summary by Municipalities :—Return showing the Conjugal Condition of Males and Females, in each Municipality and Town, at date of Census, 1891

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VI.—AGES OF THE PEOPLE—

Table I.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing persons, Males and Females, at all ages, living in each District of the Colony, at date of Census, 1891

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VII.—BIRTHPLACES OF THE PEOPLE—

Table I.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the Birthplaces of the Inhabitants, Males and Females, in each District of the Colony, at the date of Census, 1891

Table II.—Return showing British Subjects, by Naturalisation or Parentage, born in Foreign Countries, &c.

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VIII.—RELIGIONS OF THE PEOPLE—

Table I.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the Religions of persons, Males and Females, in each District, at date of Census, 1891

Table II.—Summary by Municipalities :—Return showing the number of persons, Males and Females, in each Municipality and Town, belonging to each of the five principal Religions Denominations of the Colony, at date of Census, 1891

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IX.—EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE—

Table I.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the degree of Education possessed by Males and Females of different ages, in each District, at date of Census, 1891

Table II.—Summary by Municipalities :—Return showing the degree of Education possessed by Males and Females of different ages, in each Municipality and Town, at date of Census, 1891

Table III.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the number of persons receiving Instruction and not receiving Instruction in each District, at School ages (between 4 and 16 years), at the date of Census, 1891

Table IV.—Summary by Municipalities :—Return showing the number of persons receiving Instruction not receiving Instruction, in each Municipality and Town, at School ages (between 4 and 16 years), at the date of Census, 1891

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IX.—EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE—continued—

Table V.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the degree of Education possessed by persons of School ages (between 4 and 16 years) stated on Schedules as receiving Instruction " at home," and those whose place of Instruction is " not stated," in each District, at date of Census, 1891

Table VI.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the degree of Education possessed by persons of School ages (between 6 and 14 years), stated on Schedules as receiving Instruction " at home," and those whose place of Instruction is " not stated," in each District, at date of Census, 1891

Table VII.—Summary by Municipalities :—Return showing the degree of Education possessed by persons of School ages (between 4 and 16 years), stated on Schedules as receiving Instruction " at home," and those whose place of Instruction is " not stated," in each Municipality and Town, at date of Census, 1891

Table VIII.—Summary by Municipalities :—Return showing the degree of Education possessed by persons of Compulsory ages (between 6 and 14 years), stated on Schedules as receiving Instruction " at home," and those whose place of Instruction is " not stated," in each Municipality and Town, at date of Census, 1891

Table IX.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the degree of Education possessed by persons of School ages (between 5 and 15 years), belonging to five principal Religious Denominations, in each District, at date of Census, 1891

Table X.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing number of persons, Males and Females, at the Ages herein specified, in each District, attending Sunday School, at date of Census, 1891

Table XI.—Summary by Municipalities :—Return showing the number of persons, Males and Females, at the ages herein specified, in each Municipality and Town, attending Sunday School, at the date of Census, 1891

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER X.—OCCUPATIONS OF THE PEOPLE—

Table I.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the Occupations in detail of persons, Males and Females, in each District, at date of Census, 1891

Table II.—Summary by Municipalities :—Return showing the Occupations in detail, of persons, Males and Females, in each Municipality and Towns at date of Census, 1891

Table III.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the principal Occupations of persons of both sexes, in each District, at date of Census, 1891

Table IV.—Summary by Municipalities :—Return showing the principal Occupations of persons of both sexes, in each Municipality and Town, at date of Census, 1891

Table V.—Summary by Municipalities :—Return showing the number of persons of both sexes carrying on business as Manufacturers, Dealers, and both Manufacturers and Dealers combined, in each Municipality and Town, at date of Census, 1891

Table VI.—Summary by Municipalities :—Return showing the average amount of Wages paid weekly, the number of Employers of labor, number of those in Business on their Own Account but not employers of labor, number of Wage Earners, and number of Unemployed, in each Municipality and Town, at the date of Census, 1891

Table VII.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the former Occupations of the Unemployed

Table VIII.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the Occupations, from a domestic point of view, of Inhabitants of the Colony, on the night of the fifth of April, 1891

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XI.—SICKNESS AND INFIRMITY—

Table I.—Summary by Districts :—Return showing the number of persons, Males and Females, Sick or Infirm, in each District of the Colony, at date of Census,1891

Table II.—Summary by Municipalities :—Return showing the number of persons, Males and Females, Sick or Infirm, in each Municipality and Town, at date of Census, 1891

Table III.—Return showing the number of Males and Females, of different ages, Sick or Infirm, in the Colony, at date of Census, 1891

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XIV.—THE ABORIGINES—

Table I.—Summary by Districts :—Education of Aborigines

Table II.—Summary by Districts :—Religions of Aborigines

Table III.—Summary by Districts :—Birthplaces of Aborigines

Table IV.—Summary by Districts :—Ages of Aborigines

Table V.—Summary by Districts :—Occupations of Aborigines

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XV.—LIVE STOCK—

Table I.—Return showing the number of Live Stock in each District of the Colony of Western Australia, at the date of each Census, taken from 1843 to 1891

GENERAL REPORT.

INDEX TO CONTENTS OF GENERAL REPORT.

N.B.—In this Index the figures refer to the numbers of the paragraphs in the General Report.

CHAPTER I.—GENERAL.

CHAPTER II.—NUMBERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE PEOPLE.

CHAPTER III.—PROPORTIONS OF THE SEXES.

CHAPTER IV.—DOMICILIATION OF THE PEOPLE.

CHAPTER V.—CONJUGAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE.

CHAPTER VI.—AGES OF THE PEOPLE.

CHAPTER VII.—BIRTHPLACES OF THE PEOPLE.

CHAPTER VIII.—RELIGIONS OF THE PEOPLE.

CHAPTER IX.—EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE.

CHAPTER X.—OCCUPATIONS OF THE PEOPLE.

CHAPTER XI.—SICKNESS AND INFIRMITY.

CHAPTER XII.—THE CHINESE.

CHAPTER XIII.—THE HALF-CASTE ABORIGINES.

CHAPTER XIV.—THE ABORIGINES.

CHAPTER XV.—AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK.

GENERAL REPORT

GENERAL REPORT

TO THE HONORABLE THE COLONIAL SECRETARY.

SIR., Census Office, Perth, August 26th, 1891.

In accordance with Section 9 of " The Census Act, 1891, " I have the honor to forward the following Report :—

CHAPTER I.

2.

The Census of Western Australia, with which this Report deals, was taken upon Sunday, the fifth of April, 1891. [Census Day.]

3.

The date chosen was that upon which it had been previously arranged that a general Census of the British Empire should be taken, the present being the second occasion upon which the population of the United Kingdom and the Australasian Colonies have been enumerated simultaneously. [Second simulatenously Census of Empire.]

4.

In point of size Western Australia is not only the largest of the Australasian Colonies, comprising as it does nearly one third of the Southern Continent, but it also is, with the exception of Canada and India, the largest portion of the British Empire, Western Australia contains about 1,060,000 square miles, or, in other words, an area nearly nine times as large as that of Great Britain and Ireland. A very large portion of the interior of the Colony is wholly devoid of civilisation ; much of it has never even been seen by the eye of white man. Nevertheless, the facts that the coastline of the Colony is (including indents) about 5,500 miles in length, that settlement extends along the shores of the Colony inland for an ever-varying, but always a considerable, distance, and that this belt of civilization, fringing the whole of the Western and portion of the Northern and Southern coasts of Australia, is settled by a scattered community of less than 50,000 souls, are sufficient evidence in themselves alone that the carrying out of a Census of Western Australia is a serious undertaking. [Geographical difficulties in taking of our Census.] [Less than 50,000 people scattered along a coast-line 5,500 miles in length.]

5.

In consequence of the long distances which they had to travel and the infrequency of means of transport, the last of the schedules issued in connection with the Census were not received back at head-quarters until the first of July, or almost [Consequent lapse of time between issue and receipt of schedules.]

Three months after Census Day—schedules which had been issued more than three months prior to the fifth of April ; and consequently had occupied over six months in their distribution and collection.

PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS.

6.

Long before the first of the schedules were issued the preliminary arrangements in connection with the Census had of course been made. In the middle of November of 1890. my Preliminary Report, embodying the various suggestions in connection with the taking of the Census, was submitted to and approved by the Government. [Preliminary arrangements.]

7.

The Government Statisticians of the other Australian Colonies had previously been written to, and with that official courtesy characteristic of them they had promised to afford me all the information which I might require—promises which, it is needless to say, they subsequently fulfilled. [Assistance rendered by sister Colonies, &c.]

8.

To the Government Statist of Victoria (Mr. H. H. Hayter), I am particularly indebted. Having myself had no previous experience in connection with the taking of a Census, I had to rely to a certain extent upon the experience of others, and in this respect the Report of the Victorian Census of 1881, as well as the admirable Report of Mr. L. S. Eliot upon the last Census of our own Colony, afforded me the most valuable assistance. Mr. Hayter also caused me to be regularly supplied with the Instructions, Forms, &c., issued by him in connection with the present Census, and from these I derived a great deal of valuable information and instruction, much of which I was able to profit by. [Particularly by Victoria.] [Indebtedness to predecessor.]

9.

In consequence of no Session of the Legislature having been held during 1890, the Census Act was not passed until the 26th of February, 1891. It had, therefore, to be taken for granted that the main features of the Draft Bill would not be interfered with, and instructions were issued in advance accordingly. Consequently, when the Bill became law (fortunately without amendment), most of its provisions had already been acted upon. [Passing of Census Act.]

10.

The Census Act of 1891 appointed the day for the taking of the Census ; interpreted the definitions of the various terms employed ; provided for the appointment of a Superintendent of Census ; made provision for the appointment, by the Superintendent, of enumerators, sub-enumerators, clerks, &c. ; described the mode of procedure to be observed in connection with the distribution and collection of the Schedules ; and finally, imposed a penalty of Twenty pounds for non-compliance by the public with the various provisions of the Act, and inflicted a similar fine upon any officer employed by the Superintendent of Census who should divulge, except for official purposes, any of the information to which be might have access. [Synopsis of Census Act.]

11.

With the provisions of this Act little fault could be found. While the powers of the Superintendent of Census were clearly defined, those powers were vested in him alone, and he was made responsible for the satisfactory preparation, conduct, and conclusion of the task allotted to him. [Powers of Superintendent under Act.]

12.

Chief among the matters left to the discretion of the Superintendent was the appointment (and dismissal) of officers. That this course was the wisest one, the experience of other countries clearly proves. In England, at the 1881 Census, the clerks were appointed by the Treasury. With reference to them. Dr. Ogle (the Superintendent of Statistics) stated to the English committee appointed by the Treasury to inquire into the taking of the present Census, that " a very large proportion" turned out to be absolutely unfit for any work at all ;" while of the staff appointed by the Government for the tabulation, &c., of the last Census of Victoria, Mr. Hayter. [Necessity for appointment of officers by Superintendent.]

The Government Statist, complained that some were " so defective as regards both " ability and good conduct as to be from first to last only a burden to the office."

13.

It is thus evident that, throughout the Empire, it is too often the practice to consider the Census Office as a refuge for the destitute, regardless of the fact that the work of Census clerks is of a much more complex nature than that of almost any department of the Civil Service. The figures made use of in this Report are numerous and intricate ; but there are thousands of other preliminary figures to be gone through of which the public have no knowledge, and some of which it is impossible for the officer in charge to check. As the Superintendent of Census is responsible for the execution of the work—which he is expected to perform in the best manner, in the shortest time, and with the least expense possible—it is surely only just to allow him to appoint and dismiss his staff. [Census work of intricate nature.]

14.

As regards the appointment of the enumerators and sub-enumerators, there was little chance of incapable persons being appointed (although even with respect to the latter class it was found necessary to make one or two alterations at the last moment) ; but with regard to the appointment of the office staff, for the purposes of compilation, tabulation, &c., the confidence reposed in him was necessary to enable the Superintendent to appoint a body of officers who were all known by him to be both trustworthy and able men.

15.

It thus happened, partly by design and partly by the accident of favorable circumstances, that upon the present occasion the officer entrusted with the performance of the important task allotted to him, found himself ably assisted by a set of Census clerks half of whom had received the benefits of an English University education, and all of whom were, as was subsequently proved, peculiarly adapted to the responsible and intricate work entrusted to them. [Ability of 1891 Census clerks.]

APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS.

16.

The gentlemen employed as Census clerks numbered ten, viz. : Messrs. Adam, Crockett, Hickson, Jephson, Jervoise, Kelly, Neville, Rogers, Steere, and Walter. The employment of two of the foregoing lasted for less than two months. The majority were employed for about four months, and three remained on at piecework until the present report was concluded. It was considered, even had the services of other competent men been available, that the staff engaged was as large a one as could be superintended without sacrificing accuracy to expedition. [Names and term of employment of Census clerks.]

17.

As was the case at each previous Census of the Colony the Police, where possible, were appointed sub-enumerators. The advantages of this system are many. [Appointment of Police as sub enumerators.]

18.

The Police have an intimate knowledge of the various localities of their districts, and of most, if not all, of the individuals resident in them. They are more likely, by virtue of their office, to impress the people with the necessity of obeying the law, and giving full and accurate information, and they possess more general intelligence than special sub-enumerators temporarily engaged would be likely to have ; and, finally, although they were to a certain extent remunerated for the special services required of them, and the expenses of horses, equipment, &c., were defrayed out of the Census Vote, the cost of the enumeration was very materially less than would have been the case had it been found necessary to seek all, instead of a few, of the sub-enumerators from outside the Police Force. [Arguments in favor of plan.]

19.

The system of appointing the sub-enumerators from the constabulary is followed in Queensland—a country the local circumstances of which resemble our own probably more closely than any other Colony of the Australian group—and in Ireland. A similar plan was recommended to the British Parliamentary Committee for general adoption throughout the United Kingdom, but the scheme was not considered feasible. In Ireland the system works very well, according to the evidence of the [Our own sub-enumerators compared with those of other Countries.]

Registrar General of that country, and Dr. Grimshaw characterises the Police as, in many instances, " trained collectors of statistics," a description which might equally well apply to our own Police, since the collection of our agricultural and other statistics falls annually to their lot. With the efficiency of the Irish sub-enumerators compare the inability of the English collectors at the 1881 Census, of whom the Superintendent of Statistics himself admitted that they were, on the whole, " rather a poor lot."

20.

An argument adduced against the employment of the police as sub-enumerators is that friction may occur between them and the people. Facts, however, do not bear out this supposition, and it has been found that even in Ireland, " when the constabulary are used in their purely civil aspect for collecting information," there is " practically no obstruction whatever." [No exception taken to inquiries made by Police in their civil capacity.]

21.

Each of our sub-enumerators was instructed that, should persons refuse to fill in the returns or to answer such questions as he was authorized to put, he was to remind them of the penalty to which they were rendering themselves liable, and to point out the " Caution" at the head of the schedules. He was also to warn persons whom he might suspect of giving false information of the penalty they incurred by so doing. Should they still persist in refusing to supply information or in giving it falsely, he was instructed to at once report the case to head-quarters, in order that steps might be taken to enforce a compliance with the law. Further, he was instructed to point out in all cases that the information required was sought, not for mere curiosity, but for general use, and, where necessary, to draw attention to section 13 of the Census Act, providing a penalty for officers divulging any information as severe as that provided for in the case of persons refusing to give it. [Instructions to sub-enumerators re-eliciting requisite information.] [Information required for general public purposes only.]

22.

It is a matter for congratulation that although, in a few cases, some reluctance to supply the requisite information was at first exhibited, no case of an absolute refusal to give the particulars asked for was reported as having occurred. [No refused to comply with request.]

23.

The various Government Residents and Resident Magistrates of the Colony were appointed enumerators. As all the compilation of the Census, the abstracting, tabulating, &c., were done at the Head Office, their duties were principally those of supervision ; but, in all districts, the advantage of being able to issue instructions to the Police through those from whom they were accustomed frequently to receive them was obvious, while in almost every district the benefits which I derived from the loyal and willing assistance of the Magistrates were considerable. [Appointment of enumerators.]

24.

In addition to the debt which I owe to the enumerators, I am also under an obligation to Mr. Commissioner Phillips for the valuable assistance which he rendered me in connection with the work entrusted to the Police. To the arduous duties of the last-named, who were partially, though perhaps in some cases inadequately, rewarded for their labors, the following return of the distances traveled by thePolice alone, in connection with the taking of the Census, is eloquent testimony :— [Thanks to various Departments.]

I need only add that in all cases the Police appeared to be actuated by a desire to make the taking of the Census a success, while the work performed by some of them in connection with the accurate filling-in of the schedules was done in a most admirable manner. The officers of the Post and Telegraph Departments (particularly the latter) also had much extra work put upon them in consequence of the Census, while I am indebted to the Survey Department for the preparation of the many maps and plans furnished in connection with the Census. Lastly, though not leastly, I have to thank the government Printing Department for its endeavors to second the efforts which the Census Office has made to produce this Report, not only some months earlier than was the case at the previous Census of Western Australia, but also before the publication of the complete Reports of any of the sister colonies.

DIVISION OF THE COLONY FOR CENSUS PURPOSES.

25.

I was the better able to avail myself of the valuable experience of the enumerators by reason of the Census Districts having been made the same as the Magisterial. [Census Districts Magisterial districts.]

26.

At one time I had contemplated recommending that the Census Districts should be made identical with the districts declared under the new Electoral Act ; but, although there were many arguments in support of this scheme, the plan adopted had, amongst others, three paramount recommendations in its favour, viz. ; that the boundaries of the Magisterial Districts were much better known than those of the Electoral ; that they were less liable to alteration ; and that they were preferable for purposes of comparison, since the Magisterial Districts, from the first enumeration of the population of the Colony to the present one, have been recognised as the Census Districts. [Reasons for making Census Districts same as Magisterial.]

27.

From an electoral point of view it is considered, also, that, by reason of the manner in which each district has been sub-divided, there will be little difficulty in approximately ascertaining the proportion of population, &c., which each Electoral District bears to the Colony as a whole. [Electoral comparison facilitated by system of sub-divisions of districts.]

28.

Very great care was exercised in the apportioning of the Magisterial Districts into sub-divisions. In the first instance duplicate maps upon a large scale of each Magisterial District were forwarded to the various Magistrates. Each Magistrate then similarly sub-divided these maps, of which he retained one and forwarded the other to the Head Office. [Care in formation of sub-districts.] [Maps of districts.]

29.

By this means the Census Office received the benefit of the local knowledge and experience of the enumerators when the maps in the first instance arrived at head-quarters. So carefully and well was this duty performed that in very few cases only was it found necessary to amend the maps as originally planned. [Benefit of enumerators' local knowledge.]

30.

In a short time, therefore, after the return of the district maps I was able to have made, for reference, a complete map showing the manner in which the whole Colony was sub-divided for the purposes of the Census. The number of sub-divisions into which the districts were divided of course varied according, not only to the size, but also to the local circumstances of each district. [Colony completely sub-divided.]

31.

The total number of sub-divisions into which the eighteen Magisterial Districts were divided was 129, or an average of seven to each. The largest number of sub-divisions in any one district was fifteen, the smallest two, the Municipalities and chief towns of the districts being in all cases kept separate. [Number of sub-divisions.] [Towns separate.]

32.

With respect to towns, it was endeavored to make provision for the collection of all schedules within two days after Census Day ; but in some districts—notably Perth, where the Criminal Sessions unfortunately were called on just as the Census commenced, and considerably interfered with the duties of the Police sub-enumerators—it was found impossible to do this. [Two days allowed for collection of schedules in towns.]

33.

In scattered districts more time had to be allowed, but the sub-division was intended to be such as to allow all the returns to be collected within ten days from the fifth of April, the sub-districts being formed in consequence so as to comprise more dwellings when near together, fewer when for apart. [Longer time necessary in country districts.]

34.

The whole of each district was divided into sub-divisions, and no portion was permitted to be left out on the assumption that it was uninhabited, although as regards one or two sub-districts such was ultimately discovered to be the case. [No portion of Colony over-looked.]

35.

Further, the necessity was strongly impressed upon enumerators of clearly defining and describing their sub-districts in accordance with well-marked natural or artificial boundaries, in order that there might be no possibility of either on the one hand omitting people, or on the other of enumerating them twice over. [Sub-districts bounded by natural or artificial boundaries.]

36.

With this object in view, point-to-point lines were only allowed in extreme cases, and in nearly every instance telegraph lines, railways, rivers, gullies, or roads were adopted as the boundary lines. [Point-to-point lines not admitted.]

37.

That this precaution was essential to the accuracy of the enumeration was subsequently proved, when it was discovered that of the few omissions which occurred almost all were made in connection with the boundaries of the Magisterial Districts themselves, all of which are point-to-point lines. [Necessity for precaution proved.]

38.

It is obvious that when a sub-enumerator is in the neighborhood of an imaginary line separating two districts, he cannot be absolutely certain whether, for instance, he is still in the Southern portion of his own or the Northera part of his neighbor's district. [Point-to-point lines unsatisfactory.]

39.

Very few mistakes of this kind, however, occurred, which was probably due to the fact that most of the sub-enumerators had been provided with maps and tracings, on a large scale, of their sub-districts, on which prominent natural features, settlers' homesteads, &c., were conspicuously marked. [Mistakes few.] [Sub-enumerators provided with maps, &c.]

40.

The sub-enumerators were required to make themselves acquainted (1) with the set of Instructions with which they were provided ; (2) with the instructions and models printed on the backs of the Householder's Schedule ; and (3) with the sections of the Census Act which particularly pertained to them. [Knowledge required by sub-enumerators.]

41.

In addition, in some cases, the enumerators themselves went to considerable pains to drill the sub-enumerators in their duties. [Pains taken by enumerators.]

PRECAUTIONS TAKEN RESPECTING CENSUS.

42.

As an additional guarantee that the enumerators and sub-enumerators should be thoroughly conversant with the important duties required of them. I had contemplated visiting the principal centres of the Colony before Census Day, in order that I might personally confer with the enumerators as to the best means of dividing their respective districts for Census purposes, and generally to prevent the possibility of any hitch occurring by reason of the enumerators or sub-enumerators misunderstanding the various written and printed instructions issued to them. [Contemplated visit of Superintendent to principal Census centres.] [To make hitch impossible.]

43.

Owing, however, to my having no one to assist me in the preparation of the Census, I found my time so fully occupied in answering letters, telegrams, &c., between the issue of the forms and instructions and Census Day, that I was unable to carry out this intention except as regards Albany. [Albany, however, only visited.]

44.

This port, by reason of the constant fluctuation of its population, in consequence of the arrivals and departures of mail steamers, presented the greatest difficulty, since it was quite possible that on Census Night three or four large ocean-going steamers would arrive shortly before, and depart soon after, midnight of Sunday, the fifth of April. [Difficulties in enumerating fluctuaring population foreseen.]

45.

I therefore, a week before Census Day, made a special visit to Albany, and consulted with the enumerator upon the quickest and surest method of enumerating the passengers and crews of the vessels then in harbor. [Rehearsal of Albany Census.]

46.

However, by accident, it so happened that although three ocean-going steamers, belonging respectively to the Peninsular and Oriental, Orient, and Messageries Maritimes Companies, were in King George's Sound at midnight of the Sunday upon which I was at Albany, at the same time on Census Day not a single mail steamer was in the harbor. [No mail steamers at Albany when Census taken.]

47.

Though at first sight disappointing, this loss should really be a matter for congratulation, as although the inclusion of these steamers would have added perhaps a thousand souls to our returns, our population at the time of taking the Census would have included a comparatively large fictitious element, since these Ocean-going steamers are but birds of passage, as far as our Colony is concerned, peopled, as they are, by few, if any, persons belonging to Western Australia, and not supplied even with provisions by our Colony, except to a very trifling extent. [This a matter for congratulation.]

48.

We can now boldly assert that of our population as it was upon the fifth of April, 1891, the proportion which was non-consumptive or non-productive of our own imports and exports was infinitesimal only. [No fictitious element in W. A. population.]

49.

Census schedules were served upon those vessels which departed from our shores a few days prior to Census Day, and particulars were obtained from the shipping which arrived subsequent to that date. Those returns have been forwarded to the Registrar General of England, and will help to swell the floating population of the British Empire when the Imperial Census Returns are published. [Schedules for " floating population" of British Empire.]

50.

Some of the passengers for our Colony arrived by mail steamers the day preceding Census Day, and at midnight of the fifth of April were travelling by special train between Albany and Beverley. To secure the necessary information concerning these, the guard of the train was engaged and sworn in as a special sub-enumerator, and when the proper time arrived he went through the train and obtained the particulars required. [Precautions respecting special trains.]

51.

It was found, however, that many of the passengers, unaware of the precautions taken with respect to them, had returned themselves in the schedules of the householders with whom they had resided prior to their departure from Albany. [Unexpected.]

52.

Each sub-enumerator, after his appointment, received a distinguishing letter, or letters, and number by which his books and schedules were to be recognised, the letters showing the Magisterial District to which he belonged, the figure denoting the sub-district entrusted to his charge. [Distinguishing letters, &c., of sub-enumerators.]

53.

Thus, for instance, in the Fremantle Magisterial District, sub-enumerator of Sub-district No. 3 marked his schedules in the following manner, as they were distributed :— F [FORMULA], F [FORMULA], F [FORMULA], F ¾, and so on ; while the schedules distributed in the Swan District by sub-enumerator of Sub-district No. 1 were labeled thus :—SW [FORMULA], [FORMULA], [FORMULA], ¾, &c., &c. [Examples.]

54.

Corresponding notes were also entered in the Sub-enumerator's Memorandum Book, which was ruled into columns in which the names of the heads of the families with whom the schedules were left, and the dates of their distribution and collection, were entered. [Memorandam Books.]

55.

It was thus almost impossible for the sub-enumerators to omit to collect any of the Schedules distributed, while by reason of the numbers following consecutively the course of a sub-enumerator could easily be traced through the whole of the district. This plan not only reduced the chances of making omissions to a minimum, but also made it an easy matter for the Census clerks to ascertain whether anyone subsequently reported as having been omitted really had been missed. [Course of sub-enumerators easily followed.]

OMISSIONS AT CENSUS.

56.

When the task of collecting the schedules was finished, an appeal was published, over the signature of the Superintendent of Census, in every newspaper in the Colony, requesting those who had reason to believe that they had been omitted, or who knew of others who appeared to have been missed, to report such suspected omissions to the Census Office. [Appeal to public.]

57.

It was further notified that arrangements had been made by which all letters addressed to the Superintendent, and marked " Census," would be conveyed through the post free of charge. [Census letters free.]

58.

With this appeal various persons were good enough to comply. With the exception, however, of the omissions made on the boundaries of the Magisterial Districts (point-to-point imaginary lines), already referred to, only one or two additions to the population resulted through this means. Many were reported as having been missed, but a careful search resulted in their being found duly returned upon the schedules. [Compliance with request.]

59.

It may safely, therefore, be assumed that but a very trifling portion of the inhabitants of the Colony upon the fifth of April escaped the vigilance of the sub-enumerators. [Portion of population missed infinitesimal.]

60.

As an example of the caution displayed by the sub-enumerators in this respect, I may mention that, upon the last schedules of Sub-districts No. 3 and No. 4 of a certain Magisterial District, a note was found to the effect that a certain traveler was supposed to be in such sub-district, but had not been met with. On the schedules of Sub-district No. 5, the individual's name and all particulars respecting him were found duly recorded. [Example of vigilance of sub-enumerators.]

61.

In Queensland it has been customary to add a certain percentage to the enumerated population, to allow for omissions. In 1871, 2½ per cent. was added ; in 1881, 1frac;12. However, as the Government Statist of Victoria remarks, it is difficult to conceive that under any well-devised system of Census collection so large a proportion of the population could really be overlooked. [Practice in Queensland re-supposed omissions.]

62.

The Registrar General of Queensland has stated that it is necessary to make this allowance " in consequence of persons being liable to be missed, owing to their being " scattered over so wide an extent of territory as is embraced within the limits of " Queensland." [Queensland argument for practice.]

63.

This argument applies still more strongly to our own Colony, where a population of less than 50,000 persons is scattered over a territory of over a million square miles. [Applicable to our Colony.]

64.

Nevertheless, no credit has been taken for any persons who were not actually enumerated. [No person counted in Western Australia not actually enumerated.]

ADVERTISING OF CENSUS.

65.

Every endeavor was made to prepare the public for the event of the Census, and to familiarize the people with the information to be obtained at such Census. For a month previous to the fifth of April, advertisements were inserted in all the newspapers of the Colony, and the editors themselves, in response to a request, periodically inserted notes in their news columns reminding their readers of the approach of Census Day. [Advertisement of Census.]

66.

A supply of large Census " posters" was forwarded to each district of the Colony, and these placards were displayed in conspicuous places in all the towns and principal localities of the Colony. [Census "posters."]

67.

But the device which probably proved the most successful means of advertising the Census, and arousing public interest in it, was the following :—Facsimiles of [Successful original device for advertising Census.]

The Householders' Schedules were printed upon ordinary white newspaper material, and labeled " Specimen," to avoid confusion with the genuine schedules to be issued sub-sequently. At the head of each of these, printed in large type, was a note signed by the Superintendent of Census, requesting any person into whose hands the sheet might fall to oblige the Government by giving as much publicity as possible to the information contained therein. The specimen schedules were then issued as supplements to the Perth morning and evening newspapers, and likewise to the weekly editions of these papers. [Specimen schedules issued as newspaper supplements.]

68.

By these means (as it may safely be inferred that one or other of those four newspapers would find its way to almost every householder in the Colony who was able to read) the maximum amount of publicity desired for the Householders' Schedules was obtained at a minimum of cost ; as the supplements, although bearing the imprint of the newspapers with which they circulated, were in reality printed at the Government Printing Office by means of the stereotyped form with which the real schedules had already been printed. [Maximum publicity at minimum cost.]

69.

The success of this scheme proved to be even greater than was anticipated. Not only were the public able to study the information required long before it became necessary for them to give it, but in some cases the heads of families, with a praiseworthy desire to avoid mistakes, made use of the specimens as rough drafts, from which, after amendment, they subsequently copied the particulars on to the genuine house-holders' schedules when the proper time arrived. The time and trouble thus saved to the sub-enumerators was, it will be at once seen, very considerable. [Success of scheme.] [Trouble saved thereby.]

70.

In Victoria it is customary, after the collection of the schedules, to offer a reward to any person who is able to prove that his household has been overlooked. It was not considered expedient to adopt a similar course in Western Australia, partly because it was thought that the advertisement of the reward would meet the eye of very few persons who would fail to comply with the previously-advertised request, but principally because it was considered that such a course might possibly encourage persons at a future Census to endeavor to evade the vigilance of the sub-enumerators, and thus entitle themselves to the reward. [No reward offered in Western Australia for omissions proved.]

71.

The Householder's Schedule used in Western Australia was practically the same as that adopted at the Conference of Australasian Statists held at Hobart in March of 1890. In consequence of the illness of the then Registrar General. Mr. G. C. Knight (whom death, to the sorrow of all who knew him, called away before the work to which he had looked forward with such interest began). Western Australia was not represented at that Conference. [Householder's Schedule.]

72.

Nevertheless, so necessary did it appear to be to have a uniform Census throughout Australia that I determined to endeavor, as far as possible, to observe the resolutions of the Hobart Conference as closely as if a Western Australian representative had voted for them. In accordance with those Resolutions,— [Resolutions of Tasmanian Conference followed.]

SUBJECTS OF INQUIRY.

73.

The subjects respecting which it was desired that inquiry should be made at the Census were named in " The Census Act," but the schedule containing those inquiries was not attached thereto. [Schedule not attached to Act.]

74.

The subjects of inquiry were as follow :—Name, Sex, Birthplace, Age, Religion, Occupation, Conjugal Condition, Education, Sickness and Infirmity, Materials of Houses, Number of Rooms, Number of each description of Live Stock. [Subjects of inquiry.]

75.

The Return of Religion was not compulsory, but it was optional to insert the word " object" instead, respecting any one who had a conscientious objection to state his religious belief. [Religious Return not compulsory.]

76.

The Return of Occupations included an inquiry as to the number of unemployed of each trade or calling. [The " unemployed."]

77.

With reference to Education, an inquiry was made as to those able to read and write, able to read only and not write, and unable to read ; also as to those who might be graduates of any University, together with the designations of their respective degrees, and of the Universities at which they were severally conferred. [Education.]

78.

As regards Sickness and Infirmity an inquiry was made as to the members laid up or unable to pursue their usual occupation on account of illness or the effects of an accident, or who might be deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, epileptic, paralytic, leprous, or who might have lost a limb or the sight of an eye. [Sickness.]

79.

In the Return of Houses, those inhabited, uninhabited, and in course of erection have been separately distinguished. [Houses.]

COMPILATION.

80.

The numbers of the Chinese and the Half-castes are shewn apart from the general population, so that it is possible to combine their numbers therewith or separate them there from, as may be desired. [Half-castes and Chinese separate.]

81.

In the compilation of the Census Returns, the groupings are as definite as possible ; and although it has been in the larger tables sometimes necessary to have such headings as " Other Birthplaces," " Other Religions," &c., the names of the various birthplaces, religions, &c., placed under such heads are, where possible, stated, in footnotes or otherwise, in this Report. [Particulars to be definite.]

82.

In the general tables of birthplaces provision has been made for showing the number of natives of each of the principal countries of the world and of each Australasian Colony named in the schedules ; also, in foot-notes or separate tables, the number of natives of each of the smaller countries of the world there named. Persons whose birthplace was stated to be " Australia," if under 12 years of age, have been tabulated as born in Western Australia, but when 12 years of age, or over, in the column for " Australia undefined." [Birthplaces.]

83.

Provision has been made in the general tables for showing the numbers and sexes of the adherents to all the principal Religious Sects named in the schedules ; and in foot-notes or separate tables the numbers and sexes of all the adherents to all minor sects there named. Children respecting whom the return of religion was unspecified have been tabulated as of the religion of their parents if the father and mother were stated to be of the same religion, or of the religion of one parent if specified in one case only ; but if the parents were of different denominations, no assumption has been made as to the religion of the children, who have been classed as unspecified. [Religious.]

84.

The ages of the people of either sex have been tabulated in single ages up to 21, then in quinquennial periods of age up to 85, and after that in single ages ; also, a table is given showing the numbers of either sex in the whole population at each year of age. [Ages.]

85.

In tabulating the principal occupations of the people, the numbers of either sex under 5 years of age ; between 5 and 15 ; 15 and 20 ; 20 and 25 ; 25 and 45 ; 45 and 65, and over 65 have been distinguished ; the occupations have been tabulated according to the amended system of classification indicated in Appendix D. to the report of the Tasmanian Conference. Subsidiary tables have been compiled showing (I.) the ordinary occupations of the unemployed of either sex ; (II.) employers of labor and persons in business for themselves, also wage-earners ; (III.) the ordinary occupations of inmates of either sex of (a) hospitals, (b) charitable institutions. [Occupations.]

(c) gaols and penal establishments ; (IV.) the occupations of university graduates. In the case of a person returned as following more than one occupation, he has been tabulated, as a rule, under the head of the first-mentioned, the exception being a Government officer following some other calling, as, for instance, " postmaster and storekeeper," in which case he has been classified as the latter ; also, a persons residing where one of his occupations is carried on which would warrant its being considered as the more important, as, for instance, " farmer and publican, " living at the public-house, has been classed as a publican, although that calling was stated second.

86.

In the table of Education the people have been grouped in single ages from 3 to 21 years of age, and after that in quinquennial periods to 85 years of age ; those of either sex able to read and write, able to read only, and unable to read, being distinguished. No child under 3 years of age was set down as able to read, and no child under 5 years of age as able to write ; also Chinese unable to read English were set down as unable to read. A table has also been prepared showing the degree of primary instruction possessed by children between 5 and 15 years of age attached to the principal religious denominations. [Education.]

87.

In the tables of Conjugal Condition the people have been grouped in single ages from 14 to 21 years of age, and after that in quinquennial periods to 85 years of age ; those of either sex never married, married and widowed, or divorced, being distinguished ; Chinese being set down as never married unless they had, or had had, wives in Australasia. Tables have been prepared of the divorced persons of either sex, showing their birthplaces, ages, religions, and occupations. [Conjugal Condition.]

88.

Returns have been prepared showing the numbers of either sex suffering from each description of sickness or infirmity, grouped in single years of age up to 21. and afterwards in quinquennial periods up to 85 years of age ; tables, also, have been framed showing the occupations of those suffering from each description of infirmity. [Sickness.]

89.

In addition to the attempt to observe the resolutions of the Tasmanian Conference, many other tables of local use and interest will be found throughout the Report ; and it is trusted that the accuracy of the information contained in the present Report has not in any way suffered by reason of the ambitious effort which has been made to bring the Western Australian returns as far as possible up to the level of those of the sister colonies. [Ambitious attempt to equal other colonies.]

90.

The only one of the direct inquiries recommended by the Conference which I did not deem it advisable to make was that having reference to husbands absent from wives, and wives absent from husbands, upon Census Night. [Inquiry re absent husbands and wives omitted.]

91.

Neither is the use of the inquiry apparent, nor would the information, in my opinion, in a colony such as ours, be of the slightest use from a statistical point of view. In more settled countries the number of these absences might have a certain moral significance ; but it seems absurd to assume that a pastoral district is immoral because one hundred wives are absent from their husbands, who, on the Census Night, may be visiting their out-stations or travelling ; or to argue that the morals of one of the larger towns are not of the highest because 500 husbands, probably new arrivals in the town, and seeking employment, have not brought their wives to their new homes with them. [Reasons for omission.]

92.

In deference to the wishes of the other Australian statists, the particulars respecting divorced persons were asked for in our returns. The information in this respect, when procured, does not seem to be commensurate with the annoyance to which the persons so returning themselves must be subjected. Even in Victoria, at the 1881 Census, only 19 persons out of the total population returned themselves as divorced ; [Information re divorced persons.] [Uselessness of.]

and with such an infinitesimal proportion upon which to base calculations, the results cannot be regarded as convincing.

HOUSEHOLDER'S SCHEDULES OF 1881 AND 1891 COMPARED.

93.

In its main features the Householder's Schedule of 1891 differed only slightly from that of 1881. Ten years ago the schedule contained fourteen columns, while the present one is divided into sixteen heads of inquiry ; the " Country where Married," " Year of Arrival in the Colony," and " Class" being omitted upon the present occasion, and columns showing the " Manufacturers and Dealers." " Employers, Wage Earners, and Unemployed." " Amount of Wages Paid," " Sunday Schooling," and " Receiving Instruction" being added. [Comparison of present with previous Schedule.] [Omissions.] [Additions.]

94.

The heads of inquiry omitted could, I think, it will be generally admitted, well be spared. It is of little interest, and of less use, to know what proportion of our population was married outside of the Colony and where the matrimonial ceremony took place, while the " Class Column" is a relic of a period of the Colony's history which should be buried in oblivion and not periodically revived. [Reasons for omissions.]

95.

Moreover, the element of the convict population of the Colony is now so infinitesimal that it is absurd to trouble so large a proportion of the population to place " free" against their names, apart from the advisability of sparing a few individuals (now, in most instances, of exemplary character) the humiliation of branding themselves as " ticket-of-leave." [Convict element infinitesimal.]

96.

It might have proved of interest to ascertain the numbers of our population still living who made their homes amongst us in each year, of the Colony's history, but it was considered advisable not to further extend the already large list of inquiries. [Year of arrival in Colony of interest.]

97.

It is a fact generally accepted by statisticians that the amount of accuracy obtainable by means of the Census is in the inverse ratio to the number of inquiries made at such Census. [Quality in inverse ratio to quantity of information.]

98.

Such being the case, I had reluctantly to omit much of the extraneous information sought at the Census of 1881, with respect to agriculture and machinery, and to be content with ascertaining the acres in cultivation and the numbers of the various kinds of live stock and poultry in the Colony. [Some particulars re agriculture and machinery omitted.]

99.

With regard to the propriety of this partial omission, it gave me great pleasure subsequently to learn that the Government Statist of Victoria recommended and approved of the course which I adopted. Mr. Hayter thus expresses himself upon the subject :— " I am not in favor of burdening the Census collectors with work outside " the usual legitimate inquiries connected with the enumeration of the population— namely, the numbers of the people, their sexes, ages, birthplaces, religions, occupations, conjugal condition, education, santitary state, and domiciliation ; as experience has " shown me that giving the collectors extra work does not tend to the success of the " Census. As an exception, however, I would still embody in the householder's schedule " a provision for enumerating the live stock of the colony, as that can be done correctly " only when the Census is taken, and every Census shows how defective the intermediate estimates of live stock have generally been ; but statistics of agriculture, school attendance, manufactures, mining, &c., can be secured as well or better by other means, and there is to good reason why the enumerators should be called upon to collect them. However tempting it may be when a Census is taken to endeavor to obtain information not immediately connected with the work on hand, it is certain that anything which tends to complicate the duties of the collectors, and especially to retard their labors, cannot fail to act prejudicially on the correctness of the particulars they are specially appointed to secure. All the inquiries I have mentioned as connected with the population should, however, in my opinion, be made and insisted [Omissions supported by Victorian Statist and Registrar General of N.S.W.]

" upon." I also discovered that the Registrar General of New South Wales wrote upon this subject, in his Report upon the 1881 Census of his Colony, as follows :—" It was found, however, that the collection of the agricultural and pastoral returns was a source of considerable embarrassment to the collectors of the Census, and wherever an error had crept in it was found to be attributable to the amalgamation of the two duties."

TABULATION OF CENSUS RETURNS.

100.

The plan adopted in connection with the tabulation and classification of the Census was that now generally known as the " Card" system. [Tabulation, &c., of Census.]

101.

This system, although it had been previously used in connection with official returns in Victoria, was first applied to the Census by the Government Statist of Victoria in 1881. So enthusiastic was Mr. Hayter with regard to the success then achieved by such means by him that I determined to follow his advice, and to introduce the system into Western Australia. [The " Card" system.] [Introduced into Western Australia.]

102.

A brief description of the Card system, even if not of general interest to the public, may be of use to the officer entrusted with the next Census of Western Australia. Cards of a rather larger and stouter kind than ordinary playing cards were printed in two kinds of ink—those printed in black representing males, while those colored pink denoted females. To each and every individual member of the population one of these cards was devoted. Below is a representation of one of the card :— [Explanation of system.]

This card, from the fact of its being printed in black, shows that the individual which it represents is a male. The number filled in on the left-hand top corner shows not only the Magisterial District, but also the sub-district in which the individual was found on Census Night, and the schedule upon which, in the event of any mistake occurring, the particulars concerning the individual might be found recorded. The [How Card filled in.]

number written on the right-hand corner shows the number of the individual as placed on his card, which number should coincide with the figures placed upon the schedules by the clerk who originally counted the population of the sub-district in question. Conjugal Condition is the first head of inquiry, and the clerk taking the particulars from the schedule, makes with his pencil a stroke from corner to corner of the square devoted to " Married," " Unmarried," " Widowed," " Divorced," or " Not Stated," as the case may be. In the next column the age of the individual is recorded, the figures being placed, to eventually help the card-sorter, to the right or to the left proportionately to the individual's age or youth. The relation which the individual bears to the head of the household is then written. Further, a small tick shows whether the individual is a manufacturer, a dealer, or both, and another stroke of the pencil signifies whether he is an employer (amount of weekly wages paid put in brackets), working on his own account, wage-earner, or unemployed at the time of the Census. Similarly, it is shown by a tick, or in writing when necessary, the country in which the individual was born, the religion which he professes, his degree of education, where he is receiving instruction, whether he is a Sunday schoolteacher or scholar, and what sickness he is suffering from, if any, at the time of the Census. Finally, the clerk initials the card at the foot, and thus renders himself responsible for its correctness.

103.

With the information respecting every member of our population thus tabulated upon cards, the ease with which the various information could be obtained is obvious. [Ease with which information tabulated.]

104.

Thus, in ascertaining the ages of the inhabitants of the Colony, or of a particular district or town, the cards had merely to be sorted into various heaps, which, counted separately, represented the numbers at the various ages, and collectively represented the total population of the district. Or, for instance, if it were considered necessary to find out how many children of the Roman Catholic religion, between the ages of 5 and 15, could read and write, how many could read only, and how many could not do either, a glance at the card at once showed which heap the card had to be thrown into and counted with. [Examples.]

105.

Apart from the simplicity of the plan, its accuracy alone renders it an invaluable system, as unless the total of the various packs of cards corresponded with the total on the town or district being treated, it was evident that a mistake had occurred, and the process had to be repeated until the individual results, added together, agreed with the gross total. [Accuracy of " Card" system.]

106.

The Victorian card, printed for use at the present Census, was filled in only as regards the heads of inquiry, the details being written in or shown by numbers. As, however, it was considered that in a Colony such as ours the principal religions, &c., would meet the requirements of nine-tenths of the population, the abbreviations were printed, and blanks left for information for which those abbreviations did not provide, much unnecessary labor thus being avoided. [The Western Australian an improvement on the Victorian card.]

107.

The " Card" system, initiated by Mr. Hayter, is, I believe, being followed at this Census in most of the Australasian Colonies. It has not yet, apparently, been tried in the United Kingdom, but, as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Census Commission asked, " As a matter of fact, have not English Statisticians more to learn from " Colonial Statisticians than Colonial have from English" [System not yet followed in England.]

108.

When the cards of his whole district were complete, each Census clerk was provided with a book so arranged and ruled as to provide for all the information required respecting such district, which he duly filled in as the information became available, and from these district books the particulars respecting the Colony generally were compiled. [Tabulation books.]

TIME OF YEAR FOR CENSUS.

109.

The day fixed, by long usage, in the United Kingdom, and observed by the British Colonies, for the taking of the Census is the Sunday nearest the first of April. [Custom re time of year for Census.]

110.

This period of the year is admirably suited to the inhabitants of the British Isles, since it is not only a season at which residents are most likely to be at their own homes, and labor in connection with the enumeration is easily obtainable, but it is also a season at which the climatic circumstances are most favorable for the travelling necessary in connection with the taking of a Census. [Time of year suitable for Great Britain.]

111.

At the antipodes, however, the position is naturally reversed. The advantages of a simultaneous Census of the Empire must be considered paramount, but the disadvantages of the time fixed for Census Day are, from an Australian point of view, very great. [But not for Australia.]

112.

A striking instance of this was afforded by our own Census, which had to be taken after a lengthened drought, when the excessive dryness of the season, and the consequent scarcity of horse feed and water, made the taking of the Census in the interior of the Colony a source of danger, not only to the horses, but also, in one or two instances, to the men engaged. [Exemplified in our own case.]

113.

One example of the risks run by the sub-enumerators during the collection and distribution of the schedules is the following :—The collector for the Upper Murchison District having previously distributed his schedules prior to Census Day, made a start after that date to collect them. In the meanwhile, however, travelling had become so difficult that the sub-enumerator's first attempt to make the return journey resulted in failure, and one of his horses having died, and the other two having been lost in the bush, he had, after suffering many privations, to return and to again equip himself and make a fresh start, which he fortunately, after suffering many privations from want of water, brought to a successful termination, after having been journeying for nearly two months. [Hardships experienced by a sub-enumerator.]

114.

Other accidents—none of which, happily, proved insurmountable—occurred in connection with the Census. The foundering of the steamer " Maid of Lincoln," with the completed returns of the inhabitants of the Abrolhos Islands on board, was an unfortunate accident, which necessitated a second taking of the Census in that locality. The mere enumeration of less than one hundred people a second time would have been a trifling matter had it not so happened that before the accident was heard of the vessels which had been loading with guano at the Islands—and which contained the greater part of the population of the Abrolhos on Census Night—had left the Islands, and were on their way to the other side of the world. [Census accidents.] [Foundering of steamer carrying schedules.]

115.

Necessarily, therefore, the information obtainable in this sub-district was very meager, and the completeness of the returns of the Victoria District, and, in a smaller degree, of the Colony, was thereby affected. Had it not been for this accident, the " Not stated" proportion of the community as regards ages, birthplaces, &c., would have been infinitesimal. [Consequent in-completences of returns.]

NECESSITY FOR A QUINQUENNIAL CENSUS.

116.

Prior to 1881 the Census of Western Australia had been taken at very irregular periods. The Colony was founded in the year 1829. Apparently the first regular enumeration of the population was taken in the year 1843, subsequent censuses being taken in 1848, 1854, 1859, 1870, and 1881. [Dates of previous W.A. Censuses.]

117.

The first attempt to take a Census of Great Britain was made in the first year of the present century, the success of which, and the two succeeding efforts, was, [First Census of Great Britain, 1801.]

It is recorded, due to the zeal and ability of Mr. Rickman, the assistant clerk of the House of Commons.

118.

Ten years later a general Census of Ireland was attempted, but, according to the historians of the event, it was decidedly unsuccessful. Since then the Census of the United Kingdom has been taken decennially. [Of Ireland, 1811.]

119.

The enumeration of the British population in 1871 was characterised as anImperialCensus. The Western Australian Census, however, had been taken a year previously. [First Imperial (F) Census, 1871.]

120.

There appears now to be a general consensus of opinion that the period of ten years between each Census is too long an interval to elapse between one enumeration of the people and another. [Necessity for Quinquennial Census.]

121.

The Census is the basis of all statistics—the starting point in the calculations of merchants, financiers, actuaries, &c., and the foundation of all Parliamentary and Municipal legislation. Consequently it is urged that these results should be ascertained by direct inquisition more often than once in every ten years. [Uses of Census generally.]

122.

This argument applies with particular force to Australia, where the representation in Parliament, &c., of districts is constantly being affected by fluctuations of population. [Particularly as regards Australia.]

123.

Queensland and New Zealand have already taken the initiative in this respect, and the Census is now taken quinquennially in those countries, as it was in the days of Ancient Rome, and even in the early years of our own Colony's history. [In some colonies Census quinquennial.]

124.

Should the federation of the Australian Colonies become an established fact within the next three or four years, it may be taken for granted that a Quinquennial Census under federal direction will become an absolute necessity as far as Australia is concerned, while the principal British Statists appear to be unanimously in favor of the population of the United Kingdom being enumerated every five years. [A Quinquennial Census a certainty under Federation.]

125.

An estimated population, despite all precautions taken, can never be accepted as even a fairly accurate one, as can be at once realised by the fact that at the last Australian Census it was discovered that the error in the three Eastern Colonies of the group amounted to an over-estimate of 112,000 ! ! !. [Unrealiability of " Estimated" population.]

126.

Another case in point is found in our present Census, which showed, despite the isolation of our Colony and the comparative ease with which arrivals to and departures from the Colony can be checked, our actual population exceeded the estimated number by nearly five per cent. [Our own under-estimated.]

127.

Apart from the necessity of oftener ascertaining the numbers of our population, another reason for taking our Census more frequently is, that the experience gained by those employed in the duty is in a large measure lost when so long a period as ten years elapses between each enumeration. [Other reasons for more frequent Census.]

128.

When such a veteran superintendent as the Government Statist of Victoria comes to the conclusion, after each Census, that he could take it very much more effectively if he were able to being again, and admits that he grows rusty with respect to the best means of taking and compiling a Census in a ten years interim, it is almost superfluous for me to say that although many of the present Report's defects would not exist had I been possessed of any previous experience in Census taking, those defects would have been still fewer had that experience been a recent one. [Long interiminimical to perfect system.]

129.

The task of enumerating and tabulating a population in the course of the next five years would prove a comparatively easy matter to anyone possessing a recent previous experience, whereas in ten years time the improvements which have suggested themselves during the past twelve months will have faded from the memory. [Census, in five years time, an easy matter.]

130.

The West Australian Census of 1891 is taken just as the Colony has made a fair start under her New Constitution, and the development of her mineral resources. A Census taken in five years time will show what an important mining industry, in addition to the other natural wealth of the Colony, will do for Western Australia under that New Constitution. [W.A. Census taken at beginning of Responsible Government.]

COMPLETE EXCLUSION OF ABORIGINES FROM PRESENT CENSUS.

131.

In the present Census the aborigines have been altogether excluded from the returns. A later portion of this report deals with the civilised natives of our community, but their numbers and the particulars respecting them have been kept entirely separate from the rest of the returns. [Aborigines excluded from population.]

132.

In South Australia, at the present Census, the whole of the black population in the employ of the white, and in Victoria all aborigines, have been added to the population and other returns, Had either course been pursued in this Colony it would be seen that our numbers would have been largely augmented. [Civilised aborigines included in S.A. Returns.]

133.

It has, however, been customary at the recent enumerations of the Western Australian population to exclude all aborigines from the Census, and consequently a similar course has been adopted upon the present occasion. [W.A. practico to exclude natives.]

134.

Nevertheless, it appears to be manifestly unfair not to recognise our civilised natives as a portion of our population. A few of them, as a glance at that portion of the Report devoted to them will show, are able to read and write, and profess the religious of the country ; many are producers of our exports, and contributors to our revenue and expenditure, and all of them are, to a greater or less extent, consumers of our imports. [To exclude civilised aborigines unfair.]

135.

However, as the Constitution Act of 1889 makes distinct reference to the population of Western Australia, " exclusive of aborigines." it would not have been possible to add them to our numbers on the present occasion. So great care has been taken in this respect that even the civilised aborigines of other colonies, present in our own at the time of the Census, have been eliminated from our population. [Under Constitution Act no aborigines to be counted.] [Even aborigines of other Australian colonies excluded.]

CHAPTER II.

NUMBERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE PEOPLE.

136.

The population of Western Australia, exclusive of aborigines of any portion of Australasia, as enumerated at the Census of the fifth of April, 1891, was as follows :— [Population 1891.]

137.

At the Census of 1881 the males numbered 17,062, the females 12,646, making a total of 29,708. [Population 1881.]

138.

The increase, therefore, during the ten years amounted to 20,074 persons, 12,745 of whom were males and 7,329 females. [Increase.]

139.

The proportional increase during the decade was, it will thus be seen, 74.70 per cent. for males and 57.96 per cent. as regards females, the total proportional increase being 67.57 per cent. [Proportional increase.]

140.

The estimated population upon the 31st of March (five days before the Census was taken) was— [Estimated population.]

141.

The gain to the Colony was therefore 2,393 persons, or over 5 per cent. upon the estimated population ; the Census disclosing the fact that the males of our population had been under-estimated by 2,198, the females by 195. [Gain by Census.]

142.

The substantial addition of 2,393 persons to the population by the Census is a matter for great congratulation. The tendency of all countries is to over-estimate the population, since, although it is probable that a slightly greater proportion of births remain unreported to the authorities than deaths, the departures, by reason of persons not taking their passages beforehand, are more likely to be depreciated than the arrivals, which are easily checked. [Population generally over-estimated.]

143.

In 1881 it was found that the total population of Australia was over estimated by considerably over 100,000, South Australia with a little more than 10,000, and our own Colony with 471, being the only colonies in which a mistake upon the right side occurred. [Australia over-estimated by 100,000 in 1881.]

144.

At the present Census the population of South Australia was overestimated by over 100,000 persons, while the actual population of Queensland fell short of the estimated by nearly 32,000. The population of Victoria was over-estimated by about 15,000, and had it not been that the Government Statist, profiting by the experience of ten years ago, made a liberal discount each year, the Victorian population would, Mr. Hayter informs me, have been over-estimated upon the present occasion by over 54,000 souls ! [Over-estimates of South Australia, Queensland, and Victoria at present Census.]

145.

The difficulty of keeping an accurate account of the estimated population in the sister colonies is apparent, since people are continually travelling from one colony across the border into another, and consequently the record of arrivals and departures must necessarily be very imperfect. [Difficulty of estimating population.]

In Western Australia, however, by reason of its isolation as regards its approach by sea and its inaccessibility by land, the checking of the estimated population should be a comparatively easy matter. [Reason for Western Australian underestimate.]

146.

Nevertheless it must not be inferred that the actual increase of population disclosed by the Census is solely, or even chiefly, due to a more complete enumeration of the people having been taken upon this occasion than in 1881.

The Census of ten years ago, taken under the superintendence of Mr. L. S. Eliot, was generally admitted to have been a fairly perfect one. We must therefore look for some other cause for the comparatively great discrepancy between the actual and the estimated population of 1891.

147.

The reason is not far to seek. In 1886 the discovery of the Kimberley goldfields attracted some thousands of gold diggers to our shores. The majority of these arrived by sea, and after the richest of the alluvial gold had been worked out, departed in the same manner. Many, however, came overland from Port Darwin and Queensland. Some of these possibly remained in the Colony, and most of those who did not, in all probability departed by the numerous steamers which began to call at the Kimberley ports soon after the " rush" began, and whose departures would thus be recorded, while no return was made of their arrival. [The Kimberley "rush."]

148.

This explanation is made even more probable by the fact that the overestimate occurred to such a great extent as regards the males (of which sex the gold [Population under-estimated in 1881.]

Diggers would almost entirely consist), while the females in excess of the estimated number were only 195. This argument, however, is to some extent weakened by the fact that at the Census of 1881, while the males were under-estimated by 411, the actual exceeded the estimated number of females by 60 only, a proportion not as accentuated as the present disparity, but nevertheless a large, and moreover an unaccountable, one.

149.

The population as estimated was the actual population of 1881plusthe recorded births and arrivals by sea to Western Australia, andminusthe recorded deaths and departures by sea from the Colony which have occurred in the interim. [Method of estimating population.]

150.

Below a table is given showing the natural increase which accrued to the population between the Census of 1881 and that of the present year :— [Natural increase.]

151.

It will thus be seen that, although the increase to the population by births was always throughout the decade largely in excess of the decrease by deaths, the increase was a very fluctuating one. The variation was, to a certain extent, coincident with the prosperity of the Colony, as exemplified by the following table illustrating the immigration to and emigration from the Colony by sea during the same period :— [Increase by immigration.]

152.

From the foregoing table it will be seen that after 1881, in which year the number of departures from exceeded the number of arrivals to the Colony, the [Fluctuations in Immigration Returns.]

tide of immigration set steadily in to the Colony, and gradually increased until 1886, in which year the arrivals exceeded the departures by 3,738. from that date, however, immigration waned, until 1888, when the departures were actually in excess of arrivals by 1,196. This year was the nadir of the recent prosperity of the Colony ; after that date the arrivals to our shores again began to largely exceed the emigration until in the quarter immediately preceding the taking of the Census the increase of our population was at the rate of 3,732 for the year, or, roughly speaking, an increase of 13 per cent. per annum, calculated on the actual population upon the 31st of December, 1890.

153.

From the following table, summarised from the two preceding returns, it would appear that the estimated population upon the 31st of March last should have been—Males, 27,604 ; Females, 19,844 ; Total, 47,448. Thus:—

The figures, however, differ somewhat from those officially given as the estimated population upon the 31st of March in this year, the males being less by five, the females more by 64. I am unable to account for this discrepancy unless the interim between the 31st of March, 1881, and Census Day of that year is to be credited with the difference.

154.

The following table shows the numbers of persons, males and females, in Western Australia at each Census since the foundation of the Colony to the present time:— [Inhabitants of W. A. at all Censuses.]

155.

In the year 1843 the enumeration of the people is spoken of as a Census. Prior to that date it is probable that the returns of population, although never referred to as such, were estimated. However, as the numbers were so small in the years preceding 1843, it is probable that the figures given below, even if only estimated, would be almost, if not exactly, accurate:— [Population prior to 1843.]

It will be seen that in the foregoing return, compiled from early almanacs of the Colony, the children are only occasionally distinguished from the adult population. Nevertheless the table has been considered of sufficient importance to deserve a place in this Report.

156.

Taking the year 1832 as a starting point, and following with each regular Census of the Colony, the table beneath shows the actual increase between each period, [Increase and proportional increases since 1832.]

The proportional increase for the various periods, and the proportional increase calculated upon a uniform ten years basis :—

157.

The necessity for showing a uniform rate of increase for each period in the above table is occasioned by the unsystematic manner in which previous Census have been taken with regard to the years. Even in the time of year appointed for the Census a similar lack of uniformity is noticeable. In 1848, the Census was taken upon October 10th; in 1854, upon September 30th ; in 1859, on December 31st. It was not, therefore, until the 1870 Census, taken upon the 31st of March, that the time of year chosen for the enumeration of the people became assimilated to the present. [Irregularity of previous Censuses.]

158.

The following table shows the distribution of the population of Western Australia, throughout the Magisterial Districts of the Colony, when the present Census was taken :— [Distribution of population.]

159.

This table may be taken as representing the normal distribution of our population throughout the districts of the Colony, with the exception of West Kimberley, the numbers placed against which are abnormally swelled, in consequence of the larger pearling fleet being engaged in dividing operations along the shores of the West Kimberley District at the time of the Census. Exclusive of those employed in the pearling fleet and other vessels, the population of West Kimberley, upon the fifth of April, was 299, of which number 43 were females. [Distribution of 5th April almost normal.]

160.

The following return shows the population (persons, males, and females) of the various districts of the Colony at the Census of 1881 and of 1891, and both the numerical and proportional increase which took place during the ten years :— [Increases in districts since 1881.]

161.

From this return it will be seen that in no district of the Colony has a decrease occurred during the ten years. The largest increase observable has taken place in the North District, which (although for the purposes of the above return made practically the same as it was in 1881, so far as area is concerned) has since the last Census been revolutionized, mainly by the opening up of the Kimberley Pastoral Districts, the discovery of the Kimberley Goldfields, and the extended operations of the Pearling Industry. To these facts chiefly is attributable the phenomenal increase in the district of nearly 659 per cent, in the ten years, an increase which is even more marked when viewed from the point of view of the males, who, in the decennium, increased at the rate of 717.71 per cent. Plantagenet with 153.38 is the only other district the proportional increase of which exceeded 100 per cent. during the ten years. This increase is due in great measure to the opening and operations of the Great Southern Railway, to which also the substantial increase of 60 per cent. in the Williams District is in some measure attributable. Besides these three, the Swan (78.43), Blackwood (76.22), Fremantle (71.23), and Perth (65.18) were the only other districts the proportional gain in which exceeded 50 per cent. during the ten years ; the remaining districts varying from 34.20 (Toodyay) to the lowest (Wellington) with 15.18. Yilgarn, being a new district, is not available for purposes of comparison, but, in consequence of the enormous gold deposits which it has been proved to contain, there is every reason to believe that its increase by the time the next Census is taken will be very marked. [Reasons for increases.]

162.

Having now shown the increase of the Colony and of its districts, it will be interesting to make a comparison of the various Municipalities and principal towns of the Colony by means of the table below, which shows the populations of the principal centres as they were in 1881, as they now are, and the numerical and proportional increase of the ten years. In the similar returns of the districts an alphabetical arrangement was observed. but in the table which follows the towns have been arranged according to the percentage of the total increase, by which means the relative progress of the various localities is more easily noticeable :— [Increases, &c., in towns since 1881.]

163.

It will thus be seen that the only towns which show an actual decrease in the population of 1891, as compared with that of ten years previously, are Bunbury and Pinjarrah. With respect to the former of these two the figures are misleading, since, although the Municipality proper of Bunbury has decreased by 11 persons, a suburb which really is entitled to have been included in the Municipality has grown on the other side of Stirling Street (the Municipal boundary line) numbering 400 persons. Cossack and Kojonup have decreased, as far as males only are concerned, by 11 and 5 respectively. The decrease in the male population of the former town is surprising, considering the fact that Cossack is the chief port of that portion of the Colony, the progress of which has been shown to be so phenomenal during the past ten years. Centralisation at Roebourne, which is only a short distance from the Port—the two towns being connected by a tramline—may, however, be in some measure responsible for the decrease in the male population of Cossack, an inference which is rendered the more likely by the fact that Roebourne takes the premier position as regards the proportional increases, its percentage for the ten years being 326.55. Kojonup, being situated in the heart of an agricultural district tapped by the Great Southern Railway, might have been expected to have done better. Its decline has, however, really been occasioned by the recent springing up of a rival town alongside of the railway line—Katanning. This town, of mushroom growth, already consists of 123 persons, numbering amongst them some of the most enterprising of our agriculturists. [Reasons for increases, &c.]

164.

The following towns have been declared since the Census of 1881, and consequently a comparison of their progress is not possible :— [New towns.]

165.

From the returns showing the various increases in the Municipalities, &c., it will be seen that of the towns of the Colony containing a population of over 500 persons the following is the order of importance from a numerical point of view :— [Eight principal towns of Colony.]

166.

The five first-mentioned towns retain the relative positions upon the list which they occupied in 1881. Guildford, however, has passed Bunbury, while both have been eclipsed by Newcastle, which no longer belongs to the second-class towns. These eight towns comprise 42.54 per cent. of the total population ; Fremantle containing 11.26 and Perth 16.97 per cent. of the people of the Colony. The percentage which Fremantle bore to the total population of the Colony at the last Census was 12.25 ; the proportional percentage of Perth was then, by a curious coincidence, exactly the same as it is now.

CHAPTER III.

PROPORTIONS OF THE SEXES.

167.

The proportion of the females to the males in Western Australia at the time of the present Census was as 67.01 is to 100, or in other words there were, roughly speaking, three males to every two females in the Colony. [Proportions of sexes at Census of 1891.]

168.

At the Census of 1881, the proportion of females was 74.12 to every 100 males. This was a great improvement upon the preceding Census of 1870, when the proportion was as 61.20 is to 100. Nevertheless, even in 1881 our proportion of females to males was lower than that of any other of the Australasian Colonies. Consequently we may conclude that the present Census places us still more conspicnously the lowest of the Colonies as regards the proportion of males to females. [At previous Censuses.]

169.

A glance at the tables of the sexes of the Colony, grouped according to ages (dealt with later on), conclusively proves that the great disproportion of the sexes is due to immigration, and not to natural causes. As regards children under 16, the proportion is fairly equal, viz., 97.42 females to 100 males. Between the ages of 16 and 21, the proportion of females to every 100 males is 87.07. After the age of manhood, however, the disproportion becomes strongly marked, the females over 21 numbering only 49.60 to every 100 males above that age ! [Disproportion caused by immigration.]

170.

The following table shows the proportion which the females bear to the males throughout the various districts of the Colony :— [Proportion of sexes as regards districts.]

171.

It will thus be seen that in no district of the Colony did the number of females equal the number of males. The nearest approach to equality appears in the case of the District of Perth, which contained 93.19 females to every 100 males. Taking Perth as the centre of West Australian civilisation, it will be seen that the proportion of females to males decreases the farther the radius from the centre extends. In such unsettled districts as the Kimberleys and Yilgarn the disproportion between the sexes is naturally very marked, and this is observable in a lesser degree with regard to the North and the Gascoyne Districts. The presence of the greater portion of the larger of our two pearling fleets (containing, as it did, only five females out of a total population of 700) along the shores of the West Kimberley coast is principally [Females equal to males in no district.] [Disproportion greater in unsettled districts.]

responsible for the ridiculously small proportion which the females in West Kimberley bear to the males. Exclusive of the pearling fleet, the proportion of females to every 100 males in that district was 14.38.

172.

As regards the towns of the Colony, the disproportion is not so marked, as the following table, drawn up with respect to twenty-three towns of the Colony, will show :— [Proportion of sexes in towns.]

173.

From this return it will be seen that in five towns of the Colony—viz., Busselton, Guildford, Bunbury, Pinjarrah, and Northampton—the number of females actually exceeded that of males, while in only the seven towns of Cossack, Katanning, Derby, Roebourne, Wyndham, Southern Cross, and Broome was the proportion of females less than half that of the males ; the total proportion of the 23 towns being as 89.23 females is to 100 males. [Females exceed males in few towns.]

CHAPTER IV.

DOMICILIATION OF THE PEOPLE.

174.

The total number of dwellings in the Colony on Census Night was 10,530. Of these, however, 236 were unoccupied, and 73 new buildings were approaching completion, but were unfinished. The houses in occupation, consequently, numbered 10,221. [Number of dwellings.]

175.

Exclusive of those in ships on Census Night (1,699), the population of the Colony was 48,083. The average number of persons to each habitation in occupation was therefore 4.70. This proportion denotes a great improvement of late in the housing of our people. At the Census of 1881 the average number of persons to each dwelling was 5.64 ; in 1870 it was 6.6. [Average of persons to dwelling.]

176.

At the Census of 1881, the lowest proportion of persons to the inhabited dwelling, in any of the Australasian Colonies, was 5.06. Unless, therefore, the other Colonies have proportionately improved in this respect—which is improbable—Western Australia at the present Census will take the foremost position as regards the proportional number of persons to the inhabited dwelling. [In Australasian Colonies, 1881.]

177.

The following return shows the number of occupied houses in each district of the Colony at the taking of the Census, and the materials of which they were constructed:— [Occupied houses in districts of Colony.]

178.

From this return it will be seen that the brick houses are the most numerous in the Colony, stone buildings coming next, and those constructed of wood taking third place in the order of importance. The number of canvas habitations is also considerable, a fact in great measure attributable to the large number of gold-miners now in the Colony—some prospecting the country, and others working upon the already discovered goldfields. It may be appropriately mentioned here that houses stated on the schedules to have been constructed of "wood, and brick" "brick and wood," &c., were tabulated in the column for " brick " or " wood," &c., according as the word " brick" or " wood" was placed first on the Schedule. Shops, store-rooms, &c., were not taken into account, unless persons were sleeping in them upon Census Night. [Materials of construction.]

179.

As it will be interesting to compare the numbers of the houses and the materials of which they were composed at the present with those at the last Census, the following table has been prepared, in which, for the sake of a better comparison, proportions have been used instead of the actual numbers :— [Dwellings, 1881 and 1891, compared.]

180.

In the foregoing table it will be seen that the total proportions in each year under the five headings amount to the integer 100. As canvas buildings were not distinguished from others at the 1881 Census, they have perforce been grouped amongst " Other Material" in the above return. The uses of the return should be obvious, but it may be explained that anyone desirous of ascertaining the increase of (say) brick houses in, for instance, the Wellington District, has but to glance at the table to find that in 1881 34.25 houses per hundred were built of wood, while at the time of the present Census 37.30 per cent. dwellings were constructed of the same material. From the point of view of the whole Colony, it will be seen that proportionately the buildings of the more substantial materials have decreased, while those of the lighter materials—canvas, iron, &c.—have increased. This fact may again be mainly attributed to the recent increase amongst the migratory portion of the community, caused by the recent influx of miners, navies, &c., the proportion of " other material" (principally tents) having increased from 1.23 in 1881 to 19.78 in the present year. [Proportions of each material to total dwellings.]

181.

The return which follows shows the number of houses occupied, unoccupied, and those building but not quite completed, in the various districts of the Colony. Much stress cannot be laid upon the return of houses building, as it was difficult to draw the line between, on the one hand, those almost ready for occupation, and, on the other, those the foundations of which had at the time of the Census only just been laid. If, however, the return respecting the unoccupied houses be fairly correct (as it may be safely assumed to be), the tenantless houses in the Colony only numbered 236, containing, on an average, less than four rooms apiece. Of these unoccupied houses, 60 appear to have been constructed of stone, 66 of brick, 71 of wood, 16 of iron, and two of " other material," while as regards 21 dwellings the materials of construction were not stated in the schedules :— [Dwellings in Colony, occupied, unoccupied, and unfinished.]

182.

As the population resident on land upon the fifth of April numbered 48,083, it follows that on an average the proportion of persons to occupied rooms throughout the Colony was 1.13. The number of rooms contained by the houses of the Colony in 1881 does not appear to have been calculated, and consequently a comparison is not possible. In Victoria, however, at the 1881 Census, the proportion was 1, 12, or almost the same as out own upon the present occasion. [Average of persons to each room.]

It may not be out of place to here remark that comparisons between our own and the sister Australian colonies have not been instituted throughout this Report as

often as might, perhaps, by some have been wished. The reason will, upon consideration, be obvious when it is remembered that our own Report is published, upon the present occasion, before that of any of the other colonies has been prepared, and, consequently, the only comparisons available are those between Western Australia as it is now and the other colonies as they were ten years ago. In view of the change of circumstances which ten years entail in such rapidly-advancing colonies as those of the Australian group, such comparisons are not of much use. What is required is a federal work, which, compiled when the reports of the individual colonies are finished, would really be an Australasian Census Report, and would faithfully compare all the colonies under each head of inquiry. The following letter upon this subject from that veteran statistician, Mr. Hayter, may be of interest :—

Office of the Government Statist, Melbourne, 18th June, 1891.

DEAR MR. GALE,

I have duly received your letter of the 4th just., and take this opportunity of thanking you for the kind expressions you have used towards me ; also for the thanks you have been pleased to tender for the very small services I have been able to confer upon you and your Department from time to time.

When I write my Report upon the Census of this Colony, after the tabulation has been completed, I shall consider whether it may be desirable to scatter tables and comments upon the other Australasian colonies throughout the work, as I did in 1881, or to make a separate report upon those colonies as a whole. I am afraid, however, it would not be practicable to get the officers of the different colonies to unite in a joint production in the manner you suggest.

You will remember it is proposed that when Federation takes place the Census shall be under the control of the Federal Government. It is to be hoped that Federation will be a fact before the next Census is taken. The Federal Statistician, whoever he may be, will then be able to deal with the united colonies from a general and comprehensive point of view. Until then I believe we must make up our minds to work separately.

With kind regards,

Believe me, &c.,

H. H. HAYTER.

CHAPTER V.

CONJUGAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE.

183.

The following summary, collated from the more detailed tables to be found attached as appendices to this Report, shows the conjugal condition of the population of the Colony upon the fifth of April last, sub-divided into the various principal age groups :— [Conjugal condition of Colony arranged in age groups.]

184.

Out of a total population of 49,782 persons, the entry " Not Stated," as regards conjugal condition, appears against only 108 persons. But for the Abrolhos accident, previously referred to, this number would have been still more insignificant ; the number of people concerning whom other particulars were obtained, but who omitted to supply the requisite information in this respect, being only 30, or whom five were females. [The " Unspecified."]

185.

Of the 13,621 married persons in the Colony at the time of the Census, 7,243 were males and 6,378 were females. There were, consequently, upon the fifth of April last, 865 husbands whose wives were not in the Colony. [The married.]

186.

The husbands exceeded the wives in 1870 by 207, and in 1881 by 299. The difference, therefore, between the numbers of husbands and wives upon the present occasion is unusually great. The disparity may, however, be accounted for, to a great extent, by the large numbers of mining men and laborers who have within the last year or two been attracted to out shores by the gradual development of our mineral and other resources, and who, until they had made a permanent home in our Colony, would probably not be accompanied by their wives. [Excess of husbands.]

187.

Neither young men nor women can marry without their parents' or guardian's consent until they have attained the age of 21 years. With that consent youths may legally marry at the age of 14 years, girls at the age of 12. Of the 228 married within the limits of 14 and 21 in the one case, and 12 and 21 in the other, only 20 were males, the remaining 208 being females. The youngest female (a South Australian by birth) returned as a wife was 14 years old. The youngest husband in the Colony was aged 17. At the lower ages the wives, as might be expected, largely outnumber the husbands, and it is only when we arrive at the group of husbands and wives between the ages of 30 and 35 that the former begin to outnumber the latter. Thence throughout the remainder of the age groups the husbands retain the ascendency. No wives of over the age of 85 were alive at the date of the Census ; the husbands over that limit numbered five. [Marriages under 21 years.] [Youngest wife.] [Youngest husband.]

188.

Of the 34,271 persons returned on the schedules as unmarried (never married), 21,577 were males and 12,694 were females. From these figures, however, the numbers of children below the legal marriageable age—viz., 14 as regards males, and 12 with respect to females—must be eliminated. Subtracting these numbers (8,204 and 6,899 respectively), and presuming that all the unmarried who were " unspecified " as to age (viz., 76 males and 22 females) would be of marriageable ages, there remain 13,373 males of the legal marrying age and 5,795 females. A further deduction from the males and females of 3,247 young men, and 3,805 girls, between the ages of 14 and 21, and 12 and 21 years respectively, shows that the number of persons in the Colony who were not " infants" in the eyes of the law, and who could marry without paternal consent, was 13,107, of whom 10,126 were males, and only 1,990 were females ! This startling disparity between the unmarried males and females who were " of age" will be better realised when it is stated, in other words, that there were, at the taking of the Census, more than five unmarried men to every single woman in the Colony above the age of 21 years !! [The unmarried.] [Deducting " infants" in the eyes of the law.] [Five unmarried men remain for every unmarried woman.]

189.

All down the age groups it will be seen that the numbers of males and females decrease—the females with an almost exact decleusion, the males in more irregular retrogression up to the age of 85 years. Five bachelors, but only one spinster, of over 85 years of age were alive at the time of the Census. [Decrease of sexes with increased age groups.]

190.

The terms " old bachelors" and " old maids" are sometimes taken as denoting those above the ages of 40 and 30, and sometimes 50 andIllegiblerespectively. If the former definition of the terms be accepted, there were, upon the fifth of April last, 2,612 " old bachelors" and 501 " old maids." Taking the higher ages, however, there [" Old bachelors" and " old maids."]

were 1,626 unmarried men of over 50 years of age, and 440 single women more than 40 years old in the Colony at the time of the Census. The difference in the time of life at which statisticians consider the chances of a person marrying remote, reduces the proportion, as regards Western Australia, from considerably over five to one to less than four " old bachelors" to one " old maid," if the higher ages of 50 and 40 be accepted as the limits. [Four or five to one.]

191.

The numbers of widowers and widows at the time of the Census were almost equal, since, of 1,776 widowed persons, 890 were males and 886 were females. Two females below the age of 21 were returned as widows. [The widowed.] [Two widows below 21.]

192.

Apparently only six individuals who had been divorced were resident in the Colony at the time of the Census. Three of these were males, and the same number females. The uselessness of working out calculations upon such a small basis, and the inadvisability of attempting to procure particulars with reference to divorced people, have already been commented upon (see paragraph 92ante). In accordance, however, with the resolutions of the recent Australasian Census Conference, the following particulars of ages, occupations, birthplaces, and religions are given with reference to these six divorced persons : Of the three males, aged respectively 38, 41, and 45 years, one was an accountant, one a master tailor, and one a laborer (undefined) ; one of them was born in our own Colony, one in England, and one in Ireland ; one of them belonged to the Roman Catholic faith, the other two were of the Church of England religion. Of the females one was aged 36, another 45, and the third 46 ; the occupation of one was that of a dressmaker, another was occupied in farming pursuits, and a third was returned as engaged in domestic duties ; as regards religion, one entered herself as a Catholic (undefined), the other two were of the Roman Catholic religion. [The divorced. Six only.] [Particulars re divorced persons given with reluctance.]

193.

The following epitome of the various conjugal conditions as they were distributed throughout the districts of the Colony has also been summarised from the appendices to the Report, as likely to prove of general interest:— [Conjugal conditions as distributed throughout Colony.]

This return, showing, as it does, the numbers of males, females, and persons in each conjugal condition of life, throughout the various portions of the Colony, will be of service in proving, if proof were necessary, the wide divergence between the social condition of the inhabitants of the newly developed as contrasted with that of the residents of the more settled districts. [Conjugal condition dependent on settlement of country.]

194.

In order that this may be the more apparent, the following summary, showing the comparative equality of the sexes of each conjugal condition with reference to the eight principal Municipalities of the Colony, has been epitomised from the detailed particulars attached to the latter portion of this Report with respect to the various towns, &c., of the Colony :— [Conjugal condition of the eight towns of the first class.]

195.

The following table shows the conjugal condition of twenty of the chief towns of the Colony, sub-divided into age groups. A comparison of this return with the two previous tables may prove interesting. The towns which have been made use of in the summary are Albany, Beverley, Bridgetown, Bunbury, Busselton, Carnarvon, Cossack, Derby, Fremantle, Geraldton, Guildford, Kojonup, Newcastle, Northam, Northampton, Perth, Pinjarrah, Rocbourne, Wyndham, and York :— [Conjugal condition of Colony in age groups.]

From this return it will be seen that with regard at least to the principal population centres of the Colony the numbers of the sexes are fairly equal, and that in consequence the conjugal conditions are comparatively well balanced.

196.

The table given below shows the actual numbers and the proportions per 1,000 of the married, unmarried, and widowed of both sexes at the present Census and at that of 1881 :— [Comparison between 1881 and 1891 conjugal conditions.]

At the Census of 1881, no return was made of divorced persons. They have, therefore, for the purposes of the above table, been included (as is usual in such cases) with the unmarried. The " unspecified," also, have been distributed proportionately amongst the other classes for the sake of better comparison with 1881, in which year, apparently, the unspecified were not kept separate from the stated conjugal conditions.

197.

At the Census of 1881, 250.56 in every 1,000 males of our population had wives, and 314.41 in every 1,000 of our females had husbands, the actual numbers of the married in that year differing only in a small degree as regards sexes. At the present Census the proportion of married males per 1,000 of our population is 243.77, or 6.79 persons per 1,000 less than at the previous one. The proportion of married females has, however, risen 5.13 per 1,000, their proportion for that integer being now 319.54. [The married, 1881 and 1891.]

198.

Naturally the proportions of the other two conjugal classes vary in the inverse ratio to the first. Of the males 717.85 per 1,000 were unmarried in 1881 ; the proportion is now 726.27. As regards the females ten years ago 645.42, and upon the present occasion 636.10 in every 1,000 females, had never married. The proportion of unmarried males in every 1,000 was 8.42 more at the present Census than at the last, while the unmarried females were less in 1891 than ten years previously by 9.32 in every 1,000. [The unmarried, 1881 and 1891.]

199.

In 1881 the widowers numbered 31.59, the widows 40.17, in each thousand males or females respectively. Upon the present occasion the disparity is still more marked, 29.96 in every 1,000 males being widowers, while the proportion of widows to a similar number of females was no less than 44.36. In the ten years widowers have decreased by 1.63, but widows have increased by 4.19 per 1,000 of the sexes respectively. [The widowed, 1881 and 1891.]

200.

The marriages in the Colony for the period of a year ending March 31st, 1891, numbered 307, or 0.06 to the total population on Census Day. The proportion of marriages during the preceding year to the number of unmarried males over the legal age of 14 in the Colony at the time of the Census was 2.30, and to the unmarried females of more than 12 years of age 5.30. The proportions of marriages to males and females over the age of 21 years were 3.03 and 15.43 per cent. respectively. [Marriages year ending March 31st, 1891.]

201.

In the foregoing calculations the Chinese in the Colony, as their numbers are at present comparatively small, have been included. Nevertheless, as almost all of them are unmarried and males, it is obvious that their numbers, small as they are, affect the different proportions, &c. However, as a subsequent chapter deals with all particulars [Chinese included in foregoing calculations.]

concerning the Chinese, their numbers, if necessary, can be deducted from the various totals and proportions given throughout this Report concerning the total population (exclusive of Aborigines) of our Colony.

CHAPTER VI.

AGES OF THE PEOPLE.

202.

In the preceding chapter the ages of the people were given as far as the quiuquennial periods are concerned, and in the appendices to this chapter, which will be found at the end of the Report, the numbers of the inhabitants, male and female, in each district, at each year of age, are fully detailed. The information which immediately follows, with respect to the ages of the people of the Colony at the taking of the 1891 Census, requires, therefore, to be of a general character only. [Details re ages attached as appendices to Report.]

203.

Information with respect to age was unrecorded with respect to only 195 individuals, including those concerning whom all particulars were lost by reason of the Abrolhos accident. [" Unspecified ages".]

204.

The 49,587 persons whose ages were duly recorded upon the schedules may be grouped into the following irregular but descriptive classes :— [Rough grouping of ages.]

205.

The somewhat vague terms employed in the above table require definition. " Infants " are those generally so called—not of course infants in the eyes or the law, but those below the age of one year. " Children " have been taken to mean those who have passed the age of infancy, but have not yet arrived at the school age. " Boys and Girls " is a term used to denote children above the age of four and below that of 16 years ; in other words, those who are regarded as scholars from the point of view of our Elementary Education Act. " Youths and Maidens " are those who have passed the school age, but have not yet attained their majority, and who could not marry without parental consent. " Young Men and Women " are those persons who are over 21 but under 30 years of age. " Middle-aged Men and Women " are those more than 30 but less than 50 years old ; while persons of 50 years and upwards have been described as " Old Men and Women." [Explanation of above terms.]

206.

Under these familiar headings it will be interesting to classify our population as distributed throughout the various districts of the Colony :— [Distribution of age groups throughout districts.]

207.

The following table shows the population, male and female, of the Colony, at each year of age :— [Population of Colony at each year of age]

208.

In the above return the Roman characters placed over the tops of the columns denote the decenniad, the digits on the left-hand side show the year in such decennial. Thus, if, for instance, anyone should wish to ascertain the number of males at the age of (say) 58, he has merely to lookdownthe column for the decenniad " L. to LX." andacrossthe column marked "8," until the vertical and the parallel columns meet, when he will find that the number which he seeks is 187 ; the number immediately below it showing the number of females of the same age. [Explanation of table.]

209.

The totals of males and females at the bottom of each decennial period will show more forcibly than words can describe, the manner in which the adults of the sterner sex outnumber the grown-up females of the Colony. Up to the end of the second decenniad—i.e., to the age of 20 years (inclusive)—the numbers of the sexes are fairly equal. From the third period, however, onwards, the males largely outnumber the females. It will be seen that from 20 to 30 years the males are nearly double the females ; in the 30 to 40 and 40 to 50 decenniads the males are almost exactly twice as many as the females, while from the period of 50 years onwards to that of 80, the number of males more than doubles that of females. In the 80 to 90 decade of years there were 45 males and 28 females. [Disproportion of sexes throughout decennial periods.]

210.

In accordance with the resolutions of the Tasmanian Conference, special mention should be made at the present Census by all the Australian Colonies of all individuals who have passed the age of 85 years. Of these it will be seen that five males and four females of the age of 86 were living in the Colony upon the fifth of April last. Of the other octogenarians one male and two females were aged 87 ; two males and one female were 88 years old. No individuals of the age of 89 were recorded. [Particulars re ages over 85.] [Octogenarians.]

211.

Of the nonagenarians three males and one female were 90 years old. No males aged 91 were living, but there were three females alive at that age. The only other nonagenarians were two males aged 92 and 94 years respectively. [Nonagenarians.]

212.

One centenarian—a male, 102 years old—was living in the Colony at the time of the Census. At the Census of 1881, the oldest person living in the Colony was, according to the returns, 91 years old. Five individuals at the present Census were of or above that age. I am unable, in the reports of previous Censuses, to find any record of the existence of a centenarian. As such a fact would in all probability be thought worthy of special notice, it may be safely concluded that no individual of the age of 100 years has figured in a Census of Western Australia prior to the present one. [Centenarian] [First contenarian disclosed by present Census.]

213.

An interesting fact in connection with the ages of the population, made conspicuous by the foregoing decennial table, is the tendency of individuals to " plump on the tens, " as the Registrar General of England terms the process by which, through want of conscientiosness or defective memory, the round numbers in ages are selected in preference to others. For this reason it is that statisticians, in comparing the ages of different countries, find it useless to do anything more than distribute the ages into quinquennial or decennial periods. Many people, no doubt, do not know their exact age, and consequently are justified in giving it in round numbers : others, doubtless, neglect to give their age exactly through carelessness ; but it is certain that, as the Government Statistician of Tasmania forcibly puts it, many persons who would shrink from swearing what they know to be a lie in a Court of Justice do not shrink from putting their hands to an untruth in a Census schedule. This state of affairs will continue until persons are brought to see that it is for the interest personally, as well as generally, of every member of a community to make its statistics as perfect as possible. [" Plumping on the tons."]

214.

As an example of the tendency of (say) a woman aged 41, 42, or 43 to record herself as of 40 years of age, witness the table immediately preceding, in which 238 females appear as of the age of 40, but only 116 are aged 41, while those aged 42 and 43 number 151 and 134 respectively ! Females of the age of 50 appear to number 192, but the same sex at the age of 51 numbers 85 only !! This discrepancy is not confined to females, but is observable with respect also to members of the sterner sex. Males of 40 years of age number 461, but the sex decreases in the next year to 224 ! Similarly, although there appear to be 399 males aged 50 years, only 192 of the same sex were recorded as of the age of 51 ! [Examples.]

215.

The total population of Western Australia halves itself, as nearly as possible, at 22 years of age, there being, roughly speaking, as many persons above as below that age in the Colony. On the same principle the male population halves itself at about 24 years of age, the female at about 18. [Population halves itself at 22 years.]

216.

Assuming that the individuals whose ages were not stated were all over the age of 21 years, there were in the Colony, at the time of the Census, 22,370 " infants" in the eyes of the law, and 27,412 persons of the age of 21 years and upwards. [" Infants" in the eyes of the law.]

217.

Although persons of and above the age of 21 years are sometimes called " adults," the term in its strict sense (adultus) is generally applied to all individuals of the age of 15 years and upwards. Strictly speaking, at the date of the present Census there were 32,756 " adults " in the Colony ( including 195 " unspecified " as to age), the remaining 17,026 being below the age of 15 years. At the 1881 Census, on the same principle, the " adults " (including 105 " unspecified ") numbered 18,296, while the number of those under 15 years of age was 11,412 ; from which it will be seen that the proportion of the adult population has greatly increased during the decennial period. [Adults.]

218.

To obtain the number of the population at what is known as the " supporting age of life " the numbers of those persons of 65 years and upwards have to be subtracted from the adult population. Proceeding in this manner, and deducting 1,473 persons of the age of 65 years and upwards, it will be found that there were 31,283 persons in the Colony at the " supporting age of life," the remaining 18,499 being [Population at " supporting ages."]

"dependants," or those generally considered either too young or too old to be classed as " workers."

219.

It is probable that the best idea of the proportional increase or decrease in the various age groups of the Colony during the decennial period will be formed by a study of the table given below, which shows the proportion, in every 1,000 persons, of " children," " boys and girls," " youths and maidens," " young men and young women," " middle-aged men and middle-aged women," and " old men and old women," at the present Census, and at that of 1881. The return is so clear as not to require explanation, and is, perhaps, the most fitting conclusion to this chapter upon the ages of the people of Western Australia at the enumeration of the fifth of April, 1891. More detailed information will be found by a reference to the appendices pertaining to this chapter, attached to the Report :— [Comparison of age groups of 1881 and 1891.]

CHAPTER VII.

BIRTHPLACES OF THE PEOPLE.

220.

Out of a total population of 49,782 (exclusive of aborigines), the entry " Not stated" with regard to birthplace appears, despite the accident which occurred in connection with the Abrolhos schedules, against the names of 116 persons only. [" Not stated."]

221.

The 49,666 persons against whose names the entry with respect to nationality was duly recorded upon the schedules were, exclusive of those born at sea, distributed, as regards birthplaces, amongst no less than eighty-six different countries or colonies. [Birthplaces distributed amongst 86 different countries.]

222.

Of the total population, Western Australia was the birthplace of 27,825 persons ; of these 14,100 were males and 13,725 were females. It will thus be seen that our own Colony is, to a very slight extent only, responsible for that disproportion of the sexes which is so marked in our population, and which has been commented upon in previous chapters. [Comparative equality of sexes of the West Australian born.]

223.

Out of every 1,000 persons in the Colony at the time of the Census 558.94, cr considerably more than half, were born in Western Australia. A similar comparison as regards males and females separately discloses the fact that, while the proportion of West Australians with regard to the members of the sterner sex was 473.04 in every 1,000 of the total male population, for every 1,000 females in the Colony Western Australia had to contribute 687.11 native-born females. In other words, while the West Australians as regards the male sex were less than half the total male population of the Colony, for every two females born elsewhere there were resident in the Colony three females whose place of birth was Western Australia. [The West Australians.]

224.

Next to our own Colony the British Isles, as might have been expected, contributed the greatest number to our population. Those born in Great Britain and Ireland living amongst us upon the fifth of April last numbered 14,522, representing 291.71 in every 1,000 persons of our population. [English, &c.]

225.

In addition to these, 757 persons (or 15.21 in every 1,000) were born in other British possessions in Europe, Asia, Africa, or America, so that 15,279 (or 306.92 persons in every 1,000) of our population were born in some portion of the British Empire other than Australasia. [The British (exclusive of Australians).]

226.

Adding our own Australian Colonies to the rest of the dominions of the Mother Country, we find that 46,358 of our population of 49,782 persons were born in some portion of the British Empire. In other words, 931.22 in every 1,000 (or considerably more than nine-tenths of our population) were born under the British Flag. [The British.]

227.

The residents in our Colony born in the other Australasian Colonies numbered only 3,254, representing 65.36 to every 1,000 persons. [The other Australasian Colonies.]

228.

Those born in Foreign Countries, who were living in our Colony at the time of the Census, numbered 3,194, or 64.16 per 1,000 persons. [Foreign Countries.]

229.

The residue of the population of the fifth of April was composed of those born at sea, and those whose birthplace was not stated. These, collectively, numbered 230 persons, and contributed the proportion of 4.62 to every 1,000 persons of our population. [Residue.]

230.

In order that the Birthplaces of our population, with respect to the larger world groups, may be the more easily apparent, the following table has been prepared, showing the number of males, females, and persons born in Western Australia ; the other Australasian Colonies ; the British Isles ; the British European, Asiatic, African, and American Possessions ; and in Foreign Countries ; and the various proportion which each group bears to the total population of the Colony :— [Birthplaces arranged in groups.]

231.

As Western Australia is only a portion of a dominion, to all intents and purposes one, although the Federation of the Australasian Colonies is not yet an accomplished fact, it will be interesting to show, by means of a table similar to the above, the numbers of the population of Western Australia born in the several colonies of Australasia, and the proportion which those numbers bear to the Australasian population of our Colony as a whole :— [Birthplaces as regards Australasian Colonies.]

232.

Naturally those born in our own Colony are very largely in the ascendant, there being about eight and a-half times as many West Australians as all the rest of the Australasians put together. Of the residents of Western Australia born in other portions of the Australasian group, those from the neighboring Colony numbered the most, there being 1,161 South Australians in our midst at the time of the Census ; or, in other words, the proportion which the South Australians bore to every 1,000 Australasians living in Western Australia was 37.36. The Victorians follow closely upon the South Australians, with a total of 1,036 representatives, or 33.33 per 1,000 Australasians. In this respect the table shows that both the South Australians and Victorians largely outnumber those born in any of the remaining Colonies of Australasia. New South Wales was represented by 555 persons. Queensland by 208, while New Zealand and Tasmania contributed 182 and 108, respectively, to our population. Only two persons (man and wife) entered themselves as born in Australia without defining the colony of their birth. Two (both males) of our population of the fifth of April were Fijians. New Guinea was unrepresented at our Census. As the birthplaces as regards the various other Australasian Colonies were not distinguished from those of Australasia as a whole in 1881, a comparison between the present and the preceding Census in this respect is, unfortunately, impossible. [Proportion of West Australia.] [Proportion of other Colonies.] [South Australia.] [Victo.] [New South Wales, Queensland, New Zealand, Tasmania.] [Australia (un-defined).] [Fiji, New Guinea.]

233.

Of the inhabitants of our Colony at the time of the Census who were born in the British Isles 663.41 persons in every 1,000, or considerably more than half, claimed England as their birthplace. After Englishmen, who numbered 9,634, came Irishmen with 3,499 representatives. Persons born in Scotland numbered 1,211. Fifty-one persons were entered on the schedules as having been born in Wales. The disproportion of the sexes of those born in the British Isles and resident in our Colony is again very marked, the males outnumbering the females by more than two to one. Ireland is the only country of the group in which any approach to equality is observable, the Irish males numbering 2,054, the females 1,445. It thus happens that while Ireland claims only 209.15 per 1,000 males of the British Isles, it has 307.38 representatives in every 1,000 British females. [Brisish Isles.] [England.] [Ireland.] [Scotland.] [Wales.]

234.

These and other interesting facts will be apparent by a glance at the subjoined table, which shows not only the total number of males, females, and persons born in the British Isles, and resident in Western Australia on the fifth of April last, but also the proportions which each individual country of the group bore to the British Isles, as a whole, with respect to males, females, and persons :— [Proportions of each portion of Great Britain to whole.]

235.

Besides the countries already particularised in the preceding tables the following principal States, &c., contributed to our population as follows :—The persons born in China amounted to 914, of which number three only were females. It must not, however, be taken for granted, on the one hand, that all people born in China are Chinese, or, on the other hand, that no Chinese were born out of China. As it was most important that the exact number of Chinese in our Colony should be ascertained, great care was taken over the examination of the schedules, in order that people of British parentage born in China might not be included in, and that individuals of Chinese parentage might not be excluded from our Chinese population. The result of this scrutiny was that only one individual (a male) stated to have been born in China was discovered to be of British parentage. On the other hand it was found that two females born in Western Australia were of Chinese parentage, and two males entered upon the schedules as Chinese were born in Malaysia. The Chinese, therefore, in our Colony at the time of the Census numbered 917 persons, 912 being males and 5 being females. Of this total the North District alone contained 319. This matter will be found more fully dealt with in a future chapter of this Report, which will deal exclusively with the Chinese. Next to the Chinese the Malays were the most numerous of the representatives of Foreign countries. These numbered 806, including 8 females. The large number of Malays in our Colony is due almost solely to the fact of their employment as divers in connection with our pearling industry. As the greater portion of the fleet was engaged in operations along the shores of West Kimberley, that district naturally is credited with the greatest number of Malays. Besides the 433 contributed by West Kimberley, three other districts (North, Gascoyne, and Victoria) between them supplied 339. Four of the Northern Districts of our Colony, therefore, between them included 772 Malays in their population, leaving only 34 to be distributed amongst the other districts of the Colony, of which remainder Fremantle absorbed 18. Germany, with 290 representatives took the third position with respect to birthplaces of foreigners. The Japanese numbered 260, of whom 110 were returned in the West Kimberley District. The people entered upon the schedules as having been born in India numbered 245. The United States of America were represented by 154 persons, which number was likewise the total of individuals born in the Straits Settlements. Those born at sea numbered 114, of whom 112 were of British parentage. [Other countries.] [China.] [The Chinese.] [Malaysia.] [Germany.] [Japan.] [India.] [United States of America.] [Straits Settlements.] [At sea.]

236.

No other country, in addition to those, already mentioned, contributed more than 100 persons to our population. As, however, the subject of the nationalities of the people is of such great interest and import, a complete alphabetical index is attached [Index showing all birthplaces.]

showing the various birthplaces of the whole of our population (both male and female) on the fifth of April last :—

237.

Of the British subjects by parentage, born in any of the foregoing Foreign countries, there appear to have been altogether 12 persons returned as such. Of these four were born in France, two in Russia, and two in the United States. One individual was born of British parents in each of the following countries :—Africa, China, Greece, and Sweden. [British subjects by parentage, born in other countries.]

238.

In addition to the above, 26 persons, born in Foreign countries, entered themselves upon the schedules as British subjects, but omitted to state whether by birth or by naturalization. Of these one was born in Belgium, two in Italy, three in Russia, five in Sweden, fourteen in the United States of America (most of them probably British by birth), and one in Uruguay. Of the British subjects by naturalization, 93 returned themselves as such ; of these, according to the schedules, only three were Chinese. On account of the inability of the Chinese to read the instructions upon the Census schedules, and the probability that the sub-enumerators would not notice such a comparatively trifling omission as that respecting naturalization, it might be expected that the information upon this point would, in very many instances, be wanting. [British subjects unspecified.] [British subjects by naturalisation.]

Upon inquiry at the Supreme Court of the Colony, where the certificates of naturalization are recorded, I find such assumption to be correct. I learn, however, from the same source, that the entries with regard to those originally belonging to Foreign nationalities other than China are probably more or less correct. According to the schedules, the following countries, besides China, were those which had representatives in our Colony at the time of the Census, who held certificates of naturalisation :—Africa (8), Austria (3), Ceylon (2), Denmark (2), France (3), Germany (15), Holland (1), India (2), Italy (1), Russia (4), Spain (8), Sweden (2), and Zanzibar (1). One citizen of the United States of America by parentage was returned as having been born in Germany.

239.

The following table will be of interest, showing as it does the actual number of those born (1) in our own Colony, (2) in other British Possessions, (3) in Foreign States, and (4) elsewhere (at Sea, or " Not Stated "), and the proportions which each group bore to the total population of the Colony at each preceding Census in which, as far as I am able to learn, the birthplaces of the population were distinguished :— [Groups of birthplaces 1859, 1870, 1881, and 1891 compared.]

From this return it will be seen that the proportion of the West Australian born has been gradually increasing. The fact of the increase in 1881 being greater than in the present year may be accounted for by the comparative cessation of immigration which was noticeable about ten years ago. The representatives of Foreign states, it will be noticed, have increased from 18.08 per 1,000 of our population, in 1881, to 64.16 during the following decennial period.

240.

The comparative statement below given will be of interest to those who wish to ascertain the increase since the Census of 1881, in the various principal nationalities at present represented in our population. It will be seen that there have been no actual decreases within the ten years. The Irish and the Greek females, however, have, it will be noticed, decreased by 11 and 2 respectively in the decennial period :— [Increase in principal nationalities since 1881.]

A classification of the principal birthplaces, grouped together in a systematic manner, and showing the distribution of the various nationalities throughout the districts of the Colony, will be found attached, as appendices to this chapter, at the end of the Report. [Appendices to chapter.]

CHAPTER VIII.

RELIGIONS OF THE PEOPLE.

241.

At the present Census great care was taken to make the Religious Statistics as full and as accurate as possible. Apart from the general importance of the subject, especial interest attaches to the return of Religious Denominations in our Colony, inasmuch as five of the principal sects are entitled to, and four receive State Aid, the figures disclosed by the Census determining the proportion of the Ecclesiastical Grant to which each of the religious bodies is entitled. [Importance of W.A. Religious Census.]

242.

Instructions were printed upon the face of the Householders' Schedules directing individuals, when filling up the column devoted to Religion, to particularize the religious body to which they belonged, and requesting them to avoid making use of general terms which denote more than one sect, such as " Christian " instead of name of particular denomination, " Protestant " instead of " Church of England, " " Catholic " instead of " Roman Catholic," &c. [Instructions are filling up of Religion column.]

243.

This precaution was necessary inasmuch as many Protestants, for instance, do not belong to the Church of England, and many Catholics similarly are not adherents of the Church of Rome. Only those concerning whose particular religious profession there could be no possible doubt, such as Anglican for Church of England, or Romanist for Church of Rome, have been included under the heading of such particular religious profession. Persons, for instance, calling themselves Catholic or Protestant have been kept separate from the Roman Catholics or members of the Church of England, properly so defined. [Reasons for precautions.]

244.

It was not compulsory, at the present Census, for anyone to state his or her religion if he or she had any conscientious objection to do so, in which case it was only necessary to write the word " Object " in the column headed " Religion. " [Religions return not compulsory.]

245.

The persons who objected to state their religions numbered 478, comprising 379 males and 99 females. Against the names of 118 persons, of whom 18 were females, no entry whatever as to religion was made. There were, therefore, 596 persons in the Colony at the time of the Census concerning whose religion no information was available. [Number of those who objected or omitted to fill in religious column.]

246.

Of the 49,186 persons with respect to whom particulars with regard to religion were entered upon the Schedules, 24,768 belonged to the Church of England. An additional 250 persons entered themselves as " Protestants," making a total of 25,018 Episcopalians, usually so called. [" Episcopalians."]

247.

The Presbyterians who entered themselves upon the schedules as such, numbered 1,996. Amongst the " Other Presbyterians " one individual only, who belonged to the Free Church of Scotland, is to be found. The total Presbyterian body, therefore, numbered 1,997. [Presbyterians.]

248.

The Methodists were composed almost entirely of Wesleyans or Wesleyan Methodists, who numbered 4,556. The remainder of the Methodists were composed of 18 Primitive Methodists, and 21 persons who entered themselves simply as " Methodists." [Methodists.]

249.

The Independents or Congregationalists numbered 1,573. [Independents.]

250.

Amongst the other Protestant Denominations the Baptists numbered 283 ; the Bible Christians 10 ; the Disciples of Christ, Christians (undefined), and Church of Christ, 98 ; and the Lutherans or German Protestants, 216. Of the smaller Protestant Sects, the Plymouth Brethren or Christian Plymouth Brethren numbered 7 ; the Society of Friends or Quakers, 7 ; the Unitarians, 39 ; the Dutch Church, 8 ; the Moravians, 4 ; the Free Church, 3 ; the Salvation Army or Salvationists, 4 ; the Followers of Christ, called Brethren, 2 ; the Calvinists (a Welsh Sect somewhat similar to the Presbyterians), 6 ; the Non-Conformists, 1 ; the Evangelists, 4 ; the Evangelical Reformed Church, 1 ; the Advent or Second Advent Christians, 2 ; and the Swiss Church, which had 1 representative. [Other Protestants.]

251.

The Roman Catholics numbered 12,464, while 137 persons were entered upon the schedules simply as " Catholics." The other Catholics, generally so called numbered 10, of which 7 were returned as belonging to the Greek Church two to the Greek Catholic Church, and one to the German old Catholic Church. The last-named has been included in the class of religions commonly known as the Catholic group. Probably, however, it would have been more correct to have added it to " Other Sects." [" Catholics."]

252.

The other sects, neither Protestant nor Catholic, numbered 1,959. Of these 129 were Jews ; 427 were Mahomedans ; 288 were Pagans (half-caste aborigines) ; and 1,080 (principally Chinese and Japanese) were set down as Buddhists. At the last Census the Government Statist of Victoria included all Chinese amongst " Pagans." As this classification, however, was productive of much adverse comment, the entry " Buddhists " has been substituted for Pagans as far as the Chinese are concerned. The majority were, in accordance with the example in the model schedule, returned as Buddhists ; but in those cases where it was evident that the entry " Pagan " had been in ignorance placed against the names of Chinese by the sub-enumerators, the term " Buddhist " was substituted by the tabulators in the Census Office. A few of the more intelligent Chinamen, who apparently understood the interrogation of the sub-enumerators, returned themselves as followers of Confucius. In the instances in which the Chinese professed to belong to any Christian sects, the entries were, of course, not amended in any manner. This last remark applies even more strongly to the Japanese, many of whom, whether rightly or wrongly, were entered upon the schedules as " Christians " (undefined), and were accordingly classified as such. The adherents of other sects besides those already mentioned numbered 35, and were distributed as follows :—Christadelphians, 3 ; Orthodox Church, 2 ; Israelites, 1 ; New Church or Swedenborgians, 3 ; Latter Day Saints or Mormons, 5 ; Catholic Apostolic Church, 1 ; Confucians, 9 ; Spiritualists, 1 ; Parsees, 1 ; Zwingleans, 1 ; Brahmins, 3 ; Hindoos (probably Brahmins), 3 ; Siva, 1 (evidently a Brahmin, Siva being the Destroying Deity in the religion of Brahminism) ; and Tamil, 1 (also no doubt a Brahmin, Tamil being the Sanskrit generic appellation for the South Indian Race). [Other sects.]

253.

Those who made the entry " No Denomination " against their names upon the schedules numbered 183. In addition to these, the following have been included amongst those who belong to no religious denomination : —Freethinkers, 308 ; Non-adherent, 1 ; Deists. 5 ; and Doctrine of Jesus Christ, 9. [No denomination (so stated).] [No denomination.]

254.

The entry " No Religion " appeared upon the schedules against the names of 210 persons. The following 21 persons have also been included amongst those of no religious belief :—Agnostics, 9 ; Atheists, 8 ; Cannibal, 1 ; Cosmopolitan, 1 ; Fatalist, 1 ; and Non-believer, 1. Pagans, since it is assumed that they believe in an Evil, even if not in a Good Spirit, have already been classed amongst " Other Sects." The number of persons in the Colony, therefore, at the time of the Census who apparently had no religious belief whatever, was 230, or at the rate of less than half per cent. of our population. As those who entered the word " Object " against their names in the [No religion (so stated).] [No religion.]

religious column numbered 478, they comprised nearly one per cent. of our population. At the 1881 Census the persons who from conscientions scruples objected to state their religion were a little less than one-half per cent. of the population.

255.

The following table shows the total population of the Colony, classified into the various religious groups :— [Religions grouped.]

256.

As regards the five principal religious Denominations of the Colony, all have increased, so far as actual numbers are concerned, during the last decennial period. The Church of England now numbers 8,506 more persons than it did in 1881 ; the Roman Catholics are more numerous by 4,051 than they were ten years ago ; the Wesleyan Body has increased by 2,472 ; the increase amongst the Presbyterians is 992 ; and the Congregationalists or Independents have, during the ten years, added 311 to their numbers. The religious " Residue " (viz., those whose Religious were not stated, those who professed no religion or who belonged to no denomination, and those who belonged to religious sects other than the principal ones of the Colony) shows an increase during the decennial period of 3,742. To better illustrate these facts, the following table, showing the increases in the ten years of the adherents (males, females, and persons) of each of our five principal Religions, has been prepared :— [Numerical increase in Religions.]

257.

Nevertheless, although these numerical increases are very marked all down the line, only three of the above headings, namely, " Wesleyans," " Presbyterians," and " Residue " have increased since 1881 in proportion to the increase which has taken place in connection with the total population of the Colony. To exemplify this the return which follows has been compiled, showing the percentage which each of the five principal Religious now holds to the total population, and the proportion which they each bore at four previous Censuses :— [Proportional increases.]

258.

From this return it will be seen that the members of the Church of England increased between the 1854 and the following Census until they comprised 67 persons in every 100 of the population. Since 1859, however, their proportion has decreased ; the percentage of members of the Church of England being now 49.75, or very nearly half the total population. The Roman Catholics attained their highest percentage in 1870, when they numbered 28.72 per cent. At the following Census, [Proportional increases and decreases of principal religions.]

however, they slightly decreased in proportion to the total population, and their percentage was still further reduced to 25.04, or a little less than one quarter of the population, upon the present occasion. With the exception of the year 1859, when they held a rather better proportion than they did eleven years latter, the Wesleyans have steadily increased in proportion to the total population. The same may be said, in a lesser degree, of the Presbyterians. The Congregationalists or Independents rose to a percentage of 4.25 in 1881. At the present Census, however, they had fallen again in proportion to 3.16. The increase under the head of " Others " may be chiefly ascribed to the large number of aliens now employed in our Pearl Shell and other industries in the Northern portion of the Colony.

259.

A table showing the actual numbers of the adherents of the five principal religions in all Censuses at which they were distinguished is appended : — [Number of adherents of principal religions at various Censuses.]

260.

Tables showing the distribution of all the principal Religious throughout the various Districts of the Colony will be found attached as Appendices to this chapter, at the end of the Report. As, however, it will be of general interest to see the numbers of the principal Religions in those places where some if not all of the religious bodies have established places of worship, the following return, with respect to seventeen principal Towns of the Colony, has been prepared :— [Distribution of principal Religions amongst Towns of Colony.]

261.

In all the various religions of the Colony the males outnumbered the females except with respect to three sects, viz., the Plymouth Brethren (3 males, 4 females), Doctrine of Jesus Christ (2 males, 7 females), and Bible Christians (3 males, 7 females). As it may possibly be of general public interest to see the proportion which [Proportion of females to males of principal Religious Denominations.]

the females of the principal religious of the Colony bear to the males, the following numerical and comparative table has been prepared :—

CHAPTER IX.

EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE.

262.

Of the 49,782 persons in Western Australia at the time the present Census was taken, 33,798 were able to read and write, 2,034 could read only, 13,288 could neither read nor write, And of 662 persons the degree of education was not stated upon the schedules. [Degree of Education of whole population.]

263.

Eliminating the " Unspecified " from the calculation, the following table shows the percentage of the population who could read and write, those who could read only, and those who were unable to read or, consequently, to write :— [Education in proportion to population.]

264.

Distributing the population into sexes, 20,287 males and 13,511 females were able to read and write. The males who could only read numbered 1,051, the females 983 ; while the males and females who could neither read nor write numbered 8,014 and 5,274, respectively. [Education of sexes.]

265.

The proportional degree of Education amongst the sexes was as follows :— [Proportional Education of the sexes.]

266.

As, however, it would be manifestly unfair to include infants who could not possibly be expected to be able to read or write, in a calculation affecting the degree of Education of the Colony, in the following tables all children below the age of five years have been eliminated :— [Of adults.]

267.

The necessity for deducting the numbers of the young children from the Educational Totals is most conclusively proved by the foregoing tables, for whereas, judging by the degree of education of the whole Colony, the males (in consequence of the number of the sexes being at the lower years fairly equal, but at the higher ages the males largely outnumbering the females) would appear to be better educated than the females, the contrary is really the case, as will be seen by the table immediately preceding, which shows that of the males aged five years and upwards, 78.34 per cent. could read and write, the proportion, as regards females, being 82.45 in every hundred. This superiority of the females of the Colony as regards Educational acquirements is still more marked as regards the education of adults ; witness the following tables :— [Females better educated than males.]