View report page

14
causes may be, there is no reason to think they will operate
less actively in the future than in the past.
The rapid decline in natality in a country which is the
nucleus of a vast Empire, containing immense tracts of
undeveloped and unoccupied land, is a matter which affords
food for reflection, especially when it is borne in mind that, low
as our birth-rate has fallen, the rate in our Colonies is
considerably lower , at all events amongst the Colonists of
British blood. But there are no signs that the significance of
these facts is appreciated by the public.
The excess of births over deaths in the whole Borough
was 2,497. In East Battersea the births exceeded the deaths
by 1,197, in North-West Battersea by 841, and in South-West
Battersea the excess was 459.
The illegitimate births registered numbered 107, or 13
more than in 1902. The number of illegitimate births and
their proportion to the total births registered during the
decennium and in 1903 are given in the subjoined table:—