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1910] 4
Officer of Health that this small increase had not been maintained, because
he could not help noticing that private houses, especially those for the wealthy
and upper middle classes, had not been fully occupied, so that there were
many vacant houses in the borough, while in the lower class dwellings there
had been a great decrease in overcrowding On the other hand it was stated,
by persons who do not think as the Medical Officer of Health did, that there
had been no falling off, for although they admitted that the number of vacant
residences was large, yet they said that many houses had been turned
into flats, and also that there had been many blocks of dwellings,
intended for the working classes, built He was not in a position to assert
that their contention was wrong, although he had very grave doubts on the
point; indeed, he thought that when the census returns were published, it
would be found that Islington, instead of exhibiting an increase would show
either none at all or a slight decrease
The question of population is of course very important Those who have
studied the reports of the Medical Officer of Health during the last few years will
have noticed that he has been in great doubt as to the reliability of the estimates
of the Registrar General, but that notwithstanding this he has considered that
the error in the calculations of the birth-rates and death-rates based upon them
would not be very great We now know what the actual population is, for the
census returns have been published, and it has been found that it has
actually fallen from 334,991 in 1901 to 327,423 in 1911, which is a decrease
of 7,568 persons Of course, this will make a difference in the mortality rates,
and other calculations based on the estimated population Thus the 4,523
deaths which were registered during 1910 are now found to be equal to a deathrate
of 13.79 instead of 12.80, or a difference of 0.99, almost 1 per 1,000 of the
population It is extremely unsatisfactory that there should have been
any doubt in a matter of such moment as the mortality rate of the borough,
apart altogether from the mercenary consideration that the distribution
of the Equalisation of Rates grant is based on the estimated population
of the Registrar General Mortality figures, to be of any real service, should
be very accurate, and, therefore, it is essential that if this accuracy is to be
obtained, a quinquennial census should be made If such a census were
taken, it need not be a full one, such as that taken every ten years, but
only one to ascertain the numbers of males and females and their ages If
this were done, and the expense could not be great, then not only London, but
the whole of England would have a satisfactory basis for the calculation of
their vital statistics,