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In the Edmonton Workhouse and old Infirmary there were estimated to be
957 persons, of whom 121 were Edmonton residents.
In the Epileptic Colony, where the inmates are admitted from Central
London areas, mainly the metropolitan boroughs, there was estima'ted to be
a population of 255 persons, including 12 on the resident staff. During 1919
there were 6 deaths but no births. There were 108 admissions during the
year.
STATISTICS OF REGISTRAR-GENERAL.
The following rates are provisional: The marriage rate for England and
Wales for 1919 was 19.7, the highest on record. The birth-rate, 18.5, compared
with 17.7 last year, which was the lowest on record. The death-rate at 13.8
is 3.8 higher than in 1918. The infantile death-rate, at 89 per 1,000 births,
compared with 97 last year, is the lowest on record. The natural increase in
the population of England and Wales, i.e., the excess of births over deaths,
is 188,426, or 104,019 less than the average of the preceding five years.
A letter from the Royal Statistical Society, dated the 10th July, 1919,
stated:—
"1.—It is a matter of common knowledge to all who have had occasion
to use official statistics, whether published or departmental, that the
national and imperial equipment for obtaining and publishing statistical
data is very imperfect in its scope and inadequate in its machinery."
"2.—Further, the efforts made are departmental, are under no
common controlling or directing authority, and suffer very gravely from
lack of co-ordination."
"3.—The Council of the Royal Statistical Society have appointed
a Special Committee to deal with the subject."
"4.—It is proposed to petition His Majesty's Government to set up
a Parliamentary Committee to examine the whole question of the collection
and presentation of public statistics, and to report on the means of
improvement."
COMPARATIVE STATISTICS, 1919.
This table of vital statistics for 1919 shows the various rates for the whole
country and for several of the Urban Districts of Middlesex, and is given for
the purpose of comparison.