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32 INFANTILE MORTALITY.
Infantile Mortality per 1,000 births registered.
St. Mary. St. John.
Males. Females. Males. Females.
Ten Years, 1857-66 168 137 146 108
„ 1892-1901 171 141 190 185
Napoleon said that wars were decided by big battalions. In the same way the race for
supremacy, be it in commerce, territorial expansion, or other form of national progress, depends
upon the steady increase in population. If the Nation is to maintain its position in international
affairs, something must be done to counteract the decreasing rate of growth. There
can be no doubt that a "crusade," to use a term rather in vogue just now, against the present
heavy infantile mortality is the only method which promises to produce good results.
In Tables 25 and 26 the question of incidence of infantile mortality is taken a step
further. It will be seen that more than half the deaths occur at ages under three
months. Splitting this period into two, viz., "under one month" and "from one to
three months," the greater proportion of the deaths takes place in the former period,
viz., under one month. Examining Table 25 it will be seen that in St. Mary's District
the mortalities among males at ages under three months were higher in the second period
(1892-1901) than in the first (1857-1866); those at the higher ages, lower. The same remark
applies to the mortalities of females. In St. John's District the mortalities among males in
the second period show increases up to the ages three to six months, after which they are
lower, but the mortalities of females are higher in the second period at all ages.