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9
house or Infirmary for many years. The remaining deaths were
distributed as follows:—
North-East. North-West. South-East. South-West.
153 105 120 347
Based upon the estimated population, the death-rate of each
ward would be:—
North-East. North-West. South-East. South-West.
11.3 9.1 10.9 20.4
The death-rate in the North-East and South-West Wards is
higher than that of 1906; in the North-West Ward it is lower,
and the rate in the South-East Ward is practically the same as that
of 1906.
In last year's report some of the factors operating towards a
high death-rate in the South-West Ward were mentioned. Some
of the causes are not dependent upon sanitary conditions. The
death-rate of a population is profoundly affected by its age constitution.
The tendency to death is greater among persons living
at the extremes of life—among infants and old people. The birthrate
in the South-West Ward is much higher than in the rest of the
district. 44 per cent. of the births registered in the district occurred
in the South West Ward. The age distribution of the population,
though, is not sufficient to account for the marked difference in
the death-rate of this Ward as compared with the rest of the districtNor
is the cause a transient one, as a higher death-rate has to be
recorded here year after year. We are reticent to recognise that
the public health is affected by other causes than sanitary defects.
Everyone knows that a defective soil pipe is dangerous. Its effects
are immediate. For a similar reason the effects caused by overcrowding,
exposure to infection, and unsound food are appreciated
by all. But the part played by social conditions is not so readily
admitted, either because the effect is more remote, or there may
be an immediate as well as an ultimate cause. The diseases which
were responsible for the high death-rate in the South-West Ward
were Measles, Whooping Cough, Diarrhoeal Diseases, Bronchitis