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9
The fall in birth-rate has not been limited to this Country;
it has occurred to a. greater or less degree in all parts of Europe,
and similar accounts have been received with respect to
Australia and the United States of America.
So far as this Country is concerned, it appears be those
town populations in which the great majority of the members
possess individually least wealth, and are therefore least able
to make adequate provision for their children, that as a general
rule have the highest birth-rates. Looked at from another point
of view, it is from amongst the weekly wage earners that the
population of the Country is being recruited in an ewer increasing
proportion, and, if the Nation is to hold its own, no
efforts must be spared to educate their children into mentally
and physically fit citizens.
Death -Rate
General Mortality.- The deaths of 285 Finchley residents
occurred during the year, which number included 143
females and 142 males.
The Recorded General Death- Rate was therefore 9.9 per
1,000 of population; in 1904 the rate was 13.2, the average for
the ten years 1895-1904 being 10.8.
The rate of England and Wales in 1905 was 15.2, which is
lower than the rate in any other year on record, and that of
the 76 Great Towns was 15.7.
The Corrected Death- Rate.— The proportionate number
of different sexes in any given population and the number of
persons at the different age-periods have a marked effect on the
mortality. In order to obtain more accurate figures for comparing
the death-rates of different districts, allowance should
be made for these variations in the composition of the populations
concerned.