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19
means the saving of a large number of lives. Supposing the
death rate last year had been 16'4 as in the decennium 1893
1902, instead of 14 0 as was actually the case, 2065 persons
would have died instead of 1763. There was thus a saving of
302 lives. This diminished death rate may be due to general
climatic or social conditions, or it may be due to improved
sanitary administration; most probably both factors have been
at work. But whatever is the cause the saving in life capital
is immense, and may be expressed in terms of money.
Particulars on the monetary value of life capital saved are
given in my Annual Reports for 1902 and 1903.
Infant Mortality.
16. The infant mortality or deaths under one year per 1000
births was 134. This is higher than it has been since 1900,but below the average of the ten preceding years.