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4
It is far from what I could wish to place before you, but I have no
"will and pleasure" in the matter. I have officially to do with records
of births and deaths as a tabulated truth, and the result has arisen, to
use a very forcible expression, from "the inexorable logic of facts."
For the year ending at Lady Day, 1863, the births in the District
were 1866—or, 947 males, and 919 females; the deaths were 1483—
or, 812 males, and 671 females; and of these latter 667 were under 5
years of ago. This yields an addition of 383 in the year to the
population.
For the same period, ending 1861-2 the births were 1882, and
the deaths 1203, thus affording a nett increase of 589.
From this it will be seen that while the birth-rate has approximated
pretty closely for the two years; on the contrary, the death-rate
has told much more unfavourably on human life: in the year 1861-2 it
amounted to 23 per 1,000, while for the year 1862-3 it has run up to
nearly 26 deaths in every 1,000 of tin population.
The metropolis in general, however, has experienced an unusual
addition to the mortality, and, from the return of the Registrar General,
the Eastern District has felt the shock of disease most severely-comprising
the Unions of Shoreditch, Whitechapel, St. George's-in-the-East,
Stepney, Bethnal Green, Mile End, Bow and Poplar.
But to make this more clear I will subjoin the estimate of the two
years of the mortality.
1861.
London, 231 in 1,000. Eastern, 24.0. Limehouse, 23.2.
1862.
London, 23 4. Eastern, 25.9. Limehouse, 26.1.
Hence it appears that 231 persons died throughout London in the
year 1861 in every 10,000 persons—240 in the Eastern District, and
232 in the Limehouse. But in 1862, while the Metropolis has made
no considerable variation, or, 234 deaths, the Eastern District has
jumped up to 259 in the same number, and the Limehouse District
counted not less than 262 deaths in every 10,000 of the population.
Now this statement of facts that cannot be gainsaid, demands a
little notice, for unless the duties of the Medical Officer of Health are