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7
The condition of the population of St. John's District
contrasts in every respect strongly with that we have been
considering. The mean annual per centage of births does not
exceed 28.5 per 1000; that of deaths is also considerably
lower than in St. Mary's, being somewhat less than 18 per
1000; so that the births exceed the deaths by rather more than
one per cent. annually. As however the Table shows that there
is no corresponding increase of the population,it is obvious that
this proportion of persons per 1000 must annually emigrate
from the District.
These facts are to be accounted for as follows:—The
relatively small number of births depends in great measure,
if not entirely, on the social condition of the inhabitants.
The District of St. John's being principally inhabited by the
wealthier classes and their servants, it follows that the proportion
of unmarried to married persons is greater than in an
ordinary town population;—much greater than in a population
composed only of families belonging to the middle and lower
ranks of society.*
The emigration above alluded to simply results from the
fact, that during the whole period from 1851 to 1856, all the
available space has been more than occupied; and that consequently
the increase of population which would have settled
in the District has necessarily migrated elsewhere.
It has been also noticed that the death-rate of St. John's
District is considerably lower than that of St. Mary's,
(St. John's 17.8, St. Mary's 21.4). This does not imply any
superiority of the one over the other as regards the Sanitary
condition of the population, but is referable to two circumstances.
In the first place a stationary population contains
fewer infants, and is therefore more favourably composed as
regards probability of life; and secondly, persons belonging
to the class of domestic servants do not usually die in service,
but more frequently during the later years of their lives become
inhabitants of more plebeian neighbourhoods. There can be
*There is another circumstance which may be mentioned as having a
bearing on this subject. It may be assumed that as a rule, men grow richer as
they grow older; it will follow that the residents of wealthy neighbourhoods are
likely to be persons in the advance of life. It need scarcely be pointed out that
this result must tend to diminish the number of births.