454 



Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



This variability is further illustrated in the case of New 

 Zealand by Table II., giving the 7-esults of the censuses of 

 1881 and 1896, and by the following table, which exhibits a 

 remarkable difference in the rates at which different sections 

 of the population increased between the censuses of 1891 

 and 1896 :— 



Table V. — Population of New Zealand by Age. 



It will be seen that, between the two censuses, two sec- 

 tions of the people increased at a rate much in excess of that 

 for the people as a whole. The first of these consisted of 

 those at the early supporting and reproductive ages, included 

 in the years 15-30, and the rate of increase was about double 

 that of the general rate. The next census should show a 

 similar increase in those of the ages 20-35, so that the number 

 of people of these ages are increasing at the present time at 

 a rate about double that for the whole population, and have 

 been doing so for some time. This must be very largely 

 responsible for the greatly increased marriage-rate. The 

 marriage-rate has risen steadily from 5 - 94 per thousand in 

 1895 to 7 - 28 per thousand in 1899. This increase in the 

 marriage-rate is usually attributed solely to the influence of 

 prosperity. Prosperity must have a large share in bringing 

 about the increase, but so also must the fact that the increase 



