72 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZLNE. 



THE SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 



A parliamentary blue book, recently issued from the 

 Board of Trade by ]Mr. Fonblanque, supplies a large 

 amount of curious and instructive information respect- 

 ing the socijl condition of the kingdom; some of the 

 leading details of which it may be interesting to notice, 

 because they are not often brought prominently under 

 consideration. We therefore proceed to take a sum- 

 mary view of some of these points, which may serve 

 for reference and future comparison. 



Tlie estimated total poi)ulation of Great Britain in 

 June, 18.30, was 22,080,449, of whom 11,278,170 were 

 females. The births exceed the deaths nearly as 2 to 

 1. The number of mirriages— 179,824, in 1850 — 

 seem to bear the proportion of one-third to the 

 deaths. 



For England and Wales, the population, in 185G, 

 was 9,3.37,035 males, and 9,688,152 females. The ex- 

 cess of births over deaths was 258,273 ; so that, in round 

 numbers, the increase of population may be taken at a 

 quarter of a million a year. The marriages in the me- 

 tropolis seem to average about 2G,0OOa year, and in 

 England and Wales about 159,000 a year. Looking 

 at the ages at wliich the parties enter into wedlock, we 

 find that while 206 females and 3 males of the early 

 age of fifteen and sixteen were married in the year 

 1850, 973 men and 292 women above the age of sixty 

 were married ! About twenty appears to be the predo- 

 minating age for entering into the holy estate, for 42,544 

 males and 45,651 females were married at that age. 

 There seems, notwithstanding the number of marriaues, 

 to be a progressive increase in the number of illegiti- 

 mate children. 



The improving health of the metropolis is shown by 

 the decreasing mortality in the face of a larger popula- 

 tion. 



In 1854, 1855, and 1856, the total deaths stood re- 

 spectively at 73,697, 61,942, and 57,274. In the 

 latter year, 3,141 died between tlie aae of seventy-five 

 and eighty-five, 793 at from eighty-five to ninety-five, 

 and 42 died who had lived beyond that age — a circum- 

 stance unequalled in the returns of the kingdom, except 

 in Wales, where 50 died over the age of ninety-five. 



In Scotland, the population for 1850 is given at 

 3,035,262, of whom 1,. 390,01 8 were females. The births 

 there were 101,748, and the deaths 58,456. 



In 18.36, 168 agricultural national schools are re- 

 turned for Ireland ; of which 37 are described as model 

 schools, 51 ordinary, 3 school-gardens, and 77 work- 

 house schools. 



The total sum raised in England and Wales for the 

 relief of the poor in the year ending Lady-day, 1857, 

 was £8,339,210, which is a decrease of 1.8 per cent, on 

 the previous year. The number of paupers on the 1st 

 Jan., 1858, in receipt of relief in England and Wales 

 was, in-door, 126,481 ; outdoor, including lunatics, 

 vagrants, &c., 781,705. These figures show an in- 



crease in the pauper returns of 6.9 per cent, over the 

 corresponding period in 1857. 



la Scotland, the total amount received for the relief 

 of the poor in the year ending Whit-Sunday, 1857, was 

 £669,8.53. The total poor of all classes receiving relief 

 was 115,213 persons, of whom 103,427 were out-door 

 paupers. There seems to be a gradual decrease in the 

 number of paupers in Scotland in the last three years. 



The decline of pauperism in Ireland is also a satisfac- 

 tory feature, and indicates a highly improving condition 

 of the people. From 80,966 relieved in July, 1855, the 

 number decreased to 49,234 in 1857, and of these 

 20,404 were children under fifteen years of age. The 

 present population is not given, but in 1851 it stood at 

 6,553,055. This number has, however, been very 

 largely reduced by emigration. In the past three years 

 more than 300,000 persons have arrived in Liverpool 

 and other ports, principally outward bound to distant 

 countries, chiefly to the United States and Australia. 

 The total amount for poor rates in Ireland in the year 

 ending Lady-day, 1857, was £645,631, being at the rate 

 of lO^d. in the pound on the value of rateable property; 

 iu Scotland the proportion is Is. Id. in the pound. 



The proportionate poor-rate expenditure per indi- 

 vidual of the population, by the latest returns, would 

 seem to be in the following ratio in different parts of 

 the Kingdom : In England and Wales, 6s Ifd. per 

 head ; in Scotland, 4s. 43d.; in Ireland, Is. lOid. 



The criminal returns of the last thi-ce years speak 

 favourably of the improving moral condition of the 

 country, which are strikingly marked in England and 

 Wales and Ireland, although less so as regards Scot- 

 land. The committals for trial in England and Wales 

 have dropped from 29,.359 in 1854 to 19,437 iu 1856; 

 in Ireland from 11,788 to 7,099; but in Scotland only 

 from 3,994 to 3,713. 



The emigration returns for the United Kingdom show 

 the following progress : In 1855, 176,807 persons left; 

 in 1856, 170,554; and in 1857,212,875. Lastyear,of the 

 emigrants, 78,500 were English, 16,253 Scotch, 86,238 

 Irish, 12,624 foreigners, and 19,200 not distinguished. 

 With the increased exertions and Government outlay 

 by the Cape colony, by Victoria for its extensive rail- 

 way labour, and by Canada, with the cheap steam 

 communication in prospect across the Atlantic, a largely 

 increased tide of emigration may be looked for next 

 year. The proportion of females to males now leaving 

 the country is much larger than in former years ; but 

 there is no doubt that it might be more extensively in- 

 creased, to their individual benefit, looking to the de- 

 mand both for domestics and helpmates in the colonies. 

 Of the bulk of the emigrants last year, 126,905 went to 

 the United States, 21,000 to Canada and the British 

 provinces, and the great bulk of the remainder, 01,248, 

 to the Australasian settlements, 41,000 of these proceed- 

 ing to Victoria. When we find such aids as £600,000 to 



