president's address. — SECTION G. 197 



to assemble together iu conferenoe in London in the early part of 

 this year, with results to which I shall now draw attention. But 

 before doing so, it is appropriate to observe that a study of the 

 statistics of the last century discloses the fact that population can- 

 not increase for long at the rate which has characterized the century 

 just closed; that we are drawing on our raw materials in a. way 

 which cannot long continue; that to rapidly people countries with 

 sparse populations can alone give them a measure of safety; that a 

 rapid rate of growth involves the support as dependents of a very 

 large fraction ot the population, and can be reached only by hard 

 wcxk, thrift, abstemious living, and more than ordinarily efficient 

 production. 



8. The British Empire Statistical Conftrence. — The first formal 

 Conference of the Statisticians of the British Empire, and of 

 various departmental officers engaged in compiling statistics in 

 connexion with their branches of public activity, met in London 

 on ths 20th January, and sat continuously till 26th February ; 

 even then fux'ther details of business occupied somewhat more than 

 another week. There were no less than 31 representatives for the 

 United Kingdom, 3 for India, 1 for each of the self-governing 

 Dominions, and 4 for the Crown Colonies and Protectorates, in all 

 42. From these numbers, it is obvious that either from the stand- 

 point of normal revenue, or from the stand-point of population, 

 the United Kingdom had an overwhelming representation. There 

 were 24 meetings of the Conference itself, a considerable number 

 of meetings of nine special committees, and meetings also of sub- 

 committees. At Sunderland Hous'e, on 17th February, the Con- 

 ference, by invitation, met Sir Eric Drummond, General Secretary 

 of the League of Nations, for the purpose of discussing the rela- 

 tions with the League of the contemplated Imperially organized 

 Bureau of Statistics. 



The Conference was held under the chairmanship of Mr. A. 

 W. Flux, of the Board of Trade, who' was assigned that office by 

 the British Government Outside the ceration of a Statistical 

 Bureau for the British Empire, such questions as the statistics of 

 foreign trade, agricultural statistics, census of manufacture, and 

 the census of population, the registration of births and deaths, the 

 recording of emigration and immigration, statistics of prices, 

 finance, and labour, the mode of creating authority for obtaining 

 statistical information, the statistics of Colonies and Protectorates' 

 the question of mechanical tabulation, and the scope of work of 

 a statistical bureau, were considered. 



9. Proposal to Establish a British Empire Bureau of Statistics. 

 — CoiiJ^iderable interest attached to' the proposal to establish a 

 British Empire Bureau, which it is thought should be in London, 

 and so equipped in staff and apparatus that it might expedi- 

 tiously obtain, collate, examine, and publish statistics bearing upon 



