591 
ages ; or, to raise the age of marriage for men to twenty-one, and 
lower it to fifteen for women, there was still an excess of 61,859 
bachelors, not to add 5112 widowers. 
“ Even this comparison, however, fails to convey a full sense of 
the evil as it affects the gold fields, where it appears that the per- 
centage of unmarried men is to that to be found in the seaport 
towns as 61 to 39; or, to state the case in another form — where the 
bachelors are to the spinsters in the proportion of more than 20 
to 1. There are, moreover, 8096 married men, chiefly in the 
mining districts, whose wives are not in the colony.” 
“ It is no doubt true that this excess of male life is all above a 
certain age, according to the age of the colony, the deficiency of 
females having arisen from the greater emigration of males originally ; 
and it is to be admitted, that as the native growth of population 
increases, a normal state of life with reference to the proportion of 
males and females will arise ; but in the meantime it occasions 
great social evils, which afflict most severely the mother country.” 
General Results. 
(Mr Thomson here exhibited an elaborate table showing the 
relative proportions of males and females of twenty years of age and 
upwards in England and Wales taken from the census of 1851; also 
the proportion of births, marriages, and deaths to 100 persons living, 
likewise children born out of wedlock to 100 births throughout each 
county.) 
“ There are curious variations in the results shown in different 
counties and districts, and east, west, north, and south, yield very 
different proportions ; but the grand total for England and Wales 
may be read thus : — 
For every 100 males there were 108T1 females in England and 
Wales at the census of 1851. 
For every 100 bachelors 101 13 spinsters. 
For every 100 husbands 101*31 wives. 
For every 100 widowers 198*18 widows. 
For every 100 persons living there were (1850 to 1857) 3*399 
births. 
For every 100 inhabitants there were (1857) *824 marriages. 
For every 100 persons living there were (1857) 2*175 deaths. 
And out of every 100 births there were (1857) 6*5 children born 
out of wedlock. 
