between the ages of 2 and 14 (the only periods up to 15 specified in the returns), the centesimal proportion in New Munster receiving daily education was 58'66, a per-centage which would be increased could the number under 5 years be deducted from both sides of the proportion. Even in Scotland the proportion of those receiving education in 1837, was only 31.41 per cent., and to the per-centage of New Munster should be added those attending Sunday schools alone, an amount not ascertainable from the returns as made. In England and Wales," in 1833, the proportion receiving daily education in schools of all kinds was 30.7 per cent. The fact, however, still remains, that there are about 26.8 per cent. of the children, between the ages of 5 and 14, (deducting three-fifths from the number between 2 and 7, to get an approximation to that between 5 and 7,) who are receiving no daily education in schools in New Munster. It is indisputable, therefore, that even allowing for private instruction at home, a great deal is left to be done in the way of education in the province. The proportion of those receiving daily education, to the whole number between 2 and 14 years, is 61.78 per cent. at Wellington, 56.89 at Nelson, and 35:55 at Otago. It is highly creditable to the founder and promoters of the Nelson schools that their per-centage is so high as it is; for the centesimal proportion of the inhabitants of the town and suburbs is, in Nelson 42.4 to the whole population, while at Wellington (including Wade's Town, but not Karori or Porirua-road), it is 564 per cent. This much greater dispersion of the population over rural districts makes provision for the education of the children far more difficult. Criminal Statistics. The committals in the whole province in 1848 were 17, and the convictions 10; the average of this and the 4 preceding years being 25 and 131; and during this period the total number put on trial was 92, of whom 31 were from New South Wales, Hobart Town, or Parkhurst, 25 soldiers, 14 sailors and unknown, 18 original settlers, and 4 natives. In 1848 the summary convictions were, for assault 38, for drunkenness 82, for larceny 13, and for other offences 77. The average centesimal proportions of convictions to committals was in 1848, in Wellington 60-31, in Nelson only 37.50, or about twice as many convictions per cent. on committals in the former place as in the latter. The average for the five years throughout New Munster is considerably below the per-centage in England, where 72.14 per cent. of committals end in convictions, or in Scotland, where 74.91 per cent. have this result. This may in some degree be accounted for by the necessary imperfection of the means for securing the punishment of offenders in a young colony, and especially in one where the settlements are dispersed along so extensive a sea-coast as that of New Zealand-where the class most given to breaches of the law can pass so easily out of the reach of justice, and the expense of bringing witnesses to the place of trial is unavoidably great. The convictions for all offences, excluding those of natives, before the supreme court in the district of Wellington, taking an average of the 5 years ending December 31, 1848, bore to its population the proportion of 1 conviction to every 556 souls; the committals 1 to every 338 souls: In Nelson the corresponding proportions were, of convictions 1 to every 1641, and committals, 1 to every 753 souls. Thus convictions in Wellington were three times as many as in Nelson, in proportion to their respective population, and committals something more than twice as many; and the committals throughout New Munster in these 5 years were in the ratio of 1 in every 400 souls. In England and Wales, in 1841, they were only 1 in every 573, and in Scotland only 1 in every 738. This unfavourable result may, as far as the settlers are concerned, be satisfactorily accounted for, inasmuch as a reference to the table shows from what source the large amount of crime proceeds. If from 88 criminals during the 5 years be deducted those of prisoners from New South Wales and Hobart Town, and the free from Parkhurst, it will be found that the amount of commitals is reduced by one-third (88—31=57), which gives a proportion of 1 committal to every 464 of the population, when the per-centage (2.39) from the British colonies, in 1848, which may be taken as the proportion of the other years, has been deducted from the average population with which the committals are compared. Again, deducting in addition to these, the committals of soldiers from one side of the proportion, and the number of military from the other, we have the committals diminished by nearly two-thirds (88-56=32), or 1 to every 697 souls, a much smaller proportion than in England; and if again the committals of sailors and persons whose previous country was not known be omitted from the calculation, there will be left for committals among original settlers only one-fifth of the whole (88-70-18). The exact proportion to the corresponding population cannot be determined in this last case, because the number to be subtracted from the population is not ascertainable; but it is clear that it would be such as to make the comparison with either Scotland or England a very favourable one for Wellington. In Nelson the proportion, including all classes, is less than either of these countries. The evils of the neighbourhood of penal colonies are shown by the fact first proved, that one-third of all the crime of the province for the last five years has been supplied thence; and this may in some degree account for the small proportion of convictions to committals noticed above-so large a number of the prisoners committed having been old offenders, most probably long practised in all the arts of eluding justice. With reference to civil cases, the returns indicate from the considerable increase in the number and the proportion of cases settled out of court, that the extended powers given to the magistrates have operated beneficially for the public, and that a greater amount of business in both the criminal and civil departments of summary jurisdiction can be efficiently carried on in the single court than in the two together which previously existed, namely, the Police Magistrates' and the Court of Requests. In 1848, 385 civil cases were disposed of in the Resident Magistrate's Court in New Munster. It may be mentioned that there are 25 natives among those appointed assessors in New Munster, under the resident magistrates' ordinance; and that out of the total sum of 5627. 13s. 11d., deposited in the Wellington Savings' Bank in 1848, 1967. 15s. 6d. belonged to friendly, religious, and benevolent societies, and 867. to 6 native depositors; the remainder belonging to 52 European depositors. The total number of letters and newspapers received at and despatched from the Wellington Post Office in the same year was 60,089, the newspapers being somewhat in excess of the letters; and of these 18,492 were to and from London, 13,814 to and from Auckland, 7,378 to and from Sydney, 8,066 to and from Nelson, 3,853 to and from New Plymouth, 4,579 to and from Petre, &c. It is hoped that an analysis so authentic of the colonial life of our most distant and not least interesting dependency will be found well worthy of the record which is here granted to it: and it will not be inaptly concluded in the following terms employed by a gentleman. of the best information resident at Wellington, and dated on the 28th of January in the present year, 1851. "The total European population of New Zealand is now about 25,000. The natives number about 80,000, chiefly in the north. They are decidedly decreasing, owing to a great deficiency of women and very few children. În about twelve or fifteen years, I believe, the European population will be 50,000, and may be even more, and the native popnlation will probably be reduced to about the same number. The chief wealth of the colony consists in cattle and sheep, of which the latter now number 200,000; and doubling every other year, we shall in six years have at least 1,000,000, yielding about 3s. each per annum in wool, or 150,000l. The plains of Canterbury, which I have just visited, are admirably adapted for both cattle and sheep, and I have no doubt that this will soon be a very flourishing settlement; but I doubt whether the Association will find the sale of land such as to enable them to meet their expenditure." PROCEEDINGS OF THE STATISTICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. Seventh Ordinary Meeting. 19th May, 1851. -The Rev. E. Wyatt-Edgell in the Chair. Mr. T. J. Brown, (the Assistant Secretary,) read a Paper on the National Debts and Revenues in proportion to the extent of Area and Population of the various European States. Eighth Ordinary Meeting. 16th June 1851. The Right Honourable Lord Overstone, President, in the Chair. Mr. F. G. P. Neison read a Paper on the Mortality from Intemperate Lives. Mr. Kennedy brought before the Meeting a notice of the Census of the An Account of the Quantities of Coals, Cinders, and Culm, Exported from the United Kingdom to Foreign Countries and the British Settlements Abroad, with the Rates and Amount of Duties received thereon, in the Year 1850. Rates of Duty on Coals, Cinders, and Culm exported in the Year 1850. [From Paper presented to Parliament by the Registrar-General.] THE Census Act, and the Instructions issued in conformity with its provisions, required that the 40,000 enumerators employed should copy into as many books all the particulars collected by them concerning the inhabitants of Great Britain. These books were to be placed, complete, in the hands of the 2190 Registrars in England, and the 1074 Superintendents of Parishes and Burghs in Scotland, who were to subject them to a strict examination, and make all necessary corrections. This being accomplished, the books were to be transferred to the custody of the 624 Superintendent Registrars in England, and the 115 Sheriffs, Sheriffs-Substitute, and Provosts in Scotland, who were required to test the accuracy of their contents, by a further process of revision. The Act of Parliament allowed these officers until the 1st of June, for the purpose of returning the revised books to the Census Office, where they have still to undergo strict and minute examination and revision, before any detailed and authentic statement of results can be presented to the world. As this essential labour must, however, of necessity, engage much time, it was thought desirable not to withhold from the public such an approximation to the facts as might be obtained without waiting for the entire completion of this series of checks. The Registrars, therefore, in England, and the Sheriffs and Provosts in Scotland, were desired to frame and to forward to the Census Office summaries of the population and houses within their respective districts. From these summaries the following tables have been compiled, and they must be taken to represent the results of the Census according to the statements of the local officers, previous to the revision now in progress at the central office. And although minute accuracy is not in these tables to be looked for, neither is it to be apprehended that the alterations which a careful revision of the original documents may render necessary for a future publication, will be of importance sufficient to lessen the value of the figures as materials for whatever general inferences may fairly be drawn from them. In the present publication, the "Counties of England and Wales," which may be denominated "Registration Counties," comprise groups of Registration Districts, generally conterminous with Poor Law Unions; consequently, the aggregates of such districts seldom correspond with the precise boundaries of the actual counties. The rule adopted, whenever a district extends into more than one county, has been to assign it wholly to that county in which, at the Census of 1841, the greater portion of the population of that district was located. For the purpose of comparison between the different Censuses, the population of the counties previous to 1841 is given for the same boundaries as those which have since been assigned to the "Registration Counties." As Scotland is still without any system of registration, the counties there remain as before. The tables, so far as concerns the return of females, require no explanation; but the return of males is disturbed by the circumstances that a portion of the Army, Royal Navy, and Merchant Service, is out of the country-that the numbers vary largely-and that in the earlier Censuses no attempt was made to distinguish those at home and abroad, or those belonging to Ireland and Great Britain. Reserving these questions for investigation, the following are the facts of most importance to be borne in mind in reasoning on the tables. In every Census of Great Britain, from 1801 to 1831, the enumerators were instructed to take an account of the number of persons actually found within the limits of each parish, township, or place, “exclusive of men actually serving in His Majesty's Regular Forces or Militia, and exclusive of seamen, either in His Majesty's service or belonging to registered vessels." The Army, Royal Navy, marines, and seamen in registered vessels of the United Kingdom, are added to the population in the General Summary of Great Britain, with a proper intimation that "many soldiers and sailors are attributable to Ireland." In 1841, the instruction was different; the soldiers and sailors ashore in Great Britain were enumerated at their several barracks or places of residence, and entered under the parishes in which they slept or abode on the night of June 6th: 5016 persons were returned as travelling on railways, and can now be referred to no particular locality. In 1851, the enumerators were instructed to take an account of the whole of the population, including soldiers and sailors who slept or abode in their districts, on the night of Sunday, March 30th. The |