Enumerations of parts of the population, for a special purpose, are often made. The number of children between certain ages is required to be known every year, as a basis for the division of the income of school funds, in different states. In a letter contained in the appendix to the fourth Registration Report, the writer said :-" The educational age, as fixed by the laws of Massachusetts, is 4 to 16. It seems to me, however, that this specific classification is injudicious, and that 5 to 15 would be better. The latter points or ages are universally adopted by nations, as important in the divisions of the population, and in the statistics of the dead; and there are many reasons why the educational age should be within these points. It would be less labor to make the enumeration; and, from examinations which have been made, it appears that the ages of children attending school more nearly correspond to them. Comparisons could be more readily made with the ordinary divisions of the population. I agree in opinion with a recent eminent writer, in thinking, in its application to schools, that hereafter 15 will be the age at which, in any census, it will be considered that, in the mass of the community, occupation begins, and education ends.'" In 1849, this hint was matured into a law; and 5 to 15 is now the legal Educational Age in Massachusetts.

XIII. WE RECOMMEND that the Constitution of the State be so altered, that the State Census shall be taken in 1855, and at the end of every subsequent period of ten years..

The constitution of this State, as amended in 1839, [Chap. I, Sect. 2, Art. 1, and Sect. 3, Art. 2,] provides that "a census of the inhabitants of each city and town, on the first day of May, shall be taken and returned into the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, on or before the last day of June, of the year one thousand eight hundred and forty, and of every tenth year thereafter, which census shall determine the apportionment of senators and representatives for the term of ten years." 1

The constitution of the United States originally provided [Art. I, Sect. II,] that "the actual enumeration [of the inhab

1 Rules and Orders of the House of Representatives, pp. 68, 100, 105.

itants] shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress, and within every subsequent period of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct," for the purpose of determining the number of representatives which each state shall be entitled to send to Congress. And by the act of March 1, 1790, the first enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States was made that year. New acts have been passed, ordering new censuses every ten years, since that time. The seventh national census is to be taken this year, (1850.)

By the operation of these two constitutions, two enumerations of the inhabitants of this State were taken in 1840, are to be taken this year, and will continue to be taken at the end of each succeeding period of ten years, so long as neither of these constitutions remain unaltered. Two enumerations of the inhabitants of a place, made in the same year by different authorities, are not only inexpedient, but may be of positive inconvenience. If they should be essentially different, as was the case in some places at the last census, a doubt might be thrown over the authenticity of both, and neither taken as correct. Besides, two, if equally correct, would afford no information that one might not give. If one were taken in the intervening period, both would be of great value. Besides affording the means of showing the growth of different places, they would enable us to make much more accurate sanitary comparisons and deductions. The whole matter, too, being under the control of the State, such a plan might be adopted and successfully carried out, as would secure the best and most useful results, as suggested in the last recommendation. This period might also be used for the ascertainment of other statistics, beside such as relate to the population.

The words "in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty" occur three times in Sect. 2, Art. 1, and twice in Sect. 3, Art. 2; and the proposed amendment would require merely that the words fifty-five be substituted for the word forty in these five instances. It is worthy of consideration, however, whether the time for taking the census should not be the 1st day of July, the middle of the year,-instead of the 1st day of May.

We are opposed to frequent alterations of the constitution of the State; but what we now recommend affects no principle. Its expediency and utility are so obvious, that it must commend itself to general approbation. The constitution of New York provides for a state census at the same period here proposed.

To avoid the expense and inconvenience of two enumerations, an arrangement has been proposed that the United States should unite with the State, and take one census only. But this has not been effected, because the United States could not with propriety delegate an authority to one state, to return a basis of representation, which it did not to another.

XIV. WE RECOMMEND that the laws relating to the public registration of births, marriages, and deaths, be perfected and carried into effect in every city and town of the State.

We have already said that an accurate knowledge of the living inhabitants of a place forms the first element for estimating its sanitary condition. An exact knowledge of the births, marriages, and deaths, forms the second essential element. Without both of these elements, we cannot determine, with any considerable degree of accuracy, whether the public health at one place is better than at another, or whether at the same place it is better at one time than at another. By them we can determine both of these propositions.1

A new act relating to registration was passed on the 3d of May, 1849, and instructions have been prepared for carrying it into effect, and issued by the Secretary of State. The law is

The following extract from the Quarterly Return of the Registrar-General in England, for April, 1850, shows some of the purposes to which this information may be applied :"While the returns of the exports, imports, and revenue, furnish good indications of the production, consumption, and commerce of great classes in the country, the marriages, births, and deaths supply a surer test of the condition of the whole population. It is grati fying to find that the general results of both classes of returns are favorable. The mar riages, which in 1847 were so much depressed, and increased almost imperceptibly in 1848, rose to 141,599 in the year 1849; and in the autumn quarter were 43,632; which is a higher number than has ever before been celebrated, excepting in the autumn quarter of 1845. The deaths have also declined; they were 98,607. The country, which, after the failure of the potato crop in 1846, was covered with funerals,-in the train of a multitude of diseases, and of two great epidemics, the fatal influenza of 1847-8, and the more deadly cholera of 1849, -is now in health again.. The deaths in the first quarter of 1850 were less by 21,065 and 21,414 than the deaths in the corresponding quarters of 1847 and 1848. Fewer children have been left fatherless, fewer parents have been bereaved of their children. Sickness and suffering-though perhaps not precisely in the same ratio as the mortality,-have diminished. The skilful and active industry of the kingdom has been less interrupted by the illness of workmen and the incapacity of masters; the parishes have had fewer poor to relieve; the friendly societies fewer sick members to support; insurance societies less to pay on policies; everything dependent on the duration of human life has been relieved of pressure; the minds of the people have not been irritated by hunger, fever, and discontent."

Deaths in

becoming more and more popular; and, if superintended by an efficient State agency, and faithfully carried into operation by the local authorities of all the towns, it may secure the many important benefits designed by its passage. The headings of the registry books now in use are as follows:

Registrar.

The returns to the Secretary of State contain all the information in the books of records, excepting columns 11 and 12,

11 12

relating to births; 10 and 11, relating to marriages; and 12 and 13, relating to deaths. These returns are printed on paper of uniform size,-18 inches square,-and are designed to be bound into annual volumes. These volumes are thus easily accessible, and afford the means of investigating the operation of any diseases which prevail in the State, as well as the personal history of individuals.

A few important improvements should be made in the administration and execution of the law; and the local Boards of Health are authorized to make any regulations they may deem expedient for this purpose. Efforts should constantly be made to obtain the records of the events at or near the time at which they take place. When delayed to the end of the year, or even for a much shorter period,―owing to the frequent changes in the residences of our people, and to other causes,-mistakes and omissions are inevitable.1

The facts as to births might be obtained, by the clerks and registrars by their own personal agency, or by making proper arrangements with physicians, or by district officers of the town, or by requiring the parent or person interested to make the return within a fixed period, under penalty.

As to deaths, by the appointment of competent undertakers, and by requiring them to obtain and record, in each case, all the information desired, before the burial. The certificates of the causes of death should always be obtained, when practicable, from the attending physician; and we have no doubt that few instances would occur in which they would be refused, upon request. The English physicians, says a recent medical writer of the highest authority, "have daily and hourly written out the causes of death, bringing the whole knowledge of the profession to bear upon this single point, as unpaid services. In the aggregate, this labor has been enormous, but it has been given, freely rendered, by the profession, to the government, without fee or reward. It may seem a plain, unconsequential

We are convinced, after repeated attempts, that it is impossible to obtain accurate accounts of past, unrecorded events, concerning either the living or the dead. Hitherto, every trial to obtain the number of births, marriages, and deaths, a year or more after they happened, has been a failure. This conviction has been expressed in relation to the national census this year. A strong desire, however, existed in the Census Board, that measures should be provided for obtaining the information; and a separate schedule in relation to deaths was prepared, at their request, for the purpose.