HH62/2/STIRLI/15

Transcription

[Page] 14

In this table the "burghal" population has been distinguished
from the so-called "landward." But the term "landward" does
not give a correct idea of its nature. It includes all non-burghal
towns and villages, like Lennoxtown, Bannockburn, Stenhouse-
muir, &c. Indeed, at the census of 1881 the village population,*
which is entirely under the County Council, amounted to 22,141,
while the three small towns just named had a total population
of 8415. At the same time the strictly rural population was
25,629.
Taking the County as a whole, inclusive of burghs, the following
were in 1881 the percentages of town, village, and rural population
as compared with all Scotland:-

[Table Inserted]

While the town population was thus under the percentage of
all Scotland, the village population was largely in excess, so
that the proportion of strictly rural population was less than the
average.
Sex and Age Distribution. - In Scotland in 1881 there
were 107·59 females for every 100 males. In Stirlingshire the
proportion was only 100·3 females to 100 males. In the Dis-
trict Reports it will appear that in some villages, and especially
in Bannockburn and Cambusbarron, there is, owing to the nature
of the employment, a considerable excess of female population,
while in mining villages the reverse is the case. The low ratio of
females throughout the County as a whole is doubtless in great
part due to the large mining population in the Eastern District.
It is necessary to note the influence which such ratios have on
death-rates. Taking all ages combined, females have a distinctly
lower death-rate than males. Among equal numbers of the two
sexes there are for every 100 male deaths only 90 female deaths.
On the other hand, between the ages of ten and twenty, females

*In the Census report of 1881 "villages" have from 300 to 2000 inhabi-
tants, and "towns" over 2000.

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have a rather higher death-rate than males. But the main influ-
ence which this class of inhabitants has on the death-rate depends
on the fact that it increases the percentage of population at the
healthiest ages of life. Everyone knows that children have a much
higher rate of mortality than adults. While the all-age or "crude"
death-rate is only 18 or 20 per 1000 living per annum, the rate
under five years of age is from 50 to 60 per 1000 living at that
period of life. And from ten to twenty-five years of age the annual
death-rate is only from 6 to 7 per 1000 living. Obviously, there-
fore, the addition to an average community of a large number of
persons belonging to these latter periods of life, will lower the
general death-rate quite independently of any sanitary improve-
ment in the condition of the place, and quite independently, too, of
any actual improvement at any one period of life. In comparing
the death-rates of Bannockburn and Cambusbarron with those of
localities where ordinary age averages prevail, this fact must be
borne in mind. On the other hand, in the mining villages of the
Eastern District there is a large population under five years
old, and the total death-rate is in consequence to some extent
exaggerated. Better standards of sanitary condition than those
furnished by the total death-rate will be dealt with further on.
House Accommodation. - In 1881, with a total population
of 112,051 (within the former county boundaries), there were
22,361 inhabited houses, which contained among them 67,514
rooms. The number of rooms per house was thus almost exactly
3, and the number of persons per room was 1·65. In Scotland
as a whole, the corresponding figures were 3·17, and 1·59, so
that Stirlingshire was at a slight disadvantage in both respects.
The chief deficiency in house accommodation was in the villages,
they having only 2·28 rooms per house, against 2·97 in Scot-
land. At the same census, the number of persons per room
in the Stirlingshire villages was 2·18, while in Scotland it was
only 1·66. All these facts of course would tend to raise the
mortality. The figures for the whole County, at the Census of
1891, are not yet available, but from the local registrars I have
obtained some statistics, which are given in the District Reports.
Following the same line of enquiry we come to the question, How
many families live in houses of one room, two rooms, three rooms,
&c.? But here the available information is very defective, as it

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valrsl- Moderator, CorrieBuidhe- Moderator