PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
C.O.
Reference :-
8855 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
160
The result, therefore, of my inquiries, and of communications I have received from many persons interested in the matter, is, that I have arrived at the conclusion that as no complete machinery exists at present for carrying out an Imperial Census, and as many statisticians and others seem to think such a Census of the highest importance, that it is best to forward the proposal officially to the Chief Secretary for Ireland, so that he may, if he thinks fit, bring it formally under the notice of Her Majesty's Government. Should he adopt this course, I trust that your department will favourably entertain the proposal.
I have to add that when forwarded my memorandum to Lord Granville, 1 did not intend, that he should then take official cognisance of it. I am therefore especially obliged for the trouble your department has taken in dealing with the preliminary matters connected with the question.
SIR.
The Hon. Robert H. Meade, M.A., C,B.,
Assistant Under Secretary,
('olonial Office, London, S. W.
I am, &c., (Signed)
T. W. GRIMSHAW,
Registrar-General.
IMPERIAL FEDERATION LEAGUE to COLONIAL OFFICE.
Imperial Federation League,
43, St. Margaret's Offices, Victoria Street, S.W., January 21, 1887.
THE attention of the Executive Committee of the Imperial Federation League has been called to a memorandum prepared by Dr. Grimshaw, the Registrar-General for Ireland, of which a copy is annexed, wherein he points out the opportunity that presents itself of taking the Census of the United Kingdom and the several Colonies and Dependencies in 1891, upon an uniform system as far as may be practicable; and the Committee is so strongly impressed by a sense of the advantages offered by this proposal, that they desire to urge it very earnestly upon those departments of Her Majesty's Government which are concerned in the matter, and they invite your favourable consideration to the subject.
The Committee ascribes a value to everything which either exhibits or promotes the unity of the Empire, but they would rather point out to you the practical advantages to be derived from adopting as far as possible the same time, forms, and methods of collecting and abstracting the information in each part of the Empire, and by bringing together and publishing the results in a single volume, with the least possible delay, under a title that shall indicate that it is a Census of the British Empire.
Some efforts in this direction were made in 1871 and 1881. The information pro- cured in the former year by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and of which an abstract was published in the Report of the Registrar-General on the Census of the United Kingdom, but was deemed so unsatisfactory, that when similar information was procured in 1881, it was not considered advisable to use it..
Hence the results of the several Colonial Censuses were not given to the public until 1885, when tables taken from the several Colonial Blue Books were published in the Statistical Tables of the Board of Trade, mixed up with the commercial and other statistics, in the periodical triennial volume for the years 1881-83.
On examining and comparing the tables printed in this volume, it appears that while most of the Colonies collect the same facts they classify them in various ways, so as to render them unfit for combination or comparison. Thus, with regard to ages, no less than nine methods of classifying them have been adopted in different Colonies.
It is believed that by a timely consideration of the information which it is desirable and practicable to collect, and of the methods and forms in which they can be most conveniently abstracted and combined, the means of uniformity may be attained in most cases, and suggestions may be offered to the several Governments concerned, which will be thankfully received and favourably considered.
There is no idea of dictation or interference. should even fail generally, which there is no reason to apprehend, there will be the If the attempt to ensure uniformity positive advantage of pointing out the desire to expedite the abstraction and trans- mission of the returns, in order that they may all be published together in a single united record of the population of the Empire.
161
I have therefore been instructed to address this letter to you as Secretary of State for the Colonies, and similar letters to the Secretaries of State for India, the Home Department, and Scotland, and the Chief Secretary for Ireland.
am further directed by my Committee to ask you to be so good as to receive a deputation from this League and other associations interested in the subject, in order that they may state to you more fully their reasons for urging upon the Government the adoption of an uniform system for the Census of the Empire.
I have, &c., To the Right Hon.
(Signed) ARTHUR H. LORING, Sir Henry T. Holland, Bart., G.C.M.G., M.P.,
Secretary of State for the Colonies.
SIR.
Secretary.
COLONIAL OFFICE to the REGISTRAR-GENERAL, Somerset House.
Downing Street, February 1, 1887.
I AM directed by Secretary Sir Henry Holland to transmit to you a copy of a communication which has been received from the Imperial Federation League, and of a correspondence, as noted in the margin, with the Registrar-General for Ireland relative to the adoption of a uniform system of taking the Census of the British Empire.
I am to state that Sir Henry Holland attaches considerable importance to the subject, and would be glad to be favoured with an expression of your opinion before taking any action in the matter.
The Registrar-General, Somerset House.
SIR,
I am, &c..
(Signed)
R. H. MEADE.
COLONIAL OFFICE to the SECRETARY TO THE IMPERIAL FEDERATION LEAGUE.
Downing Street, February 1, 1887.
I AM directed by Secretary Sir Henry Holland to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 21st instant, urging the desirability of adopting a uniform system of taking the Census of the British Empire, and enclosing a printed memorandum of suggestions by Dr. Thomas W. Grimshaw, Registrar-General for Ireland.
In reply I am to state to you, for the information of the Executive Committee of the League, that Sir Henry Holland is fully alive to the importance of the question. and that his predecessors have already been in communication with Dr. Grimshaw on the subject. I am to add that he is now about to consult the Registrar-General, and after receiving an expression of his opinion will be happy to receive the deputation, as solicited, should such a course then seem advisable.
The Secretary to the
Imperial Federation League.
SIB,
I am, &c.,
(Signed) R. H. MEADE.
ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE to COLONIAL OFFICE.
Royal Colonial Institute, Northumberland Avenue, London, W.C., February 2, 1887.
I HAVE the honour, by direction of the Council of the Royal Colonial Institute,
to forward you herewith a copy of a resolution which they have adopted in reference to the next Census of the British Empire.
The Right Hon.
I have, &c., (Signed) J. S. O'HALLORAN,
Sir Henry Holland, Bart., G.C.M.G., M.P.,
&c.
&c.
&c. Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, Colonial Office, S.W.
Secretary.
Cc 2
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.