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meteoro logical conditions. 4
Tasmania statistically:
264
Hall summed up the health situation n
The death rate of all Tasmania therefore for the first
half of 1861 on this basis would be 17 f / 4 per 1000 per
annum or one death to 57.38 living. This is nearly one
third less than the average rate of Engl and and Wales
and may be taken as a fair indication of the climatic
advantages this island enjoys. s
Certainly, the mortality statistics were very pleasing but
not so the census returns for 1861.
Hall indeed was deeply concerned
at the situation disclosed by contrasting the fi gures for 1851 with those
for 1861.
1851 1861
Under 21 years of age both sexes 25 093 42245
21 to 60 females 12702 18399
60 and ab ove both sexes 1529 4166
Total 39324 64810
21 to 60 males only 30806
Total po£ulation
70130
Ever since the gold dis coveries and the ab andonment of
transportation" he wrote on March 8 1862 "the
population of Tasmania has been rapidly undergoing a
change in its component elements which every day adds to
the burdens of the principal breadwinners of the island
the males from 21 to 60 years . The old the young and
the feminine elements - more or less dependent upon the
labours of the males aforesaid - have been year after year
increasing beyond the proportion of those in the producing
class at a rate without parallel in the old country .
. ... These relative disproportions will go on increasing
· and the facts demand the serious consideration of every
thinking man in the country. 6
25 16 7
89 977
Although Hall was the first to draw attention explicitly to the
uneven composition of the population and its implications for the economy ,
a need for some kind of cottage industry to provide remunerative emp loyment
for the many children, women aged and invalids had been recognized for
some time.
Following the example of the Victorian press which was
perseveringly advocating the idea in that colony the Mercury, sensible as
always of its responsibilities to the community on December 20 1860 ,
introduced the culture of the silkworm as one possible answer to Tasmania's
4
5
6
Mercury, August 2 1861.
Mercury July 29 1861.
Mercury March 13 1862.
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