INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL CONGRESS.

The International Statistical Congress, composed of investigating minds in all parts of the globe, animated by the purpose of applying the science of figures to the discovery and supply of the moral and material wants of man- kind, assembled for the fourth time, on Monday, at Somerset House. Pre- vious and eminently successful meetings have been held at Brussels, Paris, and Vienna, and this meeting looked forward to with unusual interest, has assembled a large number of the most celebrated staticians, seeking to co- operate with our own professors of the science, with a view to stimulate the study. A preliminary meeting was held on Monday morning under the presidency of Mr. Milner Gibson, who gracefully tenaered the thanks of the Government to the foreign and colonial delegates for their attendance ; the roll was called, and thus answered—

For foreign countries :

AustralA.—His Excellency Baron Czcernig, Privy Councillor, Director of the Im- perial Statistical Department at Vienna. BAVAILIA.—Dr. F. B. W. Hermann, State

Councillor, Director of the Statistical Department at Munich, and of the General

Administration of Mines and ?Mt-works. BELGIV31.—M. A. (lat.:get, Director of the Royal Observatory, President of the Central Statistical Commission ; M. A. Visschers, Member of the Board of Mines, and of the Central Statistical C0111111/0-. sion. BuAza..—Ilis Excellency Senhor De Carvalho, Aloreira. DENNAIIK.—Dr. C. N. David, State Councillor, Director of the Statistical Department at Copen- hagen. FRANCE.—M. A. Legoyt, Director of the General Statistical Department of France in the Ministry of Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works. Ilaulincemi, ANSI Beemsx.—C. W. Asher, LL.D., Member of the Statistical Society of

Hamburg. 1lAxovtat.—Professor Wapplins. M. M. de Baum- limier, Director of the Statistical Department of the Ministry of the Interior ; Dr.

T. Ackerdyck, President of the Central Statistical Commission. MECKLENUPIIG- SCUIVERIN.—Baron 3Ialtzalen, First President of the Patriotic Agricultural Society, Member of the Statistical Board of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. NO ltIVAY. - Professor L. K. Daa. PRUSSIA.—Dr. E. Engel, Privy Councillor, Director of the General Sta- tistical Department of Prussia ; Dr. F. G. Schubert, Privy Councillor, Professor at

the University of Kiinigsberg. Member of the l'russian Chamber of Dimities.

RUSSIA.—Dr. T. B. Wernadski, State Couneillur, Nlettiber of the Central Statistical Conanittee of the Ministry of the Interior ; M. de Bouschen, of the Central Com- mission of Statistics in the Ministry of the Interior. SastE-Co. ult.. AND SAXE- NfriNtsce.N.—M. G. Ilopf, Financial Councillor, Director of theaLife Asstirance Bank for Germany in Gotha. SPAIN.—Count de Rinalda, Centtal StatistWill Com- mission at Madrid. SWEDEN.—Dr. F. Th. Berg, Member of the 11,iatd of Health at Stockholm, Director of tin- Statistical D.tpartment of Sweden. SwilZ1:1:1..IN11.—M Vogt, Directorof the Federal Statistical Deparmeut at Berne ; M. Koib. TURKEY.— Agassi Etfendi, Secretary of the Ottoman Legation at Paris. UNITED S rages.— Judge Longstreet and Dr. Jarvis. For the Colonies :— AUSTRALIA.—New South Wales : Janie s 3facarthur, Esq., Edward Hamilton, Eaq., Stuart A. Donaldson, Esq. Queensland M. Marsh, Esq., Ml'. ictot ia : NV. Westgarth, Esq. South Australia : E. Stephens, Esq. Tasmania : .1. A. Vont, Esq. New Zealand : J. E. Fitzgerald, Esq. BRITISH GUIANA. —W. Walker, Esq., Colonial Secretary. CANADA.—J. T. Galt, Esq., Finance Minister. Cat I. el Goon TIOPE.—W. Field, Esq. CEVLON.—Sir Charles 31'Carthy. JAMAICA AND BA RBA- nom.-Stephen Cave, Esq., M.P. AlArerritts.—G. Fropier, Esq. IONIAN 151.ANDS.— H. Drummond Wolff, Esq., C.M.G., Civil Secretary.

Great Britain and Ireland were also represented, in it manner becoming our reputation, by :—

Lord Brougham, Lord John Russell, 31.P. the Earl of Shaftesbury, Earl Stan- hope, Lord Ebrington, Lord II. Vane, 51.1'.. Lord NIonteagle, Mr. Bouverie, 3I.P., Mr. Slaney, M.P., Mr. M. Milnes, M.P., Sir Roderick 3Iurehison, Major Gialiatn, (the Itegdstrar-General), Mr. Bonham Carter, Mr. Valpy, Mr. Newmarch, Mr. Leone Levi, Dr. Guy, Rear-Admiral Fitzroy, Dr. Sutherland, Dr. Balneir, Alderman Solo- mom, M.P., Mr. Chandiers, Q.C., Mr. Robett Hunt, and representatives front all the various learned and scientific societies.

Mr. Dallas, the American Minister, lent his presence in representation of his Government, and the public 'susiness was opened by the Prince Con- sort, as President of the Congress, in a speech remarkable for the geniality of its sentiments, and acquaintance with the object of statistical inquiry.

He modestly suggested that the chair .r■ as more properly tile place of a member of the Government, observed the Prince, yet, as we " are a people pos- sessing and enjoying the most intense political life," the G ovum:len t felt that the presidency of one of its members would make the Congress only a private meeting of the delegates of different Governments : and 0.-ey preferred that the public as a whole should take up the questions, and le. its powerful aid. Assuring foreign delegates that the meeting had " enlisty, the sym- pathy of the Queen, he conveyed " the e i steem n which she ho.ds them personally, and her appreciation of the science, which they serve : " u..er- mg words of welcome, the Royal speaker continued :— " It is here that the idea of an International Statistical Congress took its origin, when delegates and visitors from all nations had assembled to exhibit in noble ri- valry the products of their science, skill, and industry, in the Great Exhibition of 1851 ; it is here that the statistical science was earliest develeped ; and Dr. Farr has well reminded its that England has been called, by no less an authority than Bernouilli, " the cradle of political arithmetic," and that we linty even appeal to our Domesday Book as one of the most ancient and complete monuments of the science in existence. It is this country also which will and must derive the greatest bene- fits from the achievements of this science, and which will consequently litt■e most cause to be grateful to you fin the result of your labours. Geetletnen, old as your science is, and undeniable as are the benefits which it has rendered to mankind, it is yet little understood by the multitude. New in its acknowledged position among the other sciences, and still subject to many vulgar prejudices, it is little under- stood, for it is dry and unpalatable to the general public, in its simple arithmetical expressions representing thing facts (which as such are capable of aronsilir the liveliest sympathy) in dry figures and tables for comparison. M uch lah.otr is re- quired to wade through endless columns of figures, much patience to master them, and some skill to draw any definite and safe conclusions from the mass of material which it presents to time student ; while the value of the information o&red de- pends exactly upon its bulk, increasing in proportion with its quantity and com- prehensiveness. '

Admitting the improper and dishonest use sometimes made of figures, and the fact that they were not unfrequently tortured in use to support op- posite arguments in politics, he claimed such use as evidence, which all parties felt of the statistical value of figures :—

" 'nose general laws, therefore, in the knowledge of which we recognize one of the highest treasures of man oil earth, are left unexpressed, though rendered self- apparent, as they may be read in the uncompromising, rigid figures placed before him. It is difficult to see how, under such circumstances, and notwithstanding this self-imposed abnegation, statistical science, as such, should be subject to pre- judice, reproach, and attack, and yet the fact cannot be denied. We hear it said that its prosecution leads necessarily to Pantheism, and the destruction of true re- ligion, as depriving, in man's estimation, the Ahnighty of His power of free self-de- termination, making his world a mere machine, working according to a general pre- arranged scheme, the parts of which are capable of mathematical measurement, and the scheme itself of numerical expression ; that it leads to fatalists, and therefore deprives man of his dignity, of his virtue, and morality, as it it mild prove hint to be a mere wheel in this machine, incapable of exercising is free choice of action, but predestined to fulfil a given task and to run a prescribed course, whether for good or for evil. These are grave accusations, and would be terrible indeed if they were true. But are they true ? Is the power of God destroyed or diminished by the dis- covery of the fact that the earth requires 365 revolutions upon its own axis to every their vast collection of statistical facts, established to such a precision the probable duration of man's life, that they are able to enter with each individual into a pre- cise barm„, iu on the value of this life ; and yet this does not imply an impious pre- tension to determine when this individual is really to die." It is sometimes argued that statistics are useless, because they do not de- termine every given case, and only establish probabilities where man asks for certainty. The objection may be well founded, but it does not affect the Science itself, but solely the uses to which man applies it, and for which it was not intended The importance of these international congresses in this respect cannot be over- rated. They not only awaken public attention to the value of these pursuits, bring together lawn of all countries Iv ho dev ote their lives to them, and who are thus en- abled to exchange their thoughts and varied experiences ; but they pave the way to an agreement among different Governments and nations to follow up these common Inquiries, in a common spirit, by a common method, and for a common end. It is only in the largest number of observations that the law becomes apparent ; and the truth becomes more and more to be relied upon, the larger the amount of facts, ac- curately observed, si hich form the basis of its elucidation. It is consequently of the highest importance that observations identical in character should embrace the largest field of observation attainable. It is not sufficient, however, to collect the statistical facts oboe class over the greatest area and to the fullest amount, but we require, in order to arrive at sound conclusions as to the influences operating in producing these facts, the simultaneous collection of the greatest variety of facts, the statistics of the increase of population, of marriages, births, and deaths, of emigration, disease, crime, education, and occupation, of the products of agriculture, mining, and manufacture, of the results of trade, commerce, mid finance. Nor, while their comparison becomes an essential element in the investi- gation of our social condition, does it suffice to obtain these observations as a whole, but we requir& also, and particularly, the comparison of these same classes of facts in Cifferent countries, under the varying influences of political and religious con- ditions, of occupation, races, and climates. And even this comparison of the same facts in different localities does not give us all the necessary materials from which to draw our conclusions; for we require, as much as anything else, the collection of observations of the same classes of facts in the same localities and under the same conditions, but at different times. It is only the element of time, in the last in-

stance, which enables us to test progress or regress—that is to say, life Does, then, the world at large not owe the deepest obligations tea Congress such as the one I run addressing, which has made it its especial task to produce this as- similation, and to place at the command of man the accumulated experience upon his own condition, scientifically elaborated and reduced in a manner to enable the meanest intellect to draw safe conclusions?"

Enumerating the deficiency of materials for the prosecution of statistical inquiries in Great Britain and Ireland, particularly with reference to our judicial establishments and the census, and commending the formation of a commission for the collection of such materials, the chairman noticed the means at our command, and concluded :—

"These returns will, no doubt, prove to us afresh what we know already from feeling and from expression—bow dependent the different nations are upon each other for their progress, for their moral and material prosperity, and that the essential con- dition of their mutual happiness is the maintenance of peace and goodwill among each other. Let them still be rivals, but rivals in the noble race of social improve- ment, in which, although it may be the lot of one to arrive first at the goal, yet all will equally share the prize, all feeling their own powers and strength increase in the healthy competition. I should detain you longer than I feel justified in doing, and should perhaps, trench upon the do.nain and duties of Presidents of Sections, if! were to allude to the points which will here be specially recommended to your attention and consideration ; but I trust that it will not be thought presumptuous in me if I exhort you generally not to lose yourselves in points of minute detail, however tempting and attractive they may be from their intrinsic interest and importance, but to direct your undivided energies to the establishment of those broad principles upon which the common action of different nations can be based, which common action nmst be effected if we are to make real progress Happy and proud, indeed. should I feel if this noble gathering should be enabled to lay the solid foundation of an edifice, necessarily slow of construction, and requiring, for gene- rations to come, laborious and persevering exertion, intended as it is for the promo- tion of human happiness b.; leading to the discovery of those eternal laws upon which that universal happiness is dependent. May he who has implanted in our hearts a craving after the discovery of truth, and given us our reasoning faculties to the end that we shonld use them for this discovery, sanctify our efforts and bless --trein in their results !"

4- Lord Brougham moved a vote of thanks to the Prince Consort, and in econding it, Senhor de Carvalho Moreira, in French expressed "the admi- ation and delight" of the Foreign delegates. Inviting the foreign delegates a reception at Buckingham Palace, the Prince Consort retired, amid the laudits of his instructed auditors.

The members met in their several sections on Tuesday morning; in the ction of Juramm. STATISTICS Lord Brougham presided ; and the day was °voted to the settlement of a series of resolutions, affirming the necessity

nd organization of statistics of courts of justice and legal tribunals. The Earl of Shaftesbury presided in the section of &I.:Tram- STATISTICS; a pa- per from Miss Nightingale was read, entitled, " Proposals for Uniform Hos- pital Statistics ; ' and another from Dr. Sutherland on "Special heads of Inquiry for Sanitary Statistics." In section 3, IsinusTnixt STATISTICS, Mr. Robert Hunt read a paper on statistics of mining and metallurgical in- dustry. Section 4, Cosmiratelar. STATISTICS, Mr. Newmarch raised the question of prices and wages, upon which a series of resolutions were passed. Section 5, the CENSUS also produced resolutions, and the best modes of enu-

merating erating nations. Section 6, STATISTICAL ETHODS produced a discus- sion on the statistics of literature, and resolutions upon the proposition of Mr. Winter Jones :—

The section agreed to obtain the number of authors of anonymous publications, of reprints and translations of foreign works, the number of foreign books imported, and native works exported: the statistics of printers and printing-presses, pub- lishers, booksellers, and book auctioneers ; of circulating libraries, and of libraries attached to learned institutions, educational and scientific, and the number of public libraries and their volumes ; and the number of works published by the Go- vernment, or by the aid of the Government, were also agreed to. The last item of statistics on the subject was the number of works the publication or sale of which as been prohibited by the Government or by the Church.

A curious fact was stated in the course of the discussion

=4 There were at present 29 designations of hooks used by bookbinders, of which 8E6 were modifications of the five divisions of folio, 9to., 8vo., 12mo., and 18mo. It was proposed that the four divisions might be lemo., comprising books not exceed- ing 7 inches in height, 8vo. above 7 and less than 10, 4to. those above 10 and less than 12, and folio all 12 inches in height. On, Wednesday the sections resumed. Further resolutions were passed in Judicial Statistics ; Sanitary Statistics agreeing upon methods of enumera- - ton. In the Industrial section a paper was read by Mr. A. Redgrave, on the textile fabrics of the -United Kingdom :— Proceeding to deal with the quantity and value of the materials absorbed and the capital employed in this branch of industry, the writer stated, on the authority of the official returns, that the quantity of raw cotton consumed in our cotton manufactories in 18,56, was 7,832,000 cuts., the value being 20,103,083/. Of wool 15,000,000 lbs. were used annually in worsted fabrics, 26,000,000Ibs. were ex- ported, and 80,000,0001bs. were used in woollen goods; the total quantity consumed in the various branches of the woollen manufactures WAS estimated at 192,531,000 lbs., and the value of the raw material 10,314,477!.; the value of the raw wool worked up in the worsted factories was estimated at 5,000,000/. Of flax (which was also an estimate) the quantity of the raw material consumed was 9,716,867 cwts., the value being 7,257,875/. Of silk, 9,290,276 lbs. ; value 9,754,779/. The value of the capital invested in the branches of industry was estimated (upon data that was explained) as follows :— Cotton spinning and weaving manufactures, raw material, 20,000,0001.; wages, 20.000,000!.; coals, oil, and other things used 2,000,000/. odd; repairs of machinery, interest, 8ce. Ste., 9,558,000!.; total, 40,421,7471. Wool, raw material, 10,314,0001.; wages, 2,444001. ; coals, oil, &c., 1,200,000?.: interest and repairs, 4,124,0001.; total, 18,085,9261. Worsted, raw material, 5,000,0007.; wages, 2,304,000/. • coals, oil, Ssc.' 1,355,0001.; interest and repairs, 2,590,9151. Flax, rawmaterial, 7,254,0001.; wages, 1,805,8501. ; coals, oil, &c., 330,000!.; interest, repairs, &c., 2,807,0601.;

total, 12,162,142/. Silk, winding and throwing, &c., raw material, 9,754,0001. ; wages, 1.192,000!.; coals, oil, &c., 100,000?.; interest on capital invested. 3,293,000?.; total, 14,270,721. In these several kinds of manufactures the capital invested in the factories and mills, machinery, steam engines, &c., was estimated at 63,545,000/.

The other sections continued.the discussions of the previous day.

On Thursday, the section Judicial Statistics completed twenty-two reso- lutions as to the mode of taking the statistics in all countries : Mr. Edward James, Q.C., presented a paper on the "Comparative Liability of Males and Females to various kinds of Crimea;" and on Friday- Mr. Hill Williams discoursed on "the Registration of keel Property." In section Sanitary Statistics, a letter from Miss Nightingale was read adopting the alterations suggested in her plan. In Industrial Statistics, papers on Agricultural Sta- tistics by Mr. Oaird, M.P., and Irish Statistics of Agriculture by Mr. Don- nelly, were read. In Commercial Statistics, Mr. Donaldson gave an ac- count of the Australian Mint, and a discussion took place on banking sta- tistics. In Statistical Methods, papers by Mr. Valpy on International Pub- lications, Mr. Samuel Brown on Money, 'Weights, and Measures, were read, and on Friday "International Moneys" was discussed. General meetings of all the members took place at two o'clock each day. On Tuesday, Mr. Cowper, M.P., presided. Dr. C. N. David read a paper on the progress of the statistical science in Denmark, Dr. Asher, of Hamburg, introduced the necessity of obtaining an accurate arithmetical knowledge of all the factors that came into competition in framing a law. Least of all could we dispense with this knowledge in questions of financial legislation. (He presented tables of the gross revenue of Hamburg from 1818 to 1859, both inclusive, with the average of every five years.) The value of the imports subject to duty had increased about 117- per cent, forming one-fourth of the entire value of imported goods. The value of the imports for the last three years was about 587f millions of mares banco, being an increase of 709 per cent, as compared with 1815. Turning to the provision for the destitute poor, he stated that during the last seven years the state had supplied 80 per cent of the expenses of their maintenance. There had been a decrease of pauperism in the septennial period ending 1859, as compared with the septennial period ending in 1852, of 7 2-5ths per cent, though the number of births had increased 9.27 per cent.

Mr. L. K. Daa described the official statistical publications of Norway. On Wednesday, Lord Brougham presided. Senhor De Carvalho Moreira read a paper on "The Statistics of Brazils," showing the rapid progress of the empire since the date of its independent existence. M. A. Leg,oyt read on "The Statistics of France ; commercial, industrial, financial, geographi- cal, mineral, governmental and judicial." Lord Brougham, commending the value of the paper, said "the statistical department of France was a model for all nations." Dr. E. Engee read on "The Mineral Statistics of Prussia;" Dr. F. T. Berg on "The Statistics of Sweden ; " Count de Ripalda on "The Statistics of Spain ; " Dr. Jervis, from the United States, read on "The Statistics of the Republican Authorities in each State; nothing is done by the Federal Government." Mr. Hamilton read on "The Austra- lasian Colonial Statistics ; " Mr. Walker on "British Guiana ; " Mr. Field on "The Cape of Good Hope." At the general meeting on Thursday, reports on "The Island of Barba- does," "Ionian Islands," "British India,' were read. Dr. Farr reported on The State of Statistical Science in Great Britain ;" and the reports from the sections on prices and wages and statistics of literature were adopted. The Dinner :—The Congress assembled under the presidency of Colonel Sykes, M.P., at the Freemason's Tavern on Thursday evening.

An episode occurred in the Congress on Monday, just after the conclusion of the Prince Consort's acknowledgment of the vote of thanks. Lord Brougham observing a coloured gentleman in the audience, called out to Mr. Dallas, the American Minister, who sat on the platform, "Mr. Dallas, there's a Negro come to most you!" This sudden and unexpected exclama- tion created loud laughter. With bitter taste "the coloured gentleman," who was no other than Dr. Delaney, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, from Canada rose, and addressing himself to the Prince Consort said :—" I humbly thank his lordship for the notice which he has taken of me; he has always proved himself the sincere friend of the Negro, and I will simply, assure your Hoyal Highness and the company present that I am a man,

But on Thursday, Lord Brougham explained that he had been misinter- preted :—

" No one who knew him for the last sixty years would, he was sure, accuse him of want of respect to the United States, and when he noticed on Monday, as a sta- tistical fact—and an important statistical fact it was— the presence of a most res- pectable member from Canada, Dr. Delany—and called the attention of his excellent friend Mr. Dallas to it, he only did so as he would have called his attention to the presence of any other member of the Congress attending as a delegate from a dis- tant country—to the presence, for instance, of his friend who represented the Brazils. And, by the way, he ought in the same Way to have called the attention of Count Ripaldi to the same fact, for Spain had colonies in the New World, in which were people of various colours and in various states of social existence and in- dividual liberty."