A foretaste has been afforded this•week of the information that
is to be yielded by the census of 1851. The totals of the popula- tion of England, Scotland, and the Islands in the British &.as, oh the 31st of last March, and of the house-accommodation for them, have been published. Such a general statement is not very in- structive: it tells little more than the increase that has taken place in the number of inhabitants of those portions of the United Kingdom since the census of 1841, and their comparative comfort in so far as lodging-room is concerned; and while the results of
ra
the enumeration in Ireland are unpublished, even this meagre in- formation is deficient. So far as any inference is warranted, the British Islands, with the exception of Ireland, have during :the i last decade held on the even tenour of the way, experiencing no great addition to their prosperity and Suffering no diminution of it. The ratio of increase is slightly less than in- the preceding decades, and the increase of house-accommodation appears scarcely -to have kept pace with that of inhabitants. Between 1841 and 1851 the population has increased by nearly, two mil- lions and a half, the inhabited houses by -little-mere than two hundred thoustind. At this rate,- the augmented pomi- lation would appear to be squeezed into narrower house-roorn. Allowance must be made for the fact that in 1841 many of the Scotch enumerators returned every "flat "of a building mhabit4 by a separate family as a house whereas on the present occasion. the term "house" be " has been strictly construed. But the prevalent fashion of "improving" " large towns by simply removing the to abodes of the poor, substitute roomier mansions for the more affluent -ssest has doubtless tended to diminish the actual quantity of house-accommodation. If, too, arit is gene- rally believed, the ratio of the Irish element in the populatton of England and Scotland has increased, not only in all the mann- facturing but in some of the Western rural districts, this tendency to the over-crowding of dwellings may .artially be attributed to that cause. But the deductions to be e from the average pros- perity of the empire, indicated by the census, will very imperfectly appear until the details of the Irish enumeration be made public-
It
