HEALTH AND WELFARE, 249
The Problem of Population.
We cannot leave these questions of health and physique with-
out referring to yet another factor, the importance of which has increasing-
ly impressed itself upon us. High as is the general death rate, the rate
of natural increase in India is still sufficient to add large numbers annually
to the population. Increased production of food ultimately effects little
improvement in the standard of living or in the quantity of foodstuffs
available, since the population quickly multiplies under these favour-
able conditions. Formerly war, famine and pestilence were all active in
reducing the numbers for which the land had to provide sustenance ;
war and famine have been largely negatived as active influences, whilst
deaths from pestilence have been considerably reduced. The result is a
steadily growing pressure on the land, which compels increasing numbers to
migrate from the agricultural villages to urban and industrial areas in the
hope of finding employment. This increasing migration is probably not a
little responsible for the beginning of an unemployment problem in the
latter places and for the keen competition for available work. We are
not alone in holding that this factor exerts considerable influence in
depressing the general standard of living, and it is one which must always
be remembered when considering the other problems with which we are
dealing. It calls urgently for studied attention from economists and
others interested in the welfare of the peoples of India.

Vital Statistics.
Although more than one attempt was made to.give us vital
statistics for groups of industrial workers, none of these gave a picture
sufficiently accurate to demonstrate any relation between industrial
activity and increased death rates. This is not a matter for surprise
when it is remembered that, even in the larger towns, few sick persons see
a doctor and certification of death is usually a matter of guess-work on
the part of a non-medical registrar. Moreover, deaths are registered under
one or other of only six or seven heads, three of these being small-pox,
cholera and plague, so that by far the largest number is entered under “ all
other causes ”. Lack of appreciation of their value in public health and
of training on the part of the individuals responsible for their collection
lead to the continuance of grave inaccuracies in such records. Again, in
industrial areas the influx of large numbers of young males changes the
age-distribution to a marked extent, and the failure to apply the neces-
sary correction factor, before comparing them with other areas where the
population is distributed more normally over the different age and sex
periods, makes fair comparison very difficult. There is, therefore, little
chance of obtaining reliable statistics for special groups such as industrial
workers and, in consequence, we have been unable to make any estimate
of the effect of industrial life, as distinct from urbanisation, on the death
rates of these communities. Curious variations prevail in the methods
of registering still-births throughout the different provinces. We re-
commend that still-births should be excluded from both birth and death
registers and that they should be separately recorded. Only when this