Page:The Economic Journal Volume 1.djvu/410

 388 THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL in the Times of April 7th, and which were obtained by a much rougher method. I have not said anything of the methods of estimating the popula- tions of smaller areas, such as towns, by the number of births, or the number of inhabited houses, as these have been described by many writers. I would however suggest that the census of school children taken by the School Boards in many towns ,night afford a useful basis for estimating the total population. A recent writer in the St. James's Gazette designated estimates aa ' the most delusive of all forms of ignorance masquerading as know- ledge.' If he be correct (and I am scarcely inclined to gainsay him), it only strengthens the case for a quinquennial census, for which I trust the Government nay see its way to make arrangements before the Charles Street staff is dispersed. What may be the value of my estimates will be shown by the Preliminary Reports of the Census, which will possibly appear before this article. May, 1891. G. B. LONGSTArr P.S. Since the above was set up in type the preliminary report of the census of Ireland has been issued, and the populations of the twenty-eight great towns of England and Wales (as well as those of Edinburgh and Glasgow) have been published in the Registrar-General's weekly return. The population of Ireland is 4,706,162, a number exceeding that I ha;.-e given by. 11,.373, so that ,ny estimate is withi,, per cent. of the t, uth. As ,ega, ds England and Wales the popu- lation of the twenty-eight great towns (comprising a population of nearly ten millions) falls as much as 621,985 below the estimte, it may therefore be regarded as practically certain that the total popula- tion will turn out to be also very far short of the estimate. As for the various towns in ,,,any cases the discrepancies are so startling as to render all recently published vital statistics valueless. In Scotland there is less to go upon, Edinburgh falls short by 13,466, while Glasgow exceeds the estimate by 34,901. Ju,e 13tb. G. B. L. TIrE BARING FINANCIAL CRISIS THERE are some aspects of what will always be known as the Baring financial crisis, which occurred in the middle of Novenber of last yea,-, that have not been dwelt upon, so far as I know, and which I think an early number of the Eco,omic Jourzal may be asked to find room for, because those coming after us will expect to find it not only a store- house of facts, but, what is of nearly as much inportance, a record of co,nnents on, and deductions from, these facts. What is the first thing that strikes us as a most dangerous elenent in the state of things out of which the Baring crisis arose ? It is the uncontrolled one-nan power! Prince Bismarck did his work, and then fortunately,