made for the reduction of the infant death-rate. If so, the purpose of this paper will have been served, and possibly in a later paper the writer may present some of the mass of data as to the fundamental causes for the abnormally heavy infant mortality in certain sections—and especially in certain factory towns-which have accumulated in his hands, but have been foreign to the purposes of this preliminary and purely statistical study of the far-reaching subject which is just beginning in these twentieth-century days to make its real importance felt. In the consideration of it, and of the almost innumerable problems involved in it, not only the prospective population, but the general welfare, of the entire civilized world are deeply concerned. As Dr. Alden has so gravely remarked, “A thorough understanding of the subject should be the concern of every true citizen." THE STATISTICAL STUDY OF CAUSES OF DESTITUTION. BY GUSTAV KLEENE, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, TRINITY COLLEGE. In regard to the causes of poverty, and of the degree of poverty that may be designated as destitution and leads to dependency, there are found in the literature of the social sciences a few formal discussions, but more frequently only remarks made in passing, or more or less obvious implications. The usual manner of treatment is descriptive rather than analytic, and is confined to particular causes and conditions. Professor Warner, one of the few writers who have aimed at a comprehensive treatment of the subject, points out that three tolerably distinct methods of investigation have been tried. First, there is the method of writers like Malthus, Marx, and Henry George, "who from the well-known facts of social organization have sought to deduce the causes tending to poverty." Secondly, there is the study of "the classes not yet pauperized to determine by induction what forces are tending to crowd individuals downward across the pauper line. . . . The best example of such work is probably that of Mr. Charles Booth in his 'Labor and Life of the People.' Almost all of the reports of our labor statisticians, the works on occupational mortality and morbidity, and in fact everything of a descriptive nature that has been written about modern industrial society, can be used in this second method of seeking for the causes of poverty." Thirdly, there is the "inductive study of concrete masses of pauperism, usually separating the mass into its individual units, seeking to ascertain in a large number of particular cases what causes have operated to bring about destitution." *American Charities, pp. 22-117. See also articles by Professor Warner in Volumes I and IV of the Publications of the American Statistical Association. It is proposed in the following to examine the third method only. This method, that of case-counting, has been applied by Warner to the records of American charity organization societies and by Charles Booth to English paupers. The National Conference of Charities some years ago appointed a committee to prepare a statistical blank for the use of charity organization societies in collecting data for studies of this kind. Mr. Booth sought for each case the "principal or obvious" and one "contributing" cause, and has tabulated his data so as to show the number of cases of pauperism attributable to each cause as principal, and also the number of cases attributable to each combination of principal and contributory cause. The following is taken from his tabulation of almshouse paupers at Stepney:— Professor Warner gives only the number and percentage of cases attributable to each cause as principal (see Table IV, American Charities). He admits that this is unsatisfactory because there are few cases in which destitution has resulted from a single cause, and for many cases "to pick out one cause and call it the most important is a purely arbitrary proceeding." He proposed at one of the meetings of the Na TABLE IV. (A. G. WARNER, American Charities.) CAUSES OF POVERTY AS DETERMINED BY CASE-COUNTING. † Includes from German tables "Laziness and Shiftlessness,' ""Arbeitsscheu." § Includes, for the English tables, "Trade Misfortune." For German table, "Small Earnings." 30 4.7 19 2.6 1100 1.1 |