§ MR. VINCENT KENNEDY (Cavan, W.)T bog to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he will abate the excess of births over deaths in England, Scotland, and Ireland per 1,000 of the population, from the latest available figures; and will he say if in any of the places mentioned a progressive decline is shown, whether it can be accounted for, and, if so, how; and whether any remedy has or is being applied.
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRE LAND (MR. BIRRELL, Bristol, N.)In the year 1906 the excess of births over deaths per 1,000 of the population was: in England and Wales, 11.6; in Scotland, 11.9; and in Ireland, 6.6. In the cases of England and Scotland the figures agree, as nearly as can be, with the average for the past ten years. In the case of Ireland the figures are a little more than one per 1,000 above the average for ten years. In none of the three countries, therefore, is a progressive decline shown in the excess of births over deaths.