TRENTON, N. J., October 31st, 1899. To His Excellency Hon. Foster M. Voorhees, Governor of the State of New Jersey: SIR-I have the honor to transmit herewith the twenty-third annual report of the Board of Health of the State of New Jersey, and the report of the Bureau of Vital Statistics, for the statistical year ending June 30th, 1899. Very respectfully, HENRY MITCHELL, Secretary. SECRETARY'S REPORT. Marriages. The number of marriages recorded during the year ending June 30th, 1899, was 13,336. The following table shows the decrease in the number of marriages which has followed the enactment of the law of 1897, requiring that where both parties are non-residents of the State a license for the ceremony shall be procured : TABLE 1.-NUMBER OF CERTIFICATES OF MARRIAGE RECEIVED AND RECORDED DURING THE TEN YEARS ENDING JUNE 30th, 1899. 1890. 1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899. Marriage certificates recorded,. . 15,954 15,847 16,572 17,627 16,690 16,537 18,774 18,171 13,664 13,336 Births. The number of births recorded during the statistical year was 29,419. The following table shows the number of births recorded during each of the past fifteen years, and it is apparent that the sudden diminution of recorded births from 34,687 in 1898 to 29,419 in 1899 is due very largely to the inefficiency of the system employed in New Jersey for the collection of birth returns. TABLE 2.-BIRTHS RECORDED IN NEW JERSEY FOR THE FIFTEEN YEARS ENDING JUNE 30th, 1899. 1885. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. 1891. 1892. Year. Number of births recorded...... 25,189 27,382 28,016 29,084 30,407 31,770 30,023 32,726 C. D., defendant, was, by the district court of the city of T. [or by me, E. F, justice of the peace, police justice or recorder of the city of.............or as the case may be] convicted of violating the........section of 'An act to secure in this state the certification of marriages, births and deaths and of the facts relating thereto, and to provide for the record thereof,' approved February fifteenth, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, in a summary proceeding, at the suit of the board of health of the state of New Jersey [or of the local board of health of the township of A, or as the case may be]; and further, that the witnesses in said proceeding who testified for the plaintiff were [name them], and the witnesses who testified for the defendant were [name them]; therefore, the said court (or justice of the peare, police justice or recorder, as the case may be] doth hereby give judgment that the plaintiff recover of the defendant..... ....................dollars penalty, and............dollars costs of this proceeding." And the said conviction shall be signed by the judge of the district court, justice of the peace, police justice or recorder before whom the conviction is had. 2. This act shall take effect immediately. Deaths. The number of deaths which occurred in New Jersey during the year ending June 30th, 1899, was 30,999, and the estimated population is 1,855,872, thus showing a death-rate of 16.70. The liability of error in estimating population increases with each succeeding year after the census enumerations, and this factor introduces an element of uncertainty relating to birth-rates and death rates which can only be corrected when the next census shall have been completed. During the past year there were 10,357 deaths of children under five years of age; 8,042 of persons over aixty, and 1,773 deaths occurred in persons over eighty. Deaths from the Classified Causes.-The following table shows that the mortality from the preventable causes of disease has been greater than it was during the previous year, except in the case of scarlet fever, measles and diphtheria: |