In the six largest cities, the illegitimate children formed 8.5 per cent of the population, while in the rest of Cuba they formed 13.8 per cent of the population, which fact shows that this class was decidedly more numerous in the country districts. Of the cities, Santiago de Cuba showed the largest percentage, while Matanzas and Cienfuegos had large proportions.

The number of illegitimate children among the native whites was 94,772, or 7.7 per cent of that element of the population; the number among the foreign whites was only 341; the number among the colored was 162,775, or 26.2 per cent of all the colored. It thus appears that the number of illegitimate children among the colored was nearly twice as great as the number among the native white and that the proportion was between three and four times as great.

The following table shows the percentages which illegitimate children formed of the total, the native white, and the colored population, by age groups:

The proportion of illegitimate children in the population 5 to 9 years of age is slightly, but not significantly, larger than the proportion under 5 years. In the succeeding age periods, however, the proportions diminish rapidly. Indeed, it is only in the two age periods below 10 years that the figures can be considered as representing actual conditions. The proportions of illegitimate children among the native whites and the colored show a similarly rapid decrease above 10 years of age. Below that age the illegitimate colored are proportionately about three and one-half times as numerous as the illegitimate native whites; and above that age the ratio between the proportions increases, the increase probably being due to the fact that whites leave the home earlier in life than the colored.

In all probability the number of illegitimate children under 10 years of age is fairly complete, and the ratio which they form of the whole number of children of that age group may be assumed as applying to the entire population. In other words about 26 per cent, or a little more than one-fourth, of all Cubans were born of consensual unions. This is more than double the number directly enumerated. Similarly, about one-seventh of the native whites and more than one-half of the colored were born of such unions.

The consensually married formed about one-fourth of all living in the married state, while the children born of such unions formed a little more than one-fourth of all children.

In the following table are shown the proportions which illegitimate children under 10 years of age bore to all children of that age, in each province and in the city of Habana. Comparison is limited to the above age group in order to obtain a more accurate measure of the extent of illegitimacy in the provinces.

The above figures may be regarded as applying to all ages. In other words, in Camagüey and Habana provinces between 18 and 19 per cent of all the people were born of consensual marriages, and in Oriente not less than 38 or 39 per cent.

CHILDREN OF SCHOOL AGE.

The children of school age, 5 to 17 years, numbered 541,445 in 1907, and formed 26.4 per cent of the total population. This proportion compares with 35.1 per cent in Cuba in 1899, 33.8 per cent in Porto Rico in 1899, and 28.3 per cent in the United States in 1900. This great reduction in the proportion of children of school age in Cuba in 8 years calls for explanation. During the revolution and reconcentrations, however much the children of school age may have suffered, those below school age suffered far more. Not only did a large proportion of them perish, but their numbers were lessened by the decrease in marriages and births. The children who were in 1899 less than 5 years of age were in 1907 in the class of school age, and that class was consequently reduced. Indeed, the number of children of school age in 1907 was actually less than the number in 1899 (552,928).

Of the children of school age in 1907, 272,585, or 50.3 per cent, were males, and 268,860, or 49.7 per cent, were females.

The following table shows for each province and for the city of Habana the proportion of school children to total population:

The above figures show that in the provinces most remote from the middle of the island where most of the fighting and where the reconcentration took place, the proportion of school children is largest; but even in these provinces the proportion is far less than it was for Cuba in 1899.

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.

The total number of children of school age, 5 to 17 years, was 541,445. Of these, 171,017, or 31.6 per cent, attended school during the year preceding September 30, 1907. This proportion is nearly twice as great as that shown by the census of 1899, which was 15.7 per cent.

It has been shown that literacy is much more common in large cities than in the rest of Cuba, and the conclusion naturally is that school attendance is more common in the large cities. That this is so appears from the following. The 6 cities of Cuba with more than 25,000 inhabitants each had together 110,810 children of school age. Of this number, 55,336, or 49.9 per cent, attended school. The corresponding proportion in 1899 was 33 per cent. In the rest of Cuba, the proportion of the children of school age attending school in 1907 was 26.9 per cent. The corresponding proportion in 1899 was 11.5 per cent. These figures indicate a great gain in school attendance at the later census year. In 1907 the proportion of children of school age attending school in the 6 largest cities was nearly twice as great as the proportion in the rest of Cuba. The following table gives the proportion attending school in each city:

The following table gives the proportion of children of school age attending school in each province, and the proportion attending school in each province outside of cities of 25,000 inhabitants or more:

These tables illustrate in greater detail what was stated above for Cuba as a whole.

Of the male children of school age, 32.5 per cent, and of the female children, 30.7 per cent, attended school. This result is surprising, inasmuch as it is shown farther on that a larger proportion of the female children than of the male children were literate.

Of white children of school age, 31.3 per cent, and of the colored children, 32.3 per cent, attended school. This again is surprising, as the proportion of literates among whites was greater than the proportion among colored.

The following table shows the proportion of the population in certain age groups who attended school:

More than nine-tenths of all children attending school were under 15 years

of age.

LITERACY.

A census can take cognizance of the degree of education of a people only as it is indicated by certain simple tests. These tests refer usually to formal or book education, not because that is necessarily the most important, but because it is the most easily tested. The tests used by the present census were attendance at school, ability to read, and possession of college or technical education, as indicated by the possession of a degree. It is obvious that attendance at school certifies nothing regarding a person's educational attainments; yet, if the entire population is to be classed according to degree of education, some assumption must be made regarding children attending school. It can not introduce serious error to assume that all children attending school were able to read, and all under 10 years of age and not attending school were not able to read.

In 1907, of the 1,481,573 inhabitants 10 years of age and over, 837,958, or 56.6 per cent, were able to read. Of the total population, 40.9 per cent were able to read. In 1899 the proportion was 36 per cent; in 1887, 27.7 per cent, and in 1861, 19.2 per cent, thus showing a steady and rapid increase in literacy. The following table shows the proportions of literate in the population 10 years of age and over in the case of the native whites, foreign whites, and colored, for each province and for the city of Habana:

Among the native whites, literacy was highest in the city of Habana, where more than nine out of ten persons could read. It was least in Pinar del Río, where less than two-fifths were able to read. This was the only province with less than one-half literate among the native whites. Indeed, the proportion of literates in this province was less among native whites than among colored. Among foreign whites the proportion of literates was high, ranging from a little more than three-fifths in Pinar del Río and Santa Clara up to almost seven-eighths in the city of Habana. Among the colored, the proportion of literates was smallest in Matanzas, where it was about two-fifths, and highest in the city of Habana, where almost two-thirds of the people were literate. It is usually the case that literacy is higher in cities than in the country, since in the former, schools are better, more numerous, and more generally attended. In the 6 cities of over 25,000 inhabitants each, the literates formed 82.6 per cent of the population 10 years of age and over, while in the rest of Cuba, the proportion of literates was only 47.9 per cent.

The following table gives the proportion of literates in the population at least ten years of age in each of the cities having 25,000 or more inhabitants and in the city of Cárdenas, which has 24,280 inhabitants:

The following table shows the proportion of the several elements of the