Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1845-04-09
MISCELLANEOUS.
LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE,
Relative to Altedged errors o the sirth


Sir:-In compliance with the resolution
of the House Of Representatives Of the
28th ultimo. directiog the Secretary OF
State NO inform this House if any, and
what steps have been taken 10 ascertain
whether the errors imputed to The last CEN
sus by the memorials OF Edward Jarvis,
William Brigham, aud J. Winsate Thorn
ton, and of Thomas Earle and others,
presented to This House at lis last session,
praying that an Inquiry should be made
as to the accuracy Of the last census, and
which memorials were referred 10, and
reported upon by the Select Committee on
Statistics, be correct or not; and whslher
the resul, Of The inquiry necessary for that
purpose has been such as to impeach. or
not, the general correctness of the same,
have the honor to slate, that deemed II
to he my duty, as The correctness oil The
late census had been questioned during the
las, session of Congress. aud the errors
imputed 10 it had received, 10 certain ex-
tent, The sanction of one of the commit
tees of the House, 10 adopt such measures
as the department. could, with proprieiy,
in order TO ascertain whether the errors
imputed to that important statistical docu-
meni. on which the distribution Of power
among the States of this Union, aud The
legislation of Congress, for The time, must
so much depend, were well founded or not.
For this purpose employed William A.
Weaver, Esq, as person in every way
we'll qualified to perform the task of ma
king thorough investigation of the sub
ject. He was originally appointed by Mr..
Forsyth, aud continued by Mr.. Webster.
to superinrenl the taking of the late cen.
sus, including the correction Of the returns
Of the marshals, and of The proofs of The
printed documents. The memorials ad-
dressed to Congress, impeaehng lis cor
rectess, with the report Of the Commit.
tee in reference to them, were PLACED in
his hands, with the direction to give the
subject thorough and impartial invesli-
CATION, and to report the result to the de-
partmcnt.
A copy Of his report is herewith eu-
closed, which will furnisl, The information
called for by the resolution Of the House.
1t would seen, from its statements, that
great and unusual care was taken in order
to insure accuracy in The late census; and
that many items charged as errors III it'by
the memorials,s, are, in fact, errors on
their part; while, as 10 The greater part OF
the residue, it is matter of doubt whether
they be errors or not. Many items, for
instance, charged as errors under the head
Of '.educalion,' involve mere questions Of
classification; aud whether they be errors
or not, depends upon the fact whether the
classification adopted BY lie marshals, or
by the memorialists, be that intended by
the act providing for the taking of the GEN.
Sus.
But. as the grea, object of the memoir
alists, in impuling gross and glaring er-
rors to the late census, seems 10 he to de-
stroy its credit, because it exhibits the con-
dillon of the free negroes Of the non.slave-
holding States 10 be so much worse than
thai ofthe slavesi Of the other States, in
reference 10 the far greater prevalence of
insanity, blindness, deafness. and dumb
ness, comparatively, among the former
than the latter, The report has given this
part of the subject more full and tho.
rough examination.
The result would seem fully to sustain
the correctness ofIhe census on this highly
important pon,. After examination and
pointing out, in detail, the erroneous slate
menls and conclusions Of the memorial
lists. i. proceeds TO sustain The correctness
of the census in that respect, by evidence
drawn from the preceding census in 1880.
That provided for taking The number af
az, ,Lot
of insanity Table marked A (included
in the reporD formed from the returns Of
the Two, omillug cases Of insanity in the
latter, exhibits their comparative results as
TO the number Of deaf dumb, and blind.
1t will be found, on reference 10 it, that the
census Of 1880 strikinglY confirms, lhro'-
out, the late census, as 10 The far greater
prevalence Of these diseases among The
free blacks Of the non slaveholding States,
compared with the slaves of the other
States, But, as conclusive 10 this coate-
raj evidence may he regarded, ii is not
more so Than that drawn from differeut
source. 1t is we'll known that there is.an
intimate connexiun between extreme phys
ical wretchedness and crime. The same
causes which produce the one, will the
other. In order TO bring this lest to bear,
correspondence was opened with the
proper Stale authorities, with view 10 OBJ
tain authentic statements as 10 the number
o! white and colored convicls, including
both sexes in their respective State pris-
ons, for the year 1910 and The subsequent
wears. Table marked B gives the result,
as far as statements have been made for
1910, the year the census was TAKEN
Like table A, it strongly confirms The cor
rectness Of The late census, by showing
tha, The prevalence of crime among the
negroes of The non -slaveholdiug States,
compared with the slaves Of the slavehold-
ing States, is not less striking than the
greater prevalence Of disease, as exhibited
by the same document.
On review Of the whole, Two conclu.
sions, it is believed, will be found TO follow
inevitably. The one is, that the correct
ness of the late census, in exhibiting a. far
or.,,or lenca nf The diseasee of in.