Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-01
THE CENaus FOR 1850.

The bill for taking the next census has at
last passed both houses Of congress. The
Democrats were anxions to give to the gov
eruor of each State the power to appoint
5vpvrv1sUrs; uuJ II seerns ruTs proposition
was defeated by the party which aims to
centralize power in the Federal government.
We see it stated by the Kansas City Times
that the census returns for 1880 will show
that the last decade will prove TO have been
period of retrogression, and that the nation
is apparently poorer in 1880 than 1870. That
is, the returns OF national wealth in 1880 will
be less than in 1870, condition of things
unparalleled in our history. The census OF
1870 was taken in the midst of the initiation
and expansion period, and every man WAC
owned property put upon it fictitious valua-
ton, although at the time business matters
were so fourishing as to deceive the very
best, and ninety-nine men out of hundred
thought it was permanent prosperity.
The shrinkage since that has been enor-
nous, and the majority of men now find
that their property Is not worth as
many dollars as they thought 1t was in 1870.
The Washington correspondent of the Chi
cago Inter. Ocean furnishes a compilation of
the wealth of the country by States in 1880,
and which is believed to be an approximate
estimate. The total is given at twenty
seven billion one hundred and twenty million
dollars, which would be a decrease of the
wealth of the country from 1870 to 1880 Of
about three billions Of dollars. OF course it
is but an approximate estimate, and may be
far out of the way, bit one thing is very GER
tain, and that is, that the true valuation, ="
as returned next year, will be less than 1t
was in 1870. The assessed valuation of pro-
perty in States and cities shows this, as well
as the wiping out of millions of worthless
bonds, which were estimated and returned as
wealth nine years ago. This, with the de-
cline in stocks, and enormous shrinkage IN
real property, will tell a story of decreased
wealth between 1870 and 1880. For the first
time in our history there will be decade
without the apparent gain of dollar, but,
on the contrary, loss of two or three billions
The effects of the war losses, the wIping out
Of slave property, and the expansion OF the
initiation period, will appear more wildly In
the census of 1880 than that of 1870. 1t Is
important that the next census be correctly
taken, for if statistics be inaccurate, they
are worthless. Inc census taken Tor
1870 is nothing but an encyclopedia Of
errors. 1t cost the government millions Of
dollars, and the statistics, which cucumber
thousands of pages in huge volumes, abound
with the grossest errors. As evidence of the
inaccuracies of the census for 1870, we have
only to refer to the recent speech of Mr.. Mills,
of Texas, delivered in the house of repre-
sentatives, in which he said that on an ex-
animation of the census he found twenty one
counties of his State put down with less
population in 1870 than in 1860, when to the
certain knowledge of every one in that part
of Texas the population of all of them had
increased at least one hundred per cent. The
city of Galveston was returned as having a
population of fifteen thousand, when a mu-
nicipal census, taken year or two afterward,
showed the population to be thirty-fve thou
sand. The same complaints were made of
Houston, San Antonio, Austin and other
cities, and the same dereliction of duty char
acterized the whole work in Texas. He was
satisfied that if the census had been properly
taken his State would have had at least one
more representative. The trouble with the
last census at the south undoubtedly was
that the duty of taking it was intrusted to
utterly incompetent persons, solely on account
of their political proclivities. To obviate a
similar blunder, and also to prevent the use
of census-takers as political emissaries,
was the object of the amendment adopted
by the house but defeated by the senate;
and If it is not altogether etfectual, il
will at least give the work to the ruling party
in each particular State, and keep out spies
from other States. Ben Butler has said
many shrewd things, but he never said a
shrewder than when he remarked in the
house: ''Give me the appointment of the
census-takers of my State in 1880, one census
tsker to every three thousand of population,
as colporteurs for my campaign literature,
and although they shall not open their
mouths, promise that there will be a live
her campaign in Massachusetts, than there
was last year" Knowing the vast power
and influence that will be exercised by the
census-takers, as stated by Ben Butler, the
Democrats were anxious to take this power
from the grasp of political agents and place
it IN the hands of men who will make just,
impartial and accurate enumeration. But
the effort failed, and the census will be taken
by partiSans who will make the enumeration
10 subserve partisan purposes.
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