The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1880-03-26
consolidating.

SCusuoe4 oAluSs
Considering the important part that
census-taking plays in the civilization of
to-day, it seems hardly conceivable that
for modern civilization it has only come
into existence within the last two centu
| ries, and that it is, practically speaking,
a nineteenth century institution; that,
until within few years of the beginning
of this century, the computations as to
| the populations of any countries have
! been matters of the rudest conjecture,
and are necessarily exceedingly inac-
| curate. 1t also seems strange that such
q matter-of-fact proceeding as the count
ing of heads should ever have been
looked upon as ground for superstition.
Although the census, as has been said, is
for modern times a nineteenth century
institution, nevertheless, for the world,
it is SO old that the beginnings are lost
in gray antiquity and prehistoric civiliza=
ton, census having been taken in
China over 1000 years before Christ, and
in Japan. century before Christ. It
also was feature of classic civilization,
but with the dissolution of the Roman
empire the institution vanished, and,
except faint re-appearance in the mid
| mile ages, was not revived until modern
times. It is now one of the most impor-
tant auxiliaries of the science of statis-
tics, science for the promotion of which
there are important seminarias in Berlin
and Vienna, and to the study of which
many scholars devote their entire mental
energies.
| SWEDEN
Has the honor of being the first modern
country that called on its people to
| I
ecclesiastical law was enacted, which is
still in force, requiring in every parish
| throughout the country registration of
the marriages, births and deaths, a
record of persons removing from or to
each parish, q list of the inhabitants by
houses and households, and a record of
all extraordinary sccidents during the
| year. There was no attempt to make a
collection of the results, however, until
1749, and not any of the information
| thus obtained was allowed to be made
public until 1862, for the number of in
habitants of q country was long regarded
as one of the most important of State
secrets In 1862 some extracts were
made from the report, showing the pro-
gress of the population, and these
formed the foundation for an essay by
DIR. Price, written in the form of letter
| l.
basis of the famous lfe-tables founded
on Swedish statistics. The Swedish CEN
sus is now taken every five years. In
the towns the heads of households fill up
schedules which are left by the police,
and collected by them, and in the coun-
try the work is still done by the pastors
of parishes.
| IN GREAT BRITAIN
| A census has been taken every ten years
since 1901, and the system is now one of
| the most perfect in existence. Until
near the close Of the last century, there
was no real method, and all previous
estimations of the population of the
United Kingdom were mere guess work.
It seems the more strange that such
should have been the fact, considering
that, in the American colonies, enumera-
tions of the population had often been
made by order of the home government.
In 1870, a beginning was made in Scot
land by Sir John Sinclair, who through
his personal efforts in enlisting the CO.
operation of all the clergymen of
the established church, collected re-
| turns which were of great value,
although necessarily incomplete.
After seven years. he completed
his compilations, and published the re-
suits in twenty-one volumes, probably
! the greatest statistical work ever un-
dertaken and carried through by one
private enterprise. Under the system
adopted in 1851, the census of Great
Britain is now taken in one day, the
31st day of March. In 1851 30, $40 emu
merators were appointed in England
and Wales by the 219O district regis
| trars in those counties, each enumera-
| tor having distinctly defined district
assigned to him. In Scotland, the
thirty-two sheriffs appointed 1910 tenn
porary registrar, = generally parish
| choolmasters-and 8,13O enumerators.
ment appointed 257 enumerators, and
in Ireland the census was taken by the
constabulary. Some days before the
| census-days, printed schedules were de-
livered ut every house or tenement; in
Wales, these were printed in Welsh
for the benefit of the lower classes.
These schedules contained questions
about the name, relation to the head of
the family, condition, age, sex, occupa-
tion and birthplace of every person. in
Great Britain, and also as to the num-
ber of deaf, dumb and blind. Meas
ures were taken to secure accurately
the names of night laborers, persons
out of the country, travellers, seamen,
soldiers, etc. These schedules were
filled up in the night of March 30-31,
and were taken up at an early hour
March 81, the collectors filling up the
parts that had been left blank through
negligence or inability. ALI unoccupied
houses and buildings in course of con-
struction were also noted. The float
ing population who spent
the nights in boats and barges, in
barns, sheds, etc., were required to be
estimated as nearly as possible. The
enumerators were allowed one week to
make their returns In, all transcribed,
and the summaries and estimates COM
pleted according to detailed instruc-
tions. The district registrars had to
complete revision of the returns of
their subordinates in a fortnight, pay
ing particular attention to nine specifi
cally defined points. These revised re-
turns were again revised by the ''super-
intendent registrars" and then trans
mitted to the census Office. The census
was the most successful in quickness
and accuracy, accomplished in any
country up to that time, and the same
system has been pursued, with little
variation, ever since. The digestion of
the census reports by the central au-
thorities is conducted most thoroughly