Daily Republican., 1880-04-19
The Next CeasGs.

Saturday, April II, SIC
The Next CeasGs.
In Few weeks more the censrs Ia! e
will be around with blanks, pencil 81
pen, and it is important that the pub
lie shoals be prepared for the event
The census man will meet daily for tn
few weeks in which he will be engage,
with ths ersat variety Of characte
which makes up tbs populat on of In
nation. The New York "Churchman'
is right when it says that the census il
taken every ten yeors by means of Z
"gAneral skirmish between the agent:
OF the government and a large portion
of the population" The very things
that the carsus man wants to know all
about are the things that the mass oi
the people, acting upon first n~tural
impulse, do not want to tell anything
about. Es will be looked upon with
suspicion by great many people who
ought to know better, and he will be
regarded as an impertinent intruder,
several degrees more to be detested
than the Objectionable book agent or
lightning rod man. He has to run
the gauntlet in numerous instances
of vicious dogs and inquiSitive dirty
children, only to have o front door
slammed in his face, and even il he
succeeds in making his way into the
inside he encounters shrewish tongues.
He has 10 deal with point blank refIi.
sails of information (which is neces.
sary to make up fall and truthful
tabul2tion. He will encounter mothers
who will report children almost as old
as themselves, and if he suggests that
she must have been married young in
life, he is in danger of being troom-
sticked. Ancient spinsters who have
withstooi the bowling blasts OF forty
winters and az many summers will rush
for the smelling bottle and 60 into hys-
teries if lie suggest that she has passed
sweet sixteen. In cities the paper
form that he hands in is apt tc be re-
garded as a new and Infamous kind Of
gas bill, and in the country it is sus-
pected as q diabolical device of the tax
collector.
Everywhere he meets with ignorance,
suspicion, obstinacy and disinclination
to supply with prcmptneas and accu.
racy information that is as a rule con-
sidered Of private nature. Unusual
preparations have been made to make
the census of 1850 comprehensive and
complete, and to attain this object some
very searching questions will be pro-
pounded. Many Of them will relate to
the details Of private affairs, sucl as
the amount Of capital employed in bust
ness, the wages paid to hands and the
amount OF material produced. All of
these questions should b, answered
truthfully and cheerfully, and although
the manufacturer may teel that he is
giving away facts and figures exclu-
sively his owD, he should remember
that it is given csnfdentially to a con-
fidential agent of the government, and
when the Information given appears it
will be in an impersonal manner, and
30 involved in other reports cf other
sources that it will tell nothing Of in
dividual cases. The census of 1880 will
70 taken in one month outside Of cities
With 20, GOO inhabitants, and in two
weeks within the cities. This contem
plates quick work, and therefore every
,ody should be ready for the census
nan when he comes around. Every.
body should have an emulatirg pride
in giving the information desired with
.lacrity and correctly, for there are no
nan or woman so humble hat they
,ave no interest in the accuracy OF the
esults, and thcro sre none so poor that
he exhibit OF the ational wealth and :,
If the tendencies Of American enter
,rise are OF no Importance 10 them. We
agree, thpref,re, With the Philadelphia t
Evening B9i'rtia" that the PRESS both Il
inside and outside the large cities ,
hOuld dwell fully upon the importance
# the next census, which will com p
nence to be taken in about six weeks a
rom now, and prepar. the people for lt
he advent Of tht nsus-taker who is ,,
o put the questions, so that he may bt
eceived not as q say or as putting pn2
ling, impertinent conun1rum7, bat d c
ne OF class of pub ic benefa,t)rs wht Q
hould be welcomed into every family
THE " Every Evening" has stuGious
y avoided making any mention oI thu 2
REPUBLICAN, in ts editorial columns for p
wo wears past. but the RFprRLIcAN has | Il