The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-01-24
THE STATISTICAL BUREAU
Information Furnished Regarding the
Past Years Crops.
What the Weather Bureau Asks For-De-
in the Number of Mortgages
An Appropriation Wanted.

The fourth annual report of the State Bureau
OF Statistics is now printed, and as soon as the
indexing is completed will be ready for distribu
ton. In presenting the volume to the public
the chief of the department states that he sis
able to report gratifying progress toward full
nllment of the object contemplated by the law.
The officers, whose duties reach the original
sources of information, have been enabled by
practice to become more exact as well as more
expert in their work. Hence, the tabua-
lions and aggregatIOns, as presented
in the report, approximate, 1t is be-
lieved, more closely to absolute accuracy.
The Improvement made is both encouraging
to the bureau and increasingly demonstrative
or Its great Importance TO the State" In con-
tinung the subject the chief expresses the Opin-
ion that 1.-THE time has arrived when the inves-
LEGATION OF all matters pertaining to the well.
beng OF society is prosecuted the basis of
science, and science is the knowledge of facts
duly systematized. Agriculture, commerce,
trade, law, finance, health, morals, the complex
machinery of high civilization, all can be
studied inteligently only in the light of laws de-
duced from facts crystalzed into statistics"
During the last year the work of the bureau
has greatly increased In gathering statistical
Information the chief of the department has
into, new fields. An important branch
of The work now is the weather service. Stations
nave been established III seventy-five counties of
the State, ana consolidated reports are furnished
the Signalservice Department at Washington
monthly, This, with other new work, has added
greatly TO the labor OF the bureau, and has in
creased the expenses until the regular annual APP
preparation is now Inadequate The law creating
the office forbids deficits, the iiabil1tyior the
State beyond the amount of the appropriation.
To meet the demand the chief of the bureau ad-
vauced the requisite money, and he now says
emphatcally that ''lf the new work is to be con-
tinued the sum appropriated for the department
must necessarily be increased"
Captain Conner, the chief, urges an
information from certain public officers compul-
sorry. He further urges the Importance of re-
curing courts of record to ascertain the causes
of crime ana pauperism, and to report the same
to the department for classification.
The agricultural production of last year was
more remarkable than is generally supposed.
The wheat area was 3,O63,34S acres, and the
production 46,92s,S43 bushels. The chief Of
the bureau observes that the cultivation and
growth of wheat has developed more rapidly
than that of any other staple crop, and has more
than kept pace with the population. In
bushels; in 1860 it was 1880 bushels;
in 1870 it was 1881 bushels, and in
1880 had increased to 23.75 bushels Per capita.
The yield of other crops was propOrtiOnately
large, as shown by the following summary:
Crops. Acres. Bushels.
Corn. 1i5,699,797
Irish potatoes ...-.. 1884 7,264,s3O
The chief of the bureau estimates that the
home value of the principal agricultural produc-
will not fall below 1925, 10000 How much of
this is surplus and finds a market outside of
the State cannot he calculated.
In a resume of the economic statistics 1t Is
shown that in thlrty-one counties there was de-
crease in the mortgage indebtedness last year,
and that che transfers of real estate announced in
value to over 5000 0,000. Statistics have been
gathered from ffty-six counties which will af-
florida basis for the adjustment of fees and salar
les of county officers.
Since the last annual report the permanent
common school fund has been increased $780,
74779, making the total amount of the fund
So 204, 353.9S, which is larger than that of any
other state.