The Washington critic., 1885-09-01
MONEY GONE TO WASTE.
How General walker Was Deceived In
His Special Agents.

(tWo Noiuncs) valuation, taxation aud
pubic Indebtedness, newspapers, peri
odicals, ana the seal hsheries, forestry
with large atlas, petroleum and
building stones, ana lhc lirst volume OF
mortality statistics. 1t Is believed that
before the census once expires by
limitation, on the 10 OF next March, in
addition to the volumes named, five
more can DC published relating to NOR
tallly, social statistics OF cities I'm two
volnmcsl water power, and mining
laws but, even II these hopes are
1ully realized, seven large volumes viii
60 ny delauIl. lhesc deal with the de-
receive ana delinquent classes, educa-
tlon ana churches, the fisheries, me.
cnanlcs, insurance, social statistics OF
INNING ana miscellaneous.
a DRAG FROM THE START.
The tenth census dragged from the
start II wos crudolv copccivod and
,ros.of,ll,. oonduotod conoro, VIII
""'''iu''9 O0N'''I,'u' ''ii,'"' " "'Nc''
VINO alohe Goui,, nave Drought tle
WORK forward WIN any measure OF sue.
cess lcit IL III the lufcn' ana without
ms guiullY mana II rocked anu pitched
ana drlited like rudderless snip IN
me trough OF the sea. from tlmc TO
tiine II sent up rockets OIL distress 10
passing congresses ana received What
Wd was necued 10 keep IL aloat' put IL
was seen long ago TO DC hopeiesSly
shlpwreckcu' ana now IL VIII soon DC
aUahuoneu anu reported Us uereliCt'
ne ioea was 10 maze IL posiIlVeif
lhc D,ggest ,'.lS put III cehs,Ses' 1T
was INC councilman .po'h' anu tycrS
No Seo "| cnnsm" was ' ~ ha 40, not
merely nm remuneration of thc nnonIo
on which to base representation in
Congress. but was to be a panorama
Oh li'e ia'lon III al us VS rcLl'lohs 10 ma
nn " moios oV nontod "c ccr ~ ",
children. and the pushing power of
brooks recorded rs fully as the mill
tary strength of the population. The
Superintendent helped himself to the
lloratian motto and adapted it to his
purpose so that II read: 81 am statis-
tician, and nothing that concerns hui
man statistics is foreign to my par
pose" 1t lay with Congress to decide
whether there was any warrant Tor
compiling such comprehensive dircc-
tory of the United States, and Congress
cordially endorsed the project and gave
General Walker the money he asked
for TO carry 1t out. Moreover it gave
the money in lump sum and no ques
tions asked. General Walker practi-
cally had carte blanche, with the under.
standing that he was to go ahead and
beat the world.
THE FATAL ERROR
Rut n fatal error of Indictment ruined
tbn ontorn,iso ot fine outset To onoblo
49,, .,,.a ,,,i,a ,,,,. - ,,',,,.,,,
INN 10 coNer 'ho Wioo ronsc VI inquiry
he proposed, the superintendent asked
the cooperation of the leading special
isis all over the country. These men
warn made enocio1 oronte and much
-. ,,,i,,,,,,,r -, .I,at A. o.,
'hc SAINT "'pi.i"iS po"e'S ''"' 'ic gu
perintcndent mad over the general I'M
dertaklnS was given 10 thcm III thclr
respective helGS; ms pohcy ruined
thc census NC special agents were
learned ana famous men, Dut thcy
were inexperienced ana ignorant III
census work, mad only the Vaguest no
tions OF what was wanted or now TO
get II, were, governed by motives OF
ambition ana vanity, would not De dls-
cipllned ana c0mld not he controlled III
any manner lhey set up hcadquar-
lcrs at Newport boston, Chlcago, san
Francisco or Wherever they louhd II
most convenient; thcy roaihcu over lhc
country AZ great expense, SropihS lor
information; lhey hiuuuieo Whal ,hcy
got; they dlsputed among themselves,
grew jealous delayed reports, ran 10
guesswork ana sal down Ill some cases
III Hat despair before thelr own plles OF
crude ana contradictory material Io
take an example; me 1eologlcal
survey was ASKED 10 iurmSh statistics
OF lnuians III thelr !rlOai relatiohs; that
Is. OF ,hc WIG INDIANS not taxed ana
ellglDle To citiZehshlp tor this Item
S4o ooo was allowed the survey, Years
passeu anu ho'iiiliS cotil p4 learned
OF mat census OF thc WIG trloes' n
many huJolc lomuit sct.C 10 VIC ol'l 10,
u"e G E"So cvcr ro, r"r it, ia ''
COO Agoin, the Geologicnl survey
was TO furnish report on the social
statistics of mining. Several agents of
the Survey travelled about the mines,
had good time, and wrote
out their adventures. When their note
books of camp life came to be exam
ined for use in statistical work, they
were found to he utterly worthless.
Their fate is thus described by gentle
man who had hand in the editing
1--WE threw out one-third rs useless
| and sent the rest to Clarence King for
revision. He threw out another third
and turned the rest of the material over
to the Geological Survey, and they
threw out the last third" This viii
explain why the volume ON the socia
statistics of mining Is one of the sever
that will not appear When judge
Chcnowith gets ready to make hi
descent on the Geological Survey, h
might do well to examine into the worl