Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1885-12-16
WINDING UP THE CENSUS.
The Greatest of Censuses Proving One OF
= the Most Dismal Failures of the Day.

Five years and $5,OOO,O 900 have gone,
writes a Washington correspondent to
the New York San, and not one-half of
the tenth census is yet printed. And it
is doubtful if more than two-thirds of
the work ever will see the light. Twelve
quarto volumes of an average of one
thousand pages each and profusely il
Illustrated with maps have now been
published. These relate to population,
manufactures, agriculture and meat
productions, transportation, cotton GWO
volumes), valuation, taxation and pub
lie indebtedness, newspapers, periodi-
Gals, and the seal fisheries, forestry
with a large atlas), petroleum and
building stones, and the first volume of
mortality statistics. 1t is believed that
before the census office expires by limi-
tation, on the Sd of next March, in adj
dition to the volumes named, five more
can be published, relating to mortality,
social statistics of cities Gin two vol
umes), water power, and mining laws.
But, even if these hopes are fully real
lied, seven large volumes will 60 by de-
fault. These deal with the defective
and delinquent classes, education and
churches, the fisheries, mechanics, in
surance, social statistics of mining, and
miscellaneous.
The tenth census dragged from the
start. It was crudely conceived and
wastefully conducted. Gen. Walker,
who alone could have brought the work
forward with any measure of success,
left it in the lurch, and without his
guiding hand it rocked and pitched
and drifted like rudderless ship in the
trough of the sea. From time to time
it sent up rockets of distress to passing
congresses, and received what aid was
needed to keep it afloat, but it was seen
long ago to be hopelessly shipwrecked,
and now it will soon be abandoned and
reported as derelict.
The idea was to make it positively
the biggest thing out in censuses. 1t
was the centennial epoch, and every
thing was on sublime scale. Hence
the centennial census was to be not
merely an enumeration of the people
on which to base representation in con-
gress, but was to be a panorama OF the
nation in all its relations to nature and
society. We were to have hop-poles
counted as accurately as children, and
the pushing power of brooks recorded
as fully as the military strength of the
population. The superintendent helped
himself to the Horatian motto and
adapted it to his purpose so that it read:
II am statistician, and nothing that
concerns human statistics is foreign to
nv purpose. It lay with congress to
decide whether there was any warrant
for compiling such a comprehensive
directory of the United States, and
congress cordially Endorsed the project
and gave Gen. Walker all the money
he asked for to carry it out. Moreover,
it gave the money in lump sum and
no questions asked. Gen. Walker prac-
tically had carte blanche, with the I'M
Outstanding that he was to 60 ahead
and beat the world.
But fatal error of judgment ruined
the enterprise at the outset. To enable
him to cover the wide range of inquiry
he proposed, the superintendent asked
the cooperation of leading specialists
all over the country. These men were
made special agents, and much the
same arbitrary powers that the superin-
tendent had over the general undertake
ing was given them in their respective
fields. This policy ruined the census.
The special agents were learned and
famous men, but they were inexper-
fenced and ignorant in census work,
had only the vaguest notions of what
was wanted or how to get it, were gov
erned by motives of ambition and van
ity, could not be disciplined, and could
not be controlled in any manner. They
set up headquarters at Newport, Bos-
ton, Chicago, San Francisco, or where
ever they found it most convenient;
they roamed over the country at great
cropping for information; they
what they got, they disputed
among themselves, grew jealous, de-
layed reports, ran to guesswork, and
sat down in some cases in flat despair
before their own piles of crude and
contradictory material. To take an
example: The geological survey was
asked to furnish the statistics of In
dams in their tribal relations-that is,
of the wild Indians not taxed and elig-
ible to citizenship. For this item $40,-
900 was allowed the survey. Years
passed, and nothing could be learned
Of that census of the wild tribes. Fin
ally Maj. Powell sent to the office one
page of manuscript which is all the
government ever got for its $4,000.
Again the geological survey was to
furnish report on the social statistics 1
of mining. Several agents of the sur
7ey Travelled about the mines, had a
good time, and wrote out their adven-
,ures. When their notebooks of camp
life came to be examined for use in a
work they were found to be
Utterly worthless. Their fate is thus
described by a gentleman who had a
land in the editing: 1--WE threw out
as useless, and sent the rest |
o Clarence King for revision. He !