New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-11-15
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THE NEYT EENSTS,

dent will be more important than that OF
! Superintendent Of Census. The distribution
/ of the governing power for ten years to come
will depend upon the fidelity of this enumera-
ton. and in the selection of subordinates and
the supervision and correctness OF the work,
the Superintendent will have great power,
either to prevent wrong doing If he is honest
| and capable or to make it successful II he IS
mfathful or merely negligent and incapable.
| 1t will not be news TO those who have watched
previous enumerations closely that strong
pressure to initiate the returns of population is
brought to bear upon local enumerators. es-
pecially in certain parts of the country. Poll
ticians, newspapers. business men and in
fiuential citizens of both parties are enlisted by
strange combination of motives, in the hall
unconscious endeavor to swell The returns and
the frauds that few individuals may con-
trive are therefore by many winked at, ac-
cepted with all the force of preiudlced belief
and supported with an influence so powerful
that local enumerators find it hard to ascertain
or report the truth.
That this is no exaggerated picture many OF
the enumerators of 1880 in some Southern
States could testify. Grsat confidence was at
tendent, Mr.. Walker, but it has since been
found that the census under his supervision
was in many important respects wretchedly mis-
ged and dismal failure. Portions of the
work were well done, but other portions were
so miserably performed and the supervisory
power of the Superintendent was so inef-
fectively exercised, that this census, though
extraordinarily expensive, turns out In vital
particulars less satisfactory and less instructive
than that of 1870. The Superintendent seems
to have little faculty of distinguishing between
chaff and wheat, between matter of practical
value and disquisitions of no public interest or
scientific usefulness, and so the enormously
bulky volumes are crowded with useless stuff,
while part Of the most useful information has
never yet been published and probably never
will be. As Mr. Walkers remarkable in
CAPACITY in the responsible work Of supervision
became known, doubts increased as to the re-
liability of the work in other respects where
the returns had at first been accepted with con-
fidence.
There is the utmost reason for accuracy and
thoroughness in the work of the next census, not
only for political reasons, but even more because
of the industrial information which competent
Management would obtain. 1t Is the unwe-
come truth that the census Of 1880 gave
countenance to the widest and most absurd
errors in some particulars, and failed entirely
to give needed information In regard to great
number Of growing industries Theoretical
classification and philosophical disposition
diverted the office from the essential work OF
recording facts. To all industries it is at this
time peculiarly essential to have definite and
trustworthy record of their progress and annual
production So great has been the change in
many forms of manufacture and in important
products of agriculture that current com
mercial reports differ widely from official re-
turns. Questions upon which business men are
obliged to risk many millions every year are
disputed and in doubt because of contradictory
information Business men, manufacturers and
farmers all suffer because the official reports Of
| the yield of wool differ many million pounds;
last years official estimates Of the cotton yield
differed about 100000 bales from the out
come according to trade returns and In
smaller but very numerous branches of in
dustry the contradiction of statements is even
| more glazing and important, affecting the
prosperity of vast body of workers.
The selection Of a Superintendent who shall
| have the capacity TO choose reliable subordi-
mates to supervise and correct the work Of emu
merators, and to promptly and thoroughly utilize
the information gathered, is not an easy mat
ter. The difficulty is greater because the
| Superintendent should be entirely independent
of the angry trade disputes regarding pro
| duction in different branches, and should know
| how TO gather and use information without re-
| lying too far upon persons committed to one
side or the other in such disputes. II is al
ready suggested by one journal that Mr.. j. ID.
Weeks, of Pittsburg, will be strongly recon-
mended for this appointment. His work as one
of the census experts in 1880 was exceptionally
difficult and exceptionally we'll done. In re-
gard to numerous branches of the inquiry he
would probably have no superior, and it may
be that on the whole no better selection could
be made. But the coming President will
hardly make so important selection in haste,
and will consider the relative fitness of diff
ferent gentlemen for all departments Of the
work, both in their political and in their in
dustrial aspects.