Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1889-11-22
TIE NEXT CENSUS.
The superintendent Report of
the Preliminary Operations.
IMPORTANT New Features That
Have Been Projected.

The report Of Robert 2. Porter, Superin-
tendenr Of the Eleventh Census to the Score
tary ofthe Interior, concerning the operations
Of the census office since June !, 1889, which
has just been made, explains in detail the
vast amcGct Of work that has already been
done, preliminary to the act We field work
that Will begin next year. For the purpose
Of the enumeration Of population, DIVISION
IF the country into supervisors districts mas
been made and the result published IN Census
Bulletin 10 l. The work preliminary 10 the
enumeration Is well in hand and a considerable
amount Of i Is already done. The population
schedule has been prepared, and IN ad1ltlon ID
the information called for by the tenth census
schedule will ascertain what language Is
spoken by every person ten years OF age ana
upward how long adult males OF foreign
birth have been in the United States and
whether they are naturalzed; now many
children each married woman has had and
how many Of such children are living, and
the cla~Sifi alton by race Will include nulat-
toes, quadTOOus ana OctorOOns- ne classln-
cation Of occupations will be more complete
than ever before. Owing to improvements
in the records of some OF the States, ana 10
the active cooperation OF $4,000 physicians,
TO whom registers have been sent, the vital
sta tistics viii be more complete than IL was
possible 10 make them in the census OF 1881.
Among the important new features Of this
Work special study Oh Tile III OCc~CL
rates. and Of the principal causes OF death In
twentv-fOur Of the largest cities; special
study of the influences OF race upon fecund1Cy
and mortality, and special study OF the re-
latiOns Of occupation to death rates, ana
to particular causes of death The inquiry
regarding the names, organizations ana
length of service of the surviving veter-
ans of the Rebellion who served the
United States will call for a report
of eight Quarto volumes, Of 1000 pages each
The work in the division OF ealth, DeDt
and Taxation. is now well advanced, audit
results embracing a large variety OF lntor-
nation about public finance, Will be pub
lished next summer. Among other things,
it will exhibit the financial condition or
every county, city, town and incorporated
village in the country at the end OF each
fiscal year since 1880, with full analysis OF
receipts, expenses and assets.
The clause in the law relating to recorded
Indebtedness has opened an entirely new field
of inquiry and a problem as to methods
without precedent in census work. The re-
port goes on to say: THE manifest and
manifold difficulties in arriving at the debt
represented by the apparent debt, as 1t APP
pears on the face of the public records Of the
country, are, at first thought, almost lnSur-
mountable. Further, the cost Of such an lnves-
tigatiOn, If pursued by the direct method Of
searching all records and canvassing the
parties to whom they relate, would doubtless
be greatly in excess Of any sum cOntem-
plated by Congress in maklnglts apprOprla-
tiOns. Under these circumstances, some
preliminary and local inquiries have been
instituted III the States Of Illinois, Iowa, New
York and Massachusetts, and within short
time the results OF the investigation Will be
given to the public in census bulletin"
The statistics of agriculture, it is expected,
will be more complete than ever before, and
may include some new features in relation to
irrigation, dairy and poultry products, ranch
cattle, and the number of animals other than
those on farms. The preliminary work in
the division of manufactures indicates that
their statistics will be more complete and
curate than the country has ever had before.
The field work methods of the tenth census
will be improved upon, and all the sched-
ules of that census, in this division,
have been enlarged. The information to be
obtained about the business of railroad, tele-
graph telephone and express companies, and
of water ways, will be of the highest interest.
The Superintendent suggests that it may be
necessary to ask for additional legislation, in
order that his office may be empowered to
secure such information.