Catoctin clarion., 1889-08-08
Washington Letter
FROM OUR REGULAR CoRREsroNDEN

FROM OUR REGULAR CoRREsroNDENT.
WASHINGTON. Aug, 9TH 1889.
The census of 1870 was taken by the
United States marshals under the di-
rection of superintendent, who worked
under the Secretary of the Interior
AS the marshals We're employees of the
department of Justice, the confusion
was very great. The act Of 1879, which
governed the census taking Of 1880, and
will with IA few notifications apply to
that of 1890 was properly the work Of
James A. Garfield, Representative Cox
General Francis A. Walker and Eugene
Hale. 1t provides for the centering Of
the work at Was hngton and the enum.
erations by persons who are solely ap.
pointed, except the supervisors, by the
superintendent Of the census.
The house to house count will com.
mence on the first Monday of next
June, and will involve inquiries as to
age, sex, nativity, race physical condi.
tion, and dozen other things. Forty
thousand enumcrat:ons will be in the
175 census districts and for each Of
thee districts the President Will in
February appoint a supervision, who
will receive $l25 per month and in
addition thereto, Sl.o0 for every 1000
Of the population IN thckly settled
districts and Sl.4O in others. The
cnumerations will be paid two cents for
every inhab!tant, birth and death re-
ported twenty cents for each farm and
thirty cents for each factory Recorded
and for every veteran Of the late war
five cents. In addition to these out
door employees there are many special
agencies which are very cozy places for
the friends of statesmen, involving lit
tie labor and no expenditure of ideas,
the duties being merely to 60 to manu-
featuring establishments in cities and
ask pointed questions nd put down the
answer.
The amount Of information obtained
and the number Of subjects treated in
our census are amazing. Great Britain
sends a policeman around in the even
ing to each house with printed slip
asking information and in the morning
he carries it away, and the thing is
done. But in this country census TAX
ing is invoicing everything on hand.
The work of the Tenth Census was
embraced in twenty-five volumes, and
some of those were not issued until
1887. The work bid fair to last for.
ever. There was even volume devot-
ed to forest trees. and two volumns Of
long winded essays on social subjects.
1t was dumping place for waste infor-
nation. The new census will attempt
to be less ambitious, though the pro.
iectors Of the census Of 1880 made the
same promise.
saw in the corridor of surerintend-
ent Porter's offices on Saturday the yer
table original Gel sus office clerk, at
least he was so considered when the
census of 1870 was made, and | would
not be surprised to learn that specimens
of his youthful penmanship are to be
found in the musty records of the Gen.
sus Of 1890, still preserved in the Inte-
rior department.. In 1880 he was held
in office by Henry Wilson, and in 1880
by Senator Hoar. He was promptly
discharged at about the first general
reduction of clerks after the taking of
each census, and was never seen until
the next one was summoned. On Sat
urday he seemed as clipper as ever,
asked me for some chewing tobacco and
was surprised to learn that did not
use the stuff, informed Inc mys.eriously
that he chad Porter down fine "bor.
rowed" ten cents, and dfifted away,
poor old wreck.
When the man who wants to know
goes to the Weather Bureau to find out
and succeeds in interrupting the inter-
mlnable fight that is in progress be-.
tween the Army officers and the civil
alleged experts Of that office long