The Springdale news., 1889-08-23
TAKING THE CENSUS.
A Comparison Between the English and

Comparison Between the English and American Methods.
 The English method of taking a na- tlonal census is to prepare every de- tail of the work in advance; districts accurately defined and minutely sub
 divided, papers printed So fully as to leave but a few easily ascertained blanks to fill. and competent cnumer- l ator5 selected and instructed so that
 each can traverse his entire districts
 and fill it's blanks completely in sin
 gle day. This method avoids all
 chance of repetition by extending a second or third days work into one
 before it, and reduces the chances of inaccuracy by leaving so few entries
 to be made that an enumerator famil- far with his district, as it is intended every one should be. can hardly omit any resident consciously. The prob ability of omissions by this method is
 less than the probability of rcpetitons by any other, and the chance of one enumcrator trcnching on the district of another and making an undue cn- | largemcnt is reduced to tho smallest
 measure possible to human fallibility. We don't say that this method would be best in q big area sparscly popu- | lated, where the omissions or errors of one day could be detected and corr
 rected the next, but it is certainly the
 best in a dense population, and might
 be adopted here in taking the census of cities and towns and closely set tied sites of country communities. At least it might be worth trying in the census Of cities and larger towns. Our census is notoriously defective Not
 one has yet been taken that couldn't
 be spotted all over with errors of more or less magnitude by persons familiar with the sections reported. Tn
 the aggregate probably one class of errors has mcasurably balanced an
 other and left a total very nearly ac-
 curatc, but this is a matter of com | lecture, and must be taken on trust. | By law the official enumeration is final. 1 Dispute it as we may, ii is the only | legal basis of Congressional and lcgis-
 lativc action, and must be taken as it comes from the officers.
 That, however. does not exclude a
 well-grounded apprehension that if entirely accurate it might cause q
 change of legal provisions at times. 1 In any event, it can't be made too ac-
 curate. and if the English would in- sure greater accuracy at one point or
 another, occasionally that method
 should De tried, even at the hazard of
 working on two systems instead of
 one. In the long run it would cost
 less than the present scheme of | enumeration, which continues the | work over several days. and altogether
 keeps some 10000 men employed for forty or sixty days. Better ' 200. .O0O counters for ono or two days | than 10000 for two weeks. IL is true
 that our census is far more complete
 and minute in detail than that of En- | gland or any other European country, ' but the subdivision of districts and in- crease of enumeratOrs would provide
 fully for all that we expect of our most elaborate census, and still allow
 it all to be done in one day or two. In population of 65,ooo,o ,ooo a force of cnumcrator. of POO. 600 would give one
 to about every 320 inhabitants. men,
 women and children, or one to about every sixty-hve heads of families,
 which would certainly not be an un- manageable number to see and get de- tails from in one day. An effort to apply this method in our cities might demonstrate it's practieahility ag wclI as it's superior accuracy, and be worth
 the time and cost of making. Indian apolis News.