St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-11-04
This IS A RIB ROAST.
Secretary Noble Sends a Caus-
tic Communication to
Gov. Hill.
The Latter's Charges Of Cen
sus Frauds Indignantly
Repadiated.
Police Enumeration Of New
York Viewed With Grave
Suspicion.
There Is Not the Ghost Of a
Chance for a Re-
count.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8. - Secretary
Noble to-day addressed the following
communication to Gov. Hill in reply to
city of New York:
Sir: Your communication of the 31st ult.
was duly received. There has already been
delivered to me q letter from the city of New
York on the same subject-the claim of that
city to Il recount of its population by the
United States census authorities. While you
have added the weight of the governors
odice TO the complaint, you have tailed TO
add TO those already presented by the mayor
single suggestion of the slightest value. 1t
me of the provisions of the constitution of
the United States relating to enumeration
and apportionment of representatives or the
electoral college, or the provision Of the
census law allowing amendments and re-
counts. All of this was very familiar law TO
me, and your quotation of it might have
been copied from my last opinion delivered
to Mayor Grant. and which you state you had
any exhoTtation upon the subject of fair ap-
portionments, as an equal apportionment'
throughout the United States and the perfect
freedom and equality of the individual elector
is reform to which have given my earnest
support, and which is worthy that OF every
public officer and every individual citizen.
HID you read the correspondence with the
mayor, whose immediate concern this bus
HESS mas DeeQ, you WOuiu nave IOuQu your
topic already exhausted. Such appOrtlon-
ment you may, however. be reminded. would
certainly and permanently promote the sue
cess of the party TO which, you incorrectly
say, all the enumerators OF the city OF New
York helong. 1t is much to be regretted that
in letter to me, when acting upon purely
official matter. you. as governor, should speak
as partisan, and
Inpute a Corrupt Purpose
to the census enumerators, to secure party
advantage by diminishing the count of the
city of New York. Your imputation against
the enumerators and the census work is so
entirely gratuitOuS and unfOunded as to be
slanderous; as you should know that your
abusive course could not tend to promote
that fair and judicial consideration | have
been disposed 10 give to the application of
the mayor. Your charge, impulirg fraud
ulent motives to others, rather suggests that,
as your party thinks an increased population
would lnure to its advantage, the count of
the police (taken as it has been, since the
police board of New York has been made
partisan) needs the very closest scrutiny and
analysis, The charges now being made in
New York against the city government by
the grayest suspicion of reckless
partisanship. Your accusations, heretofore
confined to interviews and stump speeches,
began even before the enumeration was an
nounced. Some OF the Democratic news
papers in New York and elsewhere made
the census enumerators' work very difficult,
by exciting the prejudice of Ignorance, and
it is TO be remarked that you, as early as the
list of July last, made an address before the
Hendricks club. at Indianapolis, in which
you asSailed the census office and its work,
and asserted, without any knowledge what
ever, the same evil purpose you now send to
ME officially. You then repeated the news
paper criticisms and spoke Of the great
army of inquisitors sent
Prying Into Our Houses
asking impairment questions, making false
records ETC., and you did not fail to notice
the possible effect of all this in raising popu-
lar distrust and disnclination to respond 10
the enumerators. You did not succeed in
these efforts 10 any considerable degree; but
you are largely responsible for any inaccura
denouncing law of congress, ana the sug-
gestion of its violation by your less acute po-
ltical followers. Your early and continuous
partisan assaults upon the census have had,
necessarily, motive which is easily dis
cerned, That motive points to an unjust
end, which | certainly shall not promote. Ii
is but just that there should be no delay in
completing the census that the pur
poses for which it is intended tended. may
serted in the speech mentioned that it
0he Republican party will not repudiate
that even moro plainly declared policy of
presidential. as well as congressional elec-
lions. by deliberately ignoring the vast in
creases of population i'll that section of the
country during the last decade. The truth is,
no complaint whatever has been received
from any Southern state as a state against
the census, and the only serious claim of an
erroneous diminution of population and
representation by state came from the Re
publican state of Oregon. Out of the 2,7S1
counties i'll all the states and territories there
has been no complaint whatever, save from
Multnoman county, III Oregon. There has
Not Been a Complaint
from any Southern city that has not been
promptly and satisfactorily adjusted without
a recount save at Columbus, Ca, ana there
was found an increase of 1.13S only. You
seem to be against census to be taken even
by your own state, for you vetoed bill
passed by its legislature in 1885, and which
was required by its constitution. 1t is rea-
sonable to suppose that the patronage you
seem to think so influential i'll political af-
fairs would have falleh into your hands or,
Judging you by the standard YOU apply to
others, your official action would have been
Just the opposite of what il was As | nave
demonstrated. the great body of the people
of the United States are content with the
census and are unintiuenced by partisan
assaults such as yours. Sustained by their
confidence, | shall proceed with the discharge
of my official duties, in this and all other busi
ness coming before me. carefully and justly
correcting what may be convinced is wrong
and fearlessly adhering to what l believe to
be right. ] regret the necessity of addressing
the chief magistrate of the leading state of
the Union III the terms l have employed, but
l find my Justification in the reckless in
temperance of language You have seen nit TO
uSe-language which is lacking as much IN
truth rs it is in the dignity BETTING your
great Office, which in the past has been filled
by eminent men of both political parties of
New York. Upon the merits OF the mayors
application shall reply to him. Yours truly,