The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1890-05-21
The Census Inquisition-A Grave Cues
ton of Personal Rights.

The demand which the census enumera-
tors will make Of every citizen few days
hence for declaration Of his physical all
ments and personal Indebtedness is u de-
mand for the surrender OF rights for which
ireemen before this time have fought
and died on the battlefield. II the schedule
OF questions which the enumerators are in
structed to ask is proper and warranted by
Constitutional authority, there is no limit
beyond which the Federal Government
cannot carry its autocratic inquisition into
the private affairs Of the people
The only pretext for the proposed explora-
ton by the Census Bureau OF the most in
Innate secrets Of the sick room and the
private account book is that the results Will
be valuable to science" interesting to
scientific men," "a useful addition to the
common fund OF statistical information
and 80 on. If this were true, the proceeding
would be not the less an outrageous viola
ton of the personal rights OF the citizen;
but it is not true. The information thus
collected will be so imperfect, SO partial in
its character, so untrustworthy as material
for generalization, that even scientific curl
osity will find little satisfaction in the tables
to be compiled at the sacrifice Of one Of the
most precious blessings OF liberty secured
by the Constitution of the United States.
The departure Of the census from It's
original and only Constitutional purpose,
namely the enumeration of the inhabitants
OF the United States for the purpose OF APP
Forthcoming Representatives and direct taxes,
has been so gradual that public opinion has
not been greatly aroused to the significance
and tendency OF the successive steps OF
ugurpation Tho accumulation Of unneces-
sary and unconstitutional objects Of inquiry
reached its ridiculous climax in the census
OF 1880, with its historical essays. special
treatises. and compilations Of crank lore
under which the Governments presses
groaned almost up to the time when they
began to print blanks for the census OF
1890. But ten years ago there was no such
outrageous invasion OF the citizens rights
as Is now contemplated; and every man and
woman should understand just what the
new usurpation is, and what 1t means.
The Tenth census endeavored to ascertain
the statistics of disease by collecting, CLASH
flying, and tabulatlng the causes Of death In
the cases of people who died during the
census year. Tho Eleventh census proposes
to ascertain, classify, and tabulate the dis
eases of tho living. To that end the enumer-
ators are instructed to drag, il possible
from the poor woman whose cancer OF the
breast or whose ovarian tulnor is known or
suspected only by herself and her physi-
clan, the terrible secret which she has been
keeping from all the rest Of the world; to Dry
into the circumstances Of physical malforma-
tion or mental peculiaritywhich are source
of modification to the man or woman af-
fi!oted; to seek to investigate the nature,
duration. and stage of progress OF maladies,
shameful perhaps in themselves, and the
disclosure Of which involves shameful con-
fession on the part of tho person interro-
gated. If the twenty-second and twenty
third questions in tho schedule mean any
thing, they mean all Of this. They mean an
unconstitutional inqusition by the Federal
Government into matters which arc not the
business OF the Federal Government. or OF
anybody but the individual concerned. Did
ever a FREQ Government undertake such
work as this?
The Tenth census collected, classified, and
tabulated such statistics OF public indebted,
ness as 1t was able to procure: the open facts
about State, county, township, and munich
pal debt Tho Eleventh census. for the first
time in history, proposes to demand from
each citizen owning house or farm state
ment of his private financial condition. HI
will be called upon by the enumeration
TO say whether his house is mortgagec
or free from encumbrance; and later
as wo now learn from bulle
Tin Just issued by the Superintendent