The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-06-15
COUNT OF THE PEOPLE.
1T HAS BEEN COMMENCED BY THE
CENSUS AUTHORITIES.

A Novel Tabulating Machine-Inter-
esting Correspondence in Regard to
the Classification OF Mulattoes,
Quadroons and Octoroons-The Ne
groes Will Probably be Designated
as Black and Mixed.
From the Washington Post, June IL.
This morning the work of counting the
happy and unhappy inhabitants of this
moral vineyard will begin.
New York is the first to send in returns,
| and about forty-two districts will be
counted first from that state. Mr. Holler-
18th, the inventor of the electric tabulating
machine bearing his name, has forty ma
chimes now ready to begin the work.
Owing to failure to get the rooms ready
IN the Inter-OceGn building, Superintend-
dent Porter was forced to secure temporary
quarters in the Mcdowell mill, corner Mas
sachuSetts avenue and North Capitol street.
There being no accommodations for ladies
In the present quarters, male operators will
be employed for the machines, which work
similar to a typewriter. There are 100
machines, about twenty-five more than the
| contract calls for, but Mr.. H )llerlth says he
wanted to be prepared for any emergency
which might arise
Yesterday Supt. Porter was found by
Post reporter in his Office robed in white
flannel shirt and vigorously manipulating
| a large palm fan. He expressed himself as
we'll satisfied with the progress of the work,
! and gratitied that no unpleasant collisions
| had taken place between enumerators
| and citizens. The only case reported
was where a saloonist had used
violent language TO one of The
enumerators When the matter was inves-
| tlgated it was found that the gentleman
| whose business it was to investigate owed
the saloonist beer bill of ancient date, and
| 1t was the first time he had been able to get
! near enough to tell him what he thought of
a man who would drink beer and not pay for
| it. After doing this to his entire satisfaction
| the saloonlst went to the census Office and
| answered all questions.
! For several days past all interesting cor
| respoadence has been going on between
| Supt. Porter and Lewis H. Douglass regard
| ing the CHASING of people as white, black.
mulatto, quadroon, cctoroon, Chinese, ia
panese or Indian" The question does not
| appear an easy one to solve, and in his first
letter to Supt. Porter Mr.. Douglass says he
| desires information as to whether the
proper answer would not be 81 an neither"
! He says:
1.-The class numbers up among the mill
| Ions, and they are descendants of many Eu-
| ropean and African races, but do not truth
| fully come within the classification Euro
| pean nor African, neither are they Chinese,
| japanese, nor Indians. In color they are
neither white nor black, they are not mu-
! lattoeS quadrOons, or oc, OvOons as those
| terms are defined in the dictionaries. VIII t
are they. and will the census Of 1890 take
| notice of them? If SO, under what headP
10 this Supt. Porter replied that the clas-
! siication as to color called for on the popu-
latton schedule had been used for many CEN
| suses, with the exception of the extension of
the inquiry as TO black, mulatto quadroon
or octoroon. IF the class to which you
refer" says the superintendent, sis not COW
| cred by the above classification, this Office
| will be glad to have you indicate the CLASH
| fica ton necessary to be made to SO cover it.
! negative answer of course, in any case
would not help this office to correct solution
| OF the matter, and | should be glad to re-
| celVe from you such additional information
| or explanation as may seem desirable to
| YOU"
To this Mr.. Douglass wrote a lengthy re-
| ply, in which he says:
The questions as TO whether person is
| aquadroon, muaTto or octorool have moth
| ing TO do with color For instance. a per
sou of color may be so white as TO be able
to battle an expert, and the parents may one
be quadroon proper and the other an octo-
| room proper. BY quadroon and cctoroon
| proper l mean the dictionary definition of
| quadroon and octorooa. In tire case of mu-
latto, quadroon or octoroon one of the
| parents must be. white According
to the dictionary neither mu-
lattoes, quadroons nor octoroons
| propagate mulatt0eS, quadroons or octc-
| ROOMS There must be- white parentage on
one side. The so-called colored population
| OF this country is of a variety of shades
from the whites white or the blacklist
! black, as they draw near to or recede from
! a Caucasian "a
who is not properly mulatto, quadroon or
| oc,oroon, should be allowed to state, if of
| the African race more than the Caucasian,
| 1 am a back man with G Ucasian
blood In my VEINS stating whatever
/ fraction he can determine. If of the
| Caucasian race, more than of the
! Afrcan, / am a white man with African
blood in my veins stating the fractions.
| In the classification il the schedule there IS
no account to be taken of the very large
number of blacks and mulattoes, or of
| mulatt0es or quadroons or octoroons, or of
| the gradations of the above; therefore, |
! think the distinction of tde African with
| Caucasian lood and Caucasian with
| African blood will come much nearer reach
| ing the case than the schedule now in use. "
Supt. Porter studied over the ma ter
| carefully, but the act providing for taking
| the census says that the population sched-
| ule shall Include an inquiry as TO ''tha num-
Der Of negroes, mulattoes, quadroons and
! octoroons.n
What can be done" asked the reporter
of Mr.. Porter.
"As l wrote Mr.. Douglass" was the re-
| ply, both DR.. Joan S. Billings, who has
charge of the census inquiry in gard to
vital statistics and who is one OF the highest
| authorities on this subject in tie United
States. aud myself fear that ct the best this
office will only be able o tabulate "blackn
| and mixed" Il is hardy likely that the
enulnerators will report with sufficient
| accuracy to enable the census Office
TO adopt the exact classification
called for is the law. At least that is my
opinion now, though it is possible that it
may be changed. l think Mr. Douglass
| distinction of Africans with Caucasian
| blood and CaucaSiaps with African blood is