The daily critic., 1890-05-28

| yeanire desire to tear him into small
pieces and feast upon hisremsins.
And what is all this about2 What
has Superintendent Porter done? Of
what terrible ofTense has he been
guilty For the purpose Of ascertain
ing TUE Critic sent q representative
TO him this morning, and asked him to
confcss-Jo give up the secret Of his
crime 10 the public through our col
umns.
II appears that the Superintendent
has instructed the Census Enumerators
TO ask The following questions:
o. Whether lhe or she isl suffering from
acute or chronic disease. with the name u
/ the disease and length Of time afflicted
3d. Whether defective IN mind, sight,
/ hearing on speech; or whether crippled,
/ MANNED or deformed and name OF defect.
a. whether prisoner, convict, home
/ less child, pauper
25 and 23. Is the home YOU live in hired.
| or Is 70 owned by the head or by member
I Of he familyg
81 II owned by head or member OF fam
1 ily, is the house free from mortgage In
| Cumbrance?
2S IL The head OF the family is a farmer.
6 The farm which he cultivates hired. or is
owned by him or by member of his
family
60. II owned by head or member Of
family, is the farm free from mortgage In
cumbrance2
80. II the home or farm is not owned by
bead or member OF family aud mortgaged,
give the postoliice address 81 owner.
1t may be said, in general way. that
these inquiries are al authorized by
law, and that in making them the
Superintendent is doing only his duty
Section II of the act approved May /,
1889, which provides that the inquiries
of the present census takers shall be the
same as those contained in s 2206, Re.
vised Statutes, and the report Of the
Census Committee, Of which Mr.. Gar.
field was chairman. made January,
1870 will not fail to bear us out in this
proposition. These questions con.
cerning acute or chronic diseases, says
Superintendent Porter, were asked in
the tenth census, only in much more
blunt form than they are In the forth
coming one. In fact, they have been
asked in some form or other in all cen
suses of this country from the fifth
down to the present"
As TO inquiries %, -, % and 30.
Il may be said that the Superintendent
was compelled to make them by order
Of Congress. This order was made by
the act Of February 10, last, providing
for the collection Of farm.mortgage
statistics, and the law was made in op-
position to the advice of Superintendent
Porter. On December 10, 1889, the
Superintendent wrote to Senator Berry
Of Arkansas giving his reasons for be.
lievinC that such law should not be
made, and on December % he wrote %
Mr.. Henderson of the House on the
same subject, repeating aud inrorcing
his objections TO the proposed legisla-
lion.
But the hill was passed and became
law, containing penal clause pro
vision that refusal to answer any
schedule question should be punished
hy tine.
Now, in view Of these facts, how can
superintendent Porter be blamed Justly
for making the inquiries complained
about, even If they are imper,nent? In
making them he is doing his duty. and
he must do that
But the questions are not impertinent.
They ought to be asked, and they ought
10 be answered.
The questions relating 10 vital sta
tislics, II answered as they should be,
will give to the Government informa-
tion Of great importance in many ways.
Similar questions are asked by the
census takers Of every civilized country,
and only a perverted sense of the in
volatility Of the person can excuse any
sensible person in obieeting to them.
Concerning the Indebtedness inquiries
II Is enough to say that Congress di-
rected that statistics concerning farm
mortgages should be gathered by the
current census takers, and did this in
response to a demand for such informa-
tion made by the farmers of the West.
who are breaking down under the heavy
weight of the mortgages that have been
placed upon their farms. And that the
information sought TO be obtained by
these Inquiries should be obtained Ia
this way We have no doubt.
EugENE n. CAAP, IN the June Celurg,
states some facts concerning the cost Of
newspapers, For several years he has been
gathering information upon which 10 base
his estimates, which Is az follows:
For press isPatehes.,.............. Sl,s20, GOO
special -........-.,..... t,11u,UUU
" local news-....-...-..--.--.--.--.-. l2,500O00
sl6,5T0 900
HE business Of the Associated Press, q
mutual concern which pays nothing FOR is
news and which serves ITS patrons AZ ap-
proximate cost, amounts 70 81, 2500O0 per
aHnum, aud that Of the United Press, a
stock corporation, is S450600 per aunum.
The fsrmer aims 10 provide news about an
important events, IN which work Sl30, 600
m telegraph tolls is expended; while the
latter endeayors, above an else, 10 provide
accounts Of events occurring In the vicinity