St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-11-14
PORTER WON'T BE BLUFFED.
He Gives Critic a Few Hard
Blows.

Blows.
+ WASHINGTON, Nov. 13.-Supt. Porter
to-day addressed a letter to William
Dudley FOulke. president of the civil
service reform league, in reply to the
published criticism of the latter on
census Office methods. Supt. Porter
says at the outset that Mr.. Foulke's as
sumption to the effect that Porter
sought an opportunity to defend the
census in Frank LeSlie's illustrated
Newspaper is not true because the artI-
Gle In question was written at the very
earnest solicitation of the editor of that
paper. MIR. Foulke's second assump-
ton that Supt. Porter recommended 10
the president that the census he taken
by enumerators appointed upon
the recommendation Of Republican
congressman and other influential
party men, MIR. Porter says is
equally Incorrect, and insists that the
supervisors, in accordance with the law,
selected their own enumerators, and
that no proposition was ever made to
subject an army of $4,000 men to civil
service examinations. Such course
would have been an imposslbility, as in
many parts of the country it was i'm
possible to secure enumeratorS for less
than SIS day, their employment only to
last from fifteen to thirty days, and that
an attempt to subject this immense
army to civil service examinations
would have been farce, ii it would not
have been impossible. Supt. Porter
says he should believe in the accuracy
of an enumeration conducted by q
Democratic administration in the same
manner and liz the same spirit as the
eleventh census has been conducted, but
adds that list of names secured by the
police OF New York is one thing, and a
census OF the United States taken under
the census law altogether another. The
Intent OF the police enumeration was to
find more people than the federal emu
meratlon. and this, he says, is sustained
by many facts that have reached him
from reliable sources. Supt. Porter eX-
plains his silence regarding differences
to be drawn from the vital statistics of
the metropolis. because he thinks such
differences of little value in the face of
exact count of the people, and because
he has repeatedly treated this phase Of
the question in public print. In support
OF the unreliaDilIty of vital statistics he
cites the fact recently brought out in a
report made to the English house of
commons by committee to inquire into
certain questions connected with the
taking of the census of England, in
which experts show wide diversions of
aseertained facts from the population es-
Inmates based on vital statistics. Some
cities, according to tables in this report,
were shown to have population of 25
per cent above the register generals
estimate, and other districts turned out
to have populations % per cent less
than the sO-called estimate of the reg
lister general. Supt. Porter asserts that
he has applied as far as possible the
principle of civil service to the appoint
ment of enumerators and employees of
his bureau. Every important place in
the bureau, every expert IN the office,
every man or woman in charge of the
work, Supt. Porter says, has been APP
pointed solely on account of ability to
perform faithful service in the eleventh
census. The merit system has been APP
piled successfully, and as a result the
census bureau has to-day one of the
most efficient clerical forces engaged ia
the public service.