The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-06-24

The jealousy between the cities of Mime
apolis and st. Paul is leading to some curl
Gus performances in connection with the
census of those two places. The other day
deputy United States marshal from the lat
ter city swooped down upon the former just
after shutdown and served warrants of arrest
on seven Minneapolis census enumerators,
and took them in custody to st. Paul, to an
swer before the United States commissioner
the charge of falsifying census returns.
The affair was arranged with great obser-
vance of secrecy and was carried out so
promptly that no steps could be taken to
prevent what the Minneapolis people regard
as the kidnapping their citizens. Besides
capturing the enumerators the marshal also
seized sundry bags of papers supposed to be
the returns Of the census, and conveyed
them, too, to st. Paul. The Minneapolis Tri-
bune claims that this was all scheme to dis.
parage Minneapolis in the census returns and
prevent her from out-ranking st. Paul. II
says:
st. Paul has been desperately jealous of
minneapolis Tor nfteen years, through all of which
period It has been engaged ia the systematic
Iasihcaton of statistics. IL fasifed its census of
1885, aud It padded its returns outrageously in
agreement among certain elements in ST. Paul
that, by the use OF every kind OF MEANS no matter
now foul, the great prepOnderance of population
In Minneapolis must be mnmized. To that end
while minneapolis has been taking her census in
laundering but honest fashion, amidst much
Paul enumeration has been made with perfect
quiet bnt with great astuteness and with the ad-
vance pledge OF the 0ld-time local directory man
who has the census In hand that he knew how to
make the sort Of showing for st. Paul that the
people there would like. The newspapers stir
that has cd np0Dla in Mfnnaannli q nd hos
given hope of tolerably complete return has of
course alarmed the ST. Paul people who take an
interest In comparative statistics, anc they have
been conspiring to break down In every way pos
sible our Minneapolis count They have gone to
washington and made charges against us to Mr..
fress building false and damaging dispatches to
the press OF the country about the methods used
In this city. And now they have committed the
arrest OF Minneapolis enumeIators.
of course st. Paul has reply to make
and this 1t is:
over month prior to the beginning of the
census enumeration citizens committee
es Sfsan tie e GG saT
sent out at 50 day ever the entire city
ana me location Of every empty house, the char
I non oi every lotwas duly reported and enrolled
Llsls OF names were prepared in the foreign Ian
eudges most likely to be met with, the Christian
names being arranged In one column and the sur
names IN another tests being especially fre0uent
~ hO tshshSns OeIInan and Swedish lanpllapeS
WIN these SheelS 1t was matter of ease 10 shift
CHRISTIAN names from one surname 10 another
and thus create fictitious parsonage sunnlv HIM
with wife, and If desirable, with ,yhdIe yfarni
ly. With the list of vacant houses and unoccm-
pied rooms 1t was matter of trifing moment 10
furnish him with home, and in some cases he
was located among family already of normal
slze so that one case is brought forward where a
house containing 10 people has been raised to 26
by this patriotic but ill-designed plan.
"In this way the returns from some districts
were thousand names above the proper returns,
for 1t was easier for enumerators to make their
salary by writing outlists in an Office than by
trudging from house to house. They were pitt
less enough in some instances to provide the per
sons OF their creation with n6rmities. Detection
was not feared, for it was not 10 be wondered at
u TWO or three men of the same name and ma
tlonality were found pursuing even the same oc-
cupation, and the boast was openly made that no
one could get on to this scheme of multiplication.
The fabrcations used in one district with altera-
Tons made by eraser and pencil were passed to |
another, and in the hands of few trusted ones
were made TO do duty several times.
Then there are the employment agencies
from one of which 1000 names OF men who had
applied for work within six to eight months were
obtained. From tramps lodging house, where
at 'sleepers were required to register, 800 cogno-