St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-06-16
SORE ENUMERATORS.
They Feel That Their Work Has
Been Unjustly Condemned.

Been UnJuSCIy condemned.
The poor census enumerators are
sore. They feel that they have been
outraged by press, public, and every
body else. They do not like this roast
has been subjected ON all sides for the
past few days. They say: Here we
have been working ourselves to death
and doing the very best we could do
and as well as anybody could do, and
see what we are getting on all sides. It's
unjust" However, despite the plants
of enumerators over the way they have
been handled, the public goes rightson
believing that. had not the city become
aroused to the fact that there was a
good deal of bungling going on, the
census return would have given Miss
veracity, in the face of the claims made
for the past three years that there are
over 100000 persons within the city
limits. Even E. j. Davenport, official
census supervisor-he who but a
few days ago declared that there
would be big shortage unless
the citizens could be prevailed upon to
assist the enumeratorS-even he now
cunningly bats his left eye, looks wise
ly out of the corner of his right optic,
and smiles knowingly, as much as to
say, ''Pretty clever trick that worked
on the public. There never was much
danger of a shortage, but wanted to
make sure of the thing" AS in the
case of the enumerators, the public de-
clines to look at the matter IN that light
at all. Enough has been learned
and enough has been publish
ed to prove conclusively that
there would have been great shortage
unless public aid had been enlisted. AS
it is, there is more confident feeling
prevailing. The enumeration has not
yet, by any means. been completed. but
continued, the city will doubtless show
up all right.
But to return to the enumerators.
They complain that they have been
harshly treated solely because there
CHANGED to be few incompetents
among the persons selected for the
work. This, however, can scarcely be
a logical explanation of the matter.
Even granting that but few of the
enumerators are incompetent, that
would hardly account for the reports
which come from every part of the city
and from every ward of the SlipShod
way in which the enumeratlng has been
done. Many instances of neglecttul-
ness upon the part of the canvassers
have been related, but one more will do
no harm. An East side police officer
has mentioned the Mechanics hotel as
an illustration. The enumeration called
there, and the landlady gave him the
particulars concerning all of the board
ers of whom she could think at that mo-
ment. AS the official counter was leav-
ing, she said to him: "Wait moment
There is servant girl and sick man
up stairs whom you have not TAKEN"
But Commissioner Porter's emissary re-
sponded: 81 can't help it. / can't
bother with them now" He left, and
never returned. A policeman finished
the count there.
There seems to be fear in the minds
of some Minneapolitans that the census
returns for Minneapolis will not be
honest because, through the work
which has been done recently by
| citizens, business men and police
officers, there will be many applications.
Scrupulously honest persons may put
their minds at rest on that point. The
| returns handed in by all persons other