Bridgeton pioneer. (Bridgeton, N.J.) 1884-1919, 1890-04-10
YOU MUST TELL.
THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO
KNOW A HEAP.
The work OF Taking the Census
WIFE Cost Over Six Millions OF
Dollars.


Commencing with the second day of
June the census bureau will have at
work an army Of $4,000 men, which
will sweep the United States clean of
information on nearly every imagin-
able subject that has statistical bear
ing. Then deluge of facts will begin
to pour into two huge offices at Wash
ington, where 1000 clerks will be en-
gagged in sitting and resolving into in
telligent shape.
An entirely new departure in census
taking, made this time. is in providing
the enumerat ors with "family sched-
ules." keeping the information ABOUT
each family by itself. Finally, the
completed schedules are mailed by the
enumerators to the hesupervisors to whom
they look as their chief. The super
visor is responsible for the accuracy of
the schedules, and if they are lacking
in any respect, he sends them back to
the enumerators. The facts in relation
to population and vital statistics, upon
reaching the census bureau, are all
counted by electricity, which does the
work almost without assistance 1t is
estimated that in the compiling of
tables, the machine employed saves
three-fourths of what would otherwise
be the labor involved and three-fourths
of the time.
The census bureau sprang up in the
night like gigantic mushroom. When
Mr.. Porter was appointed Superinten-
dent it was represented by a single in
dividual, known in the Interior De.
partment as the census clerk. Within
two weeks it will have 1000 employees
in its offices and As, 600 men in the field,
not counting the thousands of special
agents. 1t will spend on paper and
printing 100000, and for other ex-
penses nearly $6.OOO,00O more, for it
costs about ten cents head for every
mar, woman and child to take the
census of people.
Not content with discovering the
date and place of your birth the cen
sus will insist upon knowing from what
race you are sprung, what your sex is,
if any, and where your father and
mother were born. Also it will require
information as to whether you are
married, single or divorced what the
lowest degree of cold may be from
which you suffer in winter, how hot
you ind it in the summer, and how
many other people live with you in
your house. As for the house, you
will be compelled under a penaly OF
a fine of $4,000 to say whether you
own it or not, and if you own ii
whether or not there is a: mortgage
on the same, and, supposing that
there is one; the reason why you Dor
rowed the money on the property. The
census is much interested in your pri
vate affairs, you see, and if you have
a farm around the house, you will have
to tell similar facts about that, even tc
the value Of the cows and tools in the
barn. All this is merely the beginning
and does not touch upon the great sub
jects of agriculture, manufactures, min
ing, transportation by land and water
both of people and Of freight, fisheries
taxation, and SO Oh, all of which 1wii
be gone into in the most exhaustive
manner, the very processes employed
in at least twenty-five of the manufac
turing industries, for instance, being
given with the fullest detail. And yet
all this Information will eventually b
condemned into about twenty-five vol
umes, which will be- entitled the Elev
enth Census of the United States.