Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-09-30

times been published without question OF
lts autheuticity, shows the manner In whlch
enumeiators were selected;
| DEAR STR-fou will please forward 20 TINS
Se olnce q list of the applicants that the Aepuo-
h nean organization OF your district oesheS ee 70
nave named as census enumerators n2ls
IlsI must De sent here on or before April l.
Oi TINS method of appointment President
Maiker, OF the Massachusetts institute OF
Technology, who was superintendent OF the
Ninth and Tenth Censuses, says: IF the
selection of the enumerRtors was made upon
any such basis as is implied by that, the
census could not have been otherwise than
bad Such method is a direct violation Of
section of the act providing for the present
census, which prescribes that enumerators
snail be selected with reference to ntness.
and without reference to their political
a1ntlattons." Such method is also viola
tion of the Supervisors oath of Office. The
manner in which the appointments were
made pursuant to the plan outlined in this
letter appears from the statement to
representative of this committee OF
NJ A Greaves, who was personally
present at the meeting on March Is at ESQ
Third avenue, Republican headquarters.
All applications had been filled out in ad-
vance. Mr.. Frank Raymond, n Republican
trict, presided. Taking the applications, he
seated himself at the table, with couple of
party workers beside him, who examined
the Republican roll and checked of the
The process was simple: Mr.. Raymond
would call a name, the man called would go
to the table, and Mr.. Raymond would ask
him, "Are You upon the roll?" His answer
was always in the Affirmative The next
question was, "What district would you
lfke?" The applicant would choose a dis
trict, which, if it had not been already
selected, would be assigned to him.
CRIMINALS AS ENUMERAroRs.
1t is evident enough that among men thus
lAn-- a
able number who were utterly unfit for the
work. And it is not surprising that among
these men Police Inspector Byrnes should
recognize well-known criminals. Mr. Byrnes
states: 81 know that some OF the enumera-
tors in this city were thieves. This very
morning one of these enumerators came
here to call upon me. He had been three
times an inmate of the State prison. He was
appointed upon the recommendation of a
Republican judge. This thiefs name is
known to all the city detectives, and his
picture occupies prominent place in the
Rogues' Gallery. He did not take the oath
IN his own name, and his dealings with the
Census Bureau were under an alias" The
danger of employing such men as census
enumerators is very evident. Private
houses were opened to them with the un-
derstanding that the Government was salts
ned with their trustworthiness.
These things led to the belief that the
count was inaccurate: and the police au-
thorities, by order of the Mayor, had the
population of the city recounted. The re-
suit showed a population nearly 200, 900
greater than that shown by the federal emu
meration, and the Mayor accordingly asked
the Census bureau for recount. This was
not granted. The request was then made to
the Secretary of the Interior; and the books
containing the names as taken by the police
authorities, were sent to Washington, where
Mr.. Kenny, their custodian, offered to the
Secretary of the Interior to take them for
his inspection to any place the Secretary |
might designate and to keep them there for
comparison with the Federal schedules as
long as might be necessary, the books still
remaining in Mr. Kenny's custody. The
Secretary refused to receive them unless
they were absolutely surrendered to the
exclusive custody of the Federal authori- |
ties, which Mr.. Kenny was not authorized
TO do. The New York authorities. consider
ing it impracticable to procure copies of the |
entire Federal enumeration, which would |
involve vast expense, determined to take
one of the wards of the city and make the
necessary comparison, and a copy of the
Federal enumeration in the Second ward
was demanded, this being one OF the small |
est wards in the city, and one in which the |
could be most easily made. A
copy of the Federal list for the Second ward
eight OF these were found upon inquiry to
belong to the First ward. The police emu
for the Second ward contained
l,340 names-a difference of Ala, or more than
Al per cent above the Federal enumeration.
DEFICIENT ALL OVER THE CoUNTRY.
lnOeeQ, InOTS Is T6dSOn 10 UOuDb bn0
of the enumeration, not only
in New York City, but throughout the entire
Numerous corrections and addf-
tions have been made; and, in cases where a
recount was ordered, the enumeration was
found to be greatly defective. Thus Multi
nomah county, Orc, had a recount, the re-
suit of which showed a population of 1857,
whereas the first enumeration gave only |
g., 600 In several other cases the enumera- |
tion was found to be incomplete when COM |
pared with the results of subsequent re- |
counts by the local authorities For in
stance, in the city of st. Louis over L, 900
names, and in Augusta, Gai 4,l6J Tor over
l2I per cent. of the whole), appeared to have
been omitted. OF course, there is always a
question which of the two enumeratlons Is
the more trustworthy, where two have thus
been made: but, since the total result falls
far short of what is to be expected from the
other evidences of growth, it is not unfair to
presume that in many places where the first
are still uncorrected they are proba-
bly, inaccurate and unreliable.
Your committee submit that the following
have been established by the
results of their inquiries:
i. That the refusal to apply the civil sery-
ice reform system of open non partisan COM
petitive examinations in appointments to
the clerical force of the Census Bureau was
violation by the President of promise oon-
tanned in the Republican platform in 1855
and ndorsed in his letter of acceptance.
2 That by the appointment of enumera-
tors on political grounds, in open violation
CT section OF the census act, great numbers
of incompetent men have been engaged in
taking the census, and that in many places
attempts have been made to use official po-
sitions for the benefit OF the party in power.
3. That while in some places the results of
the work appear to be free from partisan
color and to be accurately and well done, |
vet in many cases the work has been care
Iessly and badly done, and is open to the
suspicion that partisan considerations have
not been absent, and that finally there is
distru5t OF the accuracy of the |
census, which greatly impafrs its value to
the country, and which is caused in great
by the fact that the Census Bureau
Jas been conducted upon the spoils system.
M0ONsHINERs CAPTURED.
They Are a Bad Gang and Have Defled