The advocate., 1891-04-29
KANSAS MORTGAGE INDEBTEDNESS
DEPARTMENT on THE IErumOR,
CENSUS OBuOu,

DnAR SR'--A reply in detail 10 due 10 your
earnest and Outspoken letter Of the 4th in-
slant. There 10 no evidence, nor is II fact
that tho census Office has conducted Che
mortgage investigation for partisan Pur
poses. The desire has simply BEEN TO ascor-
tain tho truth, and, as far "a possible, the
whole truth IN regard 10 tho recorded in-
dsbtsdness OF Che people Of the United
States.
The persons whom you refer TO as aCCus-
ing Tho census Office OK unfarnoss In con-
duoting This inquiry arc guilty Of a largo do
groo OF unfairness themselves In Judging
this Office without hearing, and before any
results OF the Investigation have been issued.
10 is q matter of the plainest justice chat
facts On all aid0s shall be known before con-
domination.
The census Office has never attempted nor
desired 10 belittle the importance Of the
mortgage investigation, nor 10 misrepro-
sent the amount OF mortgage indebtedness
owed by tho people, or any class OF people,
The inainuatiOns against the integrity Of Che
census Office expressed In your letter are en-
tirely without foundation or plausibility.
Il would DO foolish 10 claim that tho
amount Of existing mortgage indebtedness
can bO ascertained without error, whatever
tho plan may be. IL is simply question Of
choosing tho method that can DO practically
employed with the least degree Of error
and II Is expected that the plan adopted by
the census Office will be regarded On such
one, whom ~ fully understood and loo 70.
suits are known. No one is qualified TO OK
press an intelligent opinion in regard TO this
matter until he has examined this plan Of
work and the results OF the tabulation.
A bulletin containing results for Alabama
and Iowa will be issued in few days, and /
shall take pleasure in sending you copy,
confident that IL will convince you that you
have treated the census Office uniustly.
infer that you regret that the census Of
RCO did not ascertain the amount Of record
cd indebtedness by making this investiga-
tion part of the general enumeration Of
last summer. The reason why the superin-
tondent Of census desired that this should
not be done Is expressed in letter TO the
Hon. ID. B. Henderson, December 2S, 1889,
referring TO the collection Of statistics Of
farm and home ownership and indebted
neas. The foundation for Che former inyes-
tiaatiOn was laid by the enumeratOrg, who
we're required TO ascertain whether homes
and farms we're hired or owned by the fam
lilies occupying them, and, II owned, whether
free OF debt or mortgAged, and at the same
time they wero required 10 report the post
Office addresses IL they were found mort
gagged.
Ifab the time the letter TO Representative
Henderson was written / could have fore
seen Che extent to which the enumerators
failed 70 and at home any person who could
tell them whether the home or farm was
mortgaged, should have taken the stand
that any attempt 10 ascertain the amount Of
recorded indebtedness Of the people through
th0 enumeratOrs would be 80 great failure
that no trustworthy results could be de-
rived from Il for any purpose. I am now
more than ever satisfied that IL was wise 20
exclude from the enumeration everything
Ina regard 20 the indebtedness Of the people
that was not included, not only because the
success of the constitutional enumeration Of
che people would have been damaged, but
because the statistics of indebtedness would
have been 80 incomplete as to be practically
worthless.
10 is q surprise that you are relying upon
che face Of the unCanceled real estate REQ