The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-03-31
THE CROOKED CENSUS.

Pretty nearly everybody, from the parti-
san editor to the ward politician, has in
dulged in more or less severe attacks on
superintendent PORTER and his census.
There was never before census official
who was so much abused, and no other
census was regarded with so much sus-
picion. Nobody, seemingly, places conf
dence in the figures, and every local COM
munity processes to believe that it has
been defrauded in the enumeration. We
shall not attempt to defend Mr.. PORTER,
but If the complaints generally are as
groundless as those in which some of the
carpers in Utah INDUCED, the CON plainants
are guilty of more sins than those with
which the superintendent is charged. We
believe the enumeration in this territory
was as fair and honest as any count that
was ever made; we believe this, because
efforts to discover crookedness were fruit
less, just as it was impossible to find any
considerable number of people who mad not
been listed.
One Of the most exhaustive arrangements
of the census that we have seen is presented
by Congressman Mills in the April number
makes apparent such contradictory fgares
as to almost convince enc not only that the
census is grossly incorrect, but is design
edlyuso. For instance, he shows that 1.-The
actual numbers returned for the years 1870,
1880 and 1890 show that IS, So, 81 people
made larger natural increase from 1870
to 1880 than 90, 155, 7S3 people did from 1880
to $780, Deducting the immigrants from
the figures of both periods, the increase in
1S70-S0 is found to have been S,7S5. 121. and
that in 1SS0-90 to have been 7,219,S54 Can
it be seriously contended that IS, 900, COO
people increased 900. 600 more than sc, OOO,-
900 of the some people did? The census re-
port declares that startling fact, but the
superintendent asks the people to believe
only one half of it. He sees the palpaole
absurdity OF such statement, and to es-
cape it plungeS into worse one He as
sails the census of 1870, and says that it
should have shown 80, SIS, 449 people instead
of IS, SOS, 81, and that the increase in the
previous decade should have been 1856 per
cent. instead of 22.63. To make his logic
fit the situation, he adds 1900 to the re-
turns of 1870. This addition makes the
percentage of increase from 1870 to 1880
25.9 instead Of 30.0S per cent. Is it possible
that Mr.. PORTER can be serious when he
says that our population increased during
the war decade faster than in the peace de-
cade followingn'
MIR. MILLS presents several illustrations
OF this character to demonstrate the FAULT
ness Of the census, an interesting one being
that of the statistics of the scholastic pom
ulation, the children of school age being
enumerated by officers appointed under
the authority Of the state governments. The
Congressman says: "Their number is an
nually reported at Washington, and from
| the rate of annual increase to those within
given ages the total population of each
state can be closely calculated. 1 am in
formed by the commissioner of education
that there were in Texas in 1880. 311 .5e7
children between the ages Of eight and six
teen years: that the children between those
ages increased between 1880 and 1890 at the
rate OF o6.4 per cent, and that the popula-
tlon OF the state in 1890, if the whole IN
creased in the same ratio, should have been
2,9oo,OOO The census gives US 9, 235, 523.
Here Is loss of about 100000.
Demonstrations like this cannot be re-
futed, or even answered They wcuid
seem to be conclusive of either gross negli-
gence or malicious intention to EMPLOY
the census for base purposes. Representa-
tive MILLS charges no criminal intent on
the part OF the superintendent and enumer
ators, leaving the reader to draw his own
conclusions from the facts rrasareaa d..
the gentleman remarks that whatever may
be thought regarding the reliability of the
census as whole, 1.-THE state of Texas is
deprived, by the incorrect returns, of at
least three representatives in Congress and
three votes in the electoral college. EST
mating the total population by the sam
! ratio OF increase of children within given