The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-04-05
THE SCHOOL CENSUS.
Huge Frauds Being Gradu-
ally Threatened BY the
State System.
Special to The jersey CITY Ne,o,.


TRENTON, April 5, 1893. State Census
Superintendent Matthews is busily en-
gagged in preparing for the taking of the
annual school census of 1898. which will
be don't next month by census takers
whom he will appoint for that purpose.
The principle object Of the enumeration
is to determine how much OF the State
school tax shall be allotted to the different
districts. Five dollars is appropriated
for each child. The Stats last year paid
about 50, 900, 900 for this purpose, which
was divided among some one thousand
four hundred districts.
Formerly these cenSuses were taken
under the direction of the local school
authorities, but the incentive TO secure
large appropriations was SO great that q
proper supervision was not always exer-
cised over the census takers, who padded
their lists in order TO obtain the extra nve
cents for each name. The new system OF
having the census taking done under the
supervision of a State Superintendent
was established last year.
Superintendent Matthews has just com
pleted his first annual report. Whlcn is
now in the hands OF the printer. and
Will be ready for distribution in a Few
weeks.
MONEY SAVED.
The State was saved Sl25. 900 last year
by the establishment OF the new method
Of taking the school census. although the
new department cost The State pue S2,EoO
additional.
When one considers that this gross
MISREPRESENTATION ia census figures has
been pracIiced for many years, the service
done the State in giving the system a
thorough overhaul1ng can scarcely be
o7erestimated. In the last decade it is
safe to say that over a million dollar S
have been obtained by he school people
OF the State on false pretences. I6 has
been q glaring defect in the arrangement {
of public affairs that such a con
dition Of things has been allowed
to exist SO long. h placing OF census
enumeration in the hands OF the State
officials and under the direction OF the
State Board of Education was a wise
move. The work of the first year has re-
sulled in q radical reconstruction OF
school census matters. This could hardly
have been anticipated, as the task was q
new one and its peculiarlties practically
Even more satisfactory re-
suits may be anticipated for the next
year, as Superintendent Matthews, while
he feels that his figures are much nearer
correct than any the State has had be-
fore, does not hesitate to say that he has
not discovered all the leaks.
VERY FUNNY BUSINESS.
1t is in the cities that line school census
has been most seriously trlfed with. In
Jersey, City alone $4,000 fictitious children
were reported a year ago. Through the
dpcrored reports the city received about
$4,000 more than it was entitled to. In
all census figures and statistics it IS an
axiom that the number of people between
the ages of five and eighteen (the school
age) is about thirty per cent. or the entire
population. In Jersey City, however. the
school census returns showed last year
that the percentage of persons of school
age was 46 per cent, or nearly one-half OF
the eptire population.
In Newark the enumeratorS were more
cautious. They. nevertheless, managed
TO find 1000 more children han Mr.. Mat
theWs aud his men could discover. Most
of it was iona in the heart of the city, IN
the old First and Second wards. Mr..
Matthews went over the ground in these
Two wards himself. He found many dis
crepancIea. In several Instances families
with children were reported as living in
houses when other families resided, and
the children of these last families were
enrolled also, The first families had in
most cases lived at the addresses given
two, three or four years ago. The SUPER
%fntendent. found In brief, that In the old
First and Second wards in Newark the
census on each street was about one-half
as large as that submitted by the old
enumerators. The two wards had been
subjected to a systematic padding.
In Hopcken about 5000 fictitious chill
dren were reported. In Trenton the
Suberintepdent's census was contested,
aud a recount made. This is the only
place in the State where. a ecount has
been demanded. and, in this instance, the
S~lperintendent's figures were practically
sustained. 2
THE SUMMER CHILDREN.
One of the most interesting discoveries
made by Superintendent Matthe VS. was
that all along the sea coast from Cape
May to Long Branch. the old enumera-
tors were reporting the summer children
as part Of the school population. There
was but one exception. and that was AS
bury Park,
it was said above that the incentive to
doctor reports In country districts was
not so great to eEumerators as in the
cities. There was still a powerful motive
for the district officials to keep the census
up and even 80 swell it. The Law pro-
vfdes that in Districts where there are
more than As children of school age the
district shall receive 1915 ut least; in dis
trfctS where the census is LEGS than 40,
s275 shall be awarded. A difference OF
one pupil. therefore, might MAKE a differ
encesof 500 In the district appropriation.
Now, the records showed that there We're
very few. almost no districts, where the
census was under 40. Plenty of dis 5ricGs
returned exactly IS.
WAYS THAT ARE DARK.
There are many other ways in which
Tile CeHs us HlSy DC SWotleu. 0COT5c VI
children ara enrolled annually who are
not yet five years of age, and hundreds
are put down who arc over eighteen.
There are many instances already dis
covered where children are on record as
being CT school age while they are still in
their infancy. An enumerator who is
not highly conscientious will always find
many chances TO swell his census. Truly
accurate reports will never be had, but
under the new regime big strides toward
comparative accuracy have been made.
According to Superintendent Matthe WIS
figures, there are now in New Jersey 405,
252 children between the ages of five and
eighteen, OF these 205. 958 are males and
1876, 264 females. The number in private
soilcols is 47,15T. n tota. number at
tending DO school is S9,692. and of these
Mr.. Matthews has learned that so per
cent are under eiGht and over fourteen
years of age. It il interesting to note that
while Essex county. with It's $4,000 chill
dren of school age. There are 1877 unable
to read, there are in Camden county. with
$4,000, $50 unable to read.
AN OLD MASTER AT 81. MARKS.