The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1897-06-20
D H EARTH,S CENSUS
SElafinous 4 Project Of the International
Statistical Institute.
SCHEME 10 COUNT ALI HUMANITY
ss:ornpnrnttve Iiaures or .he tHori.i.s
Populasion-W what the Grcas Work
SSS8ss Would Involve ns,a .ne Many
S Dimcuisics shat WIN ncsct ,nc
U.s.. Froiecs.

q #. .
ssfz5%$ 5 Chicago Tribune)
The greatest undertaking of its kind
Mn the history Of the world was recently
By set on FOOT at the meeting of the Inter-
s#national Statistical Institute in Borne.
1t Is proposed TO take a
sS&@censuS OF all the inhabitants OF the
sS;iesafth, and to publish the results at he
ssopenlng OF the Twentieth century. jan
1901 The New York World ont
lines the scheme and at the same time
saStyeS some valuable statistics
s.sss ne enormous difficulty Of the work
..ss Only becomes apparent. II says, when
aSoine considers that at least two-thrds
of Our planet dwell in lands
none none OF which have yet been fully civil
SS}31ed anu many OF which stil remain in
s1als$fcondition Of barbarism ana even Of
Ss $ sssavasery 1et the purpose is, as far rs
..si may prove possible to do. to include
sssssin9 the enumeration every human being
ss1 Oh whom the sun rises on particular
% ga IN the year 1900. II may turn out
ssSsS1 mnra cticaole to have the census made
on the same day. bit at any
SsSrate SuchtiS the intention.
BIZ According to the scheme explorers and
are 10 be sent to every
sSattainable point on the globe, aid on
sS1 ihe5 CHOSEN day, as the sun begins its
s#G GO rising over the yellow plains OF
spssChtna the pencils Of the cnumcro tors
aSWllI commence their work. and kecnn,-
t& pace with the daybreak as It runs west
ward round the globe, they will record
81 the existence, If not the name. OF evcrv
descendant Of Adam on whose face that
y sunrise SHINES, until it has passed from
10 Europe, and from Eurnpc to
6 s,A AM america, and from America to the Is
II lands Of the great sea- and so back ia
lssats starting point in the remote Orient
II No. ANY one who is familiar with the dir
S4Hchlties encountered in taking the cen
5fsus even in n thoroughly civilized Land
pike the United States will understand
1 fAE qnce how formidable the proposed
2t!fork will be. Yet 1t Is not impossible
kyIlnaat& IN barbarian lands the thing can
E tSs,s gone petter even than in It free and
i{Hnpghtened country like our own. If
tlonce the ehumeratcrs could enlist the
S}anterest of the rulers in monarchical
loountries no one would dare to throw
obstacles In their way, rs is sometimes
4 "a one by misguided people here.
An attempt has recently been made IN
4 take q complete census Of RUSSIA, ana
1 FF1t1as VIII aid III the new undertaking I'M
4 Immensely. During his tour in Europe In 6 I
s8ffyear Ii Hung Chang became intere sted
san me proposed census Of the world
81 ana. 1t Is asserted, promised his cO-oper
81 atlGn ana assistance in the work Ills
4 untry-China-forms the greatest fac
81 ZOE or uncertainty in estlmatingthe pop
81 ,niation Of the globe. Different estimates
81 of the number OF inhabitants ~ chin q
u vary sometimes by one or two hun Dire d
IianillionS. and even the population OF tho
85Jchief cities Of that country can only he
guessed at.
West of China and north Of the Hima-
81 1aya mountains there are immense tracts
S&of country lying In that part OF the world
/, which many regard rs the original sea
sSof mankind and the great hive from
aSsWhlch B- the sWarming nations have
u emerged, whose population Is also a
81 mere matter of Euesswork. A large part
Ri OF the country inhabited by the ia ri a r
10 tribe has not even been explored bv
white men.
E SO. too, Africa presents an enormous
IL held OF mysteries and difficulties. Esti-
q mates Of Its total population are con
Is 6tantly varying, because explorers FRO
u quently come upon knots and centers of
u population, the real extent of which is
~ unknown. The most careful statisti-
81 Grams admit that their estimates OF the
h population of Africa may be as much
IL as 90. 100000 out OF the way
zs3s.. India. in the valleys Of It's great rivers
ii especially the Gauges, is black with pop-
" ulat1on, like crowded ants nest, and
Is Notwithstanding the fact that the Brit
81 1shF are nominally in control they have
4 thus far failed to give us entirely trust :
worthy Information concerning the IRE
sf5clse number Of its inhabitants
80 But the uncertainty is far greater with
respect to the countries surrounding In
Z: idia. Take the strange Malay Peninsula.
with Burmah and Siam, where life
n breeds under the tropic sun with magic
can do more at pres
Il ent than hazard a conjecture as to it's
h population.
s$. West of India are the vast lands tho t
Alexander oVerran in his conques ts-
81 Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey in Asia.
How many scores OF millions. or even
hundreds OF millions, may they not con-
tain? Many Of the uplands Of Persia
ARE practically unknown to the civilized
world. but they can support a great
i ,popnlation. No one knows how many
sitpeople Arabia contains. The plains Of
\ fhe Tigris and the Euphrates no longer
4 possess mighty cities like Nineveh ana
aS;Babylon, yet they have not been de-
a populated,
Gwen the islands Of the sea and the
n polar regions have many human nha bi-
y fants. Nobody knows how many Is
Ssduimaux there are dwelling in the lands
sssof eternal ice that encircle the North
d pole: many Of the islands Of the vast
u, Z he EXP ectar1t Mother
Co.. IA looks forward to the