The age-herald., 1898-08-13
NINE MILLIONS ON
 THE NEXT CENSUS

| dil that IS Ol tnS CShSuS poiSoN e-S
 it exists today-but that man is William
 A. King. Perhaps King is the greatest cen- sus expert in this country, and for that | matter in the world. He has been in the
 business of compiling statistics and gather ing information for the last twenty years,
 having entered the service of the tenth
 census nearly twenty years ago. Young
 King came in under General Walker, who | had in charge the tenth census He start ed in at the lowest round of the ladder and worked his way up to the position of chief clerk. He had charge of the division of vital statistics during tho last census
 "Yes," answered MT. King, in answer to a comment on his isolated state, "I am all
 there is left of the eleventh census, but | am holding the fort They have dropped off one by one, or in larger numbers, as the work of the eleventh census was com pleted and given to the world, and now 1 they are all gone
 l You want to find out something about the forthcoming census? The best way to do that is to go into the history of the two which preceded it.
 | "Census work, as we understand it at present, practically began with the tenth census, under General Walker. Prior to I that time an enumeration of the popula- tion, which is demanded by the constitu- l tion, and a.. few additional facts, sufficed | to make up the census. You can readily | see the difference in the scope of the census of 1880 and that of 1870 by gancing at the l volumes in which it is contained. The for | mer takes up three volumes, while the lat ter is contained in eleven.
 "The tenth census was planned by Gen eral Walker to form basis for future cen- | sus work, and was made to include more or less of an enumeration of the status of nearly every branch of industry pursued in this vast country. It comprises, in addi- tion to statistics proper, comprehensive history of the development of the industry | and took within its range a vast amount of descriptive matter. While 1t was, of course, impossible to make statistics of the years that had gone before. very successful at- tempt was made and carried out to bring the subject treated up to date in histor- ical way. It covered much new ground and formed a splendid basis for the elev- enth census, which; while hardly as inter- esting from popular standpoint, is the most complete and valuable work to the trained statistician that the world has ever seen.
 
 'The builders of the eleventh census la bored under the disadvantage, as did those who built the ten cesuses before, of having to start from a beginning of nothing and work up a(force of skilled operatives. It is a mistaken idea that some people have that even census emu merator can be trained>fn day, and the lack of skilled men to start with has all ways hampered the work of the bureau The eleventh census was compiled at an expense of $11 1500, 900, to be exact, and the expenditure of such a of money by an organization which springs into exist ence every ten years and dies when it's work is accomplished might be made more economical and with greater results by permanent bureau. This is the logic by which the framers of the present bill pend- ing before congress have arrived at a conclusion and they have made their plans accordingly
 Pursuant to the ideas of the framers of the census bill, the next census will be divided into two distinct parts; first, the census proper, and, second, special re- ports It is thought that in this manner the work upon the main subjects of cen sus investigation will be simplifed and ex- pedited to the greatest possible extent The census proper, or that part of the enumeration of statistics which can be gotten only from the house-to-house cen vass of the enumerators. will be limited in the taking of the twelfth census to those facts which relate to population, mortality agriculture and manufactures
 "The general enumerator will thus have only four schedules to master and carry on his rounds as against the twelve of the last census, and in cities and agricultural districts where special agents will be ap- pointed for agricultural and mortality sta tistics he will have only one subject to- attend to--that of population. The work thus simplified will be quickly finished and the census reports may be looked for with in comparatively short time after the actual enumeration has been finished They will also be much less bulky and will be contained in about six or seven volumes.
 .The special reports. which will be in one way the feature of this census. VIII, 1t Is expected. occupy the time or the skilled collectors of statistics between the taking of the twelfth and thirteenth cen sus. and permanent census bureau Will thus be practically established. These re- ports will cover the ground covered by the eleventh census, with the exception of the. following subjects, which will be omitted. either as found practically impossible for census enumeration from post experience or as already covered by some other de- partment of the government:
 "The subject of transportation, on which the eleventh census had an exhaustive and valuable report, will be omitted in the twelfth censuss because the work is now covered by the interstate commerce com mission Mineral. industries will, in like manner be left to the geological survey; fish and fisheries to the fish commis sion; schools will be left to the bureau of edu- cation, it being understood that questions of school attendance and illiteracy shall remain in the population schedule; irr'ga-- tion will be left to the department of agr- culture; insurance will be left to the state commissions and to private publications. and Indians will be left to the government Indian commission. Affairs which mnfe an annual report on the subject the basis of inquiry on farm. home and real estate mortgages will be included in the ponula- tion schedule and 1t ia estimated that a perfectly satisfactory reno"t can be male in this branch of the work with a saving to the government of nearly half mill lion dollars. which was th" amount cy- pended on this branch Of innuiry during the eleventh censu~. Mortality reports from the rural districts will not b" at- tempted. as riey have beon found from ta hn oto