The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-06-28
CENSUS Of THE REPUBLIC
PREPARATIONS FOR TAKING THE
ENUMERATION.
Method by Which the Collection of In
formation About 75,000,O0O of People is
to be Carried out.


matter to count seventy-five millions
of anything, let him try counting up to
200, 900 as an experiment, says the New
York Sun. He will find that by the per-
sistent and regular expenditure of
breath and energy for twelve hours
day he can reach that result in a week.
The entire task, therefore, would keep
him steadily engaged for more than a
year. This simple test will give an APP
proximate idea of the enormous pro-
portions of the task involved when the
IS, 600, 900 units are scattered over some
100000 square miles of the earth's sur
face and when 1t is necessary not
merely to enumerate them, but also to
find out a dozen different facts about
each one. Yet this is precisely the task
that the directors of the next United
States census must accomplish
Practically all the work of collecting
the material will be done in the course
of three months next summer. To car
ry it out in that time the census au
thorites are now engaged organizing a
force of nearly $4,000 men. OF this num-
Der the majority-the enumerators-
will be employed only for a few weeks,
or at most for one month, but the cler-
zeal staff, comprising several tn )usand,
will be kept busy for two years or more
in compiling the results and publishing
them. In the last two cenSuseS, those of
1880 and 1890, the publication of the re-
suits occupied from five to seven years.
In that of 1890 the last of the volumes
on population was not off the press un-
til seven years after the date of the be-
ginning of the work. In that of 1880
the last of the volumes was published
in 1889 This represented fair rate of
speed considering the dozens Of bulky
volumes required to contain the data
collected by the enumerators. 1t Seri-
ously impaired the value of some of the
most important statistics, however,
since they were out of date by the time
they came into the possession of the
public. In the act providing for the
census of 1900 Congress has stipulated
that the four principal reports-those
on population, mortality, manufactur-
ers and agriculture, must be published
by July 1, 1902 This demands rate of
progress four times as great as that of
the last census. To meet the require
ments of the act preparations are being
made on much larger scale than ever
before. The plans of the census officials
contemplate the erection of a great
building in Washington to be occupied
exclusively by the census bureau, and
the employment of larger number of
clerks than ever before.
I'VE regard ourselves" said Frede-
rick Wines, assistant director of the
census, "as being for all practical pur-
poses simply manufacturing concern.
A great publishing enterprise has been
turned over to our charge. The first
requirement is sufficient force to car
ry on the work. We have estimated the
necessary clerical staff here in Wash
ington at 5000. The actual work of the
census divides itself into two partsA
collecting the information and compil-
ing it for publication. For the former
purpose 10000 enumeratorS Will be en-
ployed. They will gather all the data
relating to population, except in instl-
tutions where special enumerators will
be appointed from among the officials
of the establishments. The data relat-
ing to manufactures and mechanical in
dustres will be gathered by special
agents, who will be of a higher grade
and receive more liberal compensation
than the enumerators. The third meth
cd of gathering information will be by
correspondence and the examination of
printed documents of all kinds. This
will be carried on in the central office.
THE enumerators will be local ap-
pointees in all parts of the country.
There will be one for each township,
or, in the case of cities, for each ward
or district. Their pay will run as low
as $50 in some cases and will average
probably about 800. Their work will
have to be completed in from two to
four weeks They must be men of ordi-
nary intelligence, able to ask questions
and record the answers correctly in q
egible hand. The whole country will
be divided into 300 districts, for each of
which a supervisor will be appointed.
The supervisors select the enumerators
and are responsible for their work. The
supervisors districts correspond rough
ly to congressional districts, but each of
certain larger cities will form a single
district. Massachusetts will have but
one supervisor, because in that State
there is a bureau qualified by long eX-
perience in both state and federal CEN
sus work which has at it's command a
large force of trained enumerators
while it will be impossible to exam
inc the 10000 enumerators scattered in
every part of the country their COM
petence will be tested before they are
finally appointed. In this way we prob
ably shall get better set of enumera-
tors than ever before. This is matter
of primary Importance, for If the infor-
nation supplied by the enumerators is
faulty or incomplete no amount of care
in the central office can remedy the de-
feet. The agents appointed to report
on special industries will be selected on
the basis of skill and experience and
their employment will be expert work"