The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-03-07

The door bell % 20 Lafayette Sre-rs -...-
incessantly yesterday. All TIA. .... ..r
was q procession up the stone ....s 70
men, women. AID children. lle latter d..
Ing telegraph boys with usss.a.. .-
ever part o. the country. AZ o.. e.... .,
the dSy the card bssks> on Oh. .......
table in the broad haU aak-a ..
I typical Washington reception l-l -.
/ progress.
All this was because It 10 T.e.-y.-..
! Square lives Gov. ". r. Merriam 3D..
new Director OF the Census. ana. 49,.
teros,cd the callers more than aa....
/ else, the dispenser OF more Yafrar. -....
! almost any other official OF thg ..-.-.
ment. Gov. Merriam received his r.....
most courteous y. listened 20 them r..s-.
\ ~. said mo- plainly when he had q. -....
/ hope where he could. and did H. ."
/ pleasantly and taCttul,y that even -.. ....
/ appointed went away viih the -.ss....
/ ton Of having been kindly treated. 81. .r.
! afternoon Gov. Merriam went on . r....
| for the relics OF tho last c-n-u= e...-
| come 10 him under the new lau. n. sr.-.
| the remnant of the old Census gr.-a .r.
| building on + street. There were d. ...
clerks. collection or old desks ana NOM.
/ out typewriters, and "a pile of -.-r.
/ Nhen the new Director returns from 1f.-.
hesota, wEither he goes in Week CD clos.
| up some private affairs. he viii prod. .
| take charge of the remnants ana .....-
/ lish himself in a new Office. Il h..- ...
| TO nave a place somewhere" be ..
systematically, yesterday afternoons.
MS throng OF callers flied his UaE.Jr auI
I spread out into the hail.
Tails About His Plans.
| Gov. Merriam talks and acts Ike ma,
| Of business. His sentences are srr-.a-
snappy, and mean something. He has
/ way OF accomplishing q great g... .r .
| very short space or time. which s.y..
promise OF the census work befa. .rr..
pleted long before it is necessary 10 ,as,
another. This, IN fast. Is what he prom.
lses "Ot course. you know" he SAID.
while chatting with a Post reporter. "-nr.
the Census CiHce has 10 be 8uit from -.s
ground up. 1t is like building "a railroad
when the ties are not even laid rs. har.
got the ground surveyed. ana that 10 All
What are your p.aHs?"
First OF all. 90 secure the c.0-rr 90,
the most expeditions and the s.nr-.-.
manner possible. think that Is The er.t
idea to have in mind always. II seems .,
with those VINO framed it, thar Carer..s
wants the best practical results win On.
| least possible cost and delay shall
adopt good business pr.cipIcs On starting
and prosecuting the work. Iuak-n. f..-
ward, all The time. to the accomul.shH. M
OF the fun results desired by the law"
Fifty Thousand Enumeration.
| when viii the work commence
| Il nope 70 get the organization started
/ by the first of April 10 VIII proceed e..v-
/ ~. The three hundred supervisors vHU
not be appointed before the first of next
| December but, IN the meantime. I u.E
/ be selecting the various experts vino w.J
/ have charge OF the details. I am not a
{ statistician nor an expert but / hope TO
/ prove capable of giving the census e good
/ organization, so that when the work ~
/ enumerating the population and collecting
/ the statistics begins We can go agt.
| ahead without losing any time The
| enumeration, as you know, does not bee
| gin until the first Of June. 1870 Under
| the law the census is 20 relate specifically
10 four Transportation mortality -.a-
tistics, the products Of agriculture. and sf
manufacturing and mechanical establish
ments. The reports covering these four
branches must be completed lu tw1 years
Then we are authorized to take up special
questions, including statistics reIatH-
among other things, 10 insane. blind AMI
deaf persons, criminal and raf0rmlt0rr
institutions. public iudebteduess. electric
telephone and telegraph business. trans
pOrtatiOn. mines and mining We ar.
given three years in which to publish tl.s
great mass Of information"
How many enumeratoFs will be ra-
quired?"
AT least fifty thousand We will oc-
cuDy this summer ana next winter JOB
plotting the United States into ge1graDa-
ical divisions and subdivisions. and as-
signing the supervisors and the eHamsrf-
tors 10 their respective districts This
VIII be really the first work We small do
No Appointments Immedini-ry.
"WiIl any appointments be made at
once2'
No appointments will be made imme-
diately," was Director Merriam .m-
Dhatic response. There can be- DO apo
pOintmeHts until the work has been aI
mapped out. In the selection of super
visOrs ! shall follow the spirit OF J1s Law
and treat all political parties fairly a.
for the clerks. none will DE needed Pr
months 10 come. When they are appoint
ed they will be subject 10 "A fair sEaU.l.-
ton 10 prove their accuracy rapidly. aH1
general competency. u will not boz COM
petItive examination, but one 90 demon
strate the efficiency Oc those whose E-l."-
ton is asked. / shall END savor IJ ger The
fullest possible amount Of work OFT ~ '.r
employees, and. indeed. the comparatively
short space Of time allowed 0y ne gov
eminent 70 complete tHF census VII. max"