Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-12
GIANT TASK OF THE CENSUS
Directors of the Enrolment Begin the Pre-
liminary Work.
ENoRMrTY OF UNDERTAKING IS EXPLAINED
One Million Population
Cards Must he Prepared and More
Than $4,000 Appointccs VIII
BE Assigned to the work.

WASHINGTON, March 1.-THE policy that
will govern the task of taking the census
of 1900 was outlined in an official statement
made to the Associated Press today by Di-
rector Merriam and Assistant Director
Wines. Director Merriam leaves for Min
nesota this afternoon, leaving Assistant Di-
rector Wines in charge. On Director Mer-
RAMS return DR.. Wines will go home to
settle his private affairs. In the meantime
there will be no consideration of appoint
ments and 1t will be at least thirty days
before another selection of a STAFF officer is
made, with the probable exception of Prof.
Henry Gannett of this city as geographor.
This is in accordance with a decision OF the
director today that in his absence there
must be no promises of office nor assur-
ances nor encouragement for any given.
Several of the officials selected Thursday
night have qualified and the active pre-
liminary work will begin at once.
The statement of policy follows:
As to prospective appointments to
office, the services of no more staff officers
can be utilized at present and there viii be
no others selected within thirty days. Prot.
Henry Gannett, the well known geCgrapher
of the geological survey, who was the pc.
ltical and statistical geographer of the last
census, has been asked to take charge OF
the same work for the coming census and
If the geological survey is willing to spare
him sufficiently to undertake this work he
will be entrusted with it and given an
absolutely free hand. Until the schedules
come back to the office from the enumer-
ators in July, 1900, there will be no clerks
wanted. save such a small skeleton force
as VIII be necessary TO take care of the
correspondence and office work preliminary
to the taking of the census.
When the schedules come back there will
be a large force of employees appointed. All
applications for office will receive consider
alton and a large number already have been
received and placed on file.
No Incompctents Need Apply.
While the impression has gone abroad that
the census is to be a refuge for incom-
potency, the truth and the actual facts are
that ali applicants will be subjected to eX.
animation before apppihtment, which will
be as rigid as the examination before the
civil service commission. No political in
fluence Will be sufficient to Put an employe
on the census pay rolls OF whose competency
to do the work to be assigned him the
director is not satisfied in advance. And,
furthermore, if any employe is found to be
incompetent on trial such employe will be
discharged regardless of his or her political
backing. The examination of employees will
be directed, not SO much for the testing of
their general information and capacity as
1t will be to their fitness for the work to
be done, as, for example, no person who
Ntlliic NllNS il SDtsl SATISFACTORILY VIII Dt
appointed, nor calculators who cannot cal
culate.
First of all, after the general administra-
tive officers are selected, there must be 800
supervisors appointed and in their selection
consultation Will be had with senators and
representatives in the respective states. 1t
may be announced also that senators and
representatives who do not belong to the
republican party will receive the same fair
treatment and consideration along this line
that iS pivan rapublipaDc TboCa ct1DarvicOrc
Will be appointed by the president and con-
tirmed by the senate. None of these as now
contemplated are to be recess appointments,
but the list will be ready for submission to
the senate at the opening of the next SEES
sion.
Printing and Employees Necessary.
The supervisors in turn will appoint 40, 900
enumerators to do the actual work through
out the country, but the list of appoint
mentS of enumeratOrs first must have the
approval of the director of the census. After
approval they will be Immediately furnished
the necessary blanks and instructions. This
will o. no small task. Assuming the popu-
latiOn Of the United States at this time to
be, in round numbers. 80, 900, 900 people,
there must be 400. 600 sheets issued for the
population schedules alone. Adding to these
the other schedules there will have to be
in the aggregate not less than 500, 600 such
sheets in printed form issued. All this mass
of paper will have to be manufactured and
printed without delay. In counting the
! population every individual will be repre-
scented by a separate card and there will
have to be manufactured and printed not
less than 100, 900, 900 of these cards.
The probability is that a system of ma
chine calculating which admits of counting
facts in combination and which worked so
well in the last census will be adopted for
that of 1900. The office will have to select
from the various devices the one most sat
i~sfactory and a sufficient number to do the
work must then be manufactured. The work
will be pushed with all possible speed con-
sistent with accuracy, and every effort made
TO avoid dragging the work along unneces-
sarily.
Taken all in all, the complete number of
appointments that will be made in the
course of the census will be over 40, 000.
These include eighteen or twenty staff Off
GERS, 300 supervisors, 10000 enumerators and
about 5000 clerks and other employees here.
APPOINTED by THE PRESIDENT.
Joseph Crow Made Postmaster mt
Omaha.
WASHINGTON, March 1.-THE president