Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-03-22
THE CENSUS ENUMERATOR,
He Will Be Power All Over This Land
Next June.

In the census building at Washington a
great room is now the scene of busting
activity, the work of preparing portfolios
Tor use by the enumCrators in the coming
count OF population being fairly under
way. These portfolios, OF whitisn-brown
Uasteboard hinged together wit. lack
cloth, are eighteen inches long and ten
wide and tied with four sets of tape. TIE
tape used is not that red tape" which to
the ordinary mind signifies cirCumocu;ion
and decay The law requir, thai the CEN
sus of 1900 shall be taken speedily ard
common everyday white cotton tape Will
fasten the schedule filled portfolios in
their round from habtation to hahita ion.
For convenient. accurate and rapid
enumeration the United States nave been
divided into 800 supervisors districts, AMI
these In turn into about 20, 900 enumerar i,n
districts, or f.. DIS, as they are called in
the census office. Each of the 5000 EMU
merators is vet to be appointed, so on the
portfolios blank space is left for his
name.
The last census found the unhappy emit
mcrator loaded down with from 10 to 70
schedules, each having vOlumtnuus in
structions to master which required con-
siderable mental ability and powe" of
memory. That census was taken under a
law which required enumcrators TO ask
many obnoxious questions Under dir
penalties of threatened prosecution and
Hil' III case VI REFUSAL, AT every nome ma
family skeitou must he brought forth r
classification and record. sensitive reo-
pie who, Spartan-likc, had long conCel,-
ed an insidious malady gnawing at tn ir
vtals must divulEe their hidden ailment.
Hatassed, unhappy persons, strUg | ~
under burden Of debt We striving to
keep up appearances must c,rnle to tho
enuneratOr their financial Wurs. lie
sterniy demanded Information as to de-
fects of mind. sight. hearing and spe n
and If Il member Of the family vas "A
prisoner convict homeless child or pau
per" The inilrmitics of the "cripp cd,
MANNED or deformed must also b. d. Y
classed ana catalogued That ansW.. :
thus obtained were not for publication n
the daily papers but simply for tabula IL
by employees sworn no. 10 divulge Gems :
facts failed to alleviate the painful IN Y
Of making them. The census act of 10 O.
happily for all, does not require thesc d $
agreeable queries. Four schedules MT
ten, cover enumerators inquiries in 19N--
schedules requiring infoi nation alb ltt
population. vital statistics, manufactures
and agriculture. In cities the enumera q
will seldom need the agricultural, or in
rural districts the manufa ctuiing sched 10
so he will infrequertly carry more than
three.
Frequent complaints and charges Of in
accuracy in preceding censuses hlVe aris-
on from distrust Of the enumeratUrs. Not
iufrequcntly the gross ignorance of an
cnumorator rendered his work valuelC SIS
stream cannot rise above its sOul &c
and the census cannot rise in accuracy
above the standard established by the emu
merators. Concerning affairs VIII ther To-
cal or national in importance bu; VIII on
only admit of national administra ion, the
individual citizen feels little personal I. =
sponsiblity. The federal census is prim-
arily OF local Importance. For the
United States as whole gen
eral average will he reached of maen-
tude which Inaccurate returns from a con-
siderable numb'r of T.. DIS will not ps-
sentially affect. on the other hand in
any political district the peoples cpl - e.
tutional rights may be seriously impIil d
by dishonest or incompetent enumorttl
Where rival political parties predomin e
in different parts Of the same safe. TIL
constitutional aDportionment of repres H.
tation upon the census basis OF popull ton
decides state and, al times. ma ional is
sues. 1t is self-evident that enumcIa OF :
i'll such districts should be of inquest on
ed ability and integrity.
The White-tape army should be made up
of men of high standard They should
he quick, competent. courteous. tactful
and truthful. Ten hours "A day for two
weeks in urban and four in rura, district S
they will spord in gaining entrance "a
those impregnable castles. the honcS II
American citizens. TO prove their victory,
correct replies to all the schedule gu s.
tons must be recorded for each of these
castles. The white-tape soldier will have
no chance for glory or preferment. lie
must find courage in fe linz that "p a
hath its Victories" and that "tho 40 Id
knows nothing of its greatest men" Whe
he shall have completed his duties-inri-
dentally making enemies tor life of VII
lage gossips who did not want to tell their
own ages but demanded to read those OF