Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1900-05-31

less, or excessive in number. But
their number and character have been
determined by congress, not by the
census Office, and all of them have
been asked in previous censuses. The
only important change since 1890 is
that some questions have been aDan-
doned.
People are often offended at the
question, How old are your and are
apt to wonder what use the govern
ment can make of their replies. Taken
as whole the replies are as i'm
portant as any class of information
the census Office collects. Age returns
penetrate and elucidate every other
branch of statistical knowledge. They
show where child labor is prevalent,
and where the proportion of persons
able to support themselves is large or
small. They reveal the great number
OF colored children and the short life
OF the negroes under present condi-
tions. They make it possible to ascer-
tain whether the average length of
life is increasing or decreasing, how
many men the nation contains who
are capable of voting or of bearing
arms, and whether the relative num-
Der of children is Increasing or de-
creasing.
In Mohammedan or semi-civilized
countries like India householders are
often unwilling to answer the ques-
ton regarding the sex of persons in
the house, but in civilized countries
where the sexes are regarded as on an
equality, such unwillingness does not
appear. The answers to the questions
show that in nearly all cities the fe-
males outnumber the males and that
the same is true of most of the states
along the Atlantic coast. The belief
is widespread that taking the world in
general there are more females alive
at any given time than males, and
that If it were not for immigration
there would be more females in the
United States than males. But CEN
sus statistics show that we can not
explain the great excess of males
lover one and half million) in the
United States by immigration alone.
for when the foreign-born are left out
of account, there are still above 60O,-
600 more males than females.
Few would dispute the necessity for
asking questions regarding race. All
arguments regarding the future of any
particular race in this country, like
the Indian, the negro, or the China
man, must hinge upon the returns in
the census. With the Indians, more
over, it is of the highest Importance to
learn what success the policy of the
government has met with in estab-
fishing them apart from their tribes
and reservations, and whether such
Indians are increasing or decreasing.
Some mothers may shrink from
stating the number of children they
have had and the number who are
living. But from the answers to
these questions, the country will
learn whether the native American
population is holding its own, or
whether, as some have claimed, it is
being gradually supplanted and dis
placed by the children of recent immi-
grants.
In the light of such explanations,
and only few of the most important
questions have been touched upon, it
may. perhaps be clear to the public
that no question has been ordered by
congress, or has been asked by the
census Office which, if properly and
correctly answered, will not lead to
suggestive differences regarding the
American people and their work.