The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-02-25
FICUL1IES in
CENSUS TAKING
Not the Political Picnic That Some
People Imagine It.
LEGAL QUESTIONS THAT ARISE
The Proper classification Of the Indian
Population is One of the Questions
That Cause the Census
Office Trouble.
QUESTIONS THAT ARISE

Office Trouble.
Census-taking is not the political picnic
that many people imagine. Few appre-
ciate the magnitude of the work. The
eleventh census cost more than sl1,ooo,ooo,
and in the twelfth census an once loicc
of more than 1000 for about two years
and a field force of over $1,000 Tor from
two weeks to a month will be emploscu.
Then too, the Tollerith tabulatins ma
chimes, by which the population is count
ed and the returns tabuiated, MAKE cen
Sis taking a huge industrial process.
The Census Office becomes factory;
the director of the census a captain OIL
industry, who, il he is to be successful,
must possess all the directive energy anu
genius for organization which charac-
terize our most successful manufacturers
and railroad presidents.
Among the troublesome problems Which
have to be solved by the Census Office
are the legal questions which continually
arise. The Indian census for instance.
fairly bristlcs with legal difficulties. In
1890 the census law provided that spe-
cial report upon the Indians should be
made. a volume of 700 and odd pages
was published, profusely illustrated, ana
tUOcNlnS every point w tiiC Iii,'tNiA pAo''
lem. For once in history Poor Lo' was
accorded justice. The volume was so
pretty that the edition was soon eI-
hausted and now the Department OF the
Interior has pot even copy LOT the
Census Office itself.
But the law providing for the twelfth
census makes no special provision lof
an Indian census; nor does 1t authorize
such a special report as was made ten
iS a
real difficulties Of the Census Office re-
garding the Indians begin.
INDIAN POPULATION.
The Indian population, then. cannot be
treated by itself and described In a sepa-
rate report. 1t also seems Illogical TO
class the Indians among the ordinary
norvlation of the United States inc
Indian tribe is in many respects a as
tinct nationality, although since 1871 Con-
gress has been doing its best to destroy
all traces OF tribal independence or sell
government. Moreover, the tr6paI III,
dams are not citizens or the oniteo
States The reservations upon winch theS
live are not legally parts OF the state VI
Territory which surrounds them, ana
site and territorial laws do not apply
to the reservation or to the Indians upon
it Acts of Congress do not apply 10 re-
seryat;on Indians, unless such application
Is explicitly authorized in the act
Under such conditions it seems impossl-
bic for the Census Office to class INDIANS
as a mart of the ordinary inhabitants o.
tho states and Territories. On the other
hand it Is equally impossible to ignore
them and omit them entirely, for the
Constitution of the United States says
that Representatives shall be apportloli-
ed among the several states accofoiHS
to their respective numbers, cou'l'iiit'
the whole number of persons IN each
State, excluding Indians not taxed.
This fastens upon the Census Ciiice
d,,ty that seems plain enough. But as
matter of fact it would give the Attor-
ney-General of the United States some
hours of work to explain exactly what
Is meant by the apparently simple phrase
"Irdians not taxed" Ihe uncertainty III
the phrase is in the meaning Oh tne
word taxed" The tribal indian, llhe
other inhabitants of the United states, IS
subject to the internai-re'ei"e
and the various stamp taxes no" IMPOSED
nv the Tinted states. II he uses a pa1A
check he must stamp it: If he manutae-
TIRES a box of cigars he must stamp IT,
Is he taxed" thereby?
WHAT IS "A TAX?
lust what tax is In the meal!'ns
of the constitution. has never Deeh ueii-
nitelv decided, although the question mas
heen before the Supreme Court many
.hinged upon this very point. Ex-senator
Edmunds and Joseph II. Choate, now
Ambassador to England, assisted by
some of the most eminent lawyers OF
America. successfully argued that an IN
come tax was direct tax, Wllhln me
meaning of the constitution. Attorney
General Olney, James {. Garter, ana
other prominent lawyers, gravely argued
that IN income tax was not "taX put
l,,f1
of the case, the Supreme Court was even
" divided upon many of the points at
issue AT the second hearing, the decls-
ion was rendered with four dissenting
Justices. against the five who concurred
in the opinion of the Court. that an in
come tax was a direct tax.
Whether or not a stamp duty is TAX
and if it is. whether it is direct tax:
whether Indians not taxed means In
dams not directly taxed or whether 1t
may rot mean Indians not taxable, are
questions that must be decided by the
Census Office before It can form It's plan
for the Indian enumeration.
The last question has been subject or
debate ever since Indian censuses have
been taken. In 1890 there We're about 81
coo civilized Indians living among the
general population Of the United states
Such Indians are citizens of the United
to pay taxes. Are they to be excluded
from the population according to which
representation in Congress is dpportioned?
We count every Chinese and other alien
of whatever sort or condition. Before the
war; we counted every negro slave as
equivalent to three-tifths of a white man.
It seems manifestly absurd to believe tina.
the trainers of the constitution meant to
exclude class Of citizens who are also
natives, because OF their poverty. In
other words, the trainers of the constitu-
ton must have said what they did not
mean. What they really meant was to
exclude all Indians belonging to a class
not subject to taxation.
All these points are subjected to the
most careful examination in the Census
Office. and when decision as to the
legal obligation of the Office has been
reached, the statisticians turn their at
tention to the economic and social as
poets of the question in hand. Experts
are consulted; the important lines of in
vestisation are mapped out. and inquiries
are so framed as to bring out the desired
informa ton in 4 form in which it can he
handled With the Hollerith machines. At
the same time. these questions must ne