The Florida star. (Titusville, Fla.) 1880-1917, 1900-03-09

The act authorizing the twelfth CEN
sus provides that IL shall be restricted
to Inquiries relating to the population,
90 mortality. TO the products OF agricul-
ture and OF manufacturing and me-
ehanical establishments. The only vol
nmes that viii be prepared and pub
hshed In connection with the twelfth
census. excepting several special re-
ports, will relate to the foregoing top
les. and these volumes will be desig-
mated as and constitute the census re-
ports and must be published not later
shan the LIST day OF July. 1902.
There are many difficulties which
must be overcome by the census Of
hce which are only fully realized by
those In charge OF the work. Legal
questions continually arise. AS a sam
pie OF the troublesome problems to be
solved take the Indian census. which
fairly bristles with legal difficulties.
In 1890 the census law provided thar
a special report upon the Indians
should be made. A volume OF seven
hundred odd pages was published. pro-
fusely illustrated and touching every
point of the Indian problem. For once
in history Poor TO- was accorded JUS
tice. The volume was so pretty that
the edition was soon exhausted. and
now the department OF the interior has
not even a copy for the census office IL
self. But the law providing for the
twelfth census MAKES no special prOvi-
sion for an Indian census, nor does il
authorize such a report as was made
ten years ago. Ii is at this point that
the real difficulties OF the census office
regarding the Indians begin.
The Indian population, then, cannot
be treated by itself and described in n
separate report. 1t also seems illogical
to class the Indians among the Ordi-
nary population of the United States.
The Indian tribe is In many respects n
distinct nationality. although since
1871 congress has been doing its best
10 destroy all traces of tribal independ-
ence or self government. Moreover.
the tribal Indians are not citizens OF
the United States. The reservations
upon which they live are not legally
pNAA - Va NAlN SAsAAI VI " AAOA W AllNll
surrounds them. and state and terrific
rial laws do not apply 10 the reserva-
ton or To the Indians upon II. Acts Of
congress do not apply to reservation
Indians unless such application is ex-
plicitly authorized in the act.
Under such conditions il seems I'M
possible for the census office 10 class
In ,f q ,, In,
habitants OF the states and territories.
On the other hand. IL Is equally impOs-
sible To ignore them and omit them en-
tirely, for the constitution OF the Unit
ed States says that representatives
shall be appnrtiOned among the sever
al states according To their respective
numbers, counting the whole number
of persons in each state. excluding In
dams not taxed"
All these points are subjected TO the
most careful examination in the cen
sus office. and when a decision as To
the legal obligation of the office has
been reached the statistIcians turn
their attention 10 the economic and So
cial aspects OF the question in hand.
lines Of investigation are mapped out.
and inquiries are 50 framed as To bring
out the desired information in a form
In which il can be handled with the
HolIcrith machines. At the same time
these questions must be- put in such Il
way that they will neither b. misCU-
dcrstOod nor likely TO evoke ant2%o-
nlsm or false replies. No pains are
spared To interest the public in the
work and To secure general AMI hearty
cooperation. Without that the most
careful work NJ Washington or 10y the
enumcratorS must prove fruitlcSS.
The census office ut Washington has
not Il monopoly uf the difficulties in the
work OF cnumcrating. Many Of the
5O.Ouu cnumcratorS, who Will be placed
under time limit not exceeding -
month. will have many obstacles 10
overcome. They will have To move
with celebrity AMI along Well defined
lines which the natural conditions will
sometimes oppose. For Instance. our
new possessions will furnish roads hith-
crto uHrXplurrd 10y the census takcr.
The law directs that the census of
Alaska AMI Hawaii shall Ice taken this
year. and. while the latter may not pre-
sent extreme difficulties. il can hc cas-
ily understood that there are many
troubles i'm store for the operators in
Alaska. The great stretches of almost
uninhahitrd territory, the wide dis