Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1900-05-30
Census Queries.

Ihe blank schedules to be used In the
nent consus aro uuw being distributed
by the census office to the enumerators,
who will start to work on June 1. The
schedules contain questions which
some persons may think prying, pur-
poseless, or excessive in number. But
their number end character have been
determined by congress, not by the cen
sus office, and all of them have been
asked in previous censuses. The only
important change since 1880 is that
some questions have been abandoned.
People are often offended at the
question, "How old are you?' and are
apt to wonder what use the govern
ment can make of their replies. Taken
as a whole the replies are as important
as any class of information the census
office collects. Age returns penetrate
and elucldate every other branch of
statistical knowledge. They show
where child labor is prevalent, al d
where the proportion of persons able to
support themselves is large or small.
They reveal the great number of COL
ored children and the short life of the
negroes under present conditions. They
make it possible to ascertain whether
the average length of lite is increasing
or decreasing, how many men the ma
ton contains who are capable of votiD g
or of bearing arms, and whether the
relative number of children is increas.
ing or decreasing.
In Mohammedan or semi-civilized
countries like India householders are
often unwilling to answer the question
regarding the sex of persons in the
house, but in civilized countries where
the sexes are regarded as on an equal.
ity, such unwilhngness does not appear.
The answers to the questions show that
in nearly all cities the females out.
number the males and that the same is
true of most of the states along the
Atlantic coast. The belief is wide
spread that taking the world in general
there are more females alive at any
given time than males, and that if IL
were not for immigration there would
be more females in the United States
than males. But census statistics show
that we cannot explain the great excess
of males (over 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
5000 more males than females.
Few would dispute the necessity fol
asking questions regarding race. All
arguments regarding the future of any
particular race in this country, like the
Indian, the negro, or the Chinaman,
must hinge upon the returns in the
census. With the Indians, moreover, II
is of the highest Importance to learn
what success the policy of the govern.
ment has met with in establishing them
apart from their tribes and reservations
and whether such Indians are increas
ing or decreasing.
Some mothers may shrink from stat
ing the number of children they have
had and the number who are living
But from the answers to these ques.
tions, the country will learn whether
the native American population is hold
ing its own, or whether, as some have
claimed, 1T is being gradually supplanted
and displaced by the children Of recent
immigrants.
In the light of such explanations, ,and
only few of the most important cues
tions have been touched upon, it may
perhaps be clear to the public that nc
question has been ordered hy congress
or has been asked by the census office
which, il properly and correctly
answered, will not lead to suggestive
inferencee regarding the American
people and their work,