Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-05-30
CENSUS ENUMERAT()RS
GATHERING STATISTICS NEXT
FRIDAY.
FACTS TO BE AsCERTAINED
of the Census is to Meet a Consti-
tutionaI Necessity, and to Provide
a study of Facts and study of
Cause.-The Last Census.

Under the general supervision of Mr..
| Charles "A. Helmbright the census
enumerators for Ohio county will start
to work bright and early Friday
morning. The county has been ap-
portioned into districts in order to
| facilitate the work, and to enable the
enumerators to complete it within the
prescribed time. For this reason citi-
zens are requested to be prepared to
| answer questions promptly. There is
| no good reason for declining, as pre-
cautions for secrecy are strict, and
there is no way of evading, as the law
compels the answering of questions.
The objects of the federal census ire
of three kinds: To furnish basis
for the apportionment of representa-
| tiyes in me lower house of Congress;
to ascertain the growth OF the United
states in numbers, wealth, and indus
try; and to investigate the social Dr.
CARNATIONS and institutions which de-
termlne the growth of population and
wealth. The first is a constitutional
necessity, the second a study of facts,
and the third study of causes.
Probably no social institution is so
intimately connected with the growth
OF population as that Of marriage. In
investigating marital conditions the
law requires about each person a
statement whether he or she is single.
m q, -ikad vr,I~
ried, how many years the marriage has
lasted; if mother how many chill
dren she has had, and how many of
these children are now living.
From the answers to the questions
it is possible to determine the birth
rate, the prevalence or marriage, the
proportion of women and children to
the whole population, the duration
and fruitfulnesS of marriage. So far
as the power and Importance of ma
lions are dependent upon the size Of
the population, to that extent is the
accurate determination of these ques-
lions a matter of public necessity.
In the United States there would
seem to be little danger of a decline in
the population. But even when we are
sure that the population is growing,
it is still necessary to know how it
is growing. The millions of India are
increasing, but it is by a process of
many births and many deaths In
good years millions are born; in times
OF famine millions die, the population
increasing because few more are
born than die. 1t is growth, but saw
age growth. There is more excellent
kind of progress, that resulting from
the combination of a moderate birth
rate and a small death rate.
The marital statistics collected By
the census are in many respects very
interesting. Thus, the extent and
power of the anti-marital forces can
be estimated in way by ascertaining
the proportion of people between 55
and "a years of age who have never
been married. Census statistics show
that the proportion of unmarried fe-
males between these ages is greatest
in the east, in North Carolina, Rhode
Island and Massachusetts, for instance,
while the proportion is smallest in the
west, South Dakota, Utah and Okla
homa bringing up the rear in the
order named Men, on the contrary,
are far more likely to remain single in
the west than in the east. The pro-
portion of unmarried men between SO
and GA is lowest in the Southern States,
e. g., Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia,
and greatest in the block of Western
States west of the Mississippi. IN
Nevada 1872 per cent of the males be-
tween So and GA have never been mar
ried, Idaho coming next with 32.4 per
cent, Montana next with 295 per cent,
etc.
That marriage is still pre-eminently
the sphere of women seems to be n
Dictated by the fact that more women
marry than men, and they marry at
earlier ages Thus, only 81 per cent
of females Is years of age and over
are unmarried, while among the males
of the same ages the proportion is AZ
per cent. Taking girls and boys be-
tween Is and 20 years of age, it is
found that one out of every ten girls
is married, while among the boys the
proportion falls to one In two hun
dred. These were the proportions in
1890. Whether these conditions have
changed since then is a question that
can only be answered by the census
of 1900.
Grand Concert this evening at Fin
napaO RrOS Summer. Garden No o907