The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-12
TO EXAMINE ALL RETURNS
The Fifth Maryland District Sus-
pected by Census Officials.
a Searching Investigation to he Made
i'm Each County-Notbing Definite
Upon Which to Base Accurate
Opinion Thorough Enquiry.

From what could be learned at the Of
flee Of the Director of the Census yester-
day. it is very probable that there will
be a searching investigation of the re-
turns of all the enumerators in the Fifth
Maryland. Congressional district. The in
vestigations that have been set on foot
have already resulted in the arrest of
several officials, to whom the count of the
Inhabitants of st. Mary County was en-
trusted, but it is not believed that the
matter will end here
That the census officials themselves look
for fraud throughout the district was
the information given out yesterday, and
they only await time when they can
secure reports of the alleged inaccuracies
before proceeding criminally against the
supposed offenders. Just what has been
found out in Anne Arundel County the
officials in charge do not say. They ex-
planned to a Times reporter that any
statement given at this time would he pre-
mature and that the existence of fraud
in this county will not be definitely known
until the conclusion of the recount that
has been going on for the last ten days.
DIR. Frederick Wines. the Assistant Di-
rector of the Census, has had complete
charge of the special examiners. who are
now in the field, and to him will be dele
gated the task of proving the count in
the other counties to be investigated. He
is now in the field with the examiners and
he will remain until the completion OF the
accommodation. Several communications
have been received at the Census Office
from DR.. Wines, in which he stated that
considerable difficulty has been expert
enced in this second enumeration of the
of Anne Arundel County.
In one of the districts there are over 5000
people, and it has been necessary to de-
tail three of the eleven examiners to this
portion of the district alone. The other
eight are scattered over the county IL
has been the endeavor OF these ofncialS
to make house to house canvass of their
particular districts, not relying on the IN
formation to be gained from the various
families cOngregate. and where. 1t is now
the first set of enumeratorS
gained most of the information that was
inserted in their records. From this, ac-
cording to the bureau officials, 1t Is un-
derstoOd that the recount will take much
longer than 1T was at first supposed.
So far definite complaints have been re-
ceived from only two counties, st. Mary,
which has been investigated. and Anne
Arundel. iCmors of fraud have come In
from Charles County. but until Geogra-
pher Charles Fl. Sloane and his corps OF
assistants get to work on the matter
Sloane is now engaged in giving evidence
against the persons arrested in connection
with the st. Mary cases, which necessi-
tates his presence in Baltimore. 1t is be-
lieyed that his evidence will be concluded
within a day or two, and that by next
week at the latest, some movement to-
ward other Investigations viii be COM
menced. There have as yet been no ar
rests in connection with the Anne Arun- |
del allegations, and probably none will
be made until the filing of DR.. Wines
report.
.'These two counties. or may now say. |
three counties. are not all that are likely |
to be heard FROM, census official told
a Times reporter yesterday. THE fraud |
was something that could not be guarded |
against, but the Investigations that are |
to be made and that have been made viii |
convince the most skeptical that |
Director Merriam means business and VIII |
prosecute the men who have imposed on |
him and through him on the great mass |
of people for whom the correct statement |
of the population Of the country means |
SO much. 1t Will not surprise the men in !
charge of this office If the entire count |
Of the Fifth district is found fraudulent. !
However. it could not be helped. We |
could not suppose that the enumerators |
would try TO turn their offices to political |
account when there was almost Il certain |
chance of discovery.
THE resulting inaccuracies could not |
possibly be suppressed for long and the |
result would have been the same. 1t |
was comparatively easy matter for a |
person with evil intentions to falsify the |
returns. There was so much latitude al |
lowed the enumerators. Each man was |
appointed at the instance of. his member !
of Congress and it may be that mistaken |
ideas of gratitude led the enumerators |
astray One or two false entries here |
and there. they probably thought. would |
make no difference to the Census Office, |
and 1t would give material cause for To- |
cal pride. But these one or two entries |
grew TO many. and when we came to in |
vestigate some of the alleged inaccura
cies we found our count vastly different |
from the local census.
las | said before, there will be num-
ber of frauds discovered before this mat
ter is finally sifted to the bottom, and if |
am not mistaken, some prominent men
will be found to be concerned In the mat
ter. Officially, | know nothing about the
Investigations. because no report has yet
been filed. but unofficial statements have
teen received from time to time that |
lead me to believe tnat very startling
state of affairs exists and the Director
Is going to push the matter until every
thing suspicious is cleared up. He will |
not allow II to drop or to be finally dis
posed Of until every count has been en-
lmined, if it takes the whole force of
clerks in the bureau