Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-11-14
PERMANENT CENSUS FORCE
The Bureau should he within Pro-
lection Of the Civil Ser
vice Law.


! Boston Correspondence New York Tribune.
The expectation that President Roosevelt
will favor a permanent census bureau
| when he sends his first message to the new
Congress calls attention to the fact that
Massachusetts is the only state In the
Union where the census office is on per-
manent footing. and that the experiment
here has been abundantly justified by its
| success. 1t has the same chief as the state
| bureau OF statistics OF labor. the same Of
| flee force and the same quarters In the
state house. But the census work is kept
entirely distinct from the work of the bu-
| reau. Material for the bure;, is naturally
gathered by some schedules Of the census,
such as the numbers of the working people,
the ne ture of their employment, and so on.
but the census statistics are one branch OF
work and the statistics Of labor are an
other.
Regarding the practicabilty and advisa-
bility of making the national census bu-
reau permanent, Chief Horace G. Wa6lin
Of the Massachusetts bureau says that
there are considerations Of efficiency and
economy in favor OF it. There is not the
! slightest objection to making the bureau
permanent Office" he says, 'for the argu-
ment from efficiency, expense and service
| to the public is all in favor of the change.
| The only thing which can be said against
| 1t is that If there is a change in the admin
| istration somebody might get some political
advantage by the filling of the new ofices.
| The national census bureau is outside OF
| the civil service system, and when new
census is to be taken there are many new
| offices to be filled. But the present census.
in Chief Wadlin's opinion, has been taken
as efficiently as could be expected of a body
which is not under the civil service law. If
the bureau were to be made permanent it
would be reasonable to suppose that large
| portion of the present force would BE- re-
| tanned in office.
Trained statisticians.
If this were done the government would
have in it's service when new census Is to
| be taken trained body OF statisticians.
who would not be required to ,esrl their
work new from the beginning. as is now
necessary when each new census force is
set at work. There would be no need OF
retaining the enumerators, in the chiefs
| opinion, for they are the field mca. and ex-
pert service is not required of them COM
pared with what is demanded of the men
| in the office They could be engaged when
| they were needed. 1t is true that S on.e pol
| iticians. as in the recent MaryIa I'd case,
have used these enumerators as d ..eanS or
building UP political machine, but the
places are not so desirable that lhe cccu-
pants feel when they come to ieav" the SER
vice (whatever they may feel when they
enter it, that they are under any oalfsa-
ton to the men who secured them the
places. In Massachusetts about eighteen
hundred enumerators were selected by The
bureau and there was no complaint of pc
litical influence. At any rate, tbs places
must be divided more or less between he
two political parties. and the political side
Of The matter cannot be very Important as
| the tenure is short.
1t the bureau Were made a permane de-
partment of the government then ii would
be put under the civil service laws. and all
the force except the enumerators would be
brought under the merit system. Chief
he cfyx yneyIx t6an Nor
having trained statisticians in the service
of the government at all times. 1t now
requires six or eight years to digest for
publication the statistics which are gath
cred by one census. Two or four years. or
thereabout, therefore, before the following
census is to be taken the entire office force
is dismissed. and all its valuable capital
(Which is just valuable as capital as
experience in commercial business is valua-
BILE captaD is thrown away. The men
who had to learn and correct the errors CT
previous administrators, who have had the
laying out or the work according to sys-
tenn, who know the methods of classical
ton and the details which are wanted and
the best way of collecting them, are set
aside and new men are engaged. who must
learn the same matters of detail in their
turn. 1t is wasteful and otherwise in
furious to the people.
The Massachusetts Way.
In Massachusetts the office force is not
kept at the same size during all parts of a
census period. At present 1t Is reduced to
its minimum. The girls who make the tab
uiations, who are experienced in this work,
have sufficient to occupy their time but
when the census returns are waiting to be
digested in large quantity, when the force
is much larger. then each one Of these eX-
perfenced girls in the Office becomes the
foreman of group of others. The state
retains the benefit of their experience, and
never begins with wholly inexperienced
help when a great pressure of work exists.
This is more economical and far more sat
fSfactory in statistical results than it could
possibly be to discharge the entire force in
dull times and take on a wholly new one
when the pressure returns
1t would be possible for permanent GEN.
SuS bureau In Washington, says Chief Wad-
lin, to utilize its force perhaps as it is util-
lied in Massachusetts. That is, during the
rush in the first part Of the census period
the full force would work on statistics OF
population and the like. which are wanted
as early as possible for political and COM
mercial purposes; but after that rush Is
ended there is great deal OF valuable cen
sus material concerning which IT is not
essential that it should be published as
soon possible. which might be tabulated
by smaller permanent force in the Office.
Statistics relating to sociological facts need
not necessarily be issued as soon as the
figures Of population but they are invalua-
bic for the good of the country. Statistics
relating to industrial problems could be
gested by the small permanent force In the
bureau in sufficient time to meet the needs
Of the case.
BY this means there would be a perma-
nent force of trained men in the office
When the time for a new census approach
ed they could lay out all the field work.
knowing what had been done before. and
could prepare better schedules than would
probably be prepared by director and as
sistants wholly new to the service. The
United States law provides that the main
- l.
within two years from the taking Of the
census; but there is no reason why special
reports could not be made later in fields CT
scientific and industrial development. Sta
tistics of the churches and religious denom-
nations, such matters as the debts of the
farming people (Which subject was covered
by one census), the debts of cities statis-
tics regarding land and water transporta-
tion and so on, are mentioned as subjects
which would properly fall within the scope
Of permanent census bureau, but which.