The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-25
CENSUS BUREAU WORK
REPoR1 or ,coMMITrEE WHICH
ENoUIRED INTO METHODS.
Many Errors in Returns from Enum-
erations, But Statistician Hyde
Is Exonerated Inconsis-
tencies as to Cotton Crop.

n
OF the report Of the committee represent
ing the National Board Of Trade which.
during last September, conducted an in
curry into the methods Of the Census
n Bureau and of the Department of Agri-
\ culture In collecting and disseminating
crop statistics, was received in Washing
ton this evening from c. B. Murray OF
Cincinnati. who acted as Secretary Of the
Committee
The report exonerates Statistician Hyde
Of the Department of all charges made
against him; commends him for good
work; unQuaiifiedly declares 1t inadyis-
able to entertain any plan for tho trans
Ter Of the work Of the statistical division
70 any other branch Of the government
service and finally calls attention to some
vital errors in the work of the Census
Bureau. These who have been watching
the progress OF the fight on Mr. Hyde re-
gard the report as a complete vindication
and decided triumph for him.
The report which is addressed to
Blanchard Randall, President Of the Ma
tional' Board Of Trade, at Baltimore
opens with a long reference to the causes
which led up to the formation of the
comniNee. The principal cause is shown
to have been the fact that the agricul-
turaI statistics made public by the Cen
sus Bureau last spring were decidedly, at
variance with prevailing expectations
based on other official data and unofficial
investigation. The matter was taken up
with the Chief statistician for Agricul-
ture Of the Bensus Bureau, who, in the
language of the report, manifested great
readiness to facilitate the work under
taken"
1T is claimed by the statistician." the
report goes on to say. that the greater
proportion Of errors in the census work
was In the returns from the enumerators.
The Statistician stated that in the
work of revising the schedules received
from the enumerators there were 100 out
OF 200 entries passed as substantially cor
rect or one-half of per cent not so
passed. This, however. is not regarded
accepted by the committee as evidence
that such percentage represents the ex-
tent of actual errors in such entries"
Further on In the report the following
occurs: 1T is claimed that the errors
In, the punching machine work not de-
tected represent fraction of / per cent
and that these. combined with the errors
In the tabulating machine work, repre-
scented about one-third of per cent. How
such conclusion was or could be reach
ed was not explained, and. in view of the
reported record Of tests OF card-punching
one and thirty-four one-huudredths per
cent of cards incorrectly punched or
omitted, or one in seventy-ive, these
statements can only be reconciled on the
presumption that these tests related to
the work called for particular or contin-
uous examination, and that a large part
of 1t represented decidedly lower per cent
age Of errors The ratio of errors found
in the tests of card punching one and
irfx -fo,, h..n
piled to the one hundred and twenty mil
lion cards, would imply that one million.
six hundred and eight thousand cards
were erroneous.
In another part OF the report, in COM
mentine on a statement of the Census
Bureau statistician regaring the work of
the census enumerators the Committee
says: -.
This presentation is regarded by the
Committee as implying a higher degree
of merit than a careful and specific
analysis of the returns will fullys5 usti-
fy." %. f&
in regard to the cotton crop" the re-
port says 1.-The Census Bureau made An
vestigations through the Division of AS-
ricuture and also the Division of Man
ufactures, the former representing re-
turns from the farmers and the latter
from the ginners. There are some differ
partly harmonized by later investigation
by the Division of Agriculture. The final
exhibits make the farm report show ILL.,
267 bales less than Indicated by the man.
ufactureS report, which was explained as
in part or largely due to the fact that
ginners reported the number of CONNER
cial bales. regardless OF the difference in
the weight of round or square bales. while
the farm report. in some instances. count
hQ n
one square bale. On the basis Of weight
the farm report Is ninety five one-hund-
redths per cent in excess of the ginners
exhibit, and in comparison with the re-
port of the Statistical Division of the
Department Of Agriculture for the same
crop the excess is two and four-tenths
per cent.
The report states that features of in
consistency in the Census Bureau work
are to be found In comparison of area in
Instances where the returns make the
farm areas equal to or exceeding the land
surface-or, in other words, make 1t APP
pear that more than the total area of
given state or County Is occupied by
farms.
There appear many instances" the re-
port says. I'm twenty States in which
there are 1880 counties, there are 101
counties made to appear as having farm
surface. ." The excuses over an
equal extent of area range UP to 40 per
cent the aggregate number of, acres in
dicated in the farm returns In these 1Ol
counties being 5 per cent greater than
their entire surface, without allowing for
highways. towns. railroads. etc.
over Is per cent OF all the $500 counties
In the country represent farm areas re-
ported as 30 per cent or more of the to-
tai surveyed land surface. 1t is
impossible to determine or suggest the
limit to which such exaggeration or err
rors may exist in portions Of the work
wherein the conditions do not admit of
such demonstration as in such cases as
are herein specifically stated. ExaEger-
atoms or errors which enlarge the area
basis correspondingly affect unduly the
results in regard to production OF crops
represented"
One of the conclusions reached by the
Committee is as follows:
THE causes for the surprises and ele-
ments of doubt which have arisen on the
part of. interested observers in regard to
the census agricultural statistics. have
NOT been altogether attributable to imper-
feet or erroneous work, but largely to
comparisons made by other official exhib-
its governmental and State constructed
on lines more or less seriously faulty,
ana which led to results at corresponding
variance with accuracy.
The Committee recommends that:
First-In all the more important dis
.ricts the supervisors should institute
schools for the instruction of enumera-
A.. 4ha and that the fullest nOsaihle