The Forrest City times., 1905-01-13
CENSUS BUREAU CHALLENGED
1inners' Reports Exaggerated. Believed to Contain Many In
 accuracies.

views.
 The Times does not question the integrity of the Government Report, so far as tho Government and lhe Census officials are con. eerned, and we agree that when reports of prlvate affairs are made n confidence, they should be treated as such. but how else could Hr. Meurer, or others locate q possible exaggeration, if he could not compare figures?
 Mr. Meurer evidently has no intention of accusing the govern fnent of padding the returns, but ae probably does believe, and 4ighlfully no doubt, that the gin. ners, in many cases did exagger- ate, and they are the ones who would object to their reports be- ing made public, and il is through their congregations that the farm CTS of the South have been cheated out of millions of dollars.
 The same inaccuracies would Dc q proper ground for objecting 10 the other reports mentioned by lr. Fitzpatrick. The census re- ports are so full of errors that they are only valuable in a general sense. Take the population of Forrest City for instance. The eensu, Of 1900 placed it at 136l The local census which IS sworn 10. or affirmed, three years after wards, places it at 2Sl0 While the latter may be thought an OK. aggeration, the former is positively known to be erroneous by several hundred
 We arc not acquainted with the Wall street farmers of whom Mir. Fitzpatrick speaks. Those known 10 Us to havelsuffered great losses, arc just the same kind of farmers that he is.
 We do not agree that n refusal oi the gamers to report will be talk en as certain evidence ofa large crop, because it is generally known that they are now weighing the injustice of it, and they have no idea of what the next crop will be.
 Mir. Fitzpatrick is mistaken in saying "he (the farmer) holds his cotton for the rise that is sure to come later," &c. How many cot ton farmers can or do hold thelr crop for prices? Not per cent. They are forced to sell at once, 'ast as soon as it IS picked out.
 We haven't space to go into this matter further in general way. Following is an article taken from the Wynne Blade-Exchange, in which are specific charges, and up on which we justify our assertion and repeat and emphasize it, that the crop of 1904 has been greatly exaggerated, that the south has been cheated out of millions of dol. lars by the governments meddling; that these reports are of no value to any farmer or others except the spectators.
 The Blade Exchange says:
 The enormous total of 12,00C,- goo bales, which the report issued hy the Census Del artment stated lad been ginned up to Dec. E, is meeting with continued opposition among the growers and cotton handlers of the South. The Mem. plus Exchange, through the efforts of it's President, F. r. Webber, is seeking to get al some of the facts surrounding the collection e data for this report.
 MT. Webber's activity n the matter has brought hila a number of letters relating to the question al issue, namely: Is the report of Tho number of bales of cotton gin. ned to Dec. -. correctf
 The allegations set forth in these letters and those which are brought forward from other sources seem 10 east much doubt on the methods of the agents of tLe Government in getting correct reports from the ginners. Neither Mr. Webber nor his oontreres seek to cast any as- persons at the honesty Of the Di. sreetors of the Census C. any of the saffi eials at WashlngtoRrnder whose .., fs.4s B,s watsOr, - .c nn,<e,1; od