Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-05-27
CART BEFORE HORSE
No Time Limit Fixed by F'xecu-
tive Council For Census Re-
turns Of Iowa
-
LAW ALLOWS AMPLE TIME
LAW ALLOWS AMPLE TIME
Six Months is Given in Which to Take
the Census and Ii Dissatisfied With
Returns, 1t Has Power to Order the
Work Done Over Aeain-oth.r Iowa
News.
Special to Times Republican,

| Special to Times Republican,
Des Moines, May 27.--Census enum-
orators will be given till midnight June
so to get in their census returns so
| far AS the present intention of the
members Of the executive council are
! orators that length of time. If, how
ever, the returns are not all in by that
time the executive, council has, power
| to make an extension. II the executive
1 council is not satisfied with the re-
| turns which have been sent In from
| amy county or city, it has auth GRITTY to
order the census to be taken over
again. If it is dissatisfied with the
census from the entire state 1T has au-
| thority to order new census for the
entire state. The impression seems to
| be abroad in certain sections that the
| executive council is hurryirg the
enumerators so that the census being
taken is u hurried and poorly done
work. The cart has been pls ced be-
/ fore the horse. The executive council
has not fixed a limit ON the time when
! the returns must be in the hands of
| the secretary Of the council. The law
| allows the enumerators from january
to July l, a full six months in which
to take the census and it is presumed
that would be ample time.
|
Everyone who has come in contact
with the methods being employed at
4 the state house Is, convinced that there
never was census taken in this state
| that will be as accurate as the one now
being taken. In the first place there
was never a census taken when there
was any effort rlade to make correc-
| lions. Heretofore the enumeratDrs were
] turned loose with. blanks to fill out and
! they filled them out and sent them in.
! 1t has ever been the experience that
no matter how plainly printed "a blank
lis. one enumerator will fill it out one
way and another will adopt different
method. Some enumerators will leave
untitled the most important parts OF
| the blank. Heretofore the enumerators
| did not send their work TIL i. was all
completed and this year the returns
began to come III soon after the enum-
era tors started. This has made 1t pos
| sible for clerks to go over the CARDS
| and note errors, and failures to I'LL
blanks and these cards have oeen sent
| back for correction. This places the
| matter of the accuracy Of tile census
as compared with former enu'neratlons
i beyond dispute.
Some persons seem to have an idea
that the executive council il, respon-
| sihIe for the work of the en,lmerators
and has their selection. The assessor
is the enumerator and is Under the
control of the county auditor. II tliefe
are men to hire the county audltor
hires them and the executive councll
! has nothing to say in the matter eA-
cept to pass on the quality of the work
done. The supervisors fix the amount
of pay the en,lmerators are TO nave
ard if county falls short from nav
ing poor enumerators or poorly PAID
enumerators, the blame must be laid,
to the doors of the supervisors ana
county auditor In fact If the execu-
tive council should find that The census
in some localities has been poorly done
and may have to be done over again,
those communities may fir'd them
selves under considerable obligations
to the executive council. The Cedar
Rapids Republican refers to the case
or Sioux City and claims The census
will not be worth the paper it will be
printed upon. Sioux City legan talk
| ing the census the last Of any in the
state, and this is partly The reason
| there has been so much rush there.
| Furthermore The compensation which
was fixed as a gross amount for the
whole Job instead of a compensation
by the day seems also TO have been
somewhat responsible. The connection
Of the executive council with the mat
ter at any rate is decidedly unappar-
emit The taking Of the census is a
| local matter IN the hands OF the coun-
| ty auditor and the part Of tie executive
council in the matter is in seeing that
the census Is taken in accordance with
! uniform rules. The census. too, is to
be taken as it was on Jan. I, 1905.
| There are a great many communities
| which seem to think that every person
who has lived in the community at any
| time during the last five years is ELI
| gible to be enumerated. Under such
an arrangement one person would be
enumerated in several different local
| tiles and the census would more near
| ly conform to the ideas OF the Cedar
Rapids Republican.
The Fairfield Ledger says the execu-
tive council is standing sponsor for
census which Is doing its best to show
a falling off IN the population. On am
other page OF the same paper the fig
ures for Jefferson county show a fall
ing off Of about 1000. These figures,
however, were given out by the Jeffer-
son county authorities and not by the
executive council and the statistics
were gathered by JEFFERSON county peo-
pie. The Ledger may yet be under OBJ
legation to the council when the official
figures are published II the object of
the census il to secure an accurate
gathering Of statistics Of every kind
including the population there is no
doubt but the present census is the
best that has ever been taken In Iowa.
If the object has been to do as much
initiating as possible there has probably
been a failure.
Bernard Murphy, the state printer.
who was in the city yesterday, and
was one of the guests at the luncheon
given by the bankers in honor Of Sec
rotary Leslie NJ. Shaw, when his atten-
ton was called to the fact that his
newspaper was the only one in the
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