The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-07-09

1 tives of the press and of the two tele- 1 graph companies, as well as to any others who may apply. The telegraph com panies have offices in the main building of the department, and In an incredibly | short time the figures, which mean SC l much, are "hashedn to the waiting ex- changes and the upward or downward whirl of prices commences. The com panies have previously been furnished with copies of the form in which the estimate is to be issued. minus only the figures. and 1t Is therefore the work of but an instant to flash the figures over wires which have been closed to all other business. When the information has thus been sent to all those whom the tele- graph reaches, the statement Is turned over to the department printer and in a few minutes his presses are turning out thousands and thousands of copies of the estimate in the form of specially made postal cards. These are hurried to the Washington postoffice, where special preparations are made for their handling, and are sent to postmaster in the smaller towns all over the country, to be posted in conspicuous places for the benefit of the rural population.
 The process has been described with somewhat minute attention to detail for the purpose of showing that, apparently not even the statistician himself can have any means of knowing what the final result is to be- One division has probably had one set of counties in B given state to compile, and another di- vision has had the remaining counties. Until the fragments are brought together in the statistician's office the total or average for the state from even one Of the seven sources of information can not be obtained. Even though the figures of one class of correspondents for k- |. 1~1 l.. division and the chief of that division should know the total or average for the state the knowledge would be of no value to him, since that total or average may be materially different from the one the statistician will later promulgate as off cial, and which can only be made up from all seven of the different sets of figures. In order to illustrate how a clerk disposed to take advantage of his possible knowl- edge of one set of figures would err the acreage report of last December may be again cited. The statisticians estimate. as has been stated, was for crop of 12.162000 bales. Had he based his esti- mate exclusively on the reports of any one class of correspondents the various results would have been as follows:
 Individual planters. .... 13,316,7f Ginners.. .... lz,435'i2s Special field agents .. .... 12,256. 766 State agents ;. l2'l6b US Township correspondents .. .. 11,943,S37 Bankers and merchants 11,S57.OS9 County correspondents .. .. :, 10.903.l96
 It will be seen that in this particular case the figures of the planters more nearly approximated the actual facts than any of the others. the recent re- port of the bureau of the census having shown that 13597,7 ,7s2 5o0-pound bales were ginned during the season. The main point sought to be brought out by the figures just given, however. is thnt any em- ploye who might have obtained posses sion of the totals of any oGe class of cor respondents would have been wide of the mark had he offered those totals an inc dication of what the statistlcian's esti- .nate would be.
 Are There "LeaksW
 Numerous charges of leaks" have been investigate by Chief Wilkie of the secret service. at the instigation of Secretary Wilson, and in not a single instance has a scintilla of evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Statistician Hyde or any em- ployee of the bureau been discovered. Secretary Wilson asserts that the system in vogue absolutely precludes the pos sibility of the giving out in advance of information even approximately correct. He has made this declaration in more than ose official document, and it Is borne cut by congressman and others who from time to time have been in- vited to be with the statistician during the time the estimates are being made up behind locked doors It is noteworthy. incidentally, that charges of "leaks' in- variaby come from persons who have