Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-11-27
WORK OF CENSUS BUREAU Reports On tho Cotton Crop Cost tho Government an Enormous Amount
 of Money
ENUMERATION BY STATES

Washington, Nov 27.-Much of the work of the census bureau during the last year. as disclosed by the annual report of Dr s. N. D. North, the direc- tor, made public to-day. related to the census of manufactures of 1905. to the preparation and publication of statistics on municipal finance and to the collection, tabulation and publi- cation of prompt and accurate re- ports on the cotton crop. The report shows that the work cost the govern ment $1,249,045, that sum being $235.687 less than congress appro- priated for 1t.
 Annual estimates of the popula- ton of the various states and terri tories are made by the census in order to establish death rates in the vital statistics reports. In 1905, thir- teen states took enumerations of the population, the total being 25,793,- 236. The estimate of the census of the population of those states at the same time was 25,74S,311. a differ ence or only 49,926.
 Dr North has planned, in connec- tion with the annual municipal re- ports, series of statistical studies of important phases of municipal de- velopment, including parks. markets. paving, sewers. police and fire de- partments, baths, schools and libra ries. The importance of statistics .f nl ci4, fs, &nl ta1 hA port notes, by the fact that the pres ent aggregate debt of cities of the United States containing over 5000 inhabitants Is in excess of $1,600,- 100000, greater than that of the combined debt of the national and state governments and of the coun- ties, school districts and other minor civil divisions"
 The director adds:
 In 1900, 33 per cent of the people of the United States resided in cities having population of 5000 and over. and in a few decades over one half of the people will reside in those cities. The problem of self-govern- ment is therefore becoming one of city government.
 The director advocates the taking of quinquennial census of agricul- ture.
 The report says, concerning the cotton reports. that it has been the desire of the bureau to bring its sys- tenn of reporting to the highest pos sible degree of efficiency.
 "A complete record of the quantity of cotton ginned," it states, "is not possible unless the glnners report ac- curately the output of their gins. That the great majority of them do this. have no doubt; that many have failed to do so is made evident by the distribution report: and in some sections there are signs of a more or less concerted purpose to understate the ginnings, in the hope of infu- encing the current price of the crop. There can be no question that the census ginning reports have been worth many millions of dollars to the cotton planters by protecting the market from assaults of spectators, whose privately gathered statistics no longer carry weight when they differ from those of the census"
 Director North recommends the enactment of more rigid laws to en- able census oficers to secure infor- amtion.
 Copies of census publications to the number of 656.66s were dis tributed during tho year. 200.745 being bulletins and 399.000 cotton reports of the permanent census.