The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1906-04-14
Official Analysis Of the Sta
tistics Contained In the
Twelfth National Enumer-
alton
CITY PEOPLE VS.. COUNTRY
COMPARISON OF TOWN AND RU-
RAJ POPULATION - PICTURES
OF SOCIETY. WITH SPECIAL
STUDIES OF THE aFAMILY"

The Bureau Of the Census has just is
sueth a special report anaiyzing and dis
cussing statistics, collected and published
at the Twelfth Census, particularly sta
tistics of population. This work was pre-
pared under the direction of Prof Wal
ter F. Wilcox, of Cornell University, who
was formerly one of the chief statisti-
cans in the Census Office.
The title of the volume is Supple
mentary Analysis and Derivative Ia
bles: Twelfth Census and as this title
suggests, the work comprises two parts.
The first part, or Supplementary Analy
SIS is series of statistical stud
les, some of which have already been
published by the Census Bureau in bulle-
tin form, while others are now given to
the public for the first time. These stud
les discuss in an interesting manner such
topics as growth of population, marital
condition, illiteracy, interstate migration,
proportion of children in the population,
and proportion of breadwinners. One
unique feature is a summary prefacing
each study and stating concisely the con-
clusions reached by the writer. To some
extent the work is a collaboration, for
while most of these analytical studies or
chapters were written by Professor Viii
cox, some have been contributed by other
writers-the chapter ON age statistics, by
Professor Allyn A. Young, Of the Uni
versity of Wisconsin, the chapters ON IL
literacy and interstate migration, by DR..
Joseph a. Hill, of the Bureau of Cen
sus; the chapter on vital statistics, by
DR.. John Shaw Billings, and that on the
negro farmer, by Prot. w. 3. B. Du
Bois, of Atlanta University.
The second part of the volume. the
"Derivatiye Tables, is series of tables
derived from the published data of the
Twelfth Census. One feature of special
interest in these tables is the classifca-
tion of population according to the site
of the place of residence. This brings. out
the differences and contrasts between the
city and country population; also in
many instances between the population
of large cities, of middle-elass cities, and
of small towns and rural districts Thus
one may study statistically the influence
of city as compared with country in con
nection with such questions as age and
sex, immigration, marriage, iHiteracy,
school attendance, and size of families.
The tables include. also, an extended
classification of population by birthplace,
giving the numbers born in each State
or territory and in each of the principal
foreign countries which have, contributed
to the growth of our population by immi-
grafton. Certain derivative birthplace
tables give ratios for each of the last
six censuses, thus making it possible to
trace for each state and territory the
changes in the composition of the popu-
lation brought about during the half CEN
tury by the immigration of foreigners. as
well as by the interstate migration Of
natives.
1t is evident that this volume occupies
a unique position in Census publications.
It is essentially work of Interpretation.
1t present no new data, but correlates,
analyses and discusses data already pub
lished so as to throw new light upon the
meaning Of the figures and upon the top
les to which these figures relate. The
editor of this work dissents from the
proposition s'that a Government stat'sti-
cal office should stop short with the col
lection, tabulation, and publication of star
tistical material in tabular form. leaving
the task of it's Interpretation to private
Individuals This volume. he states,
shas been prepared in the belief that it
is part of the Governments duty to show
what its figures mean. To be sure, NJ
Interpretation can exhaust the meaning
of the figures, and it then becomes a
question, what are the proper limits of
Fan official commentary? The answer
which fhought and experience have slow
" developed. and which this volume ex-
emplifes, is that it is admissible to draw
from the figures and to publish in a Coy
ernment document inferenees which
would be accepted as almost certain by
anyone competent to weigh the evidence,
and which seem TO be of general rather
than Of merely local, interest or impor-
tance.''
Regarding the scope Of the work, the
preface explains that 'sthe topics to be
included were decided mainly by the re-