The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-02-02

L
taken notice of the criticism upon his
Office by President Harvie Jordan, OF
the Southern Cotton Growers Associa-
tion, and Others Director North, OF the
census bureau, today declared that he
hoped Congress would relieve him or
| all further work in connection with
| the cotton statistics.
at Is the most disagreable and an
noying work I have ever known said
Mr. North today. These reports are
| gotten up for the benefit Of the south
ern people, but they seem to be devot-
ing all their energies toward discred-
iting them"
In answer to the allegation made by
President Jordan yesterday, Director
North said:
These cotton ginning reports were
established by law for the benefit OF
the cotton growers, and had believ-
ed they were effective to that end, but
the representatives OF the growers,
like Mr.. Jordan, afd J. A. Taylor.
president of the Cotton iGnners' Asso.
citation, seemed determined to do eve
rything in their power to discredit the
reports and thus destroy their value
and under these circumstances, I do
not believe it worth while for Congress
to continue to appropriate $3.50, 200 a
year for the collectLn of reports In
the interest of the cotton growers
when these men are dissatisfied with
the results. No effort to show that
the reports are inaccurate, misleading
or manipulated, has been successful.
Tkar az fhNI 80 ttVn t~ax h.<.~
hibited to representatives Of the grow
ers, and its records scrutinfzed by
them, and they have not found 1t pos
sible to put finger upon a single er-
ror, either in method or result. There
has never been a leak from the cen.
sus Office since the system was estab-
lfshed
mfr Jordan now attacks the direc-.
tor because he refused to deviate from
the regular methods of promulgating
these statistics at the demand OF pri-
vate parties. Any such deviation made
upon the personal responsibility OF the
director would necessarily subject his
methods to suspicion and would very
properly impair the public" confidence
in the integrity Of his work I have
therefore declined to accede to these
requests unless directed by Congress
to do so.
"The estimates of cotton remaining
to be ginned, whose publication Mr..
Jordan demands, are obtained by the
census Office at its mid-January car
vass for the purpose OF enabling II 10
determine what counties need not be
canvassed when the final canvass takes
place in March. Whenever the esti-
mates show that there Is no more cot
ton to be ginned In a county. or that
the amount is Insignificant, no final
canvass Is necessary. Possession OF
this information enables the census Of
flee to save from $4,000 to $4,000 in
the cost of the final canvass, and that
lis the only purpose for which these
estimates have ever been used.
They are only approximate and
therefore possesses no statistical value.
For the director to make them public
on his own volition. at the demand OF
the cotton growers, would be as i'm
proper at this time as It world be TO
make them public at the demand OF
cotton spectators, IL the demand hap
pened to come from that quarter.
with regard to the publication OF
the census bale weights, to which Mr..
Jordan also alludes, can only say that
the actual weights OF more than 3.G00.-
900 bales of cotton grown In 1905 have
been secured by the census office, and
that additional returns covering 2.000.-
600 more weights are daily reaching
the Office. The compilations necessary
to secure correct average weights from
these returns are enormous in amount,
and delicate In character. With our
utmost energy we shall not be able
TO complete these computations be-
fore the last OF February and yet am
daily In receipt Of kilograms from the
south stating that by keeping back
the weights of bales. am enabling
spectators to rob the south"
Director North concluded with thu
remark that "All these circumstances
have caused me TO pray that Congress
might relieve me OF this work.