Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-12-02
DIRECTOR OF CENSUS.
What It Costs to Enumerate People
 and Things

What It Costs to Enumerate People
 and Things
 The director of the census has just issued his annual report to the sec retary of commerce and labor After reviewing the work of the past year and describing the current work or the bureau, the director proceeds to the immensely important subject ol the next census of the United States the census of 1910.
 Estimated Cost of Thirteenth Census.
 In regard to its cost he says: Il estimate that the cost of the thlr- teenth census, including the cost of conducting the four annual investi- gations and the two biennial reports that the census office is required to make simultaneously with the taking of that census, will be 4,1l7, 900. The lump sum appropriation to be provided in the appropriation act Tor the next fiscal year should be not less than $14,O0O, ,0O0,"
 Excluding the cost of the four an- nual investigations and the two bi- ennial reports, the probable cost of the census proper Is estimated at 12,93O,000. The cost of the last census, that of 1900, was $12,52O,- 900. In other words the director is planning to take the census of 1910 at an increase ill cost of only S41O,- 900 over the census of 1900, and this in spite of the enormous growth in the population during the past de- cade, a growth largely contributed by foreign born people who do not speak English, class which it is very expensive and very difficult to enumerate.
 If the work can be accomplished for this sum, it will be the first time in the history of the nation that a census has been taken and compiled at practically the same cost as the prior enumeration. Formerly the in- crease in the cost of the census from decade to decade has been about 50 per cent, and on this basis the cost of the thirteenth census proper, ex- elusive of the four annual and the two biennial reports, would be $1S,- 100000. nearly $6,000,000 more than the director estimates the actual cost will be.
 Among the reasons which the di rector assigns for his belief that this enormous saving can be made he places first the existence of the per manent census office. He says: ''The fact that the office is now organized at the highest point of efficiency, that no time will be lost in getting ready, in testing the aptitude of green clerks, and in developing new sys- tens, means fully million dollars saving in the organization of the thirteenth census"
 Another important means of bring ing about this saving is the fact that the bureau will build and own the necessary tabulating apparatus in- stead of renting it as heretofore. On July l, 1905. the apparatus which had been used in tabulating the cen- sus of 1900 and which was owned and operated by a private company was withdrawn from the bureau of the census because the company and the director could not agree on the rental to be paid for the use of these mechanisms. The withdrawal of the machines compelled the director to ask congress for an appropriation for experimental work in developing new mechanisms to be owned, con- srolled and operated by the govern ment. The results of this experiment tai work have exceeded all expecta- tions. The new mechanisms in- vented are novel in plan and design, are of greater speed and efficiency than those they supersede, and can be built and operated at a saving in money as compared with previous ex- penditures for this purpose.
 Several of the new tabulating ma chimes were tried out in the tabula- tion of the Cuban census, a work completed by the bureau of the cen sus for the Cuban government dur ing the past year. In connection with the tabulating of this census the experiment was tried of paying lHe OptrdlUTS Ul ldDuidtiHS Hldc0lH- cry by piecework The results were so satisfactory that provision has been introduced into the new census bill whereby all operators of tabulat- ing machinery at future censuses can be paid by pieeework. This too will result in great saving to the gov ernment
 The savings due to the different causes will be almost equal to the total amount expended for the of the entire census bu- reau between the two censuses. To realize the full significance of this account must be taken of the fact that during the interval be- tween the eensuses the office has various branches of sta- tistieal work never before under taken. which have involved an ex- penditure of at least s3,200.0Oo.
 Two other questions are touched upon in the directors report, the de- cision in regard to which will seri- ously affect the cost of the work.
 Appointments.
 The first concerns the method of making temporary clerical appoint ments during the decennial census lsff Il