The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1909-10-07
FARM CENSUS ECONOMY.
Director Durand Hopes 10 oaVo Sew
eral Hundred Thousand Dollars.

Washington, -. c., oct. u. $.
Census Director Il. Dana Durand
hopes to save several hundred thou
sand dollars in taking the census Of
| agriculture and also to increase the
accuracy of the statistics.
The director stated today that at
| the census of 1900 the agricultural
data were handled by means Of
punched cards. For each farm large
number of cards had TO bc punched,
as the number of facts recorded re-
garding a farm was far greater than
the number of facts required regard
ing an individual in the population
census.
Director Durand said the statistics
of population and of agriculture are
collected by different force from
that employed in gathering the sta
tistics of manufactures. The popula-
tion and agricultural data are secured
| by enumerators of whom there will
be about $4,000 at the present census
they in turn being appointed by the
supervisors, of whom there are about
$50. The difficulty of securing COM
petent and faithful enumerators is
very great The length of service is
very short, fifteen days in the cities
and thirty days in the country dis
tricts The period is too short To JUS
! tify man who has a good job in
quitting it. while on the other hand it
is too long in most cases to enable
such men to get leave from their reg
ular work To take the census. More
over the pay is small, averaging per
haps SO per day in the country dis
tricts and a trine more i'm the cities,
practically the pay of ordinary me-
chanics: Not only, therefore, are
most of those who seek to be emu
merators men who are able to COM
mand only moderate pay in their oc-
cupations. but many of them are men
who can not command regular en-
ployment and who are looking for ode
jobs.
Consideration has been given by
the census authorities from time to|
time to the plan pursued IN Germany
by which the census is taken chiefly
or wholly by men serving without pay,
who either volunteer their service
from patriotic motives or who are re-
dured to act. lie doubts whether con
ditions i'm this country are ripe for
such scheme. At any rate nothing
of this sort can be done at the pres
cnt census. 1t may, however, be hop
ed that to some slight extent, ana
possibly to a considerable extent, men
can be induced to accept tNe position
of enumerator from interest i'm the
work rather than for the compensa-
ton involved He hopes that a con-
siderable number of the colleges and
universities of the country may see ht
to give leave of absence to their stu
detns for the short time required toI
do this work of enumeration. The
college student is a very useful emu
merator i'm some cases, but IL is eX-
ceedingly desirable that enumerators
should actually live In the districts
where they work and there are multi !
tudes OF districts whsre no college
students reside or where such stu
dents are i'm institutions hundreds orl
thousands of miles from their homes
Another class who can render good
service as enumerators are school
teachers. but with the enumeration
taking place in April and May instead
Of June as formerly, few school teach
ers can be spared from their duties tol
fnlEn the census