Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-11-01

u==lN the 18th day of next April
lnBY0N0I $4,000 men will start out TO
lH N gather the information upon
IN n which the thirteenth census
i'm q MI will be based. Never before
lelsNsk0Al has such careful preparation
been made to secure honest
accurate and complete returns. The
director of the census realizes the diff
ficulty of securing good, competent
and faithful enumerators because the
period is too short to justify employed
men to leave their regular work ana
the pay is too small to attract the best
men. 1t will take fifteen days TO make
the city enumerations and thirty days
for the country districts. The pay VIII
amount to about SO a day in the coun'
try and a tHflie more in the cities.
1t was suggested that the position
Of enumeration be made one of honor
and that the men serve without pay,
as is done in some European countries,
a medal of honor being given to those
who serve we'll and faithfully Direo-
tor Durand thinks that such an ar
rangement might be made at some fu-
ture time. but that il would not be
eXpedient under present conditions.
He does hope, however, to get many
men who. will serve more because OF
interest i'm the work than for the COM
pensation involved. He expects 10
make use of many of the crop reports
correspondents of the department. or
agriculture, many of the students or
colleges and universities and as many
school teachers as he can get.
The population schedule will be car
ried by every one of the $1,000 people
who will constitute the army OF emu
meration, but only $4,000 of them Will
carry the agricultural schedules. Inc
statistics of mines and quarries ana
manufactures will be taken by corps
of CHEF and assistant special agents
1000 strong They will be the cavalry
of the census army, and their work
may continue for fifteen months.
1t is realized that aside from the
actual enumeration of the population
the most important inquiry appertains
to the farm. With all the progress
America has made as manufacturing
nation, the fixed capital in manufac-
turing industries is less than half as
much as that invested in agriculture.
A special effort Is to be made to secure
accuracy in farm returns. To that end
the director has caused TO be Issued a
long statement. which he hopes VIII
reach every farmer in the country, I'M
pressing upon the farmer the lmpor-
lance of keeping an accurate record OF
the calendar year 1909, that he may be
ready for the enumerator.
The director points out that while the
department of agriculture has a won
derfully efficient corps of crop. estimat-
ors and reporters, the industry is so
vast and many of its elements and con-
ditions so intangible to superficial OBJ
servation, that all its figures would be-
come practically valueless were they
not regularly revised In the light of act
ual census returns. In the statement
sent out to the farmers is an outline of
the agricultural schedule, and each
farmer is requested to make note of
each particular bit of information called
for as soon as he gets 1t. This is an
innovation which augurs well FOR the
accuracy of the returns. One inquiry
which will have apeculiar interest at
this time when conservation is upper
most in so many minds Is that which
relates to the number OF acres of wood
ed and cleared land on the farms of the
country. The farm operations will COW
err the calender year 1909, while the
stock on hand, practically an inventory
of farm wealth, will be as of April is,
1910.
There probably will be some woman
enumerators, more especially i'm those
states where women have the right OF
suffrage. 1t is hardly probable, how
ever, that the number of woman emu
merators will amount to as much as
per cent OF the whole. In-the Oklahoma
census a few women were employed,
and they made a good record for their
sex. OF course 1t is only the exeep-
tional woman that stands any show of
appointment, so that II is little wonder
that those who were appointed made
fine records.
Careful tab will be kept on every
enumerator's work all the time he is
in the field. He viii be supplied with
two cards for every days work. Each
night he will fill them out, forward one
to the supervisor of his district. and
the other to the census Office in Wash
ington. He must give a list of the
places he has visited, the number of
people he has enumerated-in short, a
general history of his days work. Each
office will carefully check his cards,