Arizona republican., 1910-10-16
FRAUDULENT
ENUMERATION
Western Cities Jugg|ed With
Census Figures
TACOMA CAUGHT At It
Many Other Cities Under
Suspicion - Investiga-
tion Proceeding Guilty
Parties Will Be Prosecut-
ed If Identified.
TACOMA CAUGHT At n

the enormous growth shown by the
returns of the new census in a num-
Der of western cities, Director Du-
rand of the Census Bureau, has or
dered an investigation, the result of
which appeared in an announcement
tonight that gross frauds had been
perpetrated. Durand gave out also
letter from President Taft directing
that the persons implicated in the
alleged frauds be prosecuted
The cities mentioned as specific
ally affected by the frauds are Ia
coma, Seattle, Aberdeen. Wash. :;
Portland. Ore; Minneapolis. Boise
and Fort Smith. Ark; but it is said
there are many others.
The result of the second enumera-
tion Of Tacoma as announced today,
shows the population to be S2,972, an
increase of 45,25S, or 120 per cent
over 1900. The first figures turned
in by Tacoma were 1928. In other
words the actual population was pad
ded to the extent of 1926. which
would mean the further addition of
40 per cent. These additions were
made in "a out of 73 enumeration
districts in Tacoma and in some of
these districts the number reported
proved to be several times greater
than the actual population Zen dis
tricts enumero,ed had 29.753 names.
whereas the correct number was
found to be 11.G46.
A letter by Director Durand was
q ..11raCcal To
sets forth that the attempted padding
of the census was brought about
mainly through the use of slips print
ed by private individuals containing
census questions. These were distrib-
uted very generously on street corners
and elsewhere and filled out by thou
sands OF people who had either been
already enumerated or else were not
permanent residents of the city and
not entitled to enumeration there. 1t
is possible that in some cases the
names were fictitious. These lists
were turned over by private individ-
uals. who collected them, through Il
special agent of the census bureau
named Corwin. to 81 enumerators and
they. under instructions from Cor
win, added the names to the enumer-
alton by assigning them as boarders
or dodgers in the various houses in
their districts. The director declares
that more or less extensive attempts
at padding the census have been dis
covered in other cities mentioned and
that Investigations are in progress in
reference to a number of other cities
Durand says the suspicious of the
chief statistician. William Hunt, chief
of division, and W. II. Jarvis, of the
population division, in regard to the
census of Tacoma, were aroused when.
after a careful examination of the
schedules they found an absurdly
large number of families reporting
'roomers" and dodgers"
William A. Mckenzie, a bureau ex
pert, was sent by Durand to Tacoma
to make thorough investigation. In
ten districts mentioned, n complete
re- enumeration was made. while in "a
other suspicious districts the head
of each house visited was investigat-
ed. Many names had been assigned to
vacant lots.
The directors say it is not known
yet whether any individual or group
of individuals is responsible for the
false enumeration of Tacoma. The
claim is made that the names were
given the enumerators with the avow-
ed purpose of ascertaining whether
they had been listed. Instead of
using the names for this purpose. the
enumerators added them without
making investigation. To excuse this
course they say they were acting un-
der directions of Stacey M. Corwin,
one of the special agents of the census
bureau in Tacoma. He distributed a
large bunch of slips among the emu
merators stating, Durand alleges, that
the names were those of bona-fide
residents who should be registered
Durand declares that Corwin went so
far as to say that the names must
be counted. even though the owners
were assigned to vacant lots Com
menting on this phase of the pro-
ceedings, Durand says:
Even though 1t is possible that
every enumerator who improperly
added names to his schedule under the
instructions of Corwin, nevertheless
these enumerators are not only tech
nically guilty of misdemeanor un-
der section % of the census act, but
are morally guilty and possibly re-
sponsible for what they did"
TAcoMA'S POPULATION.