Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1910-01-06
ENUMERATORS
 ARE SCARCE Census Director Urges All Applicants to Appear Be fore January 25.
NOT AFTER THAT DATE
What the Test Will Be-No Political Endorsement Neccssar. to Get q
 Place.

Washington. D. C. Jan. 5.--Gensus Director Durand stated today that, as a result of his conference with the supervisors of census throughout the country he finds that in many sections especially in the larger cities, there have not been as yet sufficient appli- cations for the positions Of cnuInef- ators. It looks, he thinks, as if the country is so prosperous that people are not as anxious to get these re- sponsible places as had been expect ed
 The scarcity is giving the Director some concern, as only a few weeks remain before the date for closing the consideration of applications. It will be impossible generally to extend the application time limit, as to examine the test" papers. with the necessary care to insure the designation 0f dual- flied persons, will consume every mo ment of the time allowed for this phase of the work of selecting the enumerators. leaving nothing for an extension of the date for shutting down on applications.
 The director therefore urges all persons desiring places as enumer- ator to make application as quickly as possible and he hopes that, i'll or der to help get a perfect census, puo- lic-spirited and energetic people throughout the country will of fer themselves for these positions, ev- en though they may not care for them from the standpoint of the pay in Volved He also trusts that employers will deem it their duty to give leave of absence to act as enumefatorS. Some slight sacrifice of thls sort will be amply repaid by the improved quality of the census returns. Con tinuing, the Director said:
 Although the actual work of talk ing the census will not begin until April l5, it is essential that those who wish to act as enumerators should apply immediately. Except un- der unusual circumstances. no appli- cation received after January 25 will, be considered. About 6S,000 enum- orators will be required. Each Will work in his own locality. Any com potent person is entitled to apply for this position and will he fairly con sidered for appointment.
 Political recommendations are not necessary. The supervisors, to whom application must be made. have been instructed to consider all candidates and to select solely on the basis of efficiency For the purpose of aid ing the supervisors in determining the competence of the candidates, a writ ten test will he prescribed and any person between the ages of IS and 70 who is citizen of the United States will he permitted to take it.
 The test will be of d strictly prac- tical character, substantially the same as was used in 1900. It will consist of filling out sample schedule of population. and, in the case of rural districts, filling out also a sample schedule of agriculture, these sched- ules being precisely the same as will actually be used by the enmuerators in their work later on. In order to assist candidates in preparing for the test, copies of the blank schedules and general instructions regarding the manner of filling them will be furn- ished to each candidate in advance. Any person of ordinary common school education and good judgment should have no difficulty in passing.
 This test is not civil service eX- animation. It will be conducted un der the direction of the supervisors of the census, and the papers will be examined only by the supervisors and by the Census Bureau. In order that convenient examination places may be provided for all candidates, local civil service examining boards and post masters will be called upon to pre- side at the actual taking of the test in certain cases. hut in this respect they will act merely as the represen- tatiyes of the supervisors of the cen- sus
 :,lt is impossible to eXaggerate the importance of obtaining correct cen sus of the population and agriculture of the country. The correctness of the returns depends wholly upon the competence of the enumerators. '
 The enumerators will earn about $60 each. Those in the rural districts must complete their work within thir- ty days. and those in cities of 5,00C and more population at the preceding census within two weeks, from Apri