The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1911-02-22
SOME LARGE CITIES
RI on = e Ct Z D

whose usual place bods slsez
ms perhaps having no a usual
place opIode and who were NOT pres
4 4 srlt IN the city on the census fiay 6ui
Sonly III some y Subsequent II
some cases several weeks atber TIC
census day. n
4 Unautho led ssisfanCe.
81 Ia conside ra.ble proportion d cit
1 les II which Overcoming took place
It was due largely 10 the lnalthorlz
ACTIVITY OF private ndiyidpRls IA coll
\ lecting names and turning them over
lto5the enunerators, In other words.
! many enumerators permitted lnSoT-
1 nation obtained BY private indlyid uais
land Judgment exercised BY priyatein-
dtviduals as to the claim Of persons
ito enumeration 70 be substituted for
informati ton secured and judgment ex-
erclsed by themselves These private
individuals. subject to no responsible
lity usually entirely ignorant Of the
census rules as to persons entitled to
enumeration, and often actuated BY
1.-THE iHegitimate desire to pad the re-
turns. could not. OF course, properly
| do the work OF enumeration.
In q number Of cities committees
were constituted by boards Of trade
Tor other commercial organizations. or
were otherwise formed, to asslstSin the
census. The nominal purpose in all
cases was merely to make sure that
the enumeration was complete, and in
some instances the activities Of these
COMMITTEES werel actually helpful TO
the census. In 9ome Instances, how
ever. even where the purpose and the
Imethods Of these committees were le-
gitim0te. the result wns an oyercount
of the population, and in other cases
the purpose and methods OF at least
individual members of com mlttees and
Those employed by them we're consp4c-
uously illeyltimate and fraudulent.
1t was strong temptation to an
.Eenumcrator to add such names to his
schedules, both for financial reasons
land in order to make5~the population
Iof his city appear as large as possible
'iBy entering name without lnvestlga.
.Etion, he could. in the work Of a single
minute, secure the compensation pro.
\ vlded, usually az O 3 cents pei
name. while 1t might require many
minutes or even an hour or more t.
\ Investigate the claim of person t.
4 enumeration, with the possible result
J, of finding that he should not be count
4 ed. In few cases special agent.
@Iconnlved with enumerators in fraud
or even instructed them to commit 1t
Y II appears. the director concludes
4 clearly desirable at the next censu!
4 that the law should explicitly prohibi
the printing and ctreuIationt ~ brl.
.Iavate persons Of slips containing tn,
census questions.
List of OvcrcOunt Cities.
4 A list OF the several cities in which
i as a result OF RECOMMENDATION or re
: checking, the population, as finally de
), terRnined by the Census Bureau wa
less than originally returned by tn
; enumerators is inserted. The directo
says 1t is impossible to assert as I,
every one OF these cities whether tn
Z excess In the original enumeration wa
! due to deliberate fraud on the par
! Of the enume1ators or others, or L
misjudgment only. 1t may be stated
: however, that there is less evidence
y of conscious fraud in the case of tn
districts in San Francisco, Duluth
Minneapolis, Bose, Rawltns. Laramie
! Havre; Ogden, and Everett than in tn
: case Of most Of the other cities. i
some of the cities in which some Q
the euumerators were undoubtedl
guilty Of fraud, others who overcount
ed the population apparently did 8
: without fraudulent intent.
Action Upon Complaint.
7 On the subject Of understanding TIL
population, the director states tina
3 PRIOR to the time OF the announce
ment Of the total population Of tn
: United states whenever complain
that the census Of any place was in
complete was presented und supported
by any evidence worthy of considera
ton due investigation was made
Complaints were required to submit
some tangible evidence, usually in thu
form Of lists Of persons CLAIMED t
have been omitted or in the form O.
the results ofprivate recommendations
In most instances where complaints
were made such tangible evidence
could not be produced. In severa
cases where lists Of supposedly omit
ted names were submitted the SEIZED
ules showed that all or most OF them
had been duly enumerated. Expert
Ienp1oyees OF the Census Bureau were