The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-01-18
NO MISTAKES CORRECTED.
DIRECTOR OF CENSUS BUREAU
STANDS PAT.
Informs Congressman Lever That No
Corrections In Population Figures
Given Out by Bureau Will BE Made
No Inspection of Population Sta
tistics Permitted.

II said the horse was seventeen feet
high and now I'll stick to it," 50 said
the man who had uttered an impos-
sible statement that he had made and
he did stick to 1t to the end, although
he knew that everybody knew the
statement To be false.
The census bureau takes the same
position respecting the population
figures given out by Director Du-
rand. Having said the population Of
a town is SO many hundI eds or thous-
ands. the matter Is settled finally and
forever beyond revision or correction,
regardless of errors made by bureau
officials. And to safeguard exposure
of inccrrectness and unreliability of
these figures the bureau officials have
adopted and are enforcing an iron
clad rule that no one shall be permit
ted to examine the reports of the
census enumerators on which the
population figures given ou. ~. the
bureau are supposed to be based. The
discovery of error in census bureau
reports Is the loss decired by the Off
clals and. IL they can prevent it, no
errors will ever be brought home to
them.
The subtoined letter from the act
ing director Of the census to Con-
gresham A. +. Lever states the at
titude of the census bureau officials
In the baldest possible manner. In
other wards asserts we have said the
population Of Snmter is S,1O7, and If
you and the people OF Sumter don't
like 1t you can go to thunder. 1 hold
all the cards and you can't help
yourselves. You can't even have a
look in to see whether / am running
a crooked game"
; The letter to Mr.. Lever was In re-
sponse to inquiry made by him In
compliance mith a request from a
citizen .of Sumter that he he~investsgate
the report on the population of this
city with a view OF ascertaining IL q
mistake had been made In the emu
meration or tabulation Of the popu-
lation of Sumter. Mr.. Viles' reply
was neither enlightening nov salts
factory as will be seen:
Washington, Jan. IL, 1910.
Hon. A. f. Lever.
House OF Representatives.
Washington, ID. c.
My Dear Mr.. Lever:
Referring TO your recent communi-
cation by telephone with this Bureau,
with respect to the population Of
Sumter. South Carolina, as recently
announced. i beg To inform you that.
since the population OF the United
States has been announced, 1t will be
impossible to make any change In the
official returns of any place whatever,
as by so doing would result in chang
ing the United States total and would
throw out the calculations Of Con-
gress with respect to the apportion-
ment OF its members. ] should very
much regret IL any injustice has been
done to Sumter, but even II omissions
were amde In the enumeration, it will
be impossible TO add any names to the
schedules.
1t is impossible. of course, to take
a perfect census. and there are bound
to be ommissions. but, in general,
such commissions are offset by dupli-
cations. Further, 1t has been the ex-
perience OF this Bureau that, upon
investigating cases OF persons claim
ing not to have been enumerated,
they were generally found to be in
Guided in the returns.
With reference to your inquiry as
to whether permission can be granted
you to pesonally inspect the emu
merators' returns. i would add that
the returns Of the enumerators are
treated as confidential and are access
ible only to sworn employees of the
Census Bureau. l regret that | am,
therefore, unable to favorably consid-
er your request to inspect the sched-
ules for Sumter.
AS above stated, even If errors were
made I'm the enumeration of Sumter.
IL is now too late to correct them
and. therefore no action could he
taken by this Office in the way of n
recount.
Very respectfully,
Voler ". Viles,