East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1919-12-23
ONLY five CENSUS ENUMERk7</
ASSIGNED TO COVER CITY IN Y
DAYS; POSSIBILITY is QUESTIONED
Fifteen Declared Essential to me Allotted if Thorough Count
is to be Made; Allotment eceSsitateS Answering of 9
Queries in Four Minutes; 1910 Census Worked Injustice.

Only five census enumerators have
been assigned TO take the census OF
Pendleton In 12 working days and II
Is estimated today that 1t will be ply
sicially impossible for these workers
TO more than half complete their work
In the time allotted. 1t is probable
that 15 enumerators will he needed
ii n thorough count Is to be made.
The fourteenth decennlal census,
which will bo started January 2
throughout the United States, has for
its purpose n true enumeration OF the
population and resources OF the ma
tion. Pendleton, through its CONNER
cial association, took the stand sew
eral weeks ago that "A complete enum-
Grafton should be made here, because
OF the fact that in 1910 only AGO per-
sons were counted.
The recent school census. counting
all persons between and 20 years of
age, indicated that there are $500
residents In Pendleton. This figure
was arrived at on the. basis OF one
person OF school age to every five in
population.
w. A. Terrall, chief of the census
for the second Oregon district. an
nounced on n visit here last week that
ms in Pendleton. Allowing these five
persons IL working days In two weeks,
the factor OF 60 men-days Is reached.
Allow these each an hour day and
in the two weeks there are $50 men
hours. Now. dividing this factor into
the estimated total of $500 and the
quotient, II plus, represents the num-
ber OF persons which must be enum-
Grated in every hour in the period.
There are go minutes in one hour so
that each one of Pendleton's $500 per-
sons must be listed in less than
minutes II all are to be counted.
10 Questions to Ask
The census blank contains 10 ques-
tions which must be filled out for
every member of the family. The man
who is n farmer. and Pendleton Is
composed OF hundreds who are far
mers. must answer in addition about
an equal number OF questions relative
to his farm. Can any census enum-
orator and the average citizen strug-
gle through 10 questions in less than
a minutes? Members of the CONNER
cial association who have taken an In
terest in the matter believe 1t cannot
be done.
The factor OF second and third calls
TO get a complete enumeration enters.
The man on the job will note the
households he finds with no one at
home, it is pointed out. and will re-
turn. Walking from house to house !
waiting for milady of the house to an
swer the bell after he has reached
the doormat and explanation OF the !
mission will cut heavily into the
epumerator's four minutes. the local |
people declare.
More Workers Imperative
Pendleton was done an injustice in |
the 1910 census, according to those |
who are conversant with facts con-
cernjng that count. They want no /
such a slight in the 1920 census. |
Therefore. they have boiled down their
best available data and, on mathe-
matical basis. believe that full justice
will not be done with the present an
nounced corps of. enumerators with
tho short time allotted. At best 10
minutes per person is the least they
will risk. This would permit of
persons being counted per hour. Al
this rate. Is enumerators would be
required to make a complete count in
the 12 days.