The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-05-17
AWAITS
CENSUS FIGURES
Three Thousand Expert Statstcians
and Clerks in Employ of Bureau,
Classifying infsr-
nation.
[By Ralph F. Couch, United Press
Staff Correspondent


| WASHINGTON, May 17-Aided by
lcomplicated machines which perform
miracles of automatic calculation,
5000 expert statisticians and CLERKS
in the employ of the census bureau
here now are sorting and classifying
the greatest mass of statistical infor-
nation ever collected.
The population of the United States
will be ready for announcement some
time in October under present plans,
Director Sam L. Rogers said today.
This population total. expected to be
about 06,0OO 600, will be announced
also by states. State population an
inouncementS will begin to issue from
the bureau in ABOUT six weeks.
Announcement of city populations
began February p and about 600 have
been made. At least 1,0UO more city
population announcements may be eX-
pected, bureau officials estimate.
congressman, senator's, civic organ
iz:ltion representatives and news
papermen appear at the census bu-
reau twice daily to receive city popu-
lation announcements. Each by spe-
cial telephone or telegraph arrange
N ents previously set UP, tries to be
the first to get the news to his home
town or city of its new nose count.
Newspapers extra" on it and
crowds gather at bulletin boards. It's
big news" census bureau officials are
told. Local boosters cheer-some
times.
Complaints are flooding the bureau.
They're usually from local boosters,
civic bodies and sometimes from
chambers of commerce protesting the
count T. The enumerators didn't get
everybody in the count, is the text OF
most of the complaints.
THANK you for calling this to our
attention. rec.ds a form letter which
goes out Immediately under the sig
nature of Director Rogers. The let
ter promises an investigation OF the
count And the boosters wait, but
in only two cases have we found
that the complaints were justified and
that our count was incorrect, Eald
Rogers. In these cases the enumer-
ators skipped small groups of peo-
pie"
Local boosters have complained OF
the results in about half of the towns
and cities so far announced. Census
bureau officials emphasize that they
welcome complaints, they are Just
as anxious to correct mistakes as are
the local inhabitants, they declare.
But counting populations of cities,
counties. states and even the U. S.
is but one function OF the census, Off
Gals emphasize.
The census is intended to furnish
on which better govern
ment may be based, according to Di-
rector Rogers. This is why the great
mass of economic and social data is
included. The bureau now is nearly
half finished with the agricultural and
ctureS census. Information
collected in these Investigations is
that Of most use to business men,
officials and economists.
The agricultural census includes
count of the number Of farms in the
United Stetes, number Of farmers, in
Guiding owners, managers and farm
hands, and the value of all crops.
Similar information is collected in
the manufactures census.
The present census is expected to
show that there are in the United
States 1000, 900, farms as compared
with 6,COO, 900 in 1910. TO be CLASH
fed as farm, a piece of land must
include at least three acres, must have
PRODUCED $500 worth of crops per year
for the past few years or must have