The Holbrook news., 1921-05-20
Figures of 1920 Count Will Be Almost Worthless in Two
 Years.
ARE NOT A TRUE RECORD
Abnormal Conditions in After War Period Caused Anomalies-GoV- ernment and Business Depend
 Much on Statistics.

Washington, D. C.-With the pOpu- latiOn of the country counted nose for nose and the census of 1920 virtually completed 1t looks as though congress would have to dig down into the pock- cts of the treasury for $20,000,000 more to repeat the operation in 1925. It took $23, 3,500,0O0 to take the four teenth decennial census, the census that started three years ago, the to- tals of which are now being compiled. The fifteenth census will probably Save to drop the term decennial, for ss now appears that 1t will have to be started within the next year or two If the country is to have any reliable statistics, and if this is the case it will be the first break in the long line of "stock takings" Uncle Sam has iE- dulged in every ten years since 179O.
 The truth about the 1920 census is that for this year, last year and next year its figures are invaluable, but for the remaining eight years intervening between this and the next census, ex- perts declare, Its figures will be worth little more than their own historical and intrinsic phenomenal value. That Is to say, they cannot be used for the year to year computations that the government and the industries of the country are accustomed to making.
 The fourteenth decennial census was taken on the regular periodic occasion set aside since 179O for taking the na- tional census. In 1920 that proved for the first time to be an unfortunate and not prOpitiouS occasion. Of course it was the war that was to blame. For the six years previous to 1920 i'm migration had not only been restricted because of the war in Europe, but an unusual number of our recent immi- grants returned to their native homes and armies to take part in the war.
 Upward Swing in All Lines.
 Added to this, industrial conditions Our munitions and industrial plants took on gigantic and actually gro- tesQue capacities and they were food ed abnormally with labor. Even the per capita wealth of the country swung well over toward the golden era during this period.
 The contrast of unemployment, di- minishing wealth of the mass of the people, shutdown of mills and the | turning flood of immigration witnessed | during the last six months Is the best | example of how useless the figures | taken in 1920 will be a year or two | from now. Yet even this condition will not be permanent. In a year or | two the country hopes to be back to l its normal stride.
 The figures of the last few years | will furnish a splendid concrete ex- ample for the future of what to ex- pect in times of great social upheav- als, such as the World war, but sta tistics that are to serve the country l as a normal guide for its legislative i peace must be taken in the normal | days of peace.
 The great bulk of the present cen sus has been completed. The census bureau has already published the to- tai population of the United States, | there being 1O5, ,7OS,771 souls account ed for throughout the United States. | This represents an increase of $780, 505 inhabitants, or 14.9 per cent in- crease of population since 1910. It | has even moved the imaginary point | representing the "center of popula- tion" from Bloomington, Ind, to a point 9.8 miles west and about one fifth of a mile north, where it is now fixed in the little town of Spencer, Ind.
 Little Work Yet to Be Done.
 All that remains to be done is the computation of the statistics in hand for various special data. the totalling