Milford chronicle., 1922-08-18
MAKING STATISTICS USEFUL

| Washlngton-(Special Correspond,
eHcel Under the supervision of w
NJ Steuart' at first as Chief Statisti-
Gan ana now as Director of the Cen
sus bureau, that branch of the gov
erhnent service has introduced q
new classification in the census of
population and has ascertained for
the nrst time the actual number of
people residing on farms. Heretofore.
lnis information has not been avail
aDle although there were statistics
Whlch led enormously to the belief
thaC they gave light on that subject.
II has been the practice for a great
many years to classify the population
OF the country as rural" or "urban."
Naturally it was necessary to make
some arbitrary distinction between
rural and urban and the Bureau de-
nned as rural all those people living
IN the country or in towns of less
than $500 inhabitants. The statistics
were manifestly deceptive. In the pub-
llc mind rural means living in the
country and urban living in the citv
AS matter of fact, town of 24OO in
habitants is not a rural community
Nevertheless census statistics gave |
on their face the impression that ali
the people who were classed as rural |
were living in the country while ali |
those classed as urban were living in
cities.
IN order to supply some definite
and useful statistics regarding tbe
number of people living in what is
really the country, the Census Rr-
reau undertook in compiling the cen-
sus OF 1920 to list all those people
who are living on farms. This meant
not only those who live on large
farms, put also those who live on or
chards, or who make their livings by
market gardening, the operation of
poultry yards, dairies, apiaries, etc.
Moreover, this classification included
not only those who own farms or
rent them but also the hired hands
IN farms who live in what is strictly
ne rural section of the United States.
mus we nave available for the first
lme exact information regarding =
arm population, and this shows that Il
N January 1, 1920, the number of
1en, women and children living ON S
arms was S1,614,269, or a small frac- 0
ion less than 80 per cent of the to- p
al population of the whole country.
tatistics heretofore compiled and n
ublished classifying the population "
rural or urban have been decep- 81
We in another respect. For example. IL
IN 1910 there was a town with a
)pulation of 2450, all of these people a.
ere classed as rural. If in the Sue III II,
'edlng 10 years, 81 people moved in III
that community, making the popu- W
ton 25Ol, the whole number were VI
presented in the census as having
EN- transferred from the rural to the aI
ban population. This would be clear Cd
a Misrepresentation unless one 80
pit in mind the definition of rural SD
ID urban. The man who lives in a We
wn of 2499 population is no more De
raj than one who lives in a town Sd
25O1. Census statistics showing the S au
lit from country to city have been De
because they represented er'
Ople as moving from country to CITY sI SI'
rely because the size of q town loT
ssed over the $500 mark. Now that
exact and logical system of classi- W, Du
alton has been adopted it will be 0Od
Ss1ble in each decennial period to p
certain definitely the drift of popu-
ion to or from the farms.
The Census Bureau is receiving =,
Ong commendation for the innova- CIe
it has established. Incidentally il WIN
be remarked that Mr.. Steuart. Y
ause of his thorough mastery of gar
art and science of statistics, was I vi
'ed at the head of the Census Bill n' hIn'
l by the Republican President. one