Evening star., 1949-12-12
CensusQueriies
0nSa|aryCited
As COP. Law
Huuser Also Notes
Questions of 1850 on
Amount Of Property


Amount Of Property
Charges by % Republican mem.
bers of Congress that questions
about private income to be asked
in the 1850 Population and Hous-
ing Census amount to Truman
statism in action" were answered
today by Philip M. Mauser, acting
director Of the Census Bureau. He
cited precedents for the questions
These attacks came to a head
yesterday when % Republican
members Of Congress joined in a
bitter denunciation of the Census
Bureau issued last wee kby Rep
resentatives Brown of Ohio and
Hinshaw of California, both Re-
publicans.
The attack, which includes in
its target the whole Truman ad-
ministration. was concerned par
ticularly with the fact that Gen.
sus ennumerators, who take the
field next April. will ask every
fifth person over IA years of age
how much money he has made
within the past year.
Those who make over $4,000
will not be asked to state their
precise income-a plan which the
Republica nlawmakers denounce
as raw injustice" to the average
citizen.
Representative Brown has re-
ported that he has written to Mr..
Hauser demanding to know the
illegal authority" for the income
questions.
Addresses Instructors.
MIR. Hauser, who returned to his
Office today from Chicago, says
that no letter from Representa-
tive Brown has yet been received
by his Office. But if and when
such a letter is received. he said,
he will answer it from a factual
point of view.
Mr.. Hauser spoke this morning
to a group Of 20 chief instructors
of enumerators. He commented
on the political furor kicked up by
the income question, but kept his
remarks off the record.
IT consider myself a statistician
rather than = politician" he told
reporters later. He pointed out,
however. that the legal authority
to determine the questions that
will be asked on the census form
was granted to the census director
in 1880 by a Republican Congress
under President Hoover. Mr..
Hauser, who served as an en-
numerator in the 1880 census.
indicated that neither. personal
questions on census forms nor
the political rows which those
questions cause are anything new.
I'm 1850" he said. under Presi-
dent Zachary Taylor, a Wing.
each person was asked to report.
the value Of all real property he
owned. This question was re-
peated in 1866 when Abraham
Lincoln reported his property un-
der a compulsory census law).
In 1870, President Grant. Re-
publican, used the same question
and added another asking the
value of all personal property" !"
Neither Question on Form.
Neither of these questions ap-
pear on the 1850 census form, he
said.
For the past 80 years ques-
tions about personal income have
been included on the census of
agriculture, conducted every five
years" Mr.. Hauser added.
To the criticism of the Repub-
licans that personal information
must be given to enumerators
who may be neighbors, Mr.. Hauser
pointed out that in 1910. when
the first income questions were
asked of every one. the person
had the option of answering the
questions in writing, mailing them
direct to the Census Bureau in
Washington. Mr.. Hauser said
that of 130,000.000 people asked
the income question only about
115.000 availed themselves of this
privilege.
In any case, enumeratorS are
bound to the strictest confidence.
Mr.. Houser pointed out. The pen
atty for revealing information is
q felony, with penalties of up to
two years in jail and $1,000 In
fines.
Neither can any Government
agency, such as the Bureau of In
ternal Revenue. have access to in
dividual statistics collected by the
Census Bureau. Such statistics
have been made confidential by
law in order to assure the accu-
racy Of answers given the EMU
merators.
Other officials of the bureau
point out that the questions on
individual income were included
in the QUESTIONABLE at the urgent
request of business interests. They
will provide the best material
available so far for analyses of
potential markets for consumer
goods.
Warned Against Abuse.
Speaking to the census instruc-
tors. Mr.. Hauser warned the group
against an abuse of the authority
given census workers under law.
You have the authority and
the obligation under law to ask
certain questions of the American
public" he said. "but we cannot
do that by violating the laws of
decency and courtesy"
Those who Joined in the Re-
publican statement were Repre-
sentatives Colef1 Gwinn, Heating.
Pfeiffer, Reed and Riehlman of
New York; Andersen and Judd
Of Minnesota, Auchincloss and
Kean of New jersey, ArendS.