ZUSSOJ^S FROM THE CENSUS. yj 



posterous to suppose that the expanded schedule under the Fed- 

 eral system could be filled under the English method. This has 

 been tried, and in a State where the population has been taught 

 to consider the value of statistics — the Commonwealth of Massa- 

 chusetts. In 1875 the English method was adopted ; the sched- 

 ules, comprehending all the inquiries at that time called for by- 

 law, were left with the heads of families, with clearly defined in- 

 structions, sample sheets, etc., all in accordance with the recog- 

 nized English method ; and from that community, which, it is 

 reasonable to suppose, could fill the census schedules if any com- 

 munity could do it, but thirty-seven per cent of the returns were 

 in a condition for use. The balance had to be corrected or made 

 entirely by the enumerators. That method was therefore aban- 

 doned in subsequent censuses for the State of Massachusetts. 

 With the sparsely settled population of the United States, and 

 with the broad schedule of the Federal census, covering as it does 

 twenty-four inquiries, it would be absurd to attempt to take the 

 census under the English system. 



In Germany the labor of enumeration is performed by persons 

 who, in consideration of the public utility of the work, do it with- 

 out compensation.* It has been thought that this feature could 

 be embodied in the United States census to a certain extent, or at 

 least supplemented by the employment of school-teachers in the 

 enumeration. The German method involves, of course, the crea- 

 tion of exceedingly small enumeration districts, after the English 

 method, a block in a city or a portion of a street in a town or vil- 

 lage being allotted to some patriotic citizen who would without 

 compensation see to it that the schedules were properly filled. It 

 is doubtful if this method could be made useful in the United 

 States. Our people are too busy — at least those competent to take 

 charge of such work — to induce them to enlist. The great difii- 

 culty even now is to secure men for a week or a month's service 

 under the Census Office. 



The third method of enumeration is that practiced in the State 

 of Massachusetts, and certainly the scientific results of the cen- 

 suses of that State would indicate the value of the method em- 

 ployed. Since 1845 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has 

 taken a census regularly, on the mean year of the Federal cen- 

 suses. It started its census work in 1837 by an account of its 

 manufactures, etc. ; but its first enumeration on any broad scale 

 was in 1845, through the assessors of cities and towns. In 1875 

 the field work was done by enumerators appointed by the census 

 authorities and paid by the day, and they were instructed to secure 



* The History, Theory, and Technique of Statistics, by August Meltzen, Ph. D., pro- 

 fessor at the University of Berlin. Falkner's translation. 



