372 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 32. 



of anotlier business, and may be incomplete within 

 tliemselves, as naturally relating to methods, rather 

 than to financial details. They might show how, 

 rather than how much. They will seldom contain a 

 balance-sheet of profit or loss, or any thing that would 

 advance the fortunes of a rival in business, or reveal 

 the secrets of an unprofitable enterprise. "We must 

 receive them as we find them, — good only as far as 

 they go. 



Besides these associated business inquiries, prompt- 

 ed and guaranteed by self-interest, we find various 

 others, voluntarily undertaken with reference to par- 

 ticular subjects, often for the promotion of a moral, 

 religious, benevolent, educational, or political object, 

 and ranging in value all the way between the accu- 

 racy of statements taken from records, or gathered by 

 faithful inquiry, by chosen special and zealous agents 

 on the one hand, and the random conjectures care- 

 lessly returned by those who know but little, and 

 care still less, about the subject of inquiry, on the 

 other. It would be wholly impossible to assign a 

 scale of value to statistics thus obtained, where every 

 thing depends upon the circumstances of the case, 

 and the accuracy of information on the part of those 

 who make returns, — the fulness with which they are 

 reported, and the care with which they are combined. 



We have another class of non-ofiicial statistics col- 

 lected and published by private enterprise, for the 

 information of particular trades or professions, or for 

 use by the general public; their reputation and suc- 

 cess depending wholly upon their accuracy, and being 

 brought to the test of local and personal knowledge 

 every day and everywhere, we may naturally expect 

 them to be as accurate as they can be made. In this 

 class, we may include directories, trade and market 

 reports, financial transactions, and the current com- 

 mercial statistics generally. 



There may be instances where they are tainted with 

 a suspicion of private or speculative motive: but such 

 is the vigilance of rival enterprise, that detection will 

 quickly follow; and an exposure would at once de- 

 grade a reputation for independence and impartial 

 statement, to the rank of a private job for a specula- 

 live end. 



Exhibits openly made, for the avowed ptirpose of 

 presenting the favorable side of a business enterprise, 

 may be taken for what they are worth, and are often 

 trustworthy; but, when concealed under a false pre- 

 tence, they deserve suspicion, and, when exposed, 

 they generally injure the interest that they represent. 



The best of these statistics are taken from records, 

 and are entirely correct; others are collected by spe- 

 cial agents, and should be approximately near the 

 truth; and there is still another class, made up from 

 the estimates of those supposed to know the facts, 

 and which must wander more or less from the actual 

 conditions that they attempt to represent. 



It may be said of all of them, that their greatest value 

 is for present use. They quickly pass by, to give place 

 to the next issue, and remain only as historical records ; 

 but, as such, they still afford a most valuable means 

 of comparison between the present and the past, and 

 become landmarks of progi'css, ever instructive to 



those who may be seeking to trace the origin and 

 growth of our industries and our resources; and now 

 and then they are recalled as precedents, where new 

 questions arise, under circumstances deemed similar 

 to the past. 



We will next consider some points relating to 

 inquiries undertaken by authority of government, 

 either for the intelligent discharge of its own func- 

 tions, or for general information, the good of its citi- 

 zens, and the advancement of knowledge among 

 mankind. 



We may, in general, remark, that nothing can be 

 properly done, in the machinery of government, with- 

 out leaving its record. If money or property is re- 

 ceived, there is an entry; if a payment is made, or if 

 property is issued, there is also an entry, and a receipt 

 to prove it. In short, the whole theory of our govern- 

 ment involves the necessity of a record of every offi- 

 cial transaction; and it is only in cases of intentional 

 fraud, or gross neglect, or unavoidable accident, that 

 the history of every public act cannot be traced from 

 these records. 



A record, to be trustworthy, should be made at the 

 time of the transaction, and while all the fads as to 

 time, subject, and amount, or other points of state- 

 ment, are fresh in mind. Nothing should be trusted 

 to the memory, and for record at a more convenient 

 season. It should be concise, and easily understood, 

 and may often be very greatly assisted by tabular 

 arrangement. . 



The summaries of these records, as published by 

 the government, are, we believe, with few exceptions, 

 entitled to great confidence, as far as they present 

 transactions done by authority, or passing mider the 

 notice of government agents. 



We may classify the ofiicial statistics of the govern- 

 ment under the following heads: — 



First, Summaries of current business, published 

 annually or at shorter intervals. 



Second, Periodical inquiries made at wider inter- 

 vals, as in the census, and requiring special agencies 

 for their execution. 



Third, The inquiries made by experts, or by special 

 commissions or agencies created for a particular pur- 

 pose. This class is sometimes associated with one or 

 the other of the preceding. 



Taking from among these classes the census, as one 

 of the most important, let us notice sorne of the 

 rSiethods by which it has been taken. 



Ths earliest returns that I have found, in colonial 

 times, were made by sheriffs and constables. At a 

 later period, the national census was for a long period 

 taken by the marshals of the district courts, or their 

 deputies, — officers whose duties are quite analogous 

 to the former; and this practice of assigning the 

 task to sheriffs still prevails in several of the states. 



In many other cases, assessors discharge the duty. 

 In New York, before 1S55, special agents were ap- 

 pointed by local authorities; and, commencing with 

 that year, they have since been appointed by the 

 secretary of state. The appointing power has been 

 vested in state boards, in boards of county com- 

 missioners, and in the judges of inferior county 



