778 
‘THE U.S. CENSUS OFFICE. 
THERE is a popular disposition to belittle the 
importance of the census, and to underestimate 
the value of what has been accomplished under 
the direction of Gen. Walker, which will pass 
away when the magnitude of the difficulties 
to be overcome, and the skill displayed in 
handling such a mass of figures, are better 
understood by the public. Six volumes have 
already been issued, which have excited the 
admiration and enthusiastic approval of statis- 
ticians on both sides of the Atlantic. It is 
said that the whole number of volumes will be 
nearly twenty, of which some are now in type, 
others ready for the compositor, and of a part 
the manuscript copy is not yet fully prepared. 
The entire series will constitute an encyclo- 
paedia of information, not only as to the popu- 
lation of the United States and its composition 
and growth, but as to the financial and other 
resources of the country, and the burdens to be 
borne by the American people, and will be of 
the greatest historical value. As an advertise- 
ment of the national wealth, and of the rapidity 
with which this country is assuming a foremost 
position among the nations of the earth, the 
tenth census is worth many times its cost ; and 
we are not claiming too much for it when we 
venture the assertion that no statistical work 
of equal extent and merit has ever been exe- 
cuted by any nation. . 
The unpopularity of the census appears to 
be due, partly to its having exceeded in cost 
the original estimate, and partly to the delay 
in the publication of the results. But it is not 
surprising that Congress was unable to foresee 
the actual amount of expense involved in so 
elaborate and exhaustive an inquiry; and the 
delay in publication is owing to insufficient 
appropriations from time to time, and the too 
rapid reduction of the force engaged, which has 
unduly prolonged the examination and tabula- 
tion of the returns. It is probable, also, that 
the failure to ask and obtain sufficient appro- 
priations has curtailed the proportions of the 
work, and led to the omission of information 
which was in fact gathered, and might have 
been given to the world. 
Really it is more than doubtful whether the 
methods adopted for taking the census do not 
need to be thoroughly revised, and new methods 
adopted. It must be a serious loss to the 
government to do as it does, —to disband the 
force trained for this special undertaking, and 
scatter it, once in ten years, and then re- 
organize it with unskilled and inexperienced 
clerks, who require to be educated at great 
SCIENCE. 
[Vou. IIL, No. 73. 
expense before they understand what it is that 
they are employed to do. No other scientific 
undertaking is carried on in this way. We 
assume that the purely clerical portion of the 
work may be done by untrained clerks, if they 
are directed by skilled and competent chiefs 
of division, just as raw recruits may be of 
service in war, when drilled and commanded 
by veterans. But it would seem that the office 
of commissioner or superintendent of census 
ought to be made a permanent one, and work 
enough assigned to this bureau to employ a 
permanent staff of assistants capable of giving 
impulse and direction to the largely augmented 
number of clerks required when the decennial 
enumeration of the population ismade. ‘There 
are many varieties of social statistics which 
it would be desirable to collect and publish 
annually ; and it is not essential that all the 
special and occasional investigations which are 
of national importance should be made at the 
same moment of time. Why might not the 
population be enumerated in one year, and 
the agricultural statistics obtained in another, 
andsoon? ‘Then, too, it is difficult to conceive 
how a census can properly be made without 
reference to documents, state and municipal, 
which should be permanently preserved in a 
special library under the control of the office, 
with a librarian charged with the duty of keep- 
ing it up, and thoroughly acquainted with its 
contents and arrangement; which implies a 
permanent census bureau. Lists of corre- 
spondents are also requisite, which should be 
constantly revised and corrected. The addi- 
tional expense of a permanent force, which 
need not be large, would be far less than the 
waste of money occasioned by the want of 
thorough preparation for taking the census on 
the present plan, and the mistakes and mis- 
directed energy of a clerical force destitute of 
scientific knowledge or skill, unacquainted with 
each other, and unorganized for effective work. 
There must also be improved modes of col- 
lecting and digesting information which are 
practicable. The process of tallying results 
by hand, so painful and slow, which is at 
present in vogue, must give way to some other 
process, involving less mental and manual labor, 
and increased accuracy. Too many clerks and 
too much time are required to meet the wants 
of an active and impatient people like ours. 
We do not appreciate information which is not 
recent and fresh. There must be some way 
devised of utilizing steam or electricity in the 
tabulation of results. If this can be accom- 
plished, then instead of waiting several years 
for the published census, as we now have to do, ~ 
