Necessity of Reliable Data. 
107 
necessity of the most accurate statistics possible to enable one 
to arrive at correct conclusions, and there is no more important 
department in statistics than that of vital statistics, upon which 
we must depend to gain information relative to the most vital 
and important questions with which we have to deal, as, for in¬ 
stance, epidemic diseases, their extent and character; diseases 
of the circulatory, respiratory, and other organs; diseases of 
the nervous system and the brain, including insanity in its vari¬ 
ous forms, which are generally recognized to be increasing; the 
question of degeneracy, and a large number of other morbid or 
pathologic conditions with the prevalence and fatality of which 
we must become familiar in order to know how to prevent them 
and to combat their influences. 
The older countries, and some of our older states, have learned 
the value and importance of such statistics, and have enacted 
very stringent laws, which are rigidly enforced, and it would 
seem that the time has arrived for this great state to arise to 
the dignity of maintaining a position second to none in such an 
important matter as this, as well as in other matters which she 
does maintain, and of which her inhabitants may justly feel proud. 
Such statistics are of the greatest importance in nearly every 
relation of life, and are becoming almost indispensable daily in 
a large number of relations besides those already referred to, as, 
for instance, in the administration of estates; adjustment of 
life insurance and pension claims; in the relation of marriage and 
legacies; the relation of guardians and wards; the detection and 
punishment of crime; the requirements of foreign countries rela¬ 
tive to various matters; the problem of child labor and educa¬ 
tion; the matter of voting, jury service, etc., etc. 
One case recently came under my own observation that may 
serve as an example of many, where a man died and was buried, 
but no certificate of death was filed as to the cause of death, nor 
could any records be obtained that could be used in evidence; 
the man was a member of an insurance organization, and his 
heirs entitled under certain conditions to a sum of money, but 
the requirements could not be complied with, as no records could 
be produced as to the cause of death. 
Many instances similar, or worse, might be related. 
