Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 1.djvu/255

Rh own Federal Government is doing and has done becomes interesting and valuable.

The question is often asked, What right has the government to collect facts other than those absolutely essential for intelligent legislation and the proper administration of laws? The answer is sufficient, to my mind. The education of the masses in the elementary facts of political and economic science is one of the greatest educational ends of the day. The whole effort of government, therefore, to put the people in the possession of facts concerning all their conditions in life, so far as the same may be subject to official inquiry, belongs to the educational work of the people. It is the mission of government to secure that information which is essential for the proper understanding of industrial and social conditions. This feature of educational work cannot be done by the schools, nor can it be done by individuals. It must be done, if done at all, by the government, and our government finds its duty under the constitution to put the public in the possession of certain lines of information. The constitution itself provides that Congress shall have power to provide for the general welfare of the United States, the preamble making the declaration that the constitution is ordained and established for the purpose, among other things, of promoting the general welfare and of securing the blessings of liberty. The general welfare and the blessings of liberty can neither be secured nor promoted without an intelligent understanding of all the conditions surrounding life.

In obedience to this lofty sentiment, the framers of the constitution further provided for a decennial census, and that organic provision for a periodical census was the first of its kind in any country. The framers of the constitution led the way in all civilized countries for the systematic collection of facts from which the study of the relations of men could be intelligently made. It was part of the vast machinery of government established for the purpose of enabling the nation to know more of itself. "Know thyself" is an injunction which should be applied to communities as well as to individuals, and it was recognized