Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/487

* CENSUS. 41i under oiio head, c.';. aj;e, irouKl not be combined with those given under another, e.g. illiteracy. In 1S,50 a radical change was introduced, and for the tirst time every inhabitant was recorded by name, the questions being answered for eacli per- son specilically, and not for the family group of which he was a part. This change in the maimer of asking the questions necessitated the estal)lish- n:eut of a central office in Washington in which all the schedules were gathered and the tabula- tions made. The collection of the tigurcs was in the hands of the United States nuirshals until 18S0. but since that dale has been in charge of the Census Ollice, and considerable improvement in the quality of the returns has resulted. The census of ISIOO was taken under a law of 1891), which notably improved the mechanism of cen- sus-taking in minor points. Census Methods. — The operations of the cen- sus are manifold, and can be stated only in the briefest manner. Preliminary steps are the preparation of the schedules and the division of the country into enumeration districts. The schedules are sometimes minutely jireseribed by law. but the better way is for the act to enumer- ate the points to be eovcreil and leave the formu- lation of the questions to the experience and discretion of the census authorities. The country must be divided into well-detined enumeration districts, containing approximate!}' the same numljer of persons, and not too extensive to be fully covered by the enumerator in the time al- lotted to him. In countries where the census is taken in a single day, the districts must of necessity be smaller than in the United States, where two weeks arc given the enimierator in cities, and a month in rural districts. After he has completed his work his papers are sent to Washington for examination and tabulation. In 1800 the work of tal)ulation was done by electrical machines, the invention of ilr. Herman Hollcnth. These machines have now acquired a permanent place in census work. The facts re- corded on the schedules are drawn off by a punching machine on cards, where each perfora- tion represents some one of the characteristics noted on the schedules. Such a card is prepared for each individual. The cards are placed in a holder and brought into contact with a large number of points corresponding in location to the perforations. If there is a hole in the card the point passes through, establishes a current, and makes a record upon a recording dial. The points which touch the cards at places where there are no perforations are pushed back by springs and return into place when the card is taken out. By means of this machine the count is made with unerring accuracy and the number of combinations of the different data is greatly increased. It will be readily understood, if it has not been expressly stated, that a modem census of population is something more than a statement of the numlier of the people. The facts usually embraced in census inquiries re- late to sex. race. age. nativity, citizenship, con- jugal condition, occupation, literacy, and, in foreign countries, religious belief. The geo- graphical distribution of the people gives another and most important element. These various ele- ments in conjunction with the geographical de- tail furnish an almost endless variety of com- binations. The result is a minute analysis of the population from these various points of view. CENSUS. The Scope o/ Census Enumerations. — The de- cennial census authorized by the Constitution has from the beginning been utilized to .secure in- foriiialion beyond the mere number of inhabi- tants, which would have satislicd the constitu- tional requirement. This tendency showed itself first in the elaboration of the population sched- ules already noted, but as early as 1810 addi- tional inquiries were added. As time progres.sed these became very numerous, and reached their culmination in 1890, when, among twenty-five volumes which contained the results of the cen- sus, two only relate to the count of the popula- tion. The multiplication of inquiries was thought to retard the progress of the main in- vestigations, and by the law governing the census of 1900, the enumeration was limited to popula- tion, mortality, agriculture, and manufactures. The law stipulated, moreover, that the work should be complete in two years and the publica- tion in January, 1902, of the first volume of the population report promises the fulfillment of the requirement. We may turn now to a brief consideration of the lines of inquiry represented in the census of 1900. The obvious value of mor- tality statistics has led, in the I'liited States, to the attempt to gather them through the cen- sus. The question as to the deaths which had occurred during the census year first appeared in 1850, and has not since been omitted. The returns are notoriously defective, and it is usually recognized among statisticians that ac- curate figures can only be obtained by systematic and continuous registration. The widespread interest in vital statistics is probiibly responsi- ble for the maintenance of this inquiry among the census schedules. The onh- valualile part of these volumes is that which assembles the rc- .sults of the registration records from those parts of the country where they exist. But the at- tempt to gather general mortality statistics in this manner Houts the distinction between cen- sus and registration noted in the beginning of this article. Agriculture fir.st appeared as a subject of in- (|uiry in 1840, when a few general questions as to the value of farm crops were asked. In 1850 we find a special schedule for farmers, but the range of the inquiry was not materially increased though the form of question was much improved. In 1880 the scope of the inquiry was greatly widened and special inquiries concerning cereals and forestry were undertaken. The develop- ment of the census has been more in the detail of publication than in change of method. The history of manufacturing statistics dates back to the census of 1810. Without instructions or definite schedules, the marshals were directed to report upon the manufactures in their dis- tricts. The mass of heterogeneous material which resulted could not be gathered together into statistics, though they formed the basis for a general statement by Mr. Tench Coxe, in which estimate and conjecture were freely used to supplement defects of the data. The follow- ing census of 1820 had a better schedule, but results were hardly more satisfactory. Indeed so general was the discontent with the figures that in 1830 the inquiry was abandoned. While an attempt was again made in 1840 to col- lect such statistics, it was not until 1850, with a reorganized census service, that valuable re- sults were secured. The sei)aratc schedule for