The Human Element

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 72, 26 March 1936, Page 2

The Human Element

MISTAKES IN CENSUS PAPERS DIFFICULTIES AHEAD Thd duties' of Mr. C. S. Carrad, Pahiatua’s postmastor, as census enumerator for the district, are uot to bo envied, bdcausc boforo ho will be in a position to send on to the Government Statistician the complete returns, he will have had to write perhaps hundreds of letters and instructions to sub-enumora-tors concerning errors made by householders in filling in the prescribed form, When the “Times” representative looked in on Mr. Carrad early yesterday morning ho was then looking over three census forms which had, iu ignorance, been posted direct to the office. This start so far as the census taking of Pahiatua and district was concerned, was not a good one for in each instance mistakes had been made which would hardly bo overlooked and therefore necessitated the waiting of letters to the persons so concerned. “It looks as though the talk over the wireless and tho careful instructions given by sub-enumerators has been of little avail,” commented Mr. Carrad. Tho postmaster explained that undoubtedly tho officials detailed to collect returns would detect many mistakes made and he pointed out that it was their duty to go through each return with tho householder when apparent inaccuracies would be pointed out and corrected. These men, said Mr. Carrad, are sworn to socreey and any divergence from the line of duty in this respect would be looked upon, by tho department as most serious. Householders could therefore be assured that the officials appointed were men ot trust in w'horn they could place their confidence. For those householders who, despite the department’s precautions regarding the secrecy of tho information requirecl'ior statistical purposes, did not wish tho department’s official subennumerator to bo permitted to check returns an their presenco, special provision had beeii made whereby such persons- could by sealing tho return in an 'envelope and marking on its outside the district, sub-district and regulation number, etc.,' hand same to' the official calling and bo satisfied that no ono but tho'office officials themselves would check the information before the return was sent on to Wellington.

Tho postmaster said ho hoped that few residents would adopt the latter course because of tho mistakes which were bound to arise in many returns which would in itself necessitate the writing of special letters when these errors could so easily be rectified at the door by the department’s sub-enumera-tor.

■ As an instance, Mr. Carrad said: “Here we have three return posted in to the office in error and all of them are wrong. The sub-enumerator could have picked these errors up when calling.”