THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1901.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11993, 16 March 1901, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1901.

The census which will be taken on the night of March 31 is of more than usual interest on this occasion, for the reason that the enumeration will embrace the whole British Empire. It is not the first occasion on which an Imperial census lias been taken. There was one in 1871, when it wa§ found that the total population was 234,762,593, and the area of territory 7,709,449 square miles. As is probably well known, the word census is derived from the Latin word censor, one of the duties of that dignitary being to enumerate the people, chiefly for fiscal purposes, Hence the taking of tho census gradually came to be synonymous with the imposition of taxation, and in the Middle Ages the word'itself actually mejint a taxing. The first census of which there is am , authentic record is that taken by Moses'when that astute leader found it advisable to enumerate the Israelites by their tribes and apportion their duties. In these later years the census implies a great deal more than the mere counting of heads for warlike purposes. According to Mr Von Dadelszen, the Registrar-general of New Zealand," the particulars required by the Act respecting the people include—name-, age, sex, married or single, birthplace, length of residence in colony, religion, occupation, education, whether British subject or alien, if suffering from sickness, accident, or infirmity. The dwellings are also' tq be described in respect of rooms and material." There formerly existed a widespread but easily understood prejudice against census-taking. When it was proposed to take ono in Britain in 1753 a speaker in the House of Commons declared that "he hftd not believed that any man would havp been so presumptuous and abandoned as to make such a, proposal," and another one said" the people looked upon the proposal as. ominous, and feared

lest some public misfortune or epidemic disorders should -follow the numbering." Such arguments as these evidently prevailed, because it was not until 1801 that the first British census was taken, and that did not j extend to Ireland. An attempt to take a census in the sister island was made in 1811, but-it was unsuccessful, and another was made in 1821, but , the result was of doubtful accuracy. The Americans displayed far more intelligence in this respect. A census of the United States" was taken in 1790, or three years after the first meeting of Congress, the nation thus presenting, says de Jonnes, "a phenomenon without parallel in history— that of a people who instituted the statistics of their country on the very day. when they founded their Government, and who regulated by the same instrument the census of the inhabitants, their civil and political right, and the destinies of the nation." The informatiop derived from a census is invaluable and indispensable in a wellordered community. The census has been called the great measuring-rod of a country's progress. There are only 14.questions to be answered concerning every person; yet upon the information so gained depends the adjustment of the social and economic questions of the day. It would be tedious' to enumerate the uses for which the census furnishes the data. Tne adjustment of parliamentary representation, . the construction of actuarial tables for life insurance purposes, the record of progress in regard to the manufactures of the colony, the ascertaining of the causes of the rise or fall in the quantity of goods imported, the estimation of the purchasing power of the people, the territorial distribution of the population, are only a few among the multifarious uses to which the statistician; the politician, and the economist apply the census tables. Seeing the immense utility of the census returns, Parliament wisely ordains that the disclosure of the particulars shall be compulsorv on householders, and a fine of £20 may be imposed for wilful neglect or refusal to fill up the form or furnish the particulars for which it asks, In order that the information may be given without any hesitation, it is provided that the communications shall be scrupulously confidential, and that they will be used only for the purpose of compiling statistical veturns. Any person divulging the information so given, or Wiring use of it for another purpose, is liable to a heavy penalty. In some of the more scattered districts the sub-enumerators will have already commenced the distribution of schedules to householders, and it will be the duty of the latter to fill them up on the evening of Sunday, March 31. In an intelligent community there should be little reason to commend this duty on heads of households. The schedules themselves contain full instructions how to proceed, and these are oouched in such plain language that anyone of ordinary intelligence should be easily able to master them. Each person should realise that he is taking part in a serious and important national duty. This census embraess the whole British Empire, from Canada to New Zealand, from India to the Orcades. The enumeration of the hordes of India is itself a colossal task, but one which the perfeot administration there will facilitate. The forms used in various parts of the Empire are similar in all essential respects. That in use in the colonies was agreed upon at the conference of Australasian statisticians in February of last year, and the form used elsewhere is one agreed 'upon by international accord.