COUNTING THE HEADS

Taranaki Daily News, 7 April 1931, Page 7

COUNTING THE HEADS

COMING BRITISH CENSUS.

NEARLY 60,000 OFFICIALS.

The censusof England, Scotland and Wales, to be taken on Sunday, April 26, will be the last 10-yearly count of the nation. In the future the census will be taken every five years, instead of

every 10 years, as hitherto. There will be a staff of between 400 and 500 employed at headquarters in connection with the census. The work will be conducted throughout the country bv between 17,000 and 18,000 local registrars, and more than 40,000 enumerators have been engaged. Hundreds of adding, sorting, counting, tabulating, and punching machines have been installed in a building in Acton, Lodon. “So complete are the arrangements that not a person in England, Scotland and Wales will be able to escape the count,” the Registrar-General said recently. “Ships at anchor in all British ports’ will be boarded and details of the '' crews taken. Forms have been printed in Gaelic for use in Scotland, and in Welsh for use in Wales. “We found in 1921 that a great many people object to state their correct age. In thousands of cases they put down a round figure. Thus, if they were 4-, thev put'down 40. In consequence, when the’returns were analysed huge numbers of people appeared with age. grouped in round figures. Columns for the year, month and day of birth have been added to the new forms. , “There was another curious error. We were led to the conclusion that there was a deficiency of infants of the youngest age. It has been suggested that when a householder has an infant that has not vet been christened, and so has no name, he leaves that infant out of his returns. So we have said that if a child has been born but not named it should be included as ‘baby.’ “The task this year is more diincult owin" to the migration of large numbers to areas which did not exist 10 years ago and are now small towns.”