THE CENSUS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 261, 3 May 1878, Page 7

THE CENSUS.

In our last issue, m reviewing the Census Returns, we took the liberty of doubting their accuracy, but as we had then no data to produce, we did so with considerable diffidence: We-' find, however, that our doubts were shared by the great majority of the ratepayers, and to such a degree by Ins worship the Mayor, that he felt it incximbent upon him to take- some pepsin the matter to verify their accuracy or otherwise. ' With that view he made a house to house canvas for the purpose of arriving at the number o£ houses within the town boundaries, and he found that there were 223 inhabited, 27 uninhabited and 38 offices, halls, aud warehouses, or a gross total of 288 In that list he did not include stables, no matter of what size, and no house that had a wooden chimney. So safely has the return, been made that he will to-day, before leaving Wellington, make an affidavit as to its correctness ; or rather that there are 288 buildings in the town, not binding himself to the fact that there are only that number Since our last article was written, wo know oE half a dozen of instances in which no paper had been left, and consequently no returns made, and are prepared to bring forward abundant evidence that the official statement is totally unreliable. Wo have been handed a little memo, prepared by the sub-enumerator, which speaks volumes In ~the first place, that officer asserts that he received 300 schedules from the enumerator for distribution amongst residents and he accounts for them in the following ingenious way :— Schedules to houses inhabited and uninhabited, 219 ; spoiled, defaced, and lost 42 • returned to enumerator unfilled, 39 ; making up the allotted number of 300. feo far so good ; but then, in another return, he gives— dwellings inhabited, 199 ; uninhabited, 20 ; offices, halls, warehouses, mills and stables. 45 ; total, 2G4. What we would like to see explained is if he used 219 in the houses ; spoiled; lost, and defaced. 42, and returned unfilled 36, where he got the forms toifill up for the 4;"> offices &c ? Our space will not allow us to go more in detail into the matter in this issue, but we think that the little instance we -have given is quite sufficient to show what reliance can be placed upon the Census statistics of 1878. — Manawatu Times,