PRACTICAL STATISTICS: 
A HANDBOOK 
FOR THE USE OF THE 
STATISTICIAN AT WORK, 
STUDENTS IN COLLEGES AND ACADEMIES, AGENTS, 
CENSUS ENUMERATORS, ETC. 
BY 
CHARLES F. PJDGIN, 
CHIEF CLERK OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR. 
BOSTON: 
THE WILLIAM E. SMYTHE COMPANY, 
No. 3 Tremont Place. 
1888. TO 
Hon. CARROLL D. WRIGHT, 
CHIEF OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR, 
AND COMMISSIONER OF LABOR OF THE UNITED STATES, 
Book 
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED; 
FOR IT IS TO HIS ENCOURAGEMENT AND ADVICE, DURING FIFTEEN YEARS OF OFFICIAL 
WORK TOGETHER, THAT THE AUTHOR IS GREATLY INDEBTED FOR 
WHATEVER SUCCESS HE MAY HAVE ATTAINED 
AS A PRACTICAL STATISTICIAN. PREFACE. 
Many works have been written relating to statistics but, 
to the author’s knowledge, none have been devoted exclu- 
sively to the explanation of the practical part of statistical 
work. 
The first work written in relation to a new branch of a 
science or art is apt to be doubly unsatisfactory—to the 
author who is unable to refer to other writers and profit by 
the criticisms of their work, and to the reader who often 
fails to find the particular subject in which he is interested 
given the prominence he thinks it should receive. 
The writer of this work had the advantage of ten years’ 
service as an accountant before beginning statistical work. 
Since June, 1873, or for nearly fifteen years, his duties have 
been statistical in their nature. Being naturally inventive, 
he has not been bound by old methods but has endeavored 
to introduce improvements in the manner of doing statisti- 
cal work. He has been advised to put into book form the 
principal features of his system of practical statistical work, 
and the results of his experience in the past fifteen years, 
including his connection with three censuses—two State and 
one National. 
He is aware that his work is tentative; that in a few 
years there will be much more to write, and much that is 
(V) VI 
PREFACE. 
now recommended may be superseded by better forms and 
improved methods. His aim is to continue to be a student 
as long as he is a statistician, and he hopes that he may, 
himself, contribute to future editions of this work, if they 
should ever be issued, and in other ways, more valuable infor- 
mation than he is now able to supply. 
The science of statistics is destined to achieve a great 
development, and the practical statistician is the one to 
whom the world looks for honest and assiduous endeavor to 
broaden the application and elevate the character of the work 
done in his chosen field of scientific service. The practical 
statistician must be expert in the use of figures, but such 
aptitude is only the mere alphabet of his work ; he must know 
the tendencies of the times and select such topics for inves- 
tigation as will answer the public demand; he must frame 
inquiries, draft schedules, write instructions for those filling 
in or answering inquiries, examine the returns, at the same 
time correcting errors and supplying omissions, adopt and 
supervise the application of the most improved methods of 
tabulation, prepare the material for expressive and concise 
presentation in print, and give therewith such careful expla- 
nations and exhaustive analyses that all parties will agree 
that the truth was his object, that he has found it, and that 
progressive action may be safely based upon the results 
presented. 
Boston, April 19, 1888. CONTENTS. 
Chapter Page 
I. THE PREPARATION OF SCHEDULES 1—4 
II. THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION 5—11 
III. INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS AND AGENTS, . 12—27 
IV. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS 28—146 
V. TABULATION 147—154 
VI. THE PRESENTATION OF RESULTS, .... 155—160 
VII. WORKING AND ILLUSTRATIVE DIAGRAMS, . . 161—163 
VIII. APPLIED STATISTICS 164—166 
IX. SOME SPECIAL FEATURES IN STATISTICS, . . . 167—177 
X. THE TEACHING OF PRACTICAL STATISTICS, . 178—187 
INDEX TO SUBJECTS #. 189—201 PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
CHAPTER I. 
THE PREPARATION OF SCHEDULES. 
Whether statistics are obtained by mail, agents, or enumerators, 
in nearly all cases it is necessary to prepare forms, blanks, or 
schedules, upon which to write down the information obtained. 
Several' different forms of work enter into the preparation of 
schedules. 
1. The proper wording of the inquiries. 
2. The writing of the general instructions. 
3. The writing of the special instructions for each inquiry. 
4. Quotations from the law authorizing the collection of the 
information. 
5. The typographical arrangement of the schedule. 
The Proper Wording of the Inquiries. It seems easy to ask ques- 
tions, and it seems strange that persons receiving schedules by 
mail do not fill them out properly and promptly and return them 
when requested. When applied practically it becomes hard to 
ask even the simplest question and secure uniform and correct 
answers. Persons show absolute genius in misunderstanding 
questions. Some are in a state of honest perplexity and betray it 
in their attempts to answer and in the letters they often send with 
their returns. Of course, we are speaking now of schedules to be 
filled and returned by mail. A striking instance of statistical 
mystification was shown by the clothing manufacturer who returned 
1 2 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
a manufactures schedule unfilled, with a note saying he was not in 
want of any goods at that time but when he wished some he would 
write. Some parties quibble and make as much trouble as 
possible before answering. 
In the preparation of single inquiries, which when combined form 
the schedule, the intention is to ask a question which will draw out 
the information desired. In writing, tautology is not a fault if 
thereby a gain is made in perspicuity. Compound inquiries, or 
two or more questions in one, should be avoided, for they necessi- 
tate compound answers which must be separated by the tabulat- 
ing clerk. In routine schedules, or those used from year to year, 
usually by public offices, the best form of inquiry is arrived at 
after years of experience, and if the officials who answer have 
long tenures of office the returns are usually correct. 
When a person prepares a schedule he should be able to see, in 
his mind’s eye, the results in print. The river can never rise any 
higher than its source, and the most that any statistical work can 
contain must be comprehended in the schedule. At the same 
time the experienced statistician will extract, from an apparently 
simple schedule by combinations, an array of facts that the casual 
observer of a schedule would never imagine it contained. 
The Writing of the General Instructions. General instructions 
must be prepared to aid the enumerators or agents who collect the 
statistics, and also those persons who are called upon to fill 
schedules and return them by mail. 
The general instructions to enumerators or agents should cover 
such points as—correspondence with the main office; directions 
as to how to send in returns ; description of outfit supplied and its 
use explained ; summary of the work to be done ; personal service 
to be given; a proper day’s work; regard for boundaries of 
districts; the examination and correction of returns before they 
are sent in ; disposition to be made of materials not used ; cour- 
tesy to be observed in dealing with the people ; precautions to be 
taken against false statements by parties supplying information ; 
the proper course to follow in case of refusal to answer; concerning 
the confidential nature of returns; in relation to daily reports of 
work done ; the keeping of accounts of services and expenses and 
their return to the office with the necessary certification and 
vouchers. THE PREPARATION OF SCHEDULES. 
3 
The general instructions sent to persons who are to fill sched- 
ules and return them by mail should relate to—the definition of 
the actual time covered by the schedule, or parts thereof, whether 
the day, month, or year; how to write money values ; description 
of mercantile values, book values, and combustible values; the 
use of “symbols” or signs in filling up schedules; and directions 
to apply, when necessary, for further instructions by mail. 
The Writing ofthe Special Instructions for each Inquiry. Beyond 
the filling in of the state, county, town or city, and date, there is 
seldom an inquiry in a schedule that does not need some special 
explanation to aid in answering the question. Even when the gen- 
eral and special instructions are supplied, in many cases parties 
will not take the time or trouble to rea.d them, and a long and 
expensive correspondence will often be required to gain a few facts 
which the person could and would have included in the original 
schedule if he had read and understood his instructions. It is, no 
doubt, often the case that both inquiries and instructions are lack- 
ing in plainness and distinctness, but that is seldom the case with 
the expert statistician who can see a perfectly filled schedule in his 
mind, and who knows what to say to secure the answer desired. 
Quotations from the Law authorizing the Collection of Information. 
In the United States the law, like the atmosphere, encircles the 
citizen, but does not press upon him uncomfortably unless in 
extreme cases. The American citizen is jealous of his individual 
rights and opposed, on principle, to inquisitorial inquiries by the 
government. He is not so much opposed to giving information 
of a private nature, but he is very solicitous as regards the use to 
be made of the information. He will give a statistical office indi- 
vidual facts but he wishes, naturally, to be “covered up” in the 
print. He does not wish his competitors or, it may be, enemies 
to learn his private affairs and use the information to his detri- 
ment. For these reasons, and also to show the individual that 
“the people” demand the information, a schedule should contain 
such extracts from the law as will show its general scope and 
individual application. In many cases the whole law should be 
printed in the schedule. 
The Typographical Arrangement of the Schedule. The typograph- 
ical arrangement is largely dependent upon the size. The practice 
in the past has been to use large and unhandy schedules; the 4 
PEACTICAL STATISTICS. 
present tendency is to small or medium-sized ones that are easily 
portable and comfortably handled. The population schedule of 
the United States in 1880 was 21 inches long and 15 5/8 inches wide, 
having spaces for 50 names and particulars. 
The Massachusetts state census population schedules in 1875 
were on the “ family basis”—that is, one family to a schedule. 
They measured 8 by 14 inches and had spaces for 12 names and 
particulars. In case of very large families two or more schedules 
were fastened together to preserve the family unity. 
The Massachusetts population schedules for the Census of 1885 
were n inches long and 4 inches wide, printed on heavy paper, 
each card forming a personal or individual schedule. Its advan- 
tages are many. The enumerator’s load is decreased, he is depriv- 
ed of the look of a book agent, he can write with greater comfort 
and rapidity, mistakes are more easily corrected, additions or 
subtractions more easily made, and a party may be allowed to see 
his own schedule without disclosing facts relating to other people. 
Besides these advantages a marked sex distinction is made by 
printing the schedules for males in blue and those for females in 
red ink. But the greatest advantage of all is found in the tabula- 
tion, as is fully explained hereinafter in the Chapter devoted to 
that subject. 
The space left for the answer should be as large as possible. 
Few people write a small hand distinctly and room should be 
given to write in a complete reply in a “good round hand.” 
Instructions should be given as to what course to pursue when the 
answer is likely to require more space than that allowed in the 
schedule. 
The subject of the preparation of schedules has been treated in 
a general way only in this Chapter. In order to avoid duplica- 
tions in print of the same material it has been deemed best to post- 
pone the detail consideration of the inquiries to Chapter V., which 
is devoted to the “ Examination of Returns.” There, the inquiries, 
the special instructions, and suggestions as to the proper manner 
of framing inquiries are brought together so the student can study 
them contemporaneously. While this plan detracts from the full- 
ness of the present chapter it enables us to show practically what 
answers are obtained to certain inquiries, and to indicate the best 
course to follow to avoid errors and omissions in future work. CHAPTER II. 
THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION. 
The blanks, forms, or schedules having been prepared, the next 
work in order is the collection of the information. This may be 
done in various ways. The schedule may be one calling for 
information that can be supplied by city or town officials, or 
court officers, from their records. The schedules are accordingly 
mailed, as circulars (postage one cent for each two ounces), to the 
city or town clerks, assessors, clerks of courts, etc., as the case 
may be, and a return envelope, addressed and post-paid (letter 
postage at two cents per ounce, as the circular will be filled in), 
enclosed. 
A plan that will save half the cost of envelopes is the following: 
Have a return label printed on gummed paper, addressed and 
properly stamped (postage). Enclose this with the blank; when 
After answering the Inquiries in the 
Annual Statistics Schedule, please put it in 
the same envelope in which it was sent 
to you, seal the same, affix this stamped 
addressed label to the outside of the envel- 
ope, and mail at once. 
A—3 
STAMP 
Bureau of Statistics of Labor, 
qo Beacon St,, 
Boston, Mass. 
1886 
a schedule is filled, the party seals the only envelope sent, sticks 
the label on the outside, and it is ready for the mail. 
5 6 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
The schedules may also be sent to well-informed parties in any 
profession or kind of business, to employers (in manufactures, trade, 
etc.), or to their employes. They may also be placed in the hands 
of special agents, although agents or experts often work with the 
aid of note books only, having no regular form of blank on which 
to record the information obtained. 
Schedules may also be handled by census enumerators; in fact 
more information is collected by them than by all other means. 
Statistical information is often drawn from printed reports or 
manuscript records without the aid of agents or enumerators. 
Many valuable statistical tables are evolved from a comparison and 
correlation of material already in print. This manner of obtain- 
ing or arranging statistical matter in new forms is done princi- 
pally by writers for newspapers, magazines, reviews, and authors 
of monographs on certain subjects, who use material already col- 
lected, but do not undertake, as a rule, original investigations. 
Censuses always require the services of the census enumerator. 
Government statistical reports are almost always made up from 
the reports of consuls, other officials, and often from well-informed 
persons having semi-official relations with the government. Cor- 
respondence is relied upon largely by what may be called private 
statisticians, and is used by all statisticians for the correction of 
errors and the supplying of omitted information. The United 
States Census officers can send and receive all communications 
free of postage which renders it a valuable and inexpensive (as 
regards the Census) means of collecting information. Of course 
the transportation of this great mass of material must be paid for 
in the end, and reduces the earnings of the post office department 
just so much. The various labor bureaus in the United States 
rely upon correspondence, printed and manuscript material, and 
special agents. The United States Bureau of Labor relies almost 
wholly upon special agents, the Commissioner having seen the 
superior value of their work in the Massachusetts Bureau of Stat- 
istics of Labor of which he is also the chief officer. Perhaps no 
better presentation can be given of the comparative use of the 
various ways of securing statistical information than by showing 
the sources of statistical information used in the Massachusetts 
reports on statistics of labor from 1873 to 1887—fourteen years. THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION. 
7 
Out of 62 subjects considered by the bureau since 1874, con- 
taining statistical material, in the case of only 10 investigations 
was a resort made to the use of blanks; in 21 cases the informa- 
tion was obtained by special agents, in 12 cases the information 
was drawn from the Massachusetts Census of 1875, in 3 from the 
United States Census of 1880, in 2 from the Massachusetts Census 
of 1885, in 8 from manuscript and printed material, and by means 
of correspondence, and in the remaining 6 from material supplied 
by outside parties, or on record in other state offices. 
The subjects, concerning which information was obtained by 
the use of blanks sent by mail, were as follows : 
1874. Education and employment of young persons and chil- 
dren. 
Relative to professional men. 
Savings banks. 
1879. Drunkenness and liquor selling. 
Testimony of workingmen. 
Convict labor. 
Unemployed in Massachusetts. June and November, 
1878. 
1880. Social life of workingmen. 
Convict labor in the United States. 
1886. Art in industry. 
The blank used to obtain information concerning the education 
of young persons and children was sent simply to town officers. 
That relative to professional men was sent to clergymen. The 
savings bank blank was so arranged as to find the occupations of 
depositors for a period of three months only. The blank for 
statistics of drunkenness and liquor selling was sent to town and 
city clerks. Some 6000 blanks were sent to secure the testimony 
of workingmen in 1879, but the plan was an acknowledged failure, 
as there were so few returns. A small blank was used for the 
statistics of convict labor in 1879 and 1880, but the principal 
information was only obtained after some 300 letters were written 
in the office. The statistics, as regards the unemployed in 
Massachusetts, were obtained from city and town officers. Those 
as regards the social life of workingmen were obtained from 
officers of organizations, city and town clerks, etc. In the case 8 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
of “Art in Industry,” blanks were sent to a number of firms en- 
gaged in the manufacture of what are known as “art goods.” 
For the purposes of statistical work, the bureau relied but very 
little upon the use of mail blanks, and the returns were not as a 
rule satisfactory in results. 
The other sources from which material was secured are shown 
in tfie following statements, the arrangement being chronologically 
under the respective methods : 
AGENTS. 
1874- Sanitary condition of working people in their homes 
and employment. 
Condition of textile fabric manufactories in Massa- 
chusetts. 
Comparative table, showing cost of groceries, provisions, 
articles of clothing and dry goods, 1861 and 1873. 
1875. Condition of workingmen’s families. 
Factory legislation. 
Special effects of certain forms of employment upon 
female health. 
1877. Co-operation in Massachusetts. 
1878. Comparative condition of manufactures and labor, 1875 
and 1877. 
1879. Wages and prices—1860, 1872, and 1878. 
1880. Divorces in Massachusetts—1860 to 1878. 
Strikes in Massachusetts. 
1881. Influence of intemperance upon crime. 
Uniform hours of labor. 
1882. Wages, prices and profits—1860, 1872, 1878 and 1881. 
Fall River, Lowell, and Lawrence. 
Canadian French in New England. 
1884. Comparative wages—-1883—Massachusetts and Great 
Britain. 
Working girls of Boston. 
1885. Sunday labor. 
1886. Profit sharing. 
Food consumption—quantities, costs, and nutrients of 
food materials. THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION. 
9 
MASSACHUSETTS STATE CENSUS OF 1875. 
1876. Salary receivers : 9,554 “ individual ” returns. 
Wage receivers: 71,339 “individual” returns. 
1877. The afflicted classes: blind, deaf, dumb, idiotic, and 
insane. 
Motive power of Massachusetts. 
Pauperism and crime. 
Massachusetts manufactories : persons employed in each 
story, and means of escape in case of fire. 
Growth of Massachusetts manufactories. 
1878. Relative importance of private establishments and cor- 
porations in manufacturing industries. 
Conjugal condition, nativities, and ages of married 
women and mothers. 
Nativities, ages, and illiteracy of farmers, farm laborers, 
skilled workmen in manufactures and mechanical 
industries, and unskilled laborers. 
1879. Hours of labor. 
1882. Citizenship. 
UNITED STATES CENSUS OF 1880. 
1874. Statistics relating to Massachusetts. 
1883. Profits and earnings : 2,440 establishments. 
Time and wages : 207,793 employes. 
MASSACHUSETTS STATE CENSUS OF 1885. 
1887. The unemployed. 
1888. Citizenship. 
PRINTED MATERIAL, MANUSCRIPT, AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
1874- Comparative rates of wages and hours of labor in 
Massachusetts and foreign countries. 
Prices of provisions, clothing, rent, etc., in Massachu- 
setts and Europe ; purchase power of money. 
1875. Co-operation. 10 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
1877. Industrial arbitration and conciliation in England and 
Massachusetts. 
1881. Industrial arbitration and conciliation. 
1884. Comparative wages—1862 to 1883—Massachusetts and 
Great Britain. 
Comparative prices and cost of living—1860 to 1883—■* 
Massachusetts and Great Britain. 
1886. Co-operative distribution in Great Britain. 
MATERIAL SUPPLIED. 
1874- Increase in wages in cotton, woollen, and worsted mills: 
1861 compared with 1873. 
Cost of living table: Massachusetts and foreign countries. 
1880. Statistics of crime : i860 to 1879. 
1881. Statistics of drunkenness and liquor selling. 
1885. Health statistics of female college graduates. 
Historical review of wages and prices: 1752 to i860. 
Two fundamental points should be borne in mind in the collec- 
tion of information. 
First, the information gathered must be exhaustive; that is, it 
must cover the subject and leave but little if any aftermath for the 
reformer, critic, magazine writer, or newspaper man to supply. 
Every statistical publication of an important nature, in the United 
States, is at once dissected by hundreds of keen minds and its 
armor of truth must be indeed strong to withstand their attacks. 
Their sharpest arrows are thrown at incompetency, and statistical 
incompetency is shown in no more marked way than in the inade- 
quate consideration and presentation of some great economic ques- 
tion. This inadequacy may kill the statistician, but the subject 
considered gets a set-back also in consequence. There must be 
some patriotism still existing in the breasts of government officials 
who give the best years of their lives to the public service at sal- 
aries which would be refused by those who criticize their work and 
find it impregnable to their assaults. 
Second, it must be honest information. It must be fact and 
not hearsay. It must not cover one side of a question and 
ignore the other. It must present the strongest facts for both THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION. 
11 
sides. The statistician must be judicial in his conclusions. He 
must be a judge and not an advocate. It is said, to our national 
honor, that the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United 
States have risen above partisan bias in their decisions regard- 
ing great questions. So, the statistician must put aside pet ideas, 
personal theories, and private hobbies, which constitute statis- 
tical partisanship, and, rising above them, judge facts dispas- 
sionately, and give to the public truths honestly arrived at from 
honest original investigations. CHAPTER III. 
INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS AND AGENTS. 
The best-prepared schedule will fail in its purpose, the securing 
of complete and accurate information, unless the instructions given 
to the correspondent, official, agent, or enumerator, are so full and 
helpful as to enable him to fill in the answers as was intended. 
Of course this is on the supposition that the blank, or schedule, is 
a perfectly constructed one, but, too often, the errors that vitiate 
statistics are fundamental, having their origin in the blank itself, 
and being of such a nature that careful instructions, honest en- 
deavor on the part of persons supplying information, and even 
copious correspondence will not obtain trustworthy data. 
The instructions for mail blanks, or for returns to be made by 
officials, need to be more explicit than those given upon schedules 
to be collected by agents or enumerators. The agents and enu- 
merators have their special instructions and are able to easily cor- 
rect errors in blanks that by mail would require a long and tedious 
correspondence. It is this lack of rapport between the parties 
sending out blanks and those expected to fill and return them by 
mail that causes the great expense of collecting information by 
mail. It is not the cost of the postage, but it requires good sala- 
ries to pay for the clerks capable of writing suitable explanatory 
letters, and for stenographers and type-writers to put the corres- 
pondence in proper shape ; again, a voluminous correspondence 
requires indexing, and careful clerks are needed for such service. 
Then, again, clerks having the power of brain-consecutivity must 
bring this information (often contradictory, being given, it may be, 
by different persons) into proper condition to be transferred to 
the schedules laid out on account of errors or omissions. Perfect 
schedules are needed for speedy and accurate tabulation, and all 
errors and omissions which are not found in blanks until they reach 
12 INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS AND AGENTS. 
13 
tabulation cause delay, re-figurings, and consequent additions to 
the expense of the clerical service. 
As instructions vary so much according to the information to 
be obtained it would be impracticable to give here only those 
general in their application. In the case of special agents, they 
are often given orally, but, even with the best agents, this is not 
a safe plan. Instructions, either for agents or clerks, should 
always be reduced to writing, type-writing, or print, and then the 
persons employed can be held to strict accountability. 
The best general instruction for agents is that each series of 
recorded facts should be written upon uniform sized sheets of 
paper, suitably designated, so these slips can be sorted, condensed, 
or aggregated, without the necessity of re-copying. Copying, unless 
carefully read back, is the most inexact of all statistical work, and 
should be avoided as much as possible by utilizing the original 
records of the agent in tabulation. 
From the instructions supplied to the census enumerators of 
the Massachusetts State Census of 1885, the following condensed 
statement is prepared : 
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
THE ENUMERATOR’S BOOK FOR THE CENSUS AND INDUS- 
TRIAL STATISTICS OF 1885. 
Containing comprehensive Definitions, Explanations, and Instructions for 
properly filling Schedule No. 1, Population and Social Statistics; Sched- 
ule No. 1—Special; and the necessary Memorandum Forms for Entering 
the Names, Kinds of Business, or Occupations; and Post-office Addresses 
of all Individuals, Firms, Corporations, etc., engaged in Productive In- 
dustry in the Commonwealth. 
DEALINGS WITH THE CENSUS OFFICE. 
1.—Correspondence. All communications relating to the 
Census should be addressed 
BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR, 
Claflin Building, 20 Beacon Street, 
BOSTON, MASS. 14 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
2. —Packages by Express. Printed addressed gummed labels 
are sent you which are to be used on express packages only. All 
express packages should have the address given on this label. 
OUTFIT. 
3. Schedules, Forms, etc., sent you. You have already re- 
ceived from the Census Office your commission as an Enumerator, 
which you have accepted. We now send you the following In- 
structions and Outfit to enable you to intelligently and properly 
perform your duties. 
INVENTORY. 
Enumerator’s Instruction Book. 
Schedules. No. i, Population and Social Statistics, Male. 
Schedules. No. i, Population and Social Statistics, Female. 
Schedules. No. i, Population and Social Statistics, Special. 
Schedules. No. 4, Domestic Manufactures, Agricultural Prod- 
ucts and Property. 
Pencils and rubber. 
Wire fasteners. 
Schedule Case. 
Cards to separate the unfilled Schedules for Males and Females, 
and the completed Schedules, in the Schedule Case. 
Daily Work Report Cards. 
Consolidated Daily Work Report. 
Time Account. 
Bill Form and Oath. 
Expense Statement. 
Gummed Labels for Express Packages. 
Receipt Form for Express Companies. 
Postal Card Receipt for above Outfit, upon which you should 
enter the date of beginning work, and at once mail the same 
to the Census Office. 
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS. 
4. —You are referred to succeeding pages for full instructions as 
to the manner of entering the names and addresses in the back 
part of this book, the proper manner for filling or delivering the INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS AND AGENTS. 
15 
various Schedules sent you, for making your daily and consolidated 
reports of work done and time employed, and for completing and 
returning to this office your work, reports, and accounts. In case 
the Instructions herewith furnished you fail to supply you with 
desired information, your duty is to write the Census Office with- 
out delay, stating the case plainly, and the decision of this office 
will be sent you promptly. We consider, however, that the 
Instructions are so minute that the Enumerator who reads them 
carefully will find little, if any, need for correspondence. Do not 
write unless you are sure the Instructions do not cover the case 
in point. 
5. Postal Card Receipt for Outfit. Upon receiving your 
Outfit, immediately check off the schedules, forms, and articles 
mentioned in Inventory (Instruction 3, Enumerator’s Book) and 
as soon as possible after beginning work fill out Form C 85-44, 
and mail it to the Census Office. If any part of your Outfit is 
lacking, mention the fact on this form, and the missing articles 
will be forwarded at once. 
6. —Enumerator’s Book. If this book is not large enough to 
contain the names and addresses of the Farmers, Manufacturers, 
etc., in your district, notify us in time so that another may be sent 
you, and thus prevent unnecessary delay. 
V.—Schedules. We send you what we deem a sufficient quan- 
tity of Schedules for use in your district. Be particular in sending 
orders for extra Schedules to specify the number of the Schedule, 
and also the office number; for instance, the Male Population 
Schedule is “Schedule No. 1,” the office number, just below the 
upper punch hole is “ C 85-8.” 
8. —Pencils and Rubber. We wish you to use the pencils 
sent herewith in filling all Schedules. Ink or any other kind of 
pencil must not be used. The writing must be legible, the marks 
made firmly; illegible or faintly written returns will, necessarily, 
be subjected to revision, and your account will not be approved 
until the Schedules are in perfect condition for tabulation. 
9. The Schedule Case. The aim of the Census Office has 
been to supply the Enumerator with a small, compact receptacle 
for his blank and completed Schedules, instead of the large port- 16 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
folios used in former Censuses. The case sent you will contain 
about three hundred of the Card Schedules. A sufficient number 
of Schedule No. i—Special and Schedule No. 4, for a day’s work, 
can be carried conveniently in your pocket. We supply you with 
three cards which will enable you to separate the unfilled Sched- 
ules for Males and Females from the completed ones in the 
Schedule Case. 
10. Your Work. Your work consists in filling, according to 
instructions hereinafter given, Schedule No. 1, Population and 
Social Statistics, Male and Female ; Schedule No. 1—Special; 
in entering the names and addresses of Farmers, Manufacturers, 
etc., in the back part of this book; and in delivering, at the same 
time, a copy of Schedule No. 4 to every person owning, hiring, or 
carrying on a Farm, Market Garden, etc., in your district. As 
regards Schedule No. 4 your duty is simply to deliver it. Devote 
no time to explaining it, and make no attempt to fill it or to have 
it filled, for this Schedule will not be taken up until after November 
15, 1885. See Instructions 41 and 51. 
11. —Personal Service. You are expected to personally fill 
Schedule No. 1, and Schedule No. 1—Special; to deliver Schedule 
No. 4, and to make the address lists. You cannot delegate to 
any other person your authority to make inquiries. You must do 
the whole work yourself, with the single exception of such specially 
authorized assistance as may be given you by interpreters. 
12. —A Day’s Work. You should be able to fill, on an average, 
from 200 to 250 Schedules a day (Forms C 85-8 and 9), besides 
the Schedule No. 1—Special (of which you will, as a rule, use but 
a few each day), enter your names and addresses, and deliver 
Schedule No. 4. In many thickly settled localities you can fill 
more than 250 Schedules in ten hours. There is no objection to 
your working in the early part of the evening if you find that you 
can prosecute your work to greater advantage. In approving 
your bill, comparisons will be made with the work done in previ- 
ous Censuses, and in the case of any marked discrepancy an 
explanation will be called for before the approval of your account. 
Enumerators are desired to exercise diligence in their work, as 
the Census Office is required by law to prepare an abstract of the 
Census returns, and present it to the Secretary of the Common- INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS AND AGENTS. 
17 
wealth on or before September i, 1885. The districts are so 
arranged that in the majority of them the work can easily be com- 
pleted during the month of May, in many cases requiring much 
less than the entire month. In only a few districts, and those the 
necessarily large ones, will the work extend into the month of 
June. 
13. Distinguish Boundaries. The boundaries of your Enu- 
meration District are clearly defined in your Commission. You 
should establish these boundaries carefully in your mind, select 
a point at which to begin work and go through your district 
systematically. 
14. —Examining and Correcting Returns. All Schedules 
and Lists sent in by you will be carefully examined before tabula- 
tion. The more accurate your work the sooner your account will 
be approved and paid. In the case of correct work, your money 
will be ready within a few days after the receipt of your work. 
No payment will be made to any Enumerator until all the errors 
in his work have been corrected, and all omissions of information 
have been supplied. 
15. Materials Not Used. When your work is completed, all 
Schedules not used, the Schedule Case, and all other unused 
material specified in the Inventory in Instruction 3 should be 
neatly packed and returned in the same package with the com- 
pleted Schedules and this book. All the articles mentioned in 
the Inventory are charged to you personally, and must be accounted 
for before your time account and bill can secure approval. All 
materials sent, whether used or unused, should be handled care- 
fully and returned in the best possible condition. The wrapping 
paper on the package sent you, if preserved and turned, will form 
a suitable cover for your completed work. 
DEALINGS WITH THE PEOPLE. 
16. —Courtesy. In the exercise of your authority as Enumer- 
ator, you should use courtesy, tact, and discrimination. A rude, 
peremptory, or overbearing demeanor will render persons less dis- 
posed to give information, and it may seriously retard your work. 
Be prompt, rapid, and decisive in making your inquiries, but do 
not arouse any antagonism or give any offense. 18 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
17. —False Statements. Under the law you have a right to 
a true statement or reply to each and every question borne on 
the Schedules, and which have been approved by the Governor 
and Council. If statements which you know to be false are made 
to you, you must endeavor to obtain true answers by observation 
or by inquiry of other persons who are trustworthy. You will 
undoubtedly experience the most difficulty in securing correct 
answers to Inquiry 25 on Forms C 85-8 and 9, and in filling out 
the Schedule No. 1—Special, as a whole. You should make par- 
ticular endeavors, therefore, to secure correct answers to that 
Inquiry and for that Schedule. 
18. —Refusal to Answer. If parties through ignorance or wil- 
fulness refuse to answer it will call for discretionary treatment. 
You will do well not to unnecessarily obtrude the compulsory 
feature of the enumeration. If the refusal is persisted in you 
must call their attention to the law and inform them that you will 
be obliged to notify this office of their refusal. Do not report 
such refusals except in extreme cases, nor until you are sure that 
your efforts to secure the information will be unsuccessful. 
19. Confidential Nature of Returns. Impress upon those 
who raise any objections to answering the Inquiries that you are 
obliged by law to keep them entirely confidential and that no one 
but yourself will see them before they are sent to this office. 
State positively to them that the names and residences will never 
be made use of in any printed report. They are required simply 
as a means of identifying the Schedule. If necessary you can allow 
a person who objects to read this Instruction. Call their attention 
to that provision of the law (Sect, n, Chap. 181, Acts of 1884) 
which makes it obligatory upon you to keep replies confidential, 
and which subjects you to a fine and to the revocation of your 
appointment in case you are derelict in duty. You have no right 
to make copies of the answers on any Schedules for your own 
private use, or for public or private use by any other person. 
(See latter part of Sect. 11, Chap. 181, Acts of 1884.) You are 
particularly instructed not to give information obtained from the 
Schedules to any party or parties. All requests from newspapers, 
or from individuals, for the total population of your town or city, or 
district, must be referred to this office for answer, together with the 19 
INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS AND AGENTS. 
names and addresses of the parties desiring the information, and it 
will be sent as soon as the correct figures are ascertained. 
SCHEDULE NO. I—SPECIAL. 
40. —This Schedule calls for particular information concern- 
ing those persons who may be entered, under Inquiry 12 on 
Schedule No. i, as Prisoners, Convicts, Homeless Children or Pau- 
pers ; and similar imformation for those who may be entered, 
under Inquiry 25 on Schedule No. i, as suffering from Acute 
Disease, Chronic Disease, or who are Blind, Deaf, Dumb, Deaf and 
Dumb, Insane, Idiotic, Maimed, Lame, Bedridden, Paralytic, or 
afflicted with any other defective physical condition. 
Full instructions are given upon Schedule No. i—Special, 
(Form C 85-22) as regards the proper manner of filling same, and 
there is no necessity for repetition here; but we wish to impress 
upon the Enumerator the fact that it will require the utmost vigi- 
lance on his part to avoid omitting persons whose names should 
appear upon the Special Schedule. 
Prisoners and Convicts he will find in penal or reformatory institu- 
tions ; Homeless Children in charitable institutions and very often 
in private families; Paupers he will find in charitable institutions 
of all kinds, and oftentimes in private families where they are 
boarded at public expense. 
Persons with Acute or Chronic diseases, and those Bedridden or 
Paralytic will usually be found at home, but often in hospitals, 
asylums, penal, reformatory, and charitable institutions, etc. 
The Blind, Dumb, Deaf and Dumb, Insane, and Idiotic must be 
sought for in families as well as in institutions. Those Deaf only 
will usually be found at home. The Maimed and Lame are in 
families principally, but often in homes, asylums, etc. 
The Enumerator should read all the Instructions found on 
Schedule No. 1—Special with the greatest care. He should be 
sure that the numbers in Space 26 on Schedule No. 1, and on the 
Special Schedule agree, and should fill out and sign the Certificate 
on Page 1 of each Special Schedule. 
SCHEDULE NO. 4. 
41. —This Schedule (Form C 85-10) relates to Domestic Man- 
ufactures and Agricultural Products and Property. If you read 20 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
the first page of same you will at once comprehend that you are 
neither to fill Schedule No. 4, nor collect the same. The Census 
Year, as regards Schedule No. 4, does not end until November 
15, 1885, and your duty is simply, while on your rounds for 
making the enumeration of the people, to deliver a copy of Sched- 
ule No. 4 to each person ow?iing, hiring, or carrying on a farm, mark, 
et garden, orchard, nursery, greenhouse,—owners of hay lands (often 
detached pieces of marsh land along the seaboard), owners of 
woodland (often owned by non-residents),—and any other person 
engaged in Domestic (home) Manufactures, in raising Agricultural 
Products, or who owns productive Agricultural Property. 
Read the names of articles and property in Schedule No. 4; each 
and every person raising or producing such articles or owning 
such property should receive and fill out, in due time, a copy of 
Schedule No. 4. The manner of entering the Names and Ad- 
dresses of persons to whom you deliver Schedule No. 4 is fully 
explained hereinafter. 
Take no time to explain Schedule No. 4, but leave the same, 
enter the name and address, and proceed in your work of enum- 
erating the people. 
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS. 
42. General Instructions. The Enumerator must keep a 
complete record of the time actually and necessarily employed in 
his work, the amount of work done, and must properly make up, 
certify, or make oath to all such records and accounts, as instructed, 
before they will be approved, and he be paid. The following 
instructions, in detail, if carefully read, will enable him to perform 
these duties satisfactorily. 
43. Separation Cards. The three cards sent you headed 
respectively “ Schedules for Males,” “ Schedules for Females,” 
and “Completed Schedules,” are longer than the Schedules them- 
selves and will enable you to find the desired Schedules in your 
Schedule Case with ease. 
44. Daily Work Report Cards. Enough of these cards are 
sent to furnish one as a cover or file-top for the Schedules filed 
each day, that is, each day’s work which is to be tied up separately. 
They should be placed on top, and the creased edges turned INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS AND AGENTS. 
21 
down. Then pass one end of a wire fastener up from the bottom, 
meet it with the other end, give the two ends a double or triple twist 
and then press them down upon the card. Do this also with the 
other end and your day’s work is firmly secured in a neat, com- 
pact package. 
Fill out the blank spaces on the card, giving the state of the 
weather, and state the fact if your territory was very thickly, closely, 
not very closely, or sparsely settled; if delayed in your work state 
the cause. 
45. Consolidated Daily Work Report. This form is not to 
be filled out until you have completed your entire work. Your 
final population number (See Space 4, on Schedule No. 1, Forms 
C 85-8 and C 85-9) gives you your first entry. Then the total 
number of Schedule No. 1—Special (Form C 85-22) filled out by 
you supplies you with your second entry. From your List of 
Names and Addresses (See Instruction 62) you derive the neces- 
sary figures for filling in the remainder of the blank spaces. 
46. Enumerator’s Expense Statement. No allowance will 
be made for Travelling Expenses or for the Services of Interpreters 
unless specially authorized on Form C 85-27 by the Chief of the 
Bureau of Statistics of Labor. All applications for such author- 
ization must state the circumstances very plainly and be accompa- 
nied by an estimate of the probable expenses. All bills for 
travelling expenses or for services of interpreters must be 
receipted and forwarded as vouchers with your Bill form. 
The Schedules and Outfit will be sent you by Express, C. O. D. 
This is done to simplify the work of shipping your Schedules and 
Outfit. The amount will be refunded when your account for services 
is settled. You must enter date and amount on Form C 85-28, as 
also all expenses for postage, telegraph, and telephone. Your in- 
structions are so minute that there will be no occasion for much 
correspondence, and the telegraph or telephone must only be used 
in urgent cases w’hen the public service would suffer by delay. 
All charges deemed unnecessary will not be approved. You 
should pay the return expressage on your completed work for 
reasons given above. 
47. Time Account and Bill Form. Special instructions are 
given upon these Forms for your guidance in filling and returning. 22 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
You carry forward your minor expences from the form supplied to 
the Bill Form, and also enter such special expenses as may have 
been authorized by the Census Office. 
48. Gummed Labels for Express Packages Only. When 
your work is completed you should do it up neatly, compactly, and 
firmly in the paper in which your Outfit was sent (if suitable) and 
paste upon it Form C 85-42, having first filled in your Name, 
District No., Name of Town or City, and Name of Express Com- 
pany. Y'ou should return in the same package your Enumerator's 
Book and all unused schedules, forms, blanks, and material sent 
you as per Inventory in your Enumerator’s Book. 
49. Receipt Form for Express Companies. You will be 
held reponsible for your completed work and all unused material 
until the same is received by the Census Office. Do not fail to 
take receipts in duplicates from the Express Company. Retain the 
Original (Form C 85-43). 
50. —Accounts by Mail. In your Schedule Case, in an ad- 
dressed and stamped envelope, you will find the following blank 
forms : 
Consolidated Daily Work Report. 
Expense Statement, Time Account. 
Bill Form and Oath (on one sheet). 
Two Express Receipts. (See Instruction 49.) 
When these forms are filled in accordance with Instructions 45, 
47, and 49, they should be returned by mail in the envelope 
provided. 
NAME AND ADDRESS LISTS. 
51. By the provisions of the Census Law of 1885 the statistics 
other than those relating to Population and Social Statistics and 
to Domestic Manufactures and Agricultural Products and Property 
will be taken by mail. The plan, in brief, is to have the Enumera- 
tors who take the population statistics make at the same time that 
is, while on your rounds for making the enumeration of the 
people, and turn into the Bureau of Statistics of Labor complete 
lists of the names, occupation or kind of business, and particular 
post-office address of the following classes, including, as regards 
industries, only those persons who are employers or proprietors :— INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS AND AGENTS. 
23 
1. All those persons engaged in Manufactures. 
2. Those engaged in Quarrying, Mining, etc. 
3. Those engaged in Domestic Manufactures or in Agriculture. 
4. Those engaged in the Fisheries. 
5. Those engaged in Commerce. 
6. Librarians or Superintendents of Reading Rooms. 
7. Proprietors or Principals of Colleges, Academies, and Pri- 
vate Schools. 
Full instructions follow as to whom to include under each List 
Head, and the manner of properly entering the names, occupa- 
tions, or kind of business, and post-office addresses in the book 
provided. 
MANUFACTURERS. 
52. —Manufacturers. Those who make articles in shops, fac- 
tories, or mills are called by the general term, Manufacturers. 
They may not make the whole of an article, but if their work con- 
tributes to the completion of the article they are manufacturers. 
As you are called upon to enter on Schedule No. 1, the facts con- 
cerning every person carrying on any kind of business in your 
Enumeration District, it will not take you long to decide upon 
those who should be classified as manufacturers. In order to 
obtain the population you must not miss any part of any square, 
street, lane, alley, court, or road. You must be particularly care- 
ful in the case of a large block fronting on several streets, or with 
several entrances. Thus covering every building in your work of 
enumerating the people you have no reason for omitting from your 
Name and Address Lists the facts desired concerning any person, 
firm, or corporation engaged in the kinds of business above named. 
No person manufacturing any descriptionof goods should be omit- 
ted from the Lists, and no omissions should be made on account 
of the small value of the manufactured articles. No manufactory, 
however small should be passed over. 
53. Manufacturers and Dealers. Many persons and firms 
engaged principally in buying and selling goods have also certain 
articles that they manufacture. You should visit all Dealers like- 
ly, in your opinion, to be engaged in manufacturing, and of them 
the special inquiry should always be made as to whether they are 
also Manufacturers. Manufacturing is often carried on in houses, 24 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
and a careful lookout, especially in large cities, will be necessary 
to discover all such manufacturers. 
54. Location of Mills, Factories, etc. Very often the of- 
fice or salesroom is in another building than the mill, factory, or 
workshop. It will often occur that the office or salesroom is in 
one Enumerator’s District, while the mill, factory, or workshop 
may be in another Enumerator’s District. In some cases the 
manufactory is in one city and the office in another. One general 
rule will prevent mistakes : in all such cases the Enumerator whose 
District contains the Mill’ Factory, or Workshop, or the building 
where the goods are made, should return the Name and Address on 
his List. 
55. —What are Manufactures ? We have given a definition of 
a Mamifacturer. It is impossible to enumerate here the differ- 
ent articles made in the Commonwealth in order to guide you in 
your work, but you would derive less benefit from such a list, how- 
ever complete, than from the last three lines of Instruction 52. 
Every manufacturer, whatever the kind of goods made and whatever 
the value of product annually, is to be entered on your Lists. 
56. —Cards, Price Lists, etc. In order to show the articles 
made by each manufacturer, you should obtain from each person, 
firm, or corporation a card, bill-head, circular, price list, catalogue, 
or any printed material showing the names of articles manufactured 
by said person, firm, or corporation. These cards, price lists, etc., 
should be numbered by you, bearing the List Number at the left 
of the List, which is on the same line as the Name, etc., of the 
person, firm, or corporation. If only one kind of goods is made 
enter the exact name in every such case. Use the general term 
for the industry when a variety of articles are made by one person, 
firm, or corporation. 
57 — Quarries and Mines, etc., Agriculture, the Fisheries, 
Commerce, Libraries and Reading Rooms, Colleges, Acad- 
emies, and Private Schools. The manner of entry upon the 
Name and Address Lists of the Names, Occupation or Kind of 
Business, and Post Office Address of all persons, firms, or corpo- 
ations engaged as above is shown more graphically in the Sample 
Pages following than could be done by text description. The fol- 
lowing points should be borne in mind :— INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS AND AGENTS. 
25 
I. As all farmers will enter on Schedule No. 4 (see page 10 of 
same), whether they have Mines, Quarries, etc., you should enter in 
the Lists only those parties owning or working mines, quarries, etc., 
not on farms. The kinds of Mines, Quarries, etc., are as follows : 
Clay pits, fish ponds (private property), fish ways (private proper- 
ty), gravel pits, marl and muck beds, asbestos mines, coal mines, 
iron mines, mines (other metals), peat bogs, granite quarries, lime- 
stone quarries, marble quarries, sandstone quarries, slate quarries, 
soapstone quarries, sand pits, and salt works. 
II. The name and address of every person to whom you deliver 
Schedule No. 4 must be entered on the Lists. 
III. All persons, firms, etc. (employers), engaged in the Fish- 
eries, or in coastwise or ocean Commerce, must be entered on the 
Lists. 
IV. The names, etc., of all Librarians (whether public, public 
or private school, Sunday school, college, church, scientific, artistic, 
law, medical, hospital, association, or proprietors of private 
circulating libraries) must be entered on the Lists; also, the 
names, etc., of all superintendents of Reading Rooms. 
V. The names and addresses of proprietors or principals of 
all incorporated and unincorporated colleges, academies, and pri- 
vate schools must be entered on the Lists. 
In the Census of 1890 no Enumerator should be appointed 
unless he successfully passes a “ practical ” civil service examina- 
tion—that is schedule information should be sent him for say ten 
schedules, five for men and five for women. Being supplied with 
the instructions he should then fill out the schedules, and send 
them to the appointing power for examination. If correct, that 
enumerator is sure to do good work. If he makes trivial errors 
his attention can be called to them and he may become as good as 
the best of enumerators. Those who show by their filled schedules 
that they are ignorant, are illegible writers, or who have failed to 
properly study and apply their instructions, should not be appoint- 
ed, at least not until they have filled a set of schedules properly. 
The objections will be urged to this plan that it takes more time, 
and also that a party who had passed a civil service examination 
might fail of appointment when this special test was applied. To 
this it may be answered that all errors and omissions in statistical 
work take place in the gathering of facts, or the enumeration. If 26 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
agents and enumerators always did their work correctly no time 
would be wasted on examinations, tabulation could be conducted 
with mechanical precision and the day’s work of a statistical figure 
factory be as accurately gauged as though it was a boot and shoe 
factory or a cotton mill. Tabulations being perfect, presentations 
would also be perfect and notes of explanation would be unneces- 
sary. The clerical work is always well performed when intelli- 
gently laid out and supervised. The great reform and advance in 
statistical and census work is needed and must take place in the 
enumeratio?i of facts and the collection of information. Better 
to drop slipshod work entirely and enumerate again than have 
one enumerator’s poor work vitiate the good work of a hundred 
others. The poor enumerator or agent like the bad man in society 
renders it necessary to keep a constant watch on good and bad 
alike, with increased cost for preparation of rules and their en- 
forcement. Rather use the time and money to keep the poor 
agent or enumerator out than to use it to correct his ignorant 
errors and careless omissions. 
The agent on special work or the enumerator on census work 
is entitled to full and graphic instructions. They should be so 
arranged that he will first grasp their general provisions, then the 
detail ones will come easy to him. He should be a gentleman, 
and treat all he meets, hard as it may sometimes be, as ladies and 
gentlemen. He should be patient and helpful, and should always 
remember that to obtain information by pleasant means will make 
his future path easier and help the office that employs him. One 
man whose antagonism is aroused by an injudicious enumerator 
may. so influence his own community that enumeration may be 
seriously retarded, and it may be rendered practically useless by 
incorrect answers given under the influence exerted by the offend- 
ed party. 
The schedules supplied to agents and enumerators should be 
of medium size so as to be easily reached for writing. Large 
schedules render writing difficult, are unhandy to carry, make an 
enumerator look like a book-agent and thus interfere with the 
speedy prosecution of his work, for he has to remove the wrong im- 
pression and then explain his real business. Again, in tabulating, 
large schedules are unhandy, take more desk room, and are con- 
ducive to disease as they oblige the clerks to assume strained and INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS AND AGENTS. 
27 
unnatural positions, besides affecting the eyesight prejudicially. 
One great advantage of the mechanical systems of tabulation 
hereinafter explained is that they dispense with the straining to 
see remote lines, avoid the bending of the back with its attend- 
ant evils, and its usual sequel—shortsightedness. The machine 
tabulator sits upright at her work, within easy seeing distance of 
her working material, and the work so combines physical with the 
necessary mental exercise as to remove many of the objections to 
constant sedentary employment. 
For the same reasons that a small schedule is of advantage to 
the agent or enumerator, his outfit (paper, pencils, instructions, 
blank schedules, etc.) should be put up in a compact manner, 
and made as little noteworthy to the passer-by as possible. CHAPTER IV. 
THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
As has been stated previously if a perfect schedule could be 
framed, and agents or enumerators obtain perfect returns, it 
would be unnecessary to write this Chapter. But the fact remains 
that it is almost impossible to frame an inquiry that somebody 
will not misunderstand. The double or even triple meaning in 
some inquiries is discovered as soon as the agents or enumerators 
begin their work, and then it becomes necessary to prepare and 
issue supplemental instructions. When the party who fills a 
schedule gives an answer that may be understood in two or even 
three ways, then correspondence is resorted to to find out what he 
actually did mean. When it is found that imperfect inquiries have 
been printed in a schedule, more than usual care is needed in 
examination, for certain parties will answer according to one in- 
terpretation of the inquiry, while other parties will answer on a 
different understanding. Again, a party filling a schedule may 
supply a meaning, that is, suppose one that the inquiry does not 
have, and he answers according to his supposition. This class of 
errors requires correspondence for justification. Every inquiry 
is liable to some sort of a misunderstanding, or the answer may 
be omitted. In some cases the inquiry is not applicable and an 
answer is properly omitted. Thus, there is but one safe plan to 
follow, which is to examine the answers to all the inquiries on 
each schedule. Beside the incomplete or erroneous schedules 
are those which appear, at first glance, to be properly filled, but 
which, on examination, are found to contain incompatible answers 
—that is, the relation of the answers is such as to show that some 
of them are wrong. While the work of examination is being car- 
ried on, the first sorting and arranging of schedules can be done ; 
by cities and towns, if the work is of that nature, by industries in 
28 THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
29 
the case of industrial statistics, or by any other system of classi- 
fication that may be adopted. 
No work in practical statistics is so exacting as competent and 
valuable examination. The necessity for examination comes when 
the clerks, as a rule, are not sufficiently acquainted with the sched- 
ules to be of much practical use. That knowledge does not come 
until they have had particular instruction, which takes time and 
competent teachers. This shows the necessity of having clerks 
in training, or trained clerks ready, for each Census. The plan 
hereinbefore suggested of having census enumerators fill out 
schedules preliminary to their appointment would supply an oppor- 
tunity for clerks to become experienced in examinations from the 
practice gained by examining the schedules sent in by the would- 
be enumerators. Then, these clerks would be ready to examine 
the regular schedules when sent in by the enumerators. 
In order to show the character of original, special, and supple- 
mental instructions which it is found necessary to send to enumer- 
ators as regards the actual work of enumeration, even when every 
possible care has been taken to have the inquiries as nearly self- 
explanatory as possible, the inquiries and instructions from the 
eight schedules used in the Massachusetts State Census of 1885 
are subjoined, the explanatory matter sent afterward to aid the 
enumerator, together with illustrations of errors and omissions, 
and suggestions as to the best plan of avoiding them in statistical 
work. 
The Schedules used were as follows : 
No. 1.—Population and Social Statistics. 
No. 1.—Special.—Prisoners and Convicts ; Homeless Children 
and Paupers ; Physical Condition. 
No. 2.—Manufactures. 
No. 2.—Specials.—Gas Companies ; Printing and Publishing; 
Print Works, Dye Works, and Bleacheries ; Shipbuild- 
ing. 
No. 3.—Mines, Quarries, Pits, Bogs, Muck Beds, Marl Depos- 
its, and Salt Works. 
No. 4.—Domestic Manufactures ; Agricultural Products and 
Property ; (Farms, Market Gardens, Orchards, Nur- 
series, Seed Gardens, etc.) 
No. 5.—The Fisheries. 30 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
No. 6.—Commerce ; Coastwise and Ocean. 
No. 7.—Libraries ; Reading Rooms. 
No. 8.—(a) Schools and School Property ; Public Schools. 
(b) Schools and School Property; Colleges, Acade- 
mies, and other Private Schools. 
Our purpose is to present the principal inquiries in each of 
these schedules, give the general and special instructions as sup- 
plied to enumerators or parties filling the schedules, show the 
errors or omissions made by enumerators and other parties, and, 
as far as possible, show how such errors and omissions may be 
avoided in future enumerations. 
SCHEDULE No. I. 
POPULATION AND SOCIAL STATISTICS. 
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR FORMS C85-8 AND C85-9. 
20- 
1885- 
SCHEDULE No. X—Population and Social Statistics. 
Approved *1 arch 18, 1885, by the Governor and Council. (Chap. 181, Acts of 1884.) 
-CENSUS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
■885 
The enumeration of the population, as required by the Consti- 
tution and the Law is, in this Census, made upon two Schedules, 
each of which is headed as above. Formerly large blanks were 
used in census taking, each page containing 50 or more names. 
These have been found cumbersome and unwieldy. An Individual 
Schedule—a small, separate blank for each person in the whole 
population of the State—has been adopted for the Census of 1885. 
One of the Schedules, printed in blue ink, is used for male persons 
only, whether children or adults. The Schedule printed in red 
ink is used for female persotis only, whether children or adults. 
These colors are adopted because they aid us in the tabulation 
of the Schedules, and they must not be interchanged; that is, in- 
formation obtained about male persons must not be entered upon 
the Schedules for Females, and information concerning female 
persons must not be entered upon the Schedules for Males. If 
you are likely to run short of Schedules for Males or Females 
you should write this office and state the number of each kind 
desired. It will be worse than useless to enter information upon THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
31 
the wrong sex Schedule, for it will be necessary to rewrite all 
cards upon which such errors are made, and your account will not 
be approved until all such corrections are completed. 
For many reasons this personal or Individual Population Sched- 
ule has advantages over the large page upon which many families 
could be entered, and also over the family schedule upon which 
one family only was entered as in the Massachusetts State Census 
of 1875. Whatever loss of time there may be, if any, in the enum- 
eration is more than compensated for by the superior facility 
with which the Schedules can be tabulated. The numbered bor- 
der on the Schedules for Males and Schedules for Females is to 
be used only in this office in the work of tabulation ; it has no 
significance whatever as regards the Enumerator’s work, and this 
single reference to it is all that will be made. 
21.—Symbols. In all cases where an Inquiry can be answered 
directly write in the reply in the proper space. Sometimes the 
printed Inquiry is not applicable to the person of whom it is 
made, and no answer can be obtained. In such cases use the 
following symbol: (X)- 
When, from any reason, it is impossible to obtain answers to 
Inquiries which are yet applicable, fill in the space with the follow- 
ing symbol: (ZZS). 
There are other cases where the Enumerator may secure certain 
replies to the Inquiries, but which, for good reasons, he may consid- 
er doubtful or even false; if he is unable to secure more trustworthy 
information )ie should underscore, or draw a straight line 
under the information that he considers doubtful or incorrect. 
The use of these symbols or signs will enable the Enumerator 
to fill every space in the Schedules with a written reply or a dis- 
tinctive sign. This office will insist upon the use of these signs, 
and if omitted by the Enumerator they will have to be supplied 
before his account will be approved. The particular applicability 
of these symbols will be illustrated in the special consideration of 
each Inquiry upon Schedule No. 1. 
These symbols should also be used wherever they may be need- 
ed in Schedule No. 1—Special, and if necessary in the List of 
Names and Addresses. 
We shall take the Inquiries, one by one, explaining the proper 
manner of writing and the answer to each inquiry, then the print- 
ed example of correct replies for each inquiry. 32 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
22.—Inquiry No. 1. 
(1) House No. 
386 B 
Inquiry 1 calls for the “ House No.” This means the houses 
numbered in the order of visitation, and has no connection with 
the street number of the house. That point of information is 
called for by Inquiry 7. (See Instruction 27.) That is, in the exam- 
ple given, the Enumerator is supposed to have numbered the first 
house that he visited as “ 1 ” and to have continued to have num- 
bered them consecutively in order until he has reached No. 
“386.” The next house he would number “387,” and so continue 
until his work was completed. The “ B, ” is added as an indica- 
tion of the materials of which the the dwelling house is constructed. 
For brick houses use “B,” for wooden houses “W,” for stone 
houses “ S, ” for those built of brick and covered with cement, 
“C.” Combinations of material can be indicated by “B W” for 
brick and wood, “SB ” for stone and brick, etc. These combina- 
tions should not however be used where the foundation of a wooden 
house is brick or stone, or the foundation of a brick house is stone 
or brick covered with cement. Such houses are properly either 
wooden or brick. It is when the front or the front and one or 
both sides are of one material and the remainder of another that 
these combinations should be used. 
A dwelling house, for Census purposes, means any building or 
place of abode in which any person is living at the time the Cen- 
sus is taken or which is so arranged as to be suitable for human 
habitation, although unoccupied when visited by the Enumerator. 
A large tenement house containing forty should be con- 
sidered, for Census purposes, as only one house. A small tene- 
ment house say with two, three, or four families should also be 
considered as one house. A building under one roof suited for two 
or more families, but with a dividing partition wall and a separate 
front door for each part of the building should be considered as 
two houses. A block of houses under one roof, say with ten front 
doors, no matter how many families there may be in each separate 
house of the block, should be considered as ten houses and so 
numbered in order. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
33 
The house number should be entered only on one Schedule for 
each family and that Schedule the one devoted to the head of the 
family (see Inquiry 12) whether such head of the family may be 
male or female • as will be seen under Inquiries 2 and 3 the “ Fami- 
ly Number ” and the “ No. in this Family ” should also be entered 
only on the Schedule devoted to the head of the family. 
In the case of Unoccupied Houses the Enumerator should pro- 
ceed as follows: he should enter the proper house number in its 
proper order under Inquiry 1 and then write the word “ unoccu- 
pied ” diagonally across the top of the Schedule beginning at the 
word “County” in Inquiry n and ending at the word “Chris- 
tian ” in Inquiry 6. No other mark or entry should be made upon 
this Schedule. Use a Schedule for Males in all cases for unoccu- 
pied houses. 
Houses in course of construction, but not yet ready for occu- 
pancy, should not be enumerated in any way. 
This inquiry was generally well understood, and the answers were 
uniformly correct; one point of error was, however, made by a 
great many Enumerators. When more than one family were in 
one house each head of family Schedule was numbered with a new 
number; this, of course, increased the number of houses beyond 
what it should have been, and it became necessary to examine the 
Schedules by the house numbers and drop enough houses to over- 
come the effect of this duplication. If in the instructions it should 
be stated that only one house number should be used for each house, 
no matter how many families lived in the house, this error would 
probably be avoided in the future by all intelligent Enumerators. 
Of course that class of Enumerators who think that they understand 
the work without the necessity of reading the instructions will 
continue to make errors, no matter how explicit the instructions 
may be. The plan suggested of having Enumerators fill out pre- 
liminary Schedules before appointment would disclose a class of 
Enumerators who did not read instructions, but trusted to their 
own uncommon sense. 
3.—Inquiry 2. 
(2) Family No. 
1298 34 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
In the space marked 2 is to be entered the number, in the or- 
der of visitation, of each family residing in your district. It is 
plain that if but one family resided in each house that the “ House 
No.” and the “ Family No.” would be the same ; but as more than 
one family is likely to be found in many of the houses visited, 
the Family Number, necessarily, is greater than the House Num- 
ber. In the 386th house visited you might find the 1298th family 
visited. A family comprehends a man or woman living alone, 
or a number living together. Hotels, hospitals, prisons, asylums, 
boarding-houses, colleges, boarding-schools, etc., for Census pur- 
poses, form but one family if having a common roof and table. 
Further instructions in relation to such large aggregations of peo- 
ple in one family will be found under Inquiry 12. 
In the case of tenement houses and of “ flats ” in cities each sepa- 
rate family should have its own family number, as such families 
do not take their meals at a common table. 
A person’s home is where he sleeps. There are many people 
who lodge in one place and board in another ; all such persons 
should be returned as members of that family with which they 
lodge. 
This inquiry was understood and few errors were made. 
24.—Inquiry 3. 
(3) No. in this Family. 
• 10 
This is a simple question but the reply to it at once indicates 
the number of Population Schedules that you must fill out for 
each family. In the space above we have used the number io. 
This might include a man and his wife, two sons, three daughters, 
an uncle, a lodger, and a domestic servant. You must be sure that 
the person giving you the replies thoroughly understands your 
question and does not omit any members of the family. As was 
stated under Inquiry i the three spaces in the Schedule so far re- 
ferred to (House No., *Family No., and Number in this Family) 
should be filled out upon one Schedule only for each family 
and that Schedule should be the one belonging to the head of the 
family, whether a man or a woman. It is self-evident that in a THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
35 
family containing but one person the Schedule for that person 
should contain the three entries above specified. 
Very few errors were made by the enumerators in filling in the 
answers to this inquiry. 
25.—Inquiry 4. 
(4) Population No. 
1^957 
This is the most important inquiry upon the Schedule. The 
object of the census is to count the people. The more Schedules 
the more people, for we can only return as the population of the 
State the figure that indicates the whole number of Schedules 
filled and sent to the Census Office. 
Every person in the State, on the first day of May, 1885, must 
be returned upon one of the Population Schedules so that he or 
she may be counted or enumerated as part of the total population. 
When the total population of the State is secured by the counting 
of the Population Schedules, then we shall be able to ascertain 
the increase or decrease in the population of the State, and in 
each of its cities and towns. 
No child born after the first day of May, 1885, should be entered 
upon a Schedule. On the other hand every person who was a resi- 
dent of your district upon May 1, 1885, but who has died between 
that date and the day of your visit, should be entered on a Sched- 
ule as if still living; you thus see plainly that the object of the 
census is to obtain a list of living inhabitants on the first day of 
May, 1885. 
Those persons whose usual place of abode was in a family in 
your district, but who, on May 1, 1885, were traveling or visiting 
out of the State, or who were absent in the Army, Navy, on busi- 
ness, or at sea in any capacity, should be included. Those tem- 
porarily absent from their usual place of abode, travelling, visiting, 
or on business in the State, on May 1, 1885, should be included. 
Residents of other States or foreign countries, who may be found 
temporarily present in any family in your district on May 1, 1885, 
should not be included. 
All soldiers in the United States Army, and civilian employes 36 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
and all residents in Forts or on Military Reservations should be 
enumerated. 
It is by law made the duty of each Enumerator to make all the 
Inquiries on the Population Schedule of the head of each family 
or of any other member of the family deemed credible and worthy 
of trust, and each and every member of the family is obliged by 
law to supply what information they can in reply to the Inquiries 
made by the Enumerator. If an Enumerator should fail to secure 
certain points of information from the members of any family, he 
should obtain the required information from other families or per- 
sons who may be able to correctly answer the Inquiries. 
The number entered in the space numbered 4, when your enu- 
meration is completed, will indicate the population of your district. 
This population total, we have before informed you, is confidential 
and must not be disclosed by you. 
The Schedules must be kept in the exact order as indicated by 
the numbers written in space 4. The blue and red cards should 
follow each other in the order in which they were filled and they 
must remain in that order until they reach this office. If the popu- 
lation numbers do not follow each other in an exact consecutive 
order, Enumerators will be required to put them in the proper 
order, and no accounts will be approved until this duty is proper- 
ly performed. 
Particular care should be taken by the Enumerator to find and 
enumerate all individuals “ living out of families.” Under in- 
structions given, these people when found constitute families, but 
the difficulty consists in finding them, for they do not live in what 
are known as dwelling houses. 
By individuals “ living out of families ” is meant all persons 
occupying lofts in public buildings, above stores, warehouses, fac- 
tories, and stables, having no other usual place of abode ; persons 
living solitary in cabins, huts, or tents; persons sleeping on river 
boats, canal boats, barges, etc., having no other usual place of abode ; 
and persons in police stations having no homes. Of the classes 
just mentioned, the most important, numerically, is the first, viz : 
those persons, chiefly in cities, who occupy rooms in public build- 
ings, or above stores, warehouses, factories, and stables. In order 
to reach such persons, the Enumerator will need not only to keep 
his eyes open to all indications of such casual residence in his enu- THE EXAMINATION OE RETURNS. 
37 
meration district, but to make inquiry of the parties occupying the 
business portion of such buildings, of those living in the immedi- 
ate vicinity, and also of the police. 
Much must be left to the judgment of the Enumerator to obviate 
the danger that constantly exists that some persons will be enu- 
merated in two places and others not counted at all. In each 
particular case he must satisfy himself as to the propriety of includ- 
ing or not including doubtful cases in his enumeration of any 
given family. It is better to risk double enumeration, if you think 
there is danger of the person not being enumerated at all. 
Students at boarding schools or colleges should be enumerated 
there ; if a student is at home ill or on a visit he will undoubtedly 
be enumerated at home. Seafaring men are to be enumerated at 
their land homes, no matter how long they may have been absent 
at sea, if they are supposed to be still alive. Persons engaged in 
transportation who return to their homes at stated intervals should 
be included in their own family return, made by wife, mother, etc. 
It is desirable that the wife or nearest relative of the head of each 
family should be enumerated second and that the children should 
follow according to their ages, beginning with the eldest. 
Considering that the instructions wrere so explicit, there would 
seem that there should have been no necessity for errors as 
regards this inquiry, but it was misunderstood by many Enumera- 
tors ; quite a number of the Enumerators failed to arrange their 
Schedules in the proper order by population number, but, as they 
were obliged to give the necessary time to so arrange them, they 
gained nothing by this disregard of instructions. 
26.—Inquiries 5 and 6. 
(5) Surname. (6) Christian Name and Initial. 
Wade Sidney 
(5) Surname. , (6) Christian Name and Initial. 
Prentice Julia M. 
(5) Surname. (6) Christian Name and Initial. 
Judson William H. H. 38 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
The preceding illustrations give sufficient indication of the way 
in which it is desired that the names of persons should be entered 
in spaces 5 and 6. 
Very few, if any, errors were made. 
27.—Inquiries 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. 
(7) Residence. 
Maple St. 
(8) Town (or City) of— 
Stoehbridge 
(9) Ward. (10) Precinct. 
X X 
(11) County of— 
Berkshire 
This will be the usual form of entry for the above Inquiries in 
the case of towns. If there is a street number it should be enter- 
ed, as, for instance, 89 Maple Street. If the population of any 
particular section of a town or village is desired by the local au- 
thorities and the boundary lines are so well defined as to render 
such a method of enumeration of value, then the Enumerator can 
enter the name of such district or village in space 7. It will be 
noticed that the X is used in spaces 9 and 10. Towns are not 
divided, as a rule, into wards and precincts, and in such cases the 
inquiry is inapplicable. 
In the case of cities the entries, as a rule, will be as follows:— 
(7) Residence. 
37 Holden St. 
(8) Town (or City) of— 
Boston 
(9) Ward (10) Precinct. 
20 3 
(11) County of— 
Suffolk 39 
THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
In the case of institutions, hotels, colleges, prisons, jails, etc., 
the name of the institution, etc., should be entered in space 7; for 
illustration:— 
(7) Residence. 
Cosmopolitan Hotel 
(8) Town (or City) of— 
Boston 
(9) Ward. I (10) Precinct. 
9 j 2 
(11) County of— 
Suffolk 
Although the filling in of these inquiries was the most tedious 
part of the Schedule, calling for many repetitions, yet the work 
was well done; the plan was adopted by many Enumerators of 
filling in Schedules ahead, during the evening in many cases, so 
that they were not delayed during the prosecution of their enumera- 
tion in the day time; only one Enumerator, of some 530, failed to 
write in the name of the town upon his Schedules. 
28.—Inquiry 12 
(12) Relation to Head of Family. 
Head of Family 
In the case of the head of a family whether a husband and father, 
a widow, or an unmarried person of either sex, you should write 
the words “ Head of Family” as above ; for other members of the 
family, you should write properly distinctive words as, “ Wife,” 
“ Mother,” “ Father,” “ Son,” “ Daughter,” “ Son-in-law,” “ Moth- 
er-in-law,” “ Boarder,” “ Lodger,” “ Niece,” “ Nephew,” “ Uncle,” 
“ Aunt,” “ Domestic Servant,” etc. In the case of colleges use 
the word “Student;” incase of hotels the word “Guest;” in 
case of boarding schools the word “ Pupil ; ” in case of hospitals 
use the word “ Patient; ” in case of asylums use the word “ In- 40 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
mate;” in the case of penal institutions the word “Prisoner” or 
“Convict” (see Schedule No. i—Special, for proper definition of 
the words “ Prisoner ” and “ Convict ”); in the case of chari- 
table institutions use the words “ Homeless Child ” or “Pauper ” ; 
it should be borne in mind that homeless children and paupers are 
found in families where their support is wholly or partially paid 
for by public charity. Enumerators are specially instructed and 
required to use all possible efforts to secure full and correct returns 
of homeless children and paupers, whether in institutions or fam- 
ilies. All “ Prisoners,” “ Convicts,” “ Homeless Children,” and 
“Paupers” should each be entered on an Individual Population 
Schedule. They form part of the population, and must be enu- 
merated. The Schedule No. i—Special is intended to supply 
further information about them, but does not take the place of 
Schedule No. i, for enumeration purposes. 
In all cases where the words Prisoner, Convict, Homeless Child, 
or Pauper are used in Space 12 a Special Schedule Number 
should be entered in Space 26 in order to show the reference to 
and connection with the proper Schedule No. i—Special. 
This inquiry was an entirely new feature in Census work ; 
it was finely answered, and the results shown in Part i, Volume I., 
of the State Census of 1885 disclosed features in regard to the 
social life of the State that had never before been obtained for 
any community ; the only error that was made was caused by the 
confounding of lodgers and boarders. There should have been 
added to the instructions the specific explanation that lodgers are 
those who occupy rooms in a house but obtain their meals in 
some other house, while boarders include those who both room and 
take their meals in the same house, and also those who room in 
one house and board or take their meals in another house. In other 
words lodging refers to the room alone, while boarding includes 
meals, and also room and meals; there is no specific term in the 
language for those who board at a house and room at some other 
house; of course the term table boarders would indicate that 
class, but as the parties are enumerated where they lodge or live 
that term cannot become a Census designation ; if it were abso- 
lutely necessary to learn the number of those who lodge in one 
place and take table board in another, some such term as “ lodger- 
table boarder ” would have to be ingrafted into the Census; if THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
41 
parties keeping boarding houses should return the people who 
take their meals at their houses, this, of course, would lead to 
duplications in the Census. 
29.—Inquiry 13. 
(13) Color and 
Race. 
w 
Use the capital letter “ W ” for White, “ B ” for Black, “ M ” 
for Mulatto, “ I ” for Indian, “ C ” for Chinese, “ Jap.” for Jap- 
anese; the extra letters are used in “ Jap. ” so the written “ I ” 
for Indian and “J” for Japanese may not be confounded: Be 
particularly careful in reporting mulattos, which include quadroons, 
octoroons, and all persons having any perceptible trace of African 
blood. 
This inquiry was generally well answered although it seemed 
superfluous to some Enumerators to put a “W” in to indicate 
that the persons were white; as they did not comprehend the 
system of tabulation it did not occur to them that for every 
omission in space 13 that the tabulation clerk was obliged to refer 
to the rest of the Schedule before continuing her work; as a mat- 
ter of fact the two million Schedules were examined before 
tabulation. 
30.—Inquiry 14. 
(14) AGE. 
28 
(14) AGE. 
10 
12 
(14) AGE. 
12 
Write in the age, at nearest birthday, in figures, for each adult 
or child aged one year or over. The ages of children under one 
year should be expressed fractionally in twelfths of a year : as 
three months, , ten months, J§. The ages of children under 
one month should be expressed as follows: The various 
forms of entry for ages are shown above in spaces numbered 14. 
Endeavor to obtain exact ages, and avoid the concentration on 25, 
30, 35, 40, etc. If the answer is “about 40,” find out if possible 
whether the age is 39, 40, or 41. 42 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Ages were well returned, and the concentration on the quin- 
quennial and decennial periods always noticed in age statistics 
was not so marked as in previous Censuses; of course this con- 
centration comes from the answers of parties who, in the absence 
of exact information, say that the person is “about 25,” “about 
50,” etc. In case of doubt the Enumerators were very conscien- 
tious and instead of filling in a doubtful answer used “ do not know” 
instead; the number of those for whom the age was reported as 
unknown was very small indeed. 
31.—Inquiry 15. 
(15) Conjugal 
Condition. 
M 
Write the capital letter “ S ” for single, “ M ” for married, “ W ” 
for widowed,, or “ D ” for divorced (either sex), as the case may be. 
These inquiries calling for what may have been considered pri- 
vate information, especially as regards divorces, were undoubtedly 
not fully answered ; the number of married couples living apart, 
though not divorced, of course cannot be arrived at, nor can those 
who are legally separated, but yet in a legal sense are not divorced. 
As bearing upon the question of divorces, it might be well in future 
Censuses to expand the inquiries so as to include those legally 
separated, and those living apart by mutual consent, but of course 
there would be great difficulties in the way of securing an exact 
enumeration. Although Enumerators were instructed to fill in 
space 15 for each and every person, yet some of them considered 
it superfluous in the case of children under io years of age ; to 
the inquiry, “ Why do you omit the S ? ” the reply was often made 
that “ any fool would know that the children were single.” When 
the necessity of having the letter “ S ” in its proper place was 
explained to them, that it was in order that the tabulation might 
proceed speedily, and also when they were called upon to fill in 
the missing letter, they realized more fully the importance of a 
close adherence to printed instructions. 
32.—Inquiries 16, 17, and 18. 
The place of birth of the person whose name the Schedule 
bears should be written in Space 16, the place of birth of his or her THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
43 
father in Space 17, the place of birth of his or her mother in 
Space 18. In writing in the answers in the spaces 16, 17, and 
18, if born in Massachusetts write the name of the town and 
also that of the State. If born in the United States, but not in 
Massachusetts, write the name of the State only. The universally 
recognized abbreviations of the names of the different States may 
be used, instead of the name at length. The above points are 
made plain by the following illustration :— 
(16) Place of Birth. 
Millbiiry, Mass. 
(17) Place of Birth of FATHER. 
Conn. 
(18) Place of Birth of MOTHER. 
JV. II. 
If of foreign birth the country should be named as specifically 
as possible. Instead of writing “Great Britain,” or “Great Britain 
and Ireland,” give the particular division, as England, Scotland, 
Ireland, Wales. Instead of “Germany,” specify the particular 
state as Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, etc. For illustration:— 
(16) Place of Birth. 
Boston, Mass. 
(17) Place of Birth of FATHER. 
Ireland 
(18) Place of Birth of MOTHER. 
Bavaria 44 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
If born in a foreign country, of American parents, write the 
name of the country, and immediately under it the words “Ameri- 
can Citizen.” If born at sea write the words “At Sea”; in the 
case of father or mother if the words “ at sea ” are used, add the 
nationality of the father or mother’s father; that is, the nationality 
of the grandfather of the person for whom the Schedule is filled. 
As, for instance:— 
(16) Place of Birth. 
d. c. District of Columbia.) 
(17) Place of Birth of FATHER. 
China 
American Citizen 
(18) Place of Birth of MOTHER. 
At Sea 
English 
In the case of Canada write after the word “ Canada ” the 
words “ English ” or “ French,” so as to distinguish between the 
English speaking and French speaking Canadians. To illustrate:— 
(16) Place of Birth. 
Canada 
English 
(17) Place of Birth of FATHER. 
Canada 
English 
(18) Place of Birth of MOTHER. 
Canada 
French 
Although in Massachusetts Censuses inquiry had always been 
made in regard to the place of birth of each person, parent na- 
tivity or the place of birth of the father and the mother, had never 
been called for until the Census of 1885 ; these inquiries were THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
45 
finely answered, the only exceptions to the general rule being in the 
case of a few careless enumerators who mentioned the city or town 
without specifying the state or country; as in the case of other in- 
quiries, when they were called upon to fill in the missing informa- 
tion they saw that they had no excuse for disregarding plain 
instructions. 
To acertain the Occupations of the people is next in importance 
to enumerating them. (See Inquiry 4, Instruction 25.) The 
Occupation desired is the profession, trade, or branch of business 
upon which the person chiefly depends for his support; that is, it 
is his particular occupation that is gainful or most remunerative in 
its nature. The population, as regards Occupation, resolves itself 
into six classes: first, the children who are too young to be in 
school; second, those children or young persons (or even adults) 
who may be “ at school ”— which act of getting an education is 
considered an “ occupation ” for Census purposes ; third, the great 
productive class engaged in the various occupations; fourth, those 
young persons and adults, not under or beyond the working age, 
who, for some reason, have no occupation ; fifth, those adults who 
have retired from business, with means for their own support, after 
a life of activity; sixth, those who may have worked all their lives 
but are now unable to support themselves, and being non-product- 
ive are dependent to a more or less degree upon their children or 
relatives. 
These classes may be summarized as follows, their general occu- 
pation designation being given at the right in large type :— 
33.—Inquiry 19. 
First Class, (Children wholly) At Home. 
Second Class, 
(Children, young persons, 
adults) 
or 
At School. 
(See Instructions.) 
Third Class, 
(Children over io, young per- 
sons, and adults) 
Give occupation 
in accordance 
with instruc- 
tions herewith. 
Fourth Class, 
(Young persons and adults) 
Fifth Class, 
(Adults) 
Not given. 
(See Instructions.) 
Retired. 
(See Instructions.) 
Sixth Class, 
(Adults) 
Dependent. 
(See Instructions.) 46 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
All the instructions hereinafter given, as regards Occupations, 
relate to women and children as well as to men. 
For the children in the First Class the words At Home will be 
sufficient to write in space 19. For the Second Class, in addition 
to the words At School, should be added the designations, Public, 
Private, College, Law School, Medical School, By Tutor, By 
Governess, etc., as the case may be. For the Third Class the 
most particular instructions are necessary and are given herein- 
after. For the Fourth Class the words Not Given are always to 
be written in • in addition, if the person is studying music, paint- 
ing etc., write Studying music, or, as the case may 
be. For the Fifth Class the word Retired, must always be written, 
and, in addition, the name of the occupation in which the person 
gained his competence. For the Sixth Class always write Depen- 
dent and, in addition, the name of the occupation last followed. 
Distinguish carefully between Retired and Dependent; the sur- 
roundings, your observation, and questions asked with tact and 
discretion, will supply this distinction. 
THIRD CLASS.—GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS. 
The discrepancy in all past censuses as regards statistics of 
Occupations has arisen from the lack of full description. Indefinite 
terms have been used which the Census office has been unable to 
properly classify, owing to the absence of full particulars. As each 
occupation must have a fully descriptive designation, it is the Enu- 
merators’s fault if that designation is not found out and written 
at length upon the schedule. 
You cannot be too explicit in stating Occupations. As a 
general rule, in each case you can give 
The General Name of the Occupation. 
The Particular Branch followed. 
The Material worked upon. 
Whether an Employer, or a Person employed. 
Fifty years ago a shoemaker made a whole shoe, and a tailor 
made a whole suit of clothes ; at the present time, owing to the di- 
vision and sub-division of labor, few workmen begin and complete 
any article of manufacture. In every branch of work the special- 
ist has succeeded the general worker, and statistics of Occupation THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
47 
at the present day must possess the most specific detail or they 
will not satisfy the demands of the inquirer. To secure that spe- 
cific detail we supply, for your information and guidance, the fol- 
lowing :— 
THIRD CLASS.—SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS. 
Accountant.—Too indefinite. State kind of business, as—Bank 
Accountant; Insurance Accountant; etc. 
Actor (or Showman)—State whether legitimate, variety, mu- 
sical, etc. ; whether in stock company at theatre, with traveling 
company, in circus, museum, rink, etc. 
Agent.—Too indefinite. State kind of business, as—Book 
agent; Commercial agent; Cotton mill agent; Fire (or Life) in- 
surance agent; etc. 
Animals, care of.—Distinguish carefully between those driv- 
ing, horses, and those doing work in barns, stables, etc. Also be- 
tween Employers (as, for instance, a person owning teams) and a 
teamster, or person who drives for him. Add the word Employer 
to Teamster in order to avoid misunderstanding. 
Apprentice—Too indefinite. State kind of business, as— Car- 
penter's apprentice; Painter's apprentice ; Machinist's appren- 
tice ; etc. 
Artist.—Too indefinite. State branch of artistic work, as— 
Artist—painter in oils ; Artist—water colors; Artist—engrav- 
er; Artist—sculptor; etc. 
Author—Too indefinite. State whether Editors, Reporters, 
Journalists (correspondents), Magazine writers, Novelists, 
Historians, etc. This occupation requires special consideration 
and careful classification. 
Bank officers—'l'oo indefinite. State particular position filled, 
as—Bank President; Bank Cashier ; Bank Teller; Bank 
Clerk; etc. 
Boarding and Lodging—Distinguish carefully between Pro- 
prietors and Employes of Boarding Houses, Lodging Houses, 
Saloons, Restaurants, and Hotels. State particular position 
held, as—Hotel clerk; Hotel porter; Cook—boardinghouse; 
Table girl—restaurant; etc. 
Bookkeeper.—State kind of business, as—Bookkeeper— 48 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Wholesale Dry Goods; Bookkeeper— Grocery Store ; Book- 
keeper— Cotton Mfg. Co.; etc. 
Broker State kind of goods bought and sold, as—Stock and 
Money broker; Wool broker; Real Estate broker; Insurance 
broker ; Pawnbroker ; etc. 
Builder—Too indefinite. State whether House builders, 
Bridge builders, etc., as the case may be. 
Butcher.—Distinguish between butchers who kill cattle, swine, 
etc., at an abattoir or slaughter house, and Provision Dealers 
who sell meats and vegetables. 
Clergyman—Give denomination, as— Clergyman—Baptist\ 
etc., as the case may be. 
Clerk.—Too indefinite. State kind of business, as—Clerk in 
Grocery Store ; Clerk—gas company; Clerk—Post Office ; 
Clerk—woolen mill; etc. Distinguish carefully between Clerks, 
Bookkeepers and Salesmen. 
Collector.—Indefinite. State business, as—Bill Collector. 
Commissioner—Indefinite. Use a more explicit word to de- 
note occupation. 
Compositor.—Distinguish between Compositors who set type, 
Pressmen who run printing-presses, and Job Printers who usu- 
ally set type and run presses. Use Printer for those who are not 
confined to one branch of the business, as above described. 
Conductor—Indefinite. State whether Stea?n R. R. Con- 
ductor; Horse R. R. Conductor; etc. 
Contractor.—Indefinite. Use a more explicit designation. 
Convict.—State occupation followed in prison. If unemployed, 
give occupation, if any, before imprisonment. 
Court Officer—State particular position filled, as—Clerk; 
Constable ; Marshal; etc. 
Dealer.—By Dealers are meant Merchants, Storekeepers, 
Traders, etc.; those who buy and sell goods as a business. 
These terms are all too indefinite. The kind of business must be 
given in every case, and whether Wholesale, Retail, Jobbing, or 
Commission; as — Retail Dealer — Books and Stationery ; 
Wholesale Dealer—Carpets; Retail Dealer—Groceries; 
Wholesale Dealer— Coal; Retail Dealer— Tinware; etc. The 
terms Milkman and Marketman are sufficiently explicit. 
Driver.—See, “Animals, care of.” THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
49 
Engineer.—Too indefinite. State whether a Locomotive or 
Railroad Engineer; Stationary Engineer ; Steamboat En- 
gineer ; Civil Engineer; etc., as the case may be. 
Employer.—A term that can be used in any kind of business 
to distinguish the proprietor, or person who carries on a business, 
from his clerks, workmen, etc., as—Stone Mason—Employer; 
Carpenter—Employer; etc. 
Employb or Employee—This term is too indefinite and should 
not be used. There is no business in which a more explicit word 
cannot be found; besides either of the above words is likely to be 
confounded with Employer which will be used so often to indicate 
the proprietor of a business. 
Factory Hand (or Operative)—This term should not be used. 
Even if the kind of business is given, as—Cotton Mill—Factory 
Operative, that is not sufficiently definite. The actual occupa- 
tion or kind of labor done, as—Cotton Mill—Spinner, is what 
we desire. 
Farmer.—This should be used only for farm proprietors— 
those who own, hire, or carry on farms. Distinguish between 
Farmer; Market Gardener ; Seed Gardeners; Orchardmen ; 
Nurserymen ; Florists ; etc. 
Farm Laborer—A person employed by a farmer. See Labor- 
ers for further instructions concerning them. 
Finisher,—Indefinite. Always state the “article finished.” 
Fireman—State whether Railroad fireman ; Steamboat fire- 
man ; Stationary Engine fireman ; etc., or member of Fire 
Department. 
Foreman—State kind of business in every case, as—Machine 
shop—Foreman ; etc. 
Government—State first whether in United States, State, 
City or Town service ; second, in what branch of that service ; 
and, third, the particular position filled as,— U. S. Army—Cap- 
tain ; State Treasury Department— Cashier; Town Consta- 
ble ; etc. When a person has a regular business upon which he 
chiefly depends for support rather than his position under Gov- 
ernment, you should give his regular business as his occupation 
and not his office. 
Housekeeper—Use this term only for such persons as receive 
wages or salary for their services. 50 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Housewife.—Use this only for the female head of a family, 
whether a wife or a woman keeping house for herself, who has no 
other gainful occupation, and who receives no stated salary or 
wage for her services. 
Housework—Use this for daughters, sisters, or other relatives 
or friends, who assist in the family without a stated salary or 
wage for their services, and who have no other remunerative em- 
ployment. See Servants. 
Huckster—State kind of articles sold. 
Inspector—Indefinite. State “ what is inspected,” as—Gas 
inspector] Milk inspector] etc. 
Jobber—See Dealer and Merchant. 
Judge.—State whether United States or State Judge (or Justice) 
and particular position filled, as—State Judge—Municipal 
Court; State Judge—Probate Court. 
Laborer.—State kind of labor, as—Farm laborer] Market 
garden laborer] Railroad laborer] Brick Mason's laborer] etc., 
as case may be. 
Maker.—Be careful not to confound makers and 77ianufact- 
urers. A maker of any article is the person who begins, continues, 
and completes its fabrication. Thus, a person who makes a boot in 
every part himself is a boot?naker. Owing to the division of labor, 
previously explained, there are now comparatively few persons in 
any branch of industry who make an entire article, but, instead, 
they make parts of the article, as—Piano leg maker. Instead of 
Furniture maker write Chair maker, Sofa maker, etc., as the 
case may be. Of course Chocolate maker, Botinet maker, Lace 
maker, and such terms where the article made is plainly defined, 
and where the labor is not divided, can be properly used. 
Manager—State “what is managed,” as—Telephone Com- 
pany—Manager] Express Company— General Manager, etc. 
Manufacturer—Use this term for those who carry on the 
business of manufacturing. They are always Employers, and this 
latter word is comprehended by Manufacturers. State the 
article or kind of goods manufactured, as Cotton goods manu- 
facturer] Chocolate manufacturer; Woolle?i goods manufact- 
urer ] Bonnet manufacturer ] Furniture manufacturer; e c., 
as much in detail as the case will allow. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
51 
Mason.—Indefinite. State whether Brick or Stone mason. 
Mechanic—A term that is indefinite and of no statistical 
value. Do not use it, but give the name of the occupation, as— 
Carpenter; Painter; Glazier; Plumber; etc. 
Merchant.—See Dealer. A merchant may be a wholesale, 
jobbing, retail, or commission dealer, or an agent. State always 
kind of goods bought and sold. 
Messenger.—State “ what kind of a messenger,” as— Tele- 
graph messenger ; Express Co. messenger; etc. 
Musician—Indefinite. State whether a professional vocalist 
or instrumentalist, and if the latter, what musical instrument, as 
—Pianist; Violinist; etc. 
Officer.—Indefinite. State always the particular position held, 
as—Cotton M'f'g Co.—President; Railroad Co.—Treasurer; etc.,- 
as the case may be. 
Official—See Government. 
Overseer—State “ what the person oversees,” as—Cotton spin- 
ner—Overseer ; Street laborers—Overseer ; etc. 
Operative—Indefinite. See Factory Hand. Do not use the 
term, but a more explicit one giving the general name of the busi- 
ness, the material worked upon, and the particular nature of the 
work done, as, Woollen goods—dyehousefinisher ; etc. 
Packer.—State “what they pack,” as—Paper packer; Whole- 
sale crockery—packer ; etc. 
Pauper.—Belong in Sixth Class. Write, as before instructed, 
Dependent, and give occupation, if any, before becoming a pauper. 
Paymaster—State business, as—Railroad paymaster ; Cotton 
mill paymaster ; etc. 
Peddler—State kind of goods sold, as—Tinware peddler; 
Notion peddler; etc. 
Personal Service—State plainly the kind of work done, as— 
Barber; Bootblack; Companion; Janitor; Nurse; Watchman; 
etc. When possible, state where the work is performed, as — 
Schoolhouse ja7iitor. 
Physicians and Surgeons—State, in the case of Physicians, 
whether regular practitioners, and the school of medicine, as— 
Physician—Allopathic. Designate particularly those who are Phy- 
sicians only; Surgeons only; or Physicians and Surgeons; distin- 52 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
guish specialists as aurists; oculists; dentists; clairvoyants; mes- 
meric treatment; massage treatment; veterinary surgeons ; etc. 
Porter—State kind of business, as—Wholesale Dry Goods— 
porter; etc. 
Printer and Pressman—See Compositor. State kind of busi- 
ness, whet her newspaper; book; music; lithographic; chromo-litho- 
graphic; heliotype; artotype; etc. 
Publisher—State “what he publishes,” as—newspapers; books; 
maps ; engravings ; etc. 
Sailor—Distinguish between Sailors or Mariners, and Fisher- 
men ; state whether on steam or sailing vessels. 
Salesman.—State kind of goods sold, as—Hardware—salesman; 
Dry goods—salesman; etc. Do not confound with Clerks, which 
see. Follow above rule in case of travelling salesmen, as—Cloth- 
ing—travelling salesman ; etc. 
Scientific Person—Distinguish by the most explicit names, as 
—Architects; Botanists; Naturalists; Geologists; Astronomers; 
Surveyors ; Civil Engmeers ; Stenographers ; etc. 
Secretary—Indefinite. State kind of business, as—Insurance 
Co.—Secretary; etc. 
Servant, Domestic.—Many families employ but one servant 
whose duties are of a general nature; in such cases say—General 
servant. Where possible give name indicating particular service 
and place where service is performed, as—Cook—family ; Chamber- 
maid—hotel; Table girl—family ; etc. 
Shipper—State kind of goods, as— Wholesale Boots and Shoes 
—shipper. 
Speculator—Indefinite. State articles or goods dealt in, as— 
Speculator—mining stocks. 
Storekeeper—See Dealer and Merchant. 
Superintendent.—State “what he superintends,” as—Horse 
Railroad—Supe?'intendent; or the kind of manufacturing business. 
Tailor—Distinguish custom made and ready made, and state 
particular part of work done, as—Ready made, tailor—cutter; etc. 
Teacher—Distinguish Professors; Tutors; Governesses; and 
Teachers. State whether in College; Latin, High, Normal, Gram- 
mar, or Primary Schools ; Academy; Seminary; etc. State wheth- 
er Public or Private Schools or Private Family. Specify branches 
taught as Languages, Music, Painting, Dancing, etc. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
53 
Teamster.—See Animals, care of. 
Trader.—See Dealer and Merchant. 
Treasurer.—State kind of business, as—Cotton Mill—Treas- 
urer ; etc. 
The enumerators who did not give special attention to their in- 
structions and read them carefully were led into a peculiar error. 
In filling out occupations, seeing the full-faced type, they took it 
for granted that these were terms which the Office wished the 
enumerators to use, instead of being prohibited terms. This, of 
course, caused the work of certain enumerators to be sadly defi- 
cient in detail, but they were called upon to make a special enu- 
meration and supply the missing information. 
In the case of some enumerators, it seems as though the print- 
ing would need to be upon the plan of the circus poster in order 
to attract their attention. 
The principal error made was in using the term “ at home ” 
for adults, if these persons were at home and not employed at the 
time. According to the instructions, this designation should have 
been used only for children ; this was an error that was easily dis- 
closed and corrected when reference was made to Inquiry 14, which 
gave the age. It was contemplated that the term “not given” 
should be used only when the person considered had no occupa- 
tion, but some enumerators interpreted it to include those from 
whom an answer could not be obtained ; there were so few of 
these, comparatively, however, that the returns were not vitiated 
thereby. An error made by some enumerators was to neglect to 
write in the term “ employer ” to distinguish the person from an 
employd; of course without this specification it was difficult, and 
in some cases impossible, for the Office to determine whether the 
party was an employer or an employe. 
This part of the census work was the best done of any, and the 
grand total of details of different branches of occupations for the 
State, aggregating nearly 22,000 separate designations, shows that 
the great majority of the enumerators understood their instruc- 
tions and gave most careful and conscientious attention to their 
duties ; in no state or country have the occupations of the people 
been obtained with such completeness and definiteness of detail. 
34.—Inquiries 20 and. 21. 
The object of Inquiry 20 is to ascertain the number of months 54 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
during the Census Year in which each person was unemployed in the 
occupation upon which he chiefly depended for a livelihood. The 
proper form of answer is to write in Space 20 the figures indicat- 
ing the number of months unemployed. In some cases, a person 
may lack employment in his principal occupation for a number of 
months and yet find work in some other branch of business for 
the whole or part of the time that he is not employed in his princi- 
pal occupation. The proper way to answer Inquiry 21 is to write 
in the figures indicating the total number of months employed 
both in his principal occupation and in his “second ” occupation. 
For illustration— 
(19) Occupation. 
Cotton Mill 
Mule Spinner 
(20) Months Unemployed (21) Months Employed 
in above Occupation. In all kinds of Work. 
2 10 
(19) Occupation. 
Carpenter 
(20) Months Unemployed (21) Months Employed 
in above Occupation. in all kinds of Work. 
0 12 
(19) Occupation. 
Stucco Worker (8) 
Painter (2) 
(20) Months Unemployed (21) Months Employed 
in above Occupation. in all kinds of Work. 
b 10 THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
55 
The first illustration shows that a Mule Spinner in a Cotton 
Mill was unemployed 2 months during the Census Year and worked 
io months, he having no other work. The second instance is that 
of a Carpenter who worked the whole year at his trade. The 
third case is that of a Stucco Worker who worked 8 months at 
his trade and 2 months as a Painter, or 10 months in all. The 
figures put after each Occupation show the number of months 
employed in each. In Inquiry 20, the words “ above Occupation ” 
refer to the principal occupation which should always be written 
first. 
Where Inquiries 20 and 21 are inapplicable, as in the case of 
those persons At Home, At School, Not Given, Retired', or Depen- 
dent, use the proper sign, X) Spaces 20 and 21. This Inquiry 
is a very important one, for if answered correctly in every case 
it will show the effects of business depression and indicate clearly 
those branches of industry in which such depression has been felt 
the most. 
Perhaps a better designation for Inquiry 20 would have been 
“ months idle ” instead of “ months unemployed in above occupa- 
tion.” Some enumerators returned the months employed in princi- 
pal occupation in Space 20, and then answered Inquiry 21 correctly 
as regards all kinds of work ; the tendency was to make the sum 
of Inquiries 20 and 21 equal 12 months, or a year, but this, of course, 
could not be a general rule. 
35.—Inquiries 22 and 23. 
These Inquiries relate to Illiteracy, and are to be made only of 
or concerning persons ten years of age and over. As an exam- 
ple ; if such a person can both read and write English, and is ten 
years of age or over, write the replies as follows: 
(22) READ. (23) WRITE. 
English English I 
Another example ; if such person can read or write in French, or 
in any other foreign language, but not in English, write in the name 
of the foreign language. For instance:— 
1(22) READ. (23) WRITE. 
French French 56 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
(22) READ. (23) WRITE. 
Spanish Spanish 
When such person can read and write in English you need make 
no further inquiry as regards a foreign language. It is only in 
the case of those persons who cannot read and write in English, 
but can in some foreign language, that we wish the foreign language 
mentioned. 
If the person can read in English, or a foreign language, but 
cannot write that language, write the replies as follows : 
1(22) READ. (23) WRITE. 
English No 
If the person can write in English, or a foreign language, but 
cannot read that language, write the replies as follows: 
(22) READ. (23) WRITE. 
No French 
If a person, ten years of age or over, can neither read nor write 
in English or any foreign language, such state of total illiteracy 
should be indicated as follows : 
(22) READ. (23) WRITE. 
No No 
In the case of a child under ten years of age, the Inquiry is in- 
applicable, and the spaces should be filled as below: 
(22) READ. (23) WRITE. 
X X 
Despite the specific instructions many enumerators filled in 
Spaces 22 and 23 with “yes ” and “ no ” without giving any speci- 
fication as to language ; this, of course, required time and money 
to correct in order to fit for tabulation. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
57 
36.—Inquiry 24. 
This Inquiry is a special one and relates only tc the School 
Attendance of children between the ages of ten and fourteen. 
If any child, between ten and fourteen years of age, has or has 
not attended a public or private day school twenty weeks between 
May 1, 1884, and May 1, 1885, write in the reply, as the case may 
be, as follows: 
(24) Attended School 20 weeks during Census I 
Year. 
Yes ] 
(24) Attended School 20 weeks during Census 
Year. 
No 
In all other cases make the symbol indicating that the Inquiry 
is not applicable, as— 
(24) Attended School 20 weeks during Census 
Year. 
X 
Do not confound this Inquiry with Inquiry No. 19. In that, 
going to school is considered, for Census purposes, as an occupa- 
tion, and has no connection with the present Inquiry, No. 24. 
This Inquiry meant more than the simple language composing 
it. By provisions of the school laws no child between io and 14 
can be employed in manufacturing or mercantile establishments 
unless he or she has attended school for twenty weeks. It is 
plain that children who were entered at their nearest birthday 
would cause a considerable variation from the correct answers to 
this Inquiry; for instance, a child 9 years and 7 months of age 
would be called 10 years of age in answer to Inquiry 14, and for 
that reason Inquiry 24 would have been considered applicable 
(when in fact it was not so) by the enumerator. For a similar 
reason a child 13 years and 7 months of age would be called 14, 
and for that reason the enumerator would consider Inquiry 24 
inapplicable ; in this way, undoubtedly, quite a number of chil- 58 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
dren failed to be reported under Inquiry 24 who should have been 
given there. Perhaps these two errors counterbalanced each other 
so as not to cause a great variation from the absolute fact. 
37.—Inquiries 25 and 26. 
If the person has an Acute or Chro?iic disease, is Blind,, Deaf, 
Dumb, Deaf and Dumb, Insane, Idiotic, Maimed, Lame, Bedridden, 
Paralytic, or otherwise physically defective, write the word or words 
necessary to describe such condition in Space 25 and the Number 
of Schedule No. i—Special, upon which you enter full partic- 
ulars concerning such physical condition, in Space 26. The fol- 
lowing illustrations will supply all necessary instructions :— 
(25) Physical Condition. (2G) Special 
Schedule No. 
Acute 29 
(25) Physical Condition. (2G) Special 
• Schedule No. 
Chronic 
Bedridden 36 
(25) Physical Condition. (26) Special 
Schedule No. 
Insane 71 
(25) Physical Condition. (2G) Special 
BUnd Schedule No. 
Deaf 102 
Bear in mind that two Schedules, No. i, and also No. i—Spe- 
cial, must both be filled out for persons comprehended by Inquiries 
25 and 20. 
Space 26 was filled in simply to connect the Population Sched- 
ule with the Special Schedule which contained the detailed infor- 
mation in relation to the defective, dependent, and delinquent 
classes. We postpone the consideration of these points until we 
take up the Special Schedule. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
59 
38.—Inquiries 27, 28, 29, and 30. 
[These Inquiries are found upon the Schedules for Males only.] 
Ratable Poll—In the case of every male person, whether of 
native or foreign birth, 20 years of age or over, not a pauper, write 
the word Yes in Space 27. In all other cases make the sign, X> 
indicating that the Inquiry is inapplicable. 
Legal Voter.—In the case of every native male person 21 
years of age or over, and in the case of every foreign born male 
person 21 years of age or over, who has been naturalized, not an 
idiot, pauper, nor convict, or who has resided one year in the State, 
and six months in the town or city, write the word Yes. Both 
native and naturalized legal voters should be indicated by Yes in 
Space 28; all other male persons by the sign X- 
Naturalized Voter—In the case of every foreign born male 
person, 21 years of age or over, who has complied with the nat- 
uralization laws of the United States (either by his own act or 
that of his father), write the word Yes in Space 29. In all other 
cases make the sign X *n Space 29. 
Alien.—In the case of all male persons, of foreign birth, 21 
years of age or over, who have not complied with the naturalization 
laws of the United States, write the word Yes in Space 30. In all 
other cases make the sign X'm Space 30. The following illus- 
trations show all the possible combinations as regards Political 
Condition. 
POLITICAL CONDITION. 
(27) Eatable Poll. (28) Legal Voter. 
X X 
(29) Naturalized Voter. (30) Alien. 
X X 
Age 19. 
(27) Eatable Poll. (28) Legal Voter. 
Yes X 
(29) Naturalized Voter. (30) Alien. 
X X 
Age 20 
Years or over. 60 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
(27) Ratable Poll. (28) Legal Voter. 
Yes Yes 
(29) Naturalized Voter. (30) Alien. 
x r x 
Age 21. 
Native Born. 
(27) Ratable Poll. (28) Legal Voter. 
Yes Yes 
(29) Naturalized Voter. (30) Alien. 
Yes X 
Age 21. 
Foreign Bom. 
Naturalized. 
(27) Ratable Poll. (28) Legal Voter. 
Yes X 
(29) Naturalized Voter. (30) Alien. 
X Yes 
Age 21. 
Foreign Born. 
N ot Naturalized. 
By the instructions, “ ratable polls ” include those male persons 
20 years of age and over. Where in Space 14, the age had been 
given as 20 because the person was 19 years and 6 months or more 
of age, it appeared to be an error because they were not also mark- 
ed as ratable polls; the only way in which this could be avoided 
would be to have the exact years and months entered as the age 
for each person, but this would entail so much extra labor, and 
cost so much, that would seem hardly practicable to require it in 
a Census. When it is not done, however, there must always be a 
margin of variation as regards the number of ratable polls; it 
might have been better to have used the term “no” instead of the 
“X” in filling out Spaces 27 to 30. 
39.—Inquiries 31 and 32. 
[These Inquiries are found upon the Schedule for Females only.] 
These Inquiries are to be made only of or concerning women 
who are or who have been married, and should include married, 
widowed, and divorced women, whatever their relation to the head 
of the family. In other words they should be asked of or con- THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
61 
cerning every woman, whose name appears upon Schedule No. i, 
who is or who has been married. If a woman who is or has been 
married has had no children, or if none are living, use the “ o ” 
(zero) in Spaces 31 or 32, as the case may be. In all other cases 
make the sign X- Three illustrations will suffice for expla- 
nation :— 
(31) Mother of how (32) Number of these 
many Children. Children now living. 
5 4. 
Married, 
Widowed, 
or Divorced. 
(31) Mother of how (32) Number of these 
many Children. Children now living. 
2 0 
Married, • 
Widowed, 
or Divorced, 
(31) Mother of how (32) Number of these 
many Children. Children now living. 
X X 
Single 
The four Inquiries relative to political condition contained on 
the Schedules for males were dropped on the Schedules for females, 
and two Inquiries, Nos. 31 and 32, were put in their places rela- 
tive to the number of children born to each mother, and the num- 
ber of those children living at the time the Census was taken ; 
this was a new feature in sociology, but the returns were finely 
filled out, and the results to be shown in Part 2 of Volume I., of 
the Census of Massachusetts for 1885, will set at rest the doubts 
of both pessimists and optimists as regards the decadence or non- 
decadence of the native born portion of the body politic. 62 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
SCHEDULE NO. I—SPECIAL. 
To the Enumerator.—The object of this Special Population 
Schedule is to secure certain social statistics relative to the crimi- 
nal, pauper, or afflicted classes of the Commonwealth which could 
not be written, owing to their nature and length, upon the Popu- 
lation Schedule itself. The Population Schedule supplies the 
enumeration of the classes mentioned the same as though they did 
not belong to such classes, while this Special Population Schedule 
supplies an account of the condition in detail of the delinquent, 
dependent, and defective classes. 
The union between the Population Schedule and this Special 
Population Schedule is complete, for you have, in accordance with 
instructions, entered the classes under consideration as follows: 
Under Inquiry 12, Population Sched- 
ule, showing relation to head of fam- 
ily, and also under Inquiry 26, giving 
the number of this Special Popula- 
tion Schedule. 
Prisoners, 
Convicts, 
Homeless Children, 
Paupers. 
Acute Diseases, 
Chronic Diseases, 
Blind, 
Deaf, 
Dumb, 
Deaf and Dumb, 
Insane, 
Idiotic, 
Maimed, 
Lame, 
Bedridden and Paralytic, 
Other Defective Physi- 
cal Conditions. 
Under Inquiry 25, Population Sched- 
ule, showing physical condition, and 
also under Inquiry 26, giving the 
number of this Special Population 
Schedule. 
It is important that every inquiry in this Special Population 
Schedule relating to Prisoners and Convicts, Homeless Children 
and Paupers, Persons suffering from Acute or Chronic Diseases, 
or those defective in any way as regards their Physical Condition, 
should be answered as fully as possible, whether the persons are 
living in institutions or private families. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS 
63 
All the provisions of the Census Law apply to this Special 
Population Schedule as well as to the Population Schedule itself. 
The information called for regarding physical condition is, how- 
ever, of a private nature and you must use the utmost discretion 
in making inquiries, and assure your informants that their replies 
will be considered entirely confidential and that no names will be 
published. The object is a scientific one in the interest of all the 
afflicted classes, and each one who supplies correct information is 
doing a patriotic and humane service for the community. 
Prisoners and Convicts. 
1. —Name of penal institution. 
2. —If Prisoner, state alleged offence. 
3. —If Convict, give nature of crime. 
4. —If Convict, give length of sentence. 
5. —Residence when at home. 
6. —If Convict, state whether serving time in this Institution, awaiting re- 
moval to some other prison, awaiting sentence, or awaiting death pen- 
alty. 
7. —If Prisoner, state whether awaiting trial, held as a witness, serving out a 
fine, imprisoned for insanity, debt, etc. 
GENERAL NOTICE. 
Prisoners and Convicts will be found only in institutions; they 
may not, however, be residents of the town or city in which they 
are confined. Homeless Children and Paupers will be found both 
in institutions and private families, but supported wholly or par- 
tially by the town or city to which they belong. The object of 
Inquiries 5, 9, and 18 is to enable this office to credit each town 
or city with its proper share of prisoners or convicts, homeless 
children, or paupers. If not able-bodied their physical condition 
must be given on pages 3 and 4. 
PRISONERS AND CONVICTS. 
Definition—By Prisoners are meant those who are awaiting trial 
for an alleged offence, held as witnesses, serving out fines, or de- 
tained for insanity (because dangerous), debt, etc. By Convicts are 
meant those who have been tried, convicted, and sentenced to im- 
prisonment for a specified term or to suffer the death penalty. 
Prisoners are usually found in lock-ups and jails, while convicts are 
in the State penal institutions or in county prisons and houses of 
correction, or awaiting removal thereto. 64 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
The text of the inquiries is to a great degree indicative of the 
nature of the information obtained. It will be plainly seen that 
from the answers can be obtained a showing of all the offences for 
which prisoners were held, all the crimes of convicts, of length of 
sentences, and by a proper tabulation the average sentence for each 
specified crime, and the means were also supplied of crediting the 
convicts and prisoners to their homes, and not, as generally done 
to the city or town in which the jail or prison happened to be 
located. 
A peculiarity of the Special Schedule was that it brought into 
one schedule all the defective, dependent, or delinquent con- 
ditions for one individual. On the old blank a person may have 
been counted as a convict, counted again as being blind, and 
counted for the third time as being deaf, this giving three persons 
apparently, instead of one actually; in the United States Census 
for 1880 a similar form of blank was adopted, but the results of 
the tabulation have not as yet appeared. The presentations of the 
various inquiries used in the Special Schedule, and the accompa- 
nying special instructions, are given for the guidance of those who 
are obliged to prepare blanks or schedules for obtaining similar 
information; it is not contended that the inquiries are perfect, or 
that the instructions are as complete and explicit as they might be 
made; they, however, form a basis upon which practical statisti- 
cians can work, and incorporate therewith such improvements in 
inquiries or instructions as may occur to them as being advisable. 
As, however, the schedules were remarkably well filled for the 
State, it is undoubtedly the fact that they were reasonably well 
fitted for the work intended, and at the present time any material 
changes in inquiries or instructions have not been suggested by the 
tabulation of the returns actually made. The errors that occurred 
related principally to the proper definition of acute and chronic 
diseases, to the proper distinguishing of those maimed from those 
lame, and to the classification of those deaf, dumb, and deaf and 
dumb. The errors made, however, were due largely to not thor- 
oughly reading and understanding the instructions, and also to 
the fact that the defective, dependent, and delinquent classes are 
often unable to answer for themselves, and those having them in 
charge are not sufficiently acquainted with them to be able to sup- 
ply the information. TIIE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
65 
Homeless Children. 
8. —Name of institution, or living in a private family. 
9. —Residence, before entering this institution or family. 
10. —Are this child’s parents living. 
11. —For what cause committed. 
. 12.—Was this child born in this institution; if not, when committed. 
13. —Legitimate, or illegitimate. 
14. —Is this child under the legal control of this institution. 
15. —If yes, by legal authority, or by consent of parents. 
16. —Whether wholly or partially supported by public charity. 
HOMELESS CHILDREN. 
In previous State Censuses Homeless Children have been classed 
with Paupers, only the age classification distinguishing them. 
Paupers are those who by disease, intemperance, misfortune, lack 
of thrift, or disinclination to labor, become dependent upon public 
beneficence. Homeless children are dependent upon private or 
public beneficence from no fault of their own. They have not yet 
had an opportunity to support themselves and it is misleading and 
unjust to class them with those who have tried and have failed, or 
those who have no inclination, to support themselves. 
Inquiry 10 maybe answered by saying “Father living,” “Moth- 
er living,” or “ Both living.” 
Inquiry 11 applies particularly to children now in reform schools 
or other reformatory institutions. Such children, although having 
committed offenses and having been committed to such institu- 
tions, are not however Convicts, and are properly classified under 
Homeless Children. 
Paupers. 
17. —Name of institution, or living in a private family. 
18. —Residence when at home. 
19. —Has this person ever been in a penal institution. 
2C.—Is this person habitually intemperate. 
21. —Was this person born in this institution ; if not, when admitted. 
22. —Is this person able-bodied. 
23. —What relatives of this person are also in this institution. 
24. —Whether wholly or partially supported by public charity. 
PAUPERS. ■ 
Inquiry 19 distinguishes the “criminal pauper” class, Inquiry 
20 the “intemperate,” Inquiry 21 the “hereditary,” and Inquiry 
22 the “ tramp or vagrant ” class who are committed for being 66 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
without means of support, and who are likely to join the crim- 
inal classes. 
Inquiry 23 should include husband, wife, father, mother, ancj 
the number of sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters. 
PHYSICAL CONDITION. 
Acute and Chronic Diseases. 
25. —Whether an acute or chronic disease. 
26. —Name of such disease. 
27. —Name and address of family physician. 
28. —How long afflicted. 
29. —If in a hospital or institution, state its name. 
30. —Name of attending physician. 
31. —Residence when at home. 
32. —Whether wholly or partially self-supporting, and whether supported at 
own expense or by public or private charity. 
GENERAL NOTICE. 
Residence.—Persons suffering from the defective physical 
conditions referred to on pages 3 and 4 may not be residents 
of the town or city in which the institution (hospital, asylum, 
training-school, poor-house, etc.) in yffiich they now reside is 
situated ; they will usually be found living at home; they may be 
in charge of a private family, but at public expense. The object 
of Inquiries 31, 43, and 52, on page 3, and 62, 74, 90, and 100 
on page 4 is to enable this office to credit each town or city with 
its proper share of acute and chronic disease, maimed and lame, 
bedridden, paralytic, blind, insane, deaf, dumb, deaf and dumb, 
idiotic, etc. Those who are prisoners, convicts, homeless children, 
or paupers, must be so accounted for on page 2. 
Physicians—The Enumerator will find in nearly every case 
where, from indisposition or inability to answer, he fails to secure 
some portion of the required information that he can without 
trouble secure the name and address of the family or attending 
physician, and a letter to him, with return postage enclosed, will 
secure the desired facts. Visits to physicians consuming much 
time should not be made, as the Census Office can correspond 
with the physician and thus complete the schedule at slight 
expense. 
The object of these Inquiries is to obtain the Health Statis- 
tics of the Commonwealth. Physicians will aid you heartily in THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
67 
this work, for the results will be particularly valuable to the medi- 
cal fraternity. No names will be used in the Census reports and 
these returns will be seen only by yourself and the medical 
experts who tabulate them. Impress these facts upon all who are 
disinclined to answer. 
Maimed and Lamed. 
33. —What limb or organ has been lamed or lost. 
34. —Cause: disease, accident, or in battle. 
35. —Name of disease. 
36. —Nature of accident. 
37. —Occupation at time of accident. 
38. —When, and in what town, did accident occur. 
39. —Whether injured in discharge of duty. 
40. —How long afflicted. 
41. —If in a home or institution, state its name. 
42. —Name of attending physician. 
43. —Residence when at home. 
44. —Whether wholly or partially self-supporting, and whether supported at 
own expense or by public or private charity. 
By “ Maimed ’’ we mean those who have lost a leg, arm, eye, 
finger, hand, etc. By “ Lame ” we mean those who are crippled 
by deformity or accident but who have not necessarily lost a limb 
or an organ. We desire that special care may be taken to secure 
the information concerning those injured in battle, and also the 
particulars for all persons injured by accidents in mills, mines, 
workshops, on railroads, etc. Your local knowledge of persons 
and events will aid you in making these returns complete. 
Bedridden, Paralytic, or other Defective Physical Conditions. 
45. —Whether bedridden or paralytic. 
46. —Other defective physical condition. 
47. —Cause of such conditions. (45 or 46.) 
48. —How long afflicted. 
49. —Name and address of family physician. 
50. —If in an institution, state its name. 
51. —Name of attending physician. • 
52. —Residence when at home. 
53. —Whether wholly or partially self-supporting, and whether supported at 
own expense or by public or private charity. 
Any other defective physical condition than those specially enu 
merated can be stated under Inquiry 46. 68 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Blind. 
54. —Totally or semi-blind. 
55. —Whether from birth. 
56. —Age at which blindness occurred. 
57. —No. of years afflicted. 
58. —Form of blindness. 
59. —Supposed cause. 
60. —If in an institution, state its name. 
61. —Name and address of superintendent or attending physician. 
62. —Residence when at home. 
63. —Whether wholly ox partially self-supporting. 
64. —Supported at own expense or by public or private charity. 
The totally blind cannot distinguish forms or colors. The semi- 
blind can see forms and colors indistinctly, but cannot read except 
with great difficulty. 
Insane. 
65. —Form of insanity. 
66. —Supposed cause. 
67. —Age at first attack. 
68. —Age at last attack. 
69. —Number of attacks. 
70. —How long insane. 
71. —Dangerous to self, to others, or, so far, harmless. 
72. —If in an institution, state its name. 
73. —Name and address of superintendent or attending physician. 
74. —Residence when at home. 
75. —Whether wholly or partially self-supporting. 
76. —Supported at oivn expense or by public or private charity. 
Give in reply to Inquiry 65 such well-understood terms as mania, 
melancholia, dementia, etc. We will secure fuller information, if 
needed, from the physician by correspondence. If unable to learn 
above facts as to form of insanity state the case in your own words 
in plain English. 
Deaf, Dumb,—Deaf and Dumb. 
77. —Whether deaf only, dumb only, or deaf and dumb (deaf-mute). 
78. —Supposed cause of deafness. 
79. — Totally deaf, or semi-deaf. , 
80. —Cause of dumbness. 
81. —Age at which deafness or dttmbness occurred. 
82. —No. of years afflicted. 
83. —Has dumbness ceased, or is it ceasing through instruction. 
84. —Whether deaf from birth. 
85. —Age at which dcaf-mutism occurred. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
69 
86. —No. of years afflicted. 
87. —Supposed cause. 
88. —If in an institution, state its name. 
89. —Name and address of superintendent or attending physician. 
90. —Residence when at home. 
91. —Whether wholly ox partially self-supporting. 
92. —Supported at own expense or by public or private charity. 
A deaf person may be totally deaf that is unable to hear any 
sounds, or he may be semi-deaf, that is be able to hear very loud 
sounds, and even to understand some voices, these latter not nec- 
essarily very loud ones. Some persons are only “ a little hard of 
hearing” and are not deaf to such a degree as to incapacitate them 
for their ordinary duties. In such cases answer Inquiry 79 by 
“ Hard of hearing.” 
Some people are dumb from idiocy, deformity (tongue-tied), dis- 
ease, or accident, but can hear. The deaf only or dumb only must 
not be confounded with nor included among the deaf and dumb or 
deaf-mutes. Inquiry 81 applies both to deaf only or dumb only. A 
deaf-mute from birth has never heard any one speak, and con- 
sequently has never learned to talk. If afflicted at an early age 
before learning to talk the condition is deaf-mutism, the same as 
if from birth. Those who could once hear and speak but have 
lost the power, either wholly or in part, from any cause, are called 
semi-mutes, and Inquiry 85 should be answered as follows: “Deaf- 
mute, 16,” or “Semi-mute, 16,” as the case may be. 
Idiotic. 
93. — Wholly ox partially idiotic. 
94. —Whether from birth. 
95. —Age at which manifested. 
96. — No. of years afflicted. 
97. —Supposed cause. 
98. —If in an institution, state its name. 
99. —Name and address of superintendent or attending physician. 
100. — Residence when at home. 
101. —Whether wholly ox partially self-supporting. 
102. —Supported at own expense or by public or private charity. 
Give the causes of idiocy in simple language, such as,—measles, 
meningitis, epilepsy, blow on head, fall, fright, etc. An idiot is a 
person whose mental development has been retarded or virtually 
stopped. The insane lose their faculties and become imbecile, 70 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
not idiotic. The true idiot is stupid, rarely evincing comprehen- 
sive or reasoning powers beyond those of the lower animals, and 
oftentimes failing to reach even that standard. 
SCHEDULE Ho. 2.—Manufactures. 
To 
Town (or City) 0/. 
To comply with the Laws of the Commonwealth, as given for your informa- 
tion below, you are called upon to answer the inquiries made in this Schedule. 
All instructions necessary for your guidance will be found upon pages facing 
the questions, and you are requested to read them carefully before filling in 
any of the answers. Any person authorized by you may write in the partic- 
ulars. 
This Schedule is one of a series of eight used in taking the Decennial Cen- 
sus and Industrial Statistics of the Commonwealth. By Chap. 181, Acts of 
1884, this Bureau was vested with authority to take the Industrial Statistics 
for 1885. The object of Schedule No. 2 is to ascertain the products and con- 
dition of Manufactures in the Commonwealth for the year ending June 30, 
1885, the values of manufacturing property as they existed on June 30, 1885, 
and also to show the increase or decrease in production and property as com- 
pared with the Statistics of Manufactures for 1875. 
By Sect. 6 of the Census law it is provided that Schedule No. 2 shall be sent 
by mail to manufacturers, and returned by them, by mail, to this Bureau. This 
provision enables manufacturers to make returns without annoyance and at 
their leisure, and without disclosing information concerning their business to 
Enumerators or individuals of the locality. In case the Schedules are not 
filled and returned by mail, the Bureau is empowered to send Enumerators 
to obtain such Schedules. 
It will be the duty of the Bureau as regards Schedules sent in by mail to re- 
quire the completion of your return if it be defective, and its correction if it 
be erroneous. Black ink should be used in writing, in all cases where possible. 
Replies written in pencil will be accepted, if the writing is firm and legible. 
It is intended that every Manufacturer, whatever the kind of goods made or 
productive work done, should receive and fully fill out one of these Schedules, 
no matter how small the quantity or value of product annually. 
It is of importance to every one engaged in developing the manufacturing 
resources of the Commonwealth that the fullest and most correct return possi- 
ble should be obtained from each manufacturer, or other recipient of this 
Schedule; and no manufacturer, or employer engaged in a mechanical trade, 
should allow himself to perform his duty in a careless or imperfect manner. 
To facilitate tabulation in the office, it is desirable that you should keep this 
Schedule in good condition, and avoid tearing, folding (excepting one fold 
lengthwise, as mailed), or soiling it. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
71 
The facts supplied by you are not to be used as the basis of any system of 
taxation, or other liability, and the information secured will be presented in the 
Census Abstract by figures only, the names of persons in 710 case being printed. 
The Bureau and Enumerator are bound by law to consider your answers in 
this Schedule as strictly confidential, and they will be examined only by 
the clerks in this office who prepare the returns tor printing. 
Certain of the Inquiries indicate plainly that the answer should give the 
condition, or the facts, as they existed June 30, 1885. Such Inquiries usually 
relate to Manufacturing Property, such as Land, Buildings, Machinery, Imple- 
ments, Capital Invested, Motive Power, etc. In the case of all other Inquiries, 
the replies should cover the entire Census Year which began July 1, 1884, and 
which ended June 30,1885. 
Each article made, kind of work done, stock or material used, and each 
kind of Manufacturing Property, must be enumerated BY ITS OWN NAME. 
We cannot accept returns with the words “miscellaneous,” “sundries,” “not 
otherwise enumerated,” or any other unmeaning and statistically valueless des- 
ignation. 
This Schedule was mailed to your address. 
Twenty Days from aoove Date will be allowed you in which to make 
your return and mail same, in accompanying postpaid envelope, to this office. 
All parties filling out this Schedule must certify that the answers are correct. 
This is required by law, and a form for signature will be found at the foot of 
this page. Your post office address must be given so that we may communi- 
cate with you by mail in case any error or omission is found in your Schedule. 
Extracts from the CENSUS LAW.—Chap. 181, Acts of 1884. 
Section i. The decennial census of the Commonwealth required by arti- 
cles twenty-one and twenty-two of the amendments to the constitution, and the 
decennial census of the industries of the Commonwealth, shall be taken in the 
year eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and in every tenth year thereafter, under 
the direction of the bureau of statistics of labor, by enumerators to be appoint- 
ed by said bureau as hereinafter provided. 
Sect. 2. The information sought by the census shall be gathered on eight 
general schedules, as follows:— * * * Schedule number two to manufact- 
ures. * * * 
Sect. 3. * * * The statistics to be gathered by schedules number two * * * 
shall relate to the facts called for on the same for the year ending the thirtieth 
day of June of each census year, and so far as property relating to such facts 
is concerned as it exists on the said thirtieth day of June. 
Sect. 6. In making returns under schedule number one, the enumerators 
shall make and transmit with such returns a complete list of all establishments 
engaged in manufacturing * * * ; and upon such list the statistics required 
by schedules numbered two * * * shall be gathered by said bureau, by mail, 
and of such parties who fail to make returns by mail by such of the enumera- 
tors appointed under section four as said bureau may designate. 
Sect. 8. * * * all other schedules must be certified to by the parties mak- 
ing them. 72 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Sect. ii. * * * no use shall be made of the names of individuals, firms, or 
corporations supplying the information called for by this act, such information 
being deemed confidential, and not for the purpose of disclosing any person’s 
affairs, and any enumerator or employe of said bureau violating this provision, 
shall be fined as provided for in the succeeding section for wilful deceit and 
falsehood. 
Sect. 12. * * * if any person shall refuse to give the information required 
by this act to a person authorized to collect the same, he shall pay a fine not 
exceeding one hundred dollars for every such refusal. 
Sect. 13. All fines charged under this act may be recovered in any court 
of competent jurisdiction by information or complaint of the attorney-general, 
and shall accrue wholly to the Commonwealth. 
Upon the Manufactures Special Schedules devoted to “Gas 
Companies,” “Printing and Publishing,” “Print Works, Dye 
Works, and Bleacheries,” and “Shipbuilding,” a general circular 
similar to the one just presented was printed upon the first page of 
the Schedule. A letter or circular similar in tenor, but with changes 
to suit it to the part of the Schedule upon which it was printed, 
appeared upon the first page of Schedule No. 3 relating to “ Mines, 
Quarries, Pits, etc.,” Schedule No. 4 devoted to “Domestic Man- 
ufactures and Agricultural Products and Property,” Schedule No. 5 
devoted to “ The Fisheries,” Schedule No. 6 which covered the 
statistics of “Coastwise and Ocean Commerce,” Schedule No. 7 
relating to “Libraries and Reading Rooms,” and Schedule No. 8 
containing statistics of “ Schools and School Property,” which 
related to both public and private schools, colleges, and academies ; 
upon each of these Schedules, also, were given extracts from the 
Census law for the information of the party called upon to fill the 
Schedule. 
Date of Establishment. 
1. —Date of establishment of this manufactory. 
2. —Founded by whom. 
3. State year in which the present firm or corporate name was adopted. 
Full replies to Inquiries 1, 2, and 3 will supply the needed in- 
formation for a history of manufactures in this Commonwealth. 
They will show the years of inception of our industries, the names 
of the pioneers or founders of our great industries, the changes 
in the various firms with dates of such changes, and the informa- 
tion, if complete, will undoubtedly establish the fact of the sta- 
bility and solid growth of the manufacturing industries of the 
Commonwealth. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
73 
Inquiry 1 was very generally filled. Inquiry 2 was only par- 
tially filled, there being so many establishments at the present day, 
the present proprietors of which do not know by whom the. busi- 
ness was started. Inquiry 3 was not generally answered, the par- 
ties who filled the Schedule evidently thinking that if Inquiry 1 was 
answered that covered the ground sufficiently ; as the answers to 
Inquiry 3 were only of relative value no particular effort was made 
to fill in Schedules in which this omission occurred; of course 
in a great many cases the answers to Inquiries I and 3 would be 
the same. 
Partners. 
4.—Partners. Number of Partners. 5.—Males. 6.—Females. 
No. of General Partners. “ “ 
No. of Special Partners. “ “ 
Stockholders, etc. 
7.—Stockholders. Number of Stockholders. 8.—Males. 9.—Females. 
10. —If managed by a company, state whether incorporated under General 
Law, a Special Law, or not incorporated. 
11. —State whether originally established as a private firm or Corporation. 
12. —Year in which incorporated. 
13. —Amount of Capital Stock at time of incorporation. 
14. —Amount of Capital Stock on June 30, 1885. 
From the replies to Inquiries I to 14 information can be ob- 
tained as to the actual and relative numbers of partners in private 
firms and stockholders in corporations, the changing of private 
firms into corporations, the year in which corporations were organ- 
ized, and the increase or decrease in capital stock as regards 
the time of incorporation and the present time. 
This section of the Schedule was generally well filled ; a com- 
mon omission was in the case of those establishments conducted 
by one person who evidently did not consider that he himself was 
a “partner;” this omission was easily supplied, for in the majori- 
ty of cases the answer was “one partner;” in case such designa- 
tions as Brooks Bros.; or Small. Jones, & Co., appeared upon the 
addressed page, letters were sent in order to ascertain the actual 
number of partners. It would be well, in future, to insert with 
instructions calling for similar information the statement that one 
person should consider himself as a “partner** for Census pur- 
poses. 74 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Capital Invested. 
15. —Amount. 
16. —In Land. 
17. —In Buildings and Fixtures. 
18. —In Machinery. 
19. —In Implements and Tools. 
20. —Cash capital. 
21. —Credit capital; supplied by partners or stockholders. 
22. —Credit capital; bills payable, accounts on long time, etc. 
23. —Total real (fixed), cash, and credit Capital invested in this establish- 
ment. 
The statistics of Capital Invested in previous Censuses have 
lacked completeness. The credit capital, which is as essential to 
the carrying on of a great establishment as the real and cash cap- 
ital, has been entirely omitted from the returns. This credit capi- 
tal should include all income from investments, interest, and all 
other aids to capital. Inquiries 16 to 23 should be answered so 
as to cover completely the real, cash, and credit capital needed, 
and actually used, to carry on this establishment. 
No part of the Manufactures Schedule cost the Census Office 
more wearisome correspondence than the section devoted to Capi- 
tal Invested; the inquiries in regard to credit capital were new to 
the Census, and in spite of the explanation given the Schedules 
were returned without answers being filled in to Inquiries 21 and 
22. The absolute importance of the statistics of credit capital is 
coming to be generally recognized. The subject is more carefully 
considered hereinafter in the discussion of the Inquiries in the 
Annual Statistics Schedule now in use in the State of Massachu- 
setts. It was also with difficulty that the manufacturers could be 
induced to separate their capital invested according to Inquiries 
16, 17, 18, and 19; in many cases the land was bought at a nom- 
inal value and the present owners could not state its cost; in 
many cases the buildings, fixtures, machinery, implements and 
tools, were lumped in one sum and the manufacturers confessed 
their inability to separate this sum according to the items ; it 
would seem as though a proper system of bookkeeping would en- 
able any manufacturer to show the balance standing to the debit 
of his accounts for buildings, fixtures, machinery, and implements 
and tools; but the fact is that manufacturers do not always keep 
their books in the way best calculated to supply answers to Cen- THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
75 
sus inquiries. It may be stated that the Census should conform 
to the form of accounts kept by the manufacturers, but this would 
end in a similar way, for if a good model were taken as the proper 
form, there would be the same number of manufacturers whose 
books would not conform to this good model. 
Markets, Transportation, etc. 
24. —Where are the products of this establishment sold principally. 
25. —Total value of goods exported during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
26. —Cost per ton for transportation to principal market. 
27. —Total amount paid for freight on purchases during year ending June 30, 
1885. 
28. —Total amount paid for freight on goods sold during year ending June 30, 
1885. 
29. —Where is the principal competition in the manufacture of goods. 
30. —Where is the principal competition in selling goods. 
31. —Are sales decreased by the importation of foreign-made goods. 
The answers to Inquiries 24 to 31 will supply facts in relation 
to inter-state and foreign commerce, as regards the different man- 
ufacturing industries of the Commonwealth, which have hereto- 
fore been lacking. While the information supplied will be of 
general value to the people of the Commonwealth, it will be of 
more particular value to the various industries. 
At the present day, when the subject of inter-state commerce has 
become so important that laws have been passed and commission- 
ers appointed to see to their proper enforcement, statistics relative 
to markets and transportation are of a particular value to the man- 
ufacturing fraternity; as the answers to such inquiries must be 
statements of facts, there is no opportunity for the Census Office to 
know whether they are exactly correct, and so the Office is de- 
barred from estimating, or from making comparisons which might 
disclose manifest errors; as regards the answer to Inquiry 25, of 
course the amount must be less than the total amount of goods 
manufactured, but in the case of no other inquiry is there any op- 
portunity for comparison. 
Stock or Materials Used. 
32. —Chief raw materials used. 
33. — Where such material is produced. 
34. —Market where such material is purchased. 
35. —Price of such material, June 30, 1885. Price at factory. Price where 
purchased. 76 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
36. —Combustible value of the average amount of stock on hand (raw, and 
in process of manufacture) in this establishment. 
37. —Average length of credit obtained on purchases of stock or materials 
used. 
38. Description of all stock or materials used or consumed in manufactur- 
ing, work done, repairs, or re-manufacturing, during the year ending 
June 30, 1885. 
39. —Quantity used or consumed. Basis. Number. 
40. —Value. 
41. —Total value of stock or materials used or consumed in this establish- 
ment during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
Inquiries 32 to 35 are a continuation, in some respects, of those 
in relation to “ Markets and Transportation.” The design is to 
obtain the sources of supply of the chief raw materials used in 
each industry, the principal market for purchasing such materials, 
and on a fixed basis, such as pound, ton, etc., the price where pur- 
chased, and the price at factory, the latter price of course including 
commissions, freight, etc. Inquiries 36 and 37 are self-explan- 
atory, excepting as regards combustible value which is explained in 
the “General Instructions” on the back of page 10. Inquiries 38 
to 41 call for the description, quantity, and value of all stock or 
materials used or consumed in this establishment in the making 
of goods or the doing of work. By “ basis ” is meant pound, ton, 
yard, etc., as the case may be. 
All materials used for fuel should be stated separately. State 
different kinds of coal. Include water, and gas, electric lights, 
or other means of illumination ; also chemicals, mill supplies, pack- 
ing boxes, etc. Specify all cases of “ repairs,” and also all cases 
in which goods already manufactured are used in re-manufactur- 
ing. Use the letter “ R ” to indicate raw or crude materials and 
“ M ” to indicate goods already manufactured but used as “ stock ” 
in your industry. Write these letters after the names of the arti- 
cles in the spaces under 38. 
Do not use the terms “sundries,” “ miscellaneous,” “other ar- 
ticles,” etc. The design is to secure the most complete detail as re- 
gards articles used as stock, and extra copies of page 3 will be 
sent if this detail requires more space than is allotted. 
The “total value,” Inquiry 41, should be a correct mathemat- 
ical total of the various amounts given in the spaces under 40. 
Inquiries 32 to 35 covered some points which it was not sup- 
posed that every establishment could answer; the results of such THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
77 
information are not secured from simple aggregation, for one-half 
dozen complete Schedules in any one industry would be as thor- 
oughly indicative as if all the Schedules for that particular indus- 
try were answered. For that reason in the case of the smaller 
establishments, especially, where the figures have no distinguishing 
value, the parties were not called upon to fill out the specified 
inquiries. Inquiries 36 and 37 were generally well answered, and 
they did not call for much correspondence in order to supply omis- 
sions. In the case of thousands of establishments, where the busi- 
ness is small, the amount of stock carried inconsiderable in value, 
and most of the stock or material purchased for cash, of course 
the inquiries were not answered. There is probably no part of 
a Schedule devoted to manufactures that causes the manufacturer 
more trouble to supply detailed information than those compre- 
hended by Inquiries 38 to 41; in a great many cases, perhaps 
in one-half, the manufacturer confesses his inability to state the 
quantity and value of the stock used by him ; he has an accurate 
idea of the goods made, and he knows that he is making a profit, 
is able to pay his bills, and make a living ; he does not keep his 
books in such a way as to show the quantity and value of differ- 
ent articles used in his business, but they are all lumped in one 
general merchandise or supply account. The larger establish- 
ments, especially the corporations, however, supply full details, 
and as they use the greater part of the raw material used in the 
State, it is not worth while to insist upon the smaller establish- 
ments filling out in detail the items of stock used. In the majority 
of these cases it would be an estimate, and a general statement 
as to the nature of stock used and the value is the best that can 
be generally obtained. 
Goods Manufactured or Work Done. 
42. —Principal manufactured products. 
43. —A specified quantity of a principal product. 
44. —Gross cost of such specified quantity. 
45. —Selling price for such specified quantity. 
46. —Statement of value of weekly product during the year ending June 30, 
1885. Highest. Lowest. Average. 
47. —Proportion that the business for the year ending June 30, 1885, bears 
to the greatest capacity for production of this establishment. 
48. —Are the products of this establishment sold at first hands from the fac- 
tory or shop, by commission agents, wholesale dealers, jobbers,—or 
how. 78 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
49-—Combustible value of the average amount Of manufactured goods, or 
completed “ work done,” on hand in this establishment. 
50. —Average length of credit allowed on sales of goods manufactured, or 
work done. 
51. —Description of all goods manufactured, work done, repairs, or re-man- 
ufacturing, during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
52. —Quantity manufactured, work done, etc. Basis. Number. • 
53. —Value. 
54. —Total value of all goods manufactured, work done, repairs, and re-manu- 
facturing, in this establishment during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
Inquiries 42 to 45 call for the principal product or products, 
and the gross cost and selling price of a specified quantity, as, for 
instance, 100,000 yards of cotton print cloth, 1000 cases of one 
kind of boots or shoes, a locomotive, printing-press, etc., as the 
case may be. 
Inquiry 46 is designed to show, as regards weeks, the highest, 
lowest, and average product during the Census Year. After the 
words “ Highest,” “ Lowest,” and “ Average ” the date of the Sat- 
urday of the week considered should be written in, in order to supply 
comparisons between different establishments. 
Inquiry 47 calls for a comparison between the actual business 
done during the Census Year and the greatest business that could 
have been done if the establishment had been run to its fullest 
capacity. In case “night work” is included in the comparison 
that fact should be stated. 
Inquiry 49 will require only a reference to the definition of 
“combustible value” in the General Instructions. 
Inquiries 51 to 54 cover goods manufactured and work done 
in the same manner as Inquiries 38 to 41 cover stock and ma- 
terials used. 
The most complete detail as regards goods made is desired. 
Avoid the terms “sundries,” “miscellaneous,” etc. Extra copies 
of page 4 will be sent if this detail requires more space than is allot- 
ted. By “basis ” is meant pound, ton, yard, as the case may be. 
The “total value,” Inquiry 54, should be a correct mathemat- 
ical total of the various amounts given in the spaces under 53. 
Inquiries 42 and 46 cover points similar in their nature to those 
referred to as covered by inquiries 32 to 35; that is, their great 
value comes from their being representative and not from their 
being accumulative results of all the establishments in the State. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
79 
Inquiry 47 was misunderstood, or not understood, by a great 
many manufacturers and much correspondence was needed in 
order to make the matter plain to them.. The point that it was 
desired to learn was how many more people could be employed in 
the manufacturing establishments of the State without any change 
in the plant, that is, without building any more mills, factories, 
or workshops, or in putting in any more machinery ; in other words, 
how many vacant benches or unemployed machines were there 
which, in case of a great increase in trade, could be utilized; the 
inquiry is included in the Annual Statistics Schedule now in use in 
Massachusetts and is one of the most indicative figures of the con- 
ditions of the various industries that can be obtained. Inquiries 
48 to 50 are similar in their nature to inquiries 36 and 37, and 
about the same results were secured. A parallel is found between 
inquiries 51 to 54 and inquiries 38 to 41. A manufacturer, as 
has been stated, has a better idea of the quantity and value of the 
different kinds of goods he has manufactured than he has of the 
quantity and value of the various kinds of stock he has used, but 
there is here found a new item of disturbance. A manufacturer is 
afraid that the secrets of his business may be disclosed, and if also 
engaged in the manufacture of an article in which he alone, or but 
two or three other persons in the city or State are engaged, he is 
averse to calling the manufactured articles by their real name 
because, as he says, he does not wish the secrets of his business 
disclosed. The State, while it has a right, undoubtedly, to call for 
the statistics of industries, as evidently has no right to use those 
figures in any way that would be to the prejudice of any individual 
manufacturer. Although the manufacturers were assured that by 
the forms of presentation it would be impossible for parties in the 
same business, or for outside parties, to learn the secrets of their 
business, yet as a rule, there were individual cases who preferred 
to use general titles under inquiry 51 rather than to specify the 
particular articles made by name ; every effort was made to secure 
as complete a detail as possible, but special assurances were 
given in a great many cases that certain articles of manufacture 
would be so thoroughly concealed that no use of printed figures 
could ever possibly be made to the prejudice of the manufacturer 
himself. 80 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Persons Employed. 
55. —Number of Males, under 10 years of age, employed. 
56. —Number of A/ales, 10 and over but under 14 years of age, employed. 
57. —Number of Males, 14 and over but under 21 years of age, employed. 
58. —Number of Males, 21 years of age and over, employed. 
59. —Whole Number of Males, of all ages, employed in this establishment 
at the present time. 
60. —Number of Females, under 10 years of age, employed. 
61. —Number of Females, 10 and over but under 14 years of age, employed. 
62. —Number of Females, 14 and over but under 21 years of age, employed. 
63. —Number of Females, 21 years of age and over, employed. 
64. —Whole Number of Females, of all ages, employed in this establishment 
at the present time. 
65. —Whole Number of Persons, of both sexes and all ages, employed in this 
establishment at the present time. 
66. —How many Males, employed in this establishment at the present time, 
are married. 
67. —How many Females, employed in this establishment at the present time, 
are married. 
68. —Smallest Number of Persons employed, at any one time, during the year 
ending June 30, 1885. 
69. —Greatest Number of Persons employed, at any one time, during the year 
ending June 30, 1885. 
70. —Month of the Census year in which the smallest number of Persons was 
employed. 
71. —Month of the Census year in which the greatest number of Persons was 
employed. 
72. —Greatest Number of Persons that could be advantageously employed in 
this establishment at any one time with present buildings, machinery, 
etc. 
Inquiries 55 to 58 call for the age classification of the Males 
employed, and Inquiries 60 to 63 the same facts for Females em- 
ployed. Inquiry 59 calls for Males of all ages, Inquiry 64 for 
Females of all ages, and Inquiry 65 for the Whole Number of 
both sexes and all ages. “Present time” means June 30, 1885. 
Inquiries 66 and 67 are self-explanatory. Inquiries 68 to 71 call 
for information that will indicate, by industries, the condition of 
business, at various periods, during the Census year. Inquiry 72 
means the number of employes that would be required to secure 
the greatest capacity for production in this establishment. See 
Inquiry 47. 
The statistics of “persons employed” formed another figure of 
difficulty in the prosecution of Census work ; note, for instance, 
the classification by age and sex as called for by Inquiries 55 to THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
81 
65. A manufacturer employing the same people the year round 
could make such records as would enable him with little diffi- 
culty to answer these inquiries, but if we consider the case of a 
large corporation employing from 3,000 to 4,000 hands, the neces- 
sity of supplying correct and reliable answers to these inquiries 
actually calls for an age census of employes; each person must 
be reached individually by a printed slip, or must be called upon 
verbally to supply the information, and there is no doubt but what 
the obtaining of this information is a hardship to the busy manu- 
facturer, and causes an actual loss to the employes, especially 
those who are piece workers ; a great many manufacturers reply 
that they do not know the ages of their employes, and do not care 
to ask them, and it can be seen that it is not a particularly pleas- 
ant task for a manufacturer to insist upon each of his employes 
giving him their particular age, especially when they know that 
their ages have been called for and entered upon the population 
Schedule. If we press inquiries 66 and 67 the manufacturer 
often replies that he does not know or care whether the males and 
females in his employment are married or not, and it is often con- 
sidered an impertinence to ask any such question ; in fact, although 
the questions contained in the Schedule under consideration all 
supply information that is desired or has been called for,for use 
in statistical matters, it is an open question whether the State or 
National Government should try to secure such detailed informa- 
tion ; a reference to the Annual Statistics Schedule, which has been 
several times mentioned, will show that it contains but a few in- 
quiries, and those are readily answered by the manufacturers. 
Inquiries 68 to 71 were well answered, the pay-roll supplying the 
desired information. The connection between inquiry 72 and in- 
quiry 47 is explained in the instructions. 
Working Time. 
73. —Number of Hours constituting a day’s work for women and minors in 
this establishment. 
74. —Number of Hours constituting a day’s work for adult males in this 
establishment. 
75. —Daily working time on Saturdays, for all persons employed. 
76. —Longest working time for male adults in any full working day. 
77. —Shortest working time for male adults in any full working day. 
78. —Average daily working time, May to November, for all persons employed. 
79. —Average daily working time, November to May, for all persons employed. 82 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
80. —Number of persons, under 14 years of age, employed for 32 weeks 
during year ending June 30, 1885. 
81. —Number of Days that work continued on full lime in this establishment 
during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
82. —On three-quarters time. 
83. —On two-thirds time. 
84. —Ore half time. 
85. —On less than half time. 
86—Whole Number of Days that work continued in this establishment dur- 
ing the year ending June 30, 1885. 
87. —Number of Days lost from stoppages for repairs, improvements, etc. 
88. —Number of Days lost from suspensions or shut-downs on account of 
slack trade. 
89. —Number of Days lost from strikes or lock-outs. 
90. —Whole Number of Days idle. 
Number of Persons employed by the Day. 
91. —Under 10 years of age. 
92. —10 and over but under 14 years of age. 
93-—14 and over but under 21 years of age. 
94. —21 years of age and over. 
95. —Whole Number of persons employed by the Day in this establishment. 
N umber of Piece Hands: 
96. —Under 10 years of age. 
97. —10 and over but under 14 years of age. 
98. —14 and over but under 21 years of age. 
99. —21 years of age and over. 
100.—Whole Number of Piece Hands employed in this establishment, 
xoi.—Months constituting the busy season. 
The object of Inquiries 73 to 80 is to ascertain the working 
time of individuals ; of Inquiries 81 to 90, the working time of the 
establishment, as such ; and of Inquiries 91 to 100, the manner of 
working, that is, whether as Day or Piece hands. Inquiry 101 is 
connected with Inquiry 69 in some degree. The object of Inquiry 
101 is to cover, by Jiames of the months, the entire “busy season” 
in this establishment, and thus secure showings for each industry. 
Inquiries 73 to 80 were easily answered. Inquiries 81 to 90 
called for more work on the part of the manufacturer, but they 
supplied a time balance for his establishment that was of value 
to him as well as to the Census Office; this fact seems to have 
been appreciated by the manufacturers, and the statistics supplied 
form a supplement to the statistics of the unemployed, obtained 
upon the population Schedule as previously explained. The con- 
tinual growth of the system of piece work, and the gradual falling off THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
83 
from census to census of those employed by the day, excepting 
those for unskilled labor, was brought out by Inquiries 95 to 100. 
Inquiry 101 is self explanatory, and few manufacturers were 
unable to supply the desired information. 
Salaries. 
102. —Occupation, branch of industry, particular business, or kind of work 
done, by persons paid salaries in this establishment, during the year 
ending June 30, 1885. 
103. —Sex. Male or Female. 
104. —Number and ages. Under 10; 10 and over, under 14; 14 and over, 
under 21; 21 and over. 
105. —Basis. Week, Month, or Year. 
106. —Amount. 
107. —Total amount paid in salaries in this establishment during the month 
ending June 30, 1885. To persons. 
108. —Total amount paid in salaries in this establishment during the year end- 
ing June 30, 1885. To persons. 
The object of Inquiries 102 to 108 is to entirely separate the 
salary receivers from the wage earners in this establishment, and 
to secure the salaries paid by the week, month, or year, in detail 
by specified occupations, and with sex and age distinctions for the 
whole number paid salaries. 
While manufacturers as a rule do not object to making trans- 
criptions of their pay roll, showing the actual sums paid to their 
employes, there was much indisposition shown to stating the exact 
sums paid to the presidents, treasurers, and principal officers of 
the large corporations. They were assured that the figures would 
be used only in a general way, but there was evidently a feeling 
that they did not wish to have the salaries of the presidents, treasur- 
ers, superintendents, officers, etc., in the various industries brought 
into direct comparison with the individual wages paid to employes 
in the same industry. This is a vital point, however, in statis- 
tics of labor, and every effort was made by the Census Office to 
secure the filling out of Inquiries 102 to 108 as regarded managers, 
superintendents, overseers, bookkeepers, etc. 
Wages Paid: in General. 
109.—Total amount paid in wages in this establishment during the month end- 
ing June 30, 1885. To persons. 
no.—Total amount paid in wages in this establishment during the year end- 
ing June 30, 1885. To persons. 84 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
hi.—Specified wages paid, for the last week in June, 1885, in this establish- 
ment. Under $5; $5 to $6; $5 to $7; $7 to $$; $$ to $9; $9 to #10; 
$10 to $12; $12 to $15; $15 to $20; over $20. 
112. —Number receiving such wages. Males. Females. 
Inquiries 109 and 110 call for the amounts paid to wage earners 
as distinct from salary receivers. The information called for by 
Inquiries 111 and 112 can be easily classified from the pay-roll 
for the last week in June, 1885. 
The Inquiries 111 and 112 sucured a classified wage instead of 
an actual wage or an average wage; it, as it were, marshalled the 
employes in each industry, and showed the number -receiving the 
amount specified per week; it is undoubtedly one of the most 
indicative wage tables that can be secured. It is more easily ascer- 
tained than statistics of average or actual wages, and it is recom- 
mended as the form of wage statistics which might be secured 
in every State of the Union, so as to form State comparisons, and 
if extended to foreign countries would enable an international com- 
parison, which would be of more value, because covering all the 
employes, than any partial comparison on the basis of actual or 
average wages. As the particular names of occupations are not 
used in such a classification, it would not disclose information that 
some manufacturers, especially in foreign countries, would be un- 
willing to give. It is to be hoped that statistical offices throughout 
the world will endeavor to obtain statistics of wages upon so easily 
secured and easily compared a basis. 
Relation of Wages to Cost of Production. 
113. —Description of any principal product of this establishment. 
114. —Basis. 
115. —A specified quantity of such product. 
116. —Total cost of production of such product. 
117. —Total wage cost of such product. 
118. —Total cost of all raw materials used in such product. 
Inquiries 113 to 118 call for the “wage cost,” “cost of all raw 
materials,” and “total cost of production” of a specified quantity 
of any principal product of this establishment. 
This is a special investigation. Inquiries 113 to 118 are intend- 
ed to show the relation of wages to cost of production. It was 
well answered by the large establishments and corporations gen- 
erally and covers the ground, as the small establishments, in a 
majority of cases, cannot supply valuable figures. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
85 
Wages Paid: in Detail. 
119. —Occupation, branch of industry, particular business, or kind of work 
done, by persons paid zvages for day or piece work in this establish- 
ment during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
120. —Day or Piece. 
121. —Sex. Male or Female. 
122. —Number and Age. Under 10; 10 and over, under 14; 14 and over, 
under 21 ; 21 and over. 
123. —Basis. Hour, Day, or Week. 
124. —Amount. 
The object of Inquiries 119 to 124 is to secure statistics of the 
amounts paid to wage earners for their services by the hour, day, 
or week, with distinctions as to sex, day or piece work, and ages. 
Salaried workers, as a rule, represent no definite production, and 
the amounts paid them virtually belong in the general expenses. 
In the case of wage earners their pay has a well-defined relation to 
the cost of production, and it is obvious that the custom of com- 
bining salaries and wages must have resulted in vitiating the 
statistical value of wage averages. Nearly every industry has its 
subsidiary branches, or occupations, or trades, or subdivisions of 
labor, or kind of work done. An attempt has been made in the 
Population Schedules of the present Census to secure the occupa- 
tions of the people with more specific detail than heretofore. To 
supplement this minute classification it is necessary to secure the 
wages paid in each branch of an industry. 
The following table shows, to a certain extent, the subdivisions 
of some of our leading industries as regards branches or occupa- 
tions. It is designed that the “ Wages Paid : in Detail ” should be 
even more minute in its classification. If the space allotted on 
page 7 is insufficient, extra pages will be sent by mail on applica- 
tion. 
Industries. B ranches. 
Agricultural implements, . . 19 
Artisans’ tools, ... 24 
Boots and shoes, . . . 73 
Brick, 11 
Building trades, . . . .18 
Carpetings, .... 47 
Carriages and wagons, . -17 
Clothing, .... 35 
Cotton goods, .... 186 
Industries. . Branches. 
Flax and jute goods, . . 39 
Food preparations, . . *52 
Furniture, .... 39 
Glass, 24 
Hats: fur, wool, and silk, . 29 
Hosiery, 49 
Liquors : malt and distilled, . 20 
Machines and machinery, . . 59 
Metals and metallic goods, . 139 86 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Printing and publishing, . . 83 
Printing, dyeing, bleaching, and 
finishing cotton textiles, . 43 
Stone, 22 
Wooden goods, ... 32 
Woollen goods, . . . .94 
Worsted goods, . . .136 
In these 24 industries 1295 occupations, or branches of business, 
are represented, and it is in this fine, and even finer detail that we 
wish the statistics of wages paid, together with such information as 
will describe the work performed. In arriving at the number of 
branches specified above, the distinctions of sex, age, and day and 
piece, have been borne in mind. 
Not all of these branches, given for an industry, will be found in 
every establishment classified in that industry. It is only in the 
grand aggregation that all of these subdivisions will appear. 
Owing to the age classification, Inquiry 122, but one age should 
be entered on a line on page 7. In case the “ Basis ” changes (In- 
quiry 123) extra lines must be used. This instruction applies also 
in case of changes in sex, or day and piece. The wages paid, 
(“Amount,” Inquiry 124) are averages, or they may be actual iu 
the case of a few employes only. 
The following illustrations will make the above instructions more 
easily understood. 
Wages Paid: in Detail, 
llO. Occupation, branch of industry, 
particular business, or kind of work 
done, by persons paid WAGES for day 
or PIECE work in this establishment 
during the year ending June 80, 1885. 
120. 
Day 
or 
Piece. 
131. 
SEX. 
Male or 
Female. 
133. Number and Ages. 
Un- 10 and i 14 and j 21 
der ov’r, un- ov’r, un- and 
10. 1 der 14. der 21. 'over 
133. 
BASIS. 
Hour, 
Dav or 
Week. 
134. 
Amount. 
Weavers, (8 looms) 
Day 
Male 
5 ! 
Day | 
$ 1 
60 
Weavers, (8 looms) 
Piece 
Male 
2 
Week 
$ 8 
97 
Weavers, (0 looms) 
Piece 
Female 
| 
10 
1 
Day 
$ 1 
20 
Weavers, (6 looms; 
Piece 
Female 
13 
Day 
$ 1 
40 
Weavers, 
Day 
j Male 
10 | 
Hour 
$ 
13 
Weavers, 
Day 
| Male 
20 
1 
Week 
$ 5 
50 
A most strenuous attempt was made to secure the exact detail 
wages for every occupation, branch of industry, particular business, 
and kind of work done by persons paid wages for day or piece 
work in the manufacturing establishments of the State. No more 
complete Schedules can be supplied than were furnished to the 
Office by the large establishments, including the corporations. 
Some of them employed special clerks to go over the pay rolls and THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
87 
secure the desired figures ; in many cases months of time and hun- 
dreds of dollars were expended in order to supply the Census 
Office with exact figures. The fine statistics of “occupations” 
drawn from the Population Schedule, aggregating, as we have 
stated, more than 22,000 details, supplies the basis of the frame- 
work into which these average actual wages will be fitted, and pre- 
sented in due time to the public. The lack of value in statistics 
of wages when given as averages for industries has long been rec- 
ognized. If we say that the average in the cotton industry for all 
employes is a certain sum, we have to ignore the question of 
sex, the question of age, the question of mode of work, and the 
question of skill or lack of skill in the various employments ; that 
is, the skilled laborer says when he sees the figures that he earns 
more than the average stated, the unskilled laborer says that he 
earns less than the average stated, and both doubt the figures 
supplied. The only true way to present statistics of actual wages 
is to give them for every branch of employment, then like condi- 
tions can be compared with like conditions, and high salaries in one 
branch do not fictitiously raise up low salaries paid in another 
branch, nor do low salaries in one branch fictitiously depress the 
high salaries paid in another branch of an industry. 
Motive Power. 
125. —What Motive Power is in use in this establishment—steam, water, elec- 
tric, caloric, gas, oil, vapor, horses, hand (males or females), foot 
(males or females), windmill, etc. 
126. —If Steam, state number of engines and boilers in use. Engines. Boilers. 
127. — Horse power of same. Full capacity. Actually used. 
128. —If Water, state number of wheels in use. 
129. —Horse power of same. Full capacity. Actually used. 
130. —Name of stream, reservoir, etc., from which water powder is derived. 
131. —If Electric, state horse power actually used, and describe the machines 
supplying same. Horse powrer. Description of machines. 
131. —If Caloric, Gas, Oil, or Vapor engines, state horse power actually used, 
and describe the engines supplying same. Horse power. Description 
of machine. 
132. —Number of Horses used to furnish powder, and how utilized. Number. 
How utilized. 
133. —Number of Persons running machines by hand power. Males. Females. 
134. —Number of Persons running machines by foot power. Males. Females. 
135. —If Windmills, state number and estimated horse power. Number. 
Horse Powrer. 88 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Inquiries 125 to 135 are designed to secure statistics of the mo- 
tive power in use in all the manufacturing establishments in the 
Commonwealth. In the case of steam engines, boilers, and water 
wheels the full capacity in horse power is called for, and also the 
average horse power actually used. In the case of other engines, 
or electrical power, the horse power used is called for and also 
a short description of the machines in use. The number of horses 
and windmills supplying power is desired, and also the number of 
persons running machines by hand or foot power, with distinctions 
as to sex. 
The answers to Inquiries 125 and 135 are questions of fact, and 
a statistical office has little opportunity to make corrections or 
supply omissions ; when taken in consideration with statistics upon 
the displacement of hand labor by the introduction of machinery, 
the study of the statistics of motive power becomes necessary; it is 
not essential that such information should be given each year, but 
at the end of each decade it seems absolutely essential in order to 
show the growing power of machinery in manufactures, that full 
statistics of the various kinds of motive power in use in manufact- 
ories should be obtained. 
Machinery, Tools, and Implements. 
136. —Value of all fixed and movable machinery, including all machines for 
supplying motive power, in use in this establishment. 
137. —Respective values of machinery of home manufacture, and that import- 
ed, in this establishment. Home. Foreign. 
138. —Value of imported machinery introduced into this establishment during 
the ten years ending June 30, 1885. 
139. —Description of the principal labor-saving Machinery, Tools, and Imple- 
ments, used in this establishment, by which production has been in- 
creased and cost of same reduced. 
140. —Number. Home manufacture. Imported. 
141. —Value. Home manufacture. Imported. 
In answering Inquiries 136 to 138 the value required is the cost, 
even though the machinery, etc., may have deteriorated in value 
since its purchase. 
The design of Inquiries 139 to 141 is to show the respective 
numbers and values of machines of home and foreign manufacture 
and also to learn the extent to which such machines are used in 
the various industries. Extra copies of page 8 will be forwarded 
on application in case the space allotted for replies is insufficient. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
89 
The number of spindles, and power and hand looms used in the 
manufacture of “ Cotton Goods” should be stated; also, sets of 
machinery and power and hand looms used in the maufacture of 
“Woollen and Worsted Goods,” the number and kinds of saws in 
saw-mills, vats (with capacities) in tanneries, engines and machines 
in paper mills, runs of stone in grist mills, and, generally, all special 
machines,tools, and implements, peculiar to an industry. 
Statistics relating to machinery, tools, and implements are 
intimately connected with those relating to motive power and 
should be obtained for similar reasons. Considerable reluctance 
was shown by some manufacturers to filling in replies to Inquiry 
139, probably from the reason that much of the machinery was used 
for special purposes, and they did not wish that any designation 
should appear in the Census volume; as this was a case in which 
the publication might be of prejudice to the individual manufact- 
urer, the details in this section were not considered as being so 
vital as in many others. 
142. —Description of Buildings, etc., connected with this establishment. 
143. —Number of Mills, Factories, Workshops, Floors, Rooms. 
144. —Materials of which constructed. 
145. —Value, if owned. 
146. —Interest paid on mortgage during the year ending June 30, 1885. . 
147. —Years in which erected. 
148. —Amount expended in repairs and refitting during year ending June 30, 
1885. 
149. —Amounts paid out during the year ending June 30, 1885, for,— 
150. —Rent. 
151. —Taxes. 
152. —Insurance. 
153. —Total floor area occupied, in all buildings, in square feet. 
154. —Persons employed, of each sex, in the stories specified, of all buildings. 
Basements. Males, Females. First Stories. Males, Females. Sec- 
ond Stories. Males, Females. Third Stories. Males, Females. 
Fourth Stories. Males, Females. Fifth Stories. Males, Females. 
Sixth Stories. Males, Females. Attic Floors. Males, Females. 
Size and Value of Establishments. 
The object of Inquiries 142 to 154 is to ascertain the number, 
materials of which constructed, value, years in which erected, 
floor area, and persons employed in the various stories of the 
mills, factories, and workshops of the State, and also parts of 
buildings (floors and rooms) used for manufacturing purposes. 90 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
These Inquiries also call for the amounts expended during the 
Census year for interest, repairs, rent, taxes, and insurance, on 
such buildings or parts of buildings. These latter Inquiries will 
supply certain insurance statistics which have always been needed, 
but in which previous Censuses have been deficient. 
Inquiries 142 to 154 are self-explanatory; they called for a 
variety of information, some of which the manufacturers objected to 
supplying because it enabled the Office, in conjunction with other 
statistics, to figure out their exact profits. Other Inquiries, such 
as 153 and 154, called for figures that required almost as much 
time to ascertain as did the classification of employes by ages. 
The returns, however, were generally full, and Inquiries 142 and 
143 will enable the Census Office to present a description of the 
manufactories as regards plant, such as has never before been 
obtained in any Census; it will show the whole number of estab- 
lishments having i, 2, 3, or more mills, 1 or more factories, 1 or 
more workshops, 1 or more floors or rooms, and will bring out 
those small establishments which occupy but part of a room, or a 
portion of a floor, or which are carried on in cellars or basements, 
or in rooms of dwelling houses, or, as is often the case in the build- 
ing trades, where a party, for instance a mason, has only a locker 
in which he keeps the implements needed in his industry. 
Losses by Fire. 
155. —Number of fires in this establishment during year ending June 30, 1885. 
156. —Value of property destroyed. 
157. —Amount received as insurance. 
158-—Total fire losses during the ten years ending June 30, 1885. 
159. —Total fire losses since business was established. 
160. —Causes of fires during last ten years. 
161. —Inflammable materials used in this industry. 
Inquiries 155 to 161 call for other insurance statistics which 
will be of general value to all manufacturers, and of special value 
to the State Insurance Department and the companies doing busi- 
ness in the Commonwealth. 
Inquiries 155 to 161 need no explanation; they are of value 
only in the aggregate, and not disclosing any information which 
could be of detriment either to a city, town, or industry, were well 
filled. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
91 
Accidents. 
162. —Number of deaths, resulting from accident, in this establishment, dur- 
ing the year ending June 30, 1885. 
163. —State Sex and Age of employes losing their lives. 
164. —Cause of accident. 
165. —Number of employes permanently disabled by accidents. 
166. —State Sex and Age of employes thus disabled. 
167. —Cause of accident. 
16S.—Number of boiler explosions during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
Inquiries 162 to 168 relating to accidents are self-explanatory. 
They were well answered, and seemed to cover the ground thor- 
oughly. 
Work furnished Women at their Homes. 
169. —Number of women furnished with work at their homes, by this estab- 
lishment, during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
170. —Value of stock or materials furnished them to be “made up,” or man- 
ufactured during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
171. —Value of goods made, or amount paid for work done by them, during 
the year ending June 30, 1885. 
172. —Total wages paid to them, or paid to others for work done by them, 
during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
173. —Were the value of stock or materials included in the answers to In- 
quiries 38 to 41, page 3—the value of goods made or work done in 
the answers to Inquiries 51 to 54, page 4—-and the total wages paid 
in the answers to Inquiries 109 and no, page 6. 
174. —Are the materials furnished or sent direct to the women doing the 
work, to contractors, or are the women employed by sub-contractors. 
175. —What percentage of your total production during the year ending June 
30, 1885, was sent outside of the City or Town in which your prin- 
cipal mill, factory, or workshop is located for partial or complete 
manufacture. 
176. —What percentage was sent outside the Commonwealth of Massachu- 
setts. 
Inquiries 169 to 174 are not of general application,—in fact 
they apply, in full, to but few industries, including Boots and Shoes, 
Clothing, Furniture, Elastic Goods, and Palm-leaf and Straw Goods. 
Inquiries 175 and 176 will have a much wider range of application, 
as the questions are general in their nature, and should be answered 
for all industries. 
Inquiries 169 to 176 cover a complicated part of statistics of 
manufactures in many industries, particularly boots and shoes, 
clothing, and straw goods; the sub division of labor is such, that 92 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
the parties who are called the manufacturers are not able to supply 
the information desired in the Schedule as regards their particu- 
lar industry; for instance, a firm may be engaged in the manufact- 
ure of boots and shoes; they may employ a number of men to do 
the cutting; every other part of the work may be contract work, 
and done outside of their own establishment; they pay a firm of 
lasters for lasting the work, they pay a firm of stitchers for doing 
the stitching, another firm for bottoming and heeling, and when the 
manufactured goods are received in their factory they are unable 
to give statistics except for work done under their own supervision. 
This is also the case with clothing firms ; they cut their goods, and 
then give them out to contractors who carry on shops, or who 
may take them in wagons and distribute them through the country 
districts, calling for them when they are completed. In such cases 
the so-called manufacturer is unable to give any statistics in regard 
to persons employed or wages paid. This is also true in the straw 
industry, where the supplied material is sold to farmers’ wives and 
daughters who braid it and make it into hats and bonnets and then 
resell them to the contractors; these variations from “straight” 
manufacturing have added largely to the labors of Census taking, 
especially as many small firms that work for the larger establish- 
ments keep no record of the persons employed or wages paid by 
them, being satisfied if, at the end of each week, they are enabled 
to pay their help with the money obtained from the manufacturer 
and have a sufficient margin left for themselves. This plan of 
work, the contract system, is creeping into other industries, and as 
it spreads it will continue to make the Census of industries more 
difficult; for this reason, a diminution must be made in the num- 
ber of inquiries in order to complete the enumeration within a 
reasonable time, and present the results before they are so old that 
they have lost their value. 
Condition of the Employes of this Establishment. 
177. —Amount of fund for the relief of sick or disabled employes of this estab- 
lishment, or the families of those killed by accident. 
178. —Amount paid out in benefits during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
179. —How is this fund raised. 
180. —Number of volumes in the library maintained especially for the use of 
the employes of this establishment. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
93 
181. —Is there a reading room, hall, or other means of education, exercise, 
amusement, etc., maintained especially for the use of the employes 
of this establishment. 
182. —Are any of the employes of this establishment, and how many, stock- 
holders, or profit sharers by virtue of co-operation or industrial 
partnership. 
183. —Do the employes of this establishment have an opportunity to add to 
their regular yearly earnings by virtue of extra work, or premium 
(high grade) work. 
184. —How many dwelling houses are owned by the proprietors of this estab- 
lishment, and occupied by its employes. 
185. —Number of such tenants. 
186. —Whole number of persons in the families of such tenants. 
187. —Average amount charged for the yearly rent of a 2 roomed tenement. 
188. —Average amount charged for the yearly rent of a 3 roomed tenement. 
189. —Average amount charged for the yearly rent of a 4 roomed tenement. 
190. —Average amount charged by the week for board in corporation board- 
ing-houses—males; females. 
191. —How many dwelling houses have the proprietors of this establishment 
sold to their employes, and received full payment therefor. 
192. —How many are being paid for now. 
193. —Total mortgages on same, and average rate of interest. 
Inquiries 177 to 193 call for statistics relating to the condition 
of the employes in this establishment as regards relief funds and 
benefits therefrom, libraries, reading rooms, halls, etc., for their 
use, workingmen stockholders, co-operation, industrial partnership, 
premium work, workingmen owning or at present purchasing or 
renting houses from their employers, with rates for rent, board, 
and interest on mortgages. 
Inquiries 177 to 193 are statistics of labor; that is, they relate 
particularly to the condition of the employes of establishments, 
and bring out certain facts in regard to their condition. The re- 
plies were generally complete and satisfactory. Although the in- 
quiries and material secured are included in a Schedule of Manu- 
factures, as we might say by courtesy, yet there has been no 
objection to making returns, and the information cannot fail to 
disclose many valuable points in regard to the condition of the 
wage workers of the Commonwealth. 
[Special Explanations and Instructions, when deemed necessary, 
are given upon pages facing those upon which the Inquiries ex- 
plained are found.] 
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS. 94 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Census Day, and Year.—The Census Day is June 30, 1885. 
The Census Year began July 1, 1884, and ended June 30, 1885. 
Present time means the Census Day. In the answers to cer- 
tain of the Inquiries the element of time is not necessary; in 
some the condition or facts on the Census Day are required, and in 
others for the Census Year. Which time is intended is plainly 
shown by exact statements or by direct implication. 
Money Values.—Money values should be given in Dollars 
only, omitting all cents or fractions of dollars, excepting in the 
case of Inquiries 35, 106, 112, and 124. For instance, $38,629.89 
should be written $38,630. In all cases where the number of cents 
is 50 or over, increase the dollars by one, as above. If the cents 
number less then 50, omit them entirely. It is evident that in the 
case of “ Salaries and Wages Paid ” the cents are absolutely 
essential. In such cases a second column for cents will be found. 
Mercantile Values.—The prices or values given for stock or 
materials used or goods made should be the prices at which bought 
or sold, or market values, and should include all expenses for pack- 
ing, or making ready for market, for those articles bought or sold. 
In the case of “work done ” the value is the amount received for 
the work done. 
Book Values.—Certain values required are matters of record, 
such as Capital Invested, and exact amounts should be given from 
your books of account. 
Combustible Values.—The assessors’ valuation of real prop- 
erty is not desired; in giving the value of buildings, etc., state the 
amount that would be claimed from an insurance company to 
replace the building, etc., if destroyed by fire. 
Symbols.—In all cases where an Inquiry can be answered 
directly write in the reply in the proper space. Sometimes an In- 
quiry will not be applicable to a certain industry and no answer can 
be given. In such cases use the following symbol: ( X )• 
When, from any good reason, it is impossible to give exact an- 
swers to any Inquiry, make the best possible estijnate, and add the 
letter 44to indicate that the answer is an estimate. 
When it is impossible to give answers to Inquiries, which are 
yet applicable, fill in the space for answer with the following symbol: 
(~). As every such omission will detract from the value of the 
aggregated statistics on any point, the symbol should be used only, THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
95 
and will be accepted only, in cases where the omission is inevitable 
and where it will not seriously impair the value of similar statistics 
from other establishments. 
In all cases where the information supplied is doubtful as to fact, 
or lacking in completeness, indicate the fact by “underscoring,” or 
drawing a straight line ( ) under the doubtful or incom- 
plete information. 
Number of Inquiries.—The number of Inquiries is apparently 
much larger than in previous Censuses. In reality this is not so. 
To facilitate reference and to render it possible to answer each In- 
quiry directly and without complication, and, also, in order to 
avoid all compound questions, the usual Inquiries have been sub- 
divided, and to each part a number has been given. In the cor- 
respondence which will necessarily be required to complete the 
Schedules these numbers will form a means for specific reference. 
Instructions by Mail.—The Census Office holds itself in readi- 
ness to return prompt replies by mail, when fuller instructions are 
requested regarding any of the Inquiries in this Schedule. 
The general instructions given above, if they had been carefully 
read by the parties making returns, would have saved the Census 
Office much time and money; as it was, hundreds of letters were 
received which showed plainly that the writers had not read even 
the general instructions, much less the special ones given in relation 
to each inquiry. Although a Census law may require that certain 
information shall be supplied, no law can be passed which will 
force a manufacturer to read his instructions, and fill in a Schedule 
with as little expense to the Commonwealth as possible. There 
seems to be no way in the case of the ignorant, or those averse 
to supplying information, except to send out notices, write letters, 
put Special Agents upon the track of the delinquents, and use 
all these time-taking and money-requiring plans for securing in- 
formation, correcting erroneous returns, and supplying omissions 
in Schedules. A classification of industries was made in the 
Massachusetts State Census of 1875 by which articles of virtually 
the same nature were brought under industry headings. The 
United States Census of 1880 added to this classification, in some 
cases by subdividing those that were unwieldy, and covered many 
different articles. In 1885 in the Massachusetts State Census this 
classification was still further extended and improved upon, and the 96 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
following list of 83 industries includes or covers every article 
manufactured in the State. It may be, and probably will be, nec- 
essary in future Censuses to extend this classification j but as it 
stands to-day it is the most satisfactory one in use in obtaining 
statistics of industries. 
Industries. 
1. —Agricultural implements. 
2. —Arms and ammunition. 
3. —Artificial teeth and dental work. 
4. —Artisans’ tools. 
5. —Awnings, tents, and decorations. 
6. —Boots and shoes. 
7. —Boxes (paper and wooden). 
8. —Brick, tiles, and sewer pipe. 
9. —Brooms, brushes, and mops. 
10. —Building. 
11. —Burial cases, caskets, coffins, etc. 
12. —Buttons and dress trimmings. 
13. —Carpetings. 
14. —Carriages and wagons. 
15. —Cement, kaolin, lime, and plaster. 
16. —Charcoal and kindlers. 
17. —Chemical preparations (com- 
pounded). 
18. —Clocks and watches. 
19. —Clothing. 
20. —Concrete walks, paving, etc. 
21. —Cooking, lighting, and heating 
apparatus. 
22. —Cordage and twine. 
23. —Corks, bungs, and taps. 
24. —Cotton goods. 
25. —Cotton, woollen and other textiles. 
26. —Crayons, pencils, crucibles, etc. 
27. —Drugs and medicines. 
28. —Dyestuffs. 
29. —Earthen, plaster, and stone ware. 
30. —Electrical apparatus and appli- 
ances. 
31. —Electroplating. 
32. —Emery and sand paper and cloth. 
33. —Fancy articles. 
34. —Fertilizers. 
35. —Fine arts and taxidermy. 
36. —Fireworks and matches. 
37-—Flax, hemp, and jute goods. 
38. —Food preparations. 
39. —Furniture. 
40. —Gas and residual products. 
41. —Glass. 
42. —Glue, isinglass, and starch. 
43. —Hair work (animal and human) 
44. —Hose : rubber, linen, etc. 
45. —Hosiery and knit goods. 
46. —Ink, mucilage, and paste. 
47. —Ivory, bone, shell, and horn 
goods, etc. 
48. —Jewelry burnishing and lapidary 
work. 
49. —Leather. 
50. —Linen. 
51. —Liquors and beverages (not spirit- 
uous). 
52. —Liquors: malt, distilled, and fer- 
mented. 
53. —Lumber. 
54. —Machines and machinery. 
55. —Metals and metallic goods. 
56. —Mixed textiles. 
57. —Models and patterns. 
58. —Musical instruments aud materi- 
als. 
59. —Oils and illuminating fluids. 
60. —Paints, colors, and crude chemi- 
cals. 
61. —Paper and paper goods. 
62. —Perfumes, toilet articles, etc. 
63. —Photographs and photographic 
materials. 
64. —Polishes and dressing. 
65. —Printing, publishing, and book- 
binding. 
66. —Print works, dye works, and 
bleacheries. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
97 
67. —Railroad construction. 
68. —Rubber and elastic goods. 
69. —Salt. 
70. —Scientific instruments and appli- 
ances. 
7T.—Shipbuilding. 
72. —Silk and silk goods. 
73. —Sporting and athletic goods. 
74. —Stone. 
75-—Straw and palm leaf goods. 
76. —Tallow, candles, soap, and grease. 
77. —Tobacco, snuff, and cigars. 
73.—Toys and games (children’s). 
79. —Trunks and valises. 
80. —Whips, lashes, and stocks. 
81. —Wooden goods. 
82. —Woollen goods. 
83. —Worsted goods. 
SCHEDULE Ho. 2—Special. 
GAS COMPANIES. 
The majority of the information called for in the Special Sched- 
ule devoted to “Gas Companies” is the same as in the general 
Schedule for “ Manufactures,” but in this and in the three other 
special Schedules referred to below, some special inquiries were 
inserted in each case. As regards “ Gas Companies ” these spe- 
cial points cover the subjects of price, transportation, etc. 
Prices; Transportation, etc. 
19. —Average price charged, to house and store consumers, per 1000 cubic 
feet of gas. 
20. —Total amount paid for freight on coal during year ending June 30, 1885. 
21. —Amount paid for all expenses of management during year ending June 
30, 1885. 
22. —Amount paid for all expenses of manufacture during year ending June 
30, 1885. 
23. —Number of miles of pipe laid. 
24. —Names of all towns or cities in which consumers reside. 
Inquiry 19 calls for the average prices charged to house and 
store consumers per 1000 cubic feet of gas. Inquiries 20 to 22 
call for information respecting freight on coal, and the expenses 
of manufacture and management during the Census year. Inquiry 
23 should cover the miles of single pipe laid. In answering In- 
quiry 24 the names of all towns or cities, in which consumers 
reside, should be given. 
PRINTING AND PUBLISHING. 
The special inquiries relating to “ Printing and Publishing ” 
cover the kind of work done, etc., a description of newspapers- 
and other periodicals, books, pamphlets, engravings, sheet music,., 
etc., and particulars concerning the expenses for preparation. 98 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Kind, of Work Done, etc. 
Classification.—Newspapers (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, three times a week, 
weekly, every other week, etc.) and Periodicals (semi-monthly, 
monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.) 
Engravings (wood, steel, copper-plate, heliotypes, and other processes), Lith- 
ographs, Chromo Lithographs, Maps, Charts, Plans, etc. 
Books, Pamphlets, Diaries, Sheet Music, etc. 
Job Printing of all kinds (letter press and lithographic), Blank Books, Val- 
entines, Show Cards, Stationery, etc. 
Bookbinding (when connected with the establishment only). 
For Census purposes we have divided all printing, or printing 
and publishing establishments into 5 classes. The first includes 
the printing and publishing of newspapers and periodicals ; the 
second, the printing and publishing of engravings of all kinds, 
maps, charts, plans, etc.; third, the printing and publishing of 
books, pamphlets, diaries, sheet music, etc. ; fourth, job printing of 
all kinds ; and fifth, bookbinding when connected with the establish- 
ment only. Establishments engaged exclusively in bookbinding 
will be supplied with a Schedule different from the present one, 
which is intended only for printing and publishing establishments. 
Inquiries 20 to 24 call for a specification of the kind of work 
done in each establishment. 
Newspapers, and Other Periodicals. 
25. —Title of Newspaper, or other Periodical. 
26. —Where published. 
27. —How often published. 
28. —To what object devoted. 
29. —Annual subscription price. 
30. —Year in which established. 
31. —Size of page, in inches. The print. 
32. —Size of page, in inches. The paper. 
33. —Number of pages to a copy. 
34. —How often are supplements issued. 
35. —Is this newspaper, or periodical, folded, pasted, wired, with cover, or 
otherwise bound. 
36. —Number of copies published during the week, or for the week ending 
June 30, 1885. 
37. —Number of copies published during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
38. —Number of pages in the copies published during the week, or for the 
week ending June 30, 1885 (including supplements). 
39. —Number of pages in the copies published during the year ending June 
30, 1885, (including supplements). THE EXAMINATION OF EETUENS. 
99 
40.—Has this newspaper, or other periodical, always borne the same name ? 
If not, state different names, and the years in which used for the 
first time. 
This section of Inquiries is devoted entirely to newspapers and 
other periodicals. Nearly all the questions are self-explanatory, 
and do not call for any broad instruction. Inquiry 31 calls for the 
area covered by the print, and Inquiry 32 for the size of the paper 
upon which the newspaper or periodical is printed. If Inquiry 40 
is fully answered it will supply the material for a complete history 
of the newspapers and periodicals in the Commonwealth. 
Books, Pamphlets, Engravings, Sheet Music, etc. 
4T.—Class of works published; objects to which devoted, etc. 
The object of Inquiry 41 is to ascertain the class of works pub- 
lished, and the objects to which devoted. The space supplied for 
answer is large enough to allow of a full description of the kind of 
publishing business carried on. 
Expenses for Preparation. 
42. —Classification of Expenses for Preparation (applicable in all cases where 
such expenses are incurred) and including salaries of editors and re- 
porters, for telegraphing, correspondence, purchase of MSS., composi- 
tion, presswork, binding (done in this establishment), etc. 
43. —Cost. 
44. —Total amount of expenses for preparation during the year ending June 
30, 1885. 
Expenses for preparation are peculiar to the publishing business. 
It is desired that the classification under Inquiry 42 shall be as 
complete in detail as possible. 
Do not use the terms “sundries,” “miscellaneous,” etc. 
The “ total amount of expenses,” Inquiry 44, should be a correct 
mathematical total of the various amounts given in the spaces 
under 43. 
PRINT WORKS, DYE WORKS, AND BLEACHERIES. 
The special features of this Schedule related to processes, stock 
or materials used, and products. 
Processes, etc. 
20. —Kind of Family work done; nature of processes. 
21. —Kind of textiles printed. 
22. —Kind of textiles bleached. 
23. —Kind of textiles finished. 
24. —Kind of textiles dyed. 100 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
It is well known that there are certain dye works and bleacheries 
which make a specialty of subjecting articles of clothing to the 
processes specified ; these we have included under the heading 
“ family work.” On the other hand, what are known as print 
works, dye works, and bleacheries have for a business the prepa- 
ration of various kinds of textiles for market. 
Inquiry 20 calls for a specification of family work done and the 
nature of the processes. Inquiries 21, 22, 23, and 24, call for a 
description of the kind of textiles printed, bleached, finished, and 
dyed for market. The object of these inquiries is to ascertain the 
nature of the processes carried on in each establishment, and the 
kind of goods subjected to those processes in each establishment. # 
Stock or Materials Used. 
25. —Description of all stock or materials used or consumed, or subjected to 
previously specified processes, during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
26. —Quantity used or consumed, or subjected to processes. Basis. Number. 
27. —Value of all stock or materials used or consumed, and of all textiles or 
other articles before being subjected to processes. 
28. —Total value of all stock or materials used or consumed, and of textiles 
or other articles subjected to processes, in this establishment during 
the year ending June 30, 1885. 
It is well known that in print works, dye works, and bleacheries, 
articles are not manufactured in their entirety for the market. The 
work done in these establishments completes them, or finishes them, 
and it is the value of this work done that constitutes the measure 
of the business done by this class of establishments. In many 
Censuses it has been the plan to incorporate the value of the ar- 
ticles subjected to these processes in arriving at the products of 
print works, dye works and bleacheries. This manner of proced- 
ure is manifestly wrong, for it leads to a duplication of manufact- 
ures, and counts over again as products the various textiles which 
have been previously accounted for in the returns of cotton and 
woollen mills, etc. The procedure referred to has been all the 
more misleading, because the value of the work done forms but a 
small part of the entire value of the completed goods. 
Products. 
29. —Description of all textiles or other articles subjected to processes during 
the year ending June 30, 1885. 
30. —Quantity subjected to processes. Basis. Number. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
101 
31. —Value of the work done, or the value added by subjecting textiles or 
other articles to processes. 
32. —Total value of work done, or the value added to textiles or other articles 
by subjecting them to processes, in this establishment during the 
year ending June 30, 1885. 
Inquiry 29 calls for a description of all textiles or other articles 
subjected to processes during the Census year. Inquiry 30 calls 
for the quantities, subjected to processes, and Inquiry 31 for the 
value of the work done, or the value added by subjecting textiles or 
other articles to processes. 
SHIPBUILDING. 
The points specially considered in this Schedule related to 
vessels built, and further statistics concerning vessels built and 
repaired. 
Vessels Built, etc. 
20. —Names and kind of vessels built. 
21. —Tonnage. 
22. —Trade for which intended. 
The object of Inquiry 20 is to ascertain the names and kinds of 
vessels built; for instance, “Volunteer,” “yacht,” indicates the 
form of answer for this Inquiry. Inquiry 21 calls for the tonnage, 
and Inquiry 22 for the trade for which intended. If the answers 
to Inquiry 22 are full and explicit, their aggregation will show plain- 
ly the uses to which Massachusetts built vessels are put, and will 
also indicate, by comparison, the lines of trade which are not sup- 
plied by Massachusetts shipbuilders. 
Vessels Built and Repaired. 
27. —Kind of vessels built or repaired. 
28. —Number. Built. Repaired. 
29. —Vessels repaired. Value of work done. Value of new equipment. 
30. —Vessels built. Value of hulls. Value of complete equipment. 
31. —Combined values. 
32. —Total value of all vessels and boats built, and of all repairs and new 
equipment, during the year ending June 30, 1885. 
Inquiry 27 calls for a description of the vessels built or repaired. 
In answering Inquiry 28, state the number built and the number 
repaired respectively. Inquiry 29 should be answered by giving 
the value of the work done on vessels repaired, and the value of 102 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
the new equipments supplied them. Similarly, in answering In- 
quiry 30. give the value of the hulls of all new vessels built, and 
the value of the complete equipments supplied such new ves- 
sels. Inquiry 31 calls for the combined values of the value of the 
work done and value of new equipment as regards vessels repaired, 
and value of hulls and value of complete equipment as regards 
new vessels built. It will be seen that the values given under 31 
relate to the kind of vessels specified under Inquiry 27. 
The “ total value,” Inquiry 32, should be a correct mathematical 
total of the various amounts given in the spaces under 31. 
SCHEDULE Ho. 3—Mines, Quarries, Pits, etc. 
The object of this Schedule was to obtain information from 
those owning, hiring, or operating mines, quarries, pits, bogs, muck 
beds, marl deposits, and salt works. It was found in the actual 
enumeration that the statistics of quarries are so intimately con- 
nected with manufactures, the majority of the firms quarrying 
the rough granite, and also dressing it for the market, that the 
statistics were transferred to Industry No. 74 under Manufactures, 
called “ Stone.” There does not seem tb be any special need so 
far as Massachusetts and some other states are concerned of such a 
Schedule, as all the products referred to can be included in the 
Schedule devoted to Agriculture (for the products obtained upon 
Schedule No. 3 are all products of the land) if we except salt 
works, and these latter were included in Industry No. 38, Manu- 
factures, under the heading “Food Preparations.” In many of the 
States of the Union a Schedule devoted to Mines is absolutely 
necessary, for the mining products in some of them are of more 
importance than those of agriculture or of manufactures. It is 
seen plainly that no set of Schedules fitted for a particular state 
or country are fitted for another state or country, unless the 
proper changes are made to make the inquiries applicable; for this 
reason statisticians, instead of depending upon forms and plans 
issued by other statistical offices, should study the general 
principles of practical statistics, and, understanding the general 
scope of their work, should apply these principles to obtain 
the particular information needed in their own state or coun- 
try. The point that should always be borne in mind is the 
different disposition of the people as regards giving statistical THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
103 
information. In Massachusetts, where the manufacturers and em- 
ployes have been called upon for the past 18 years to supply sta- 
tistics to be used in the Reports of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor, 
it is comparatively easy to obtain statistics on all desired points. 
In other States where the bureaus are new it is impossible to obtain 
as full and accurate returns; therefore a new bureau cannot expect 
in a year or two to take as advanced a position as the bureaus that 
have been in existence for 10 or 15 years. In every State there is 
a certain amount of preliminary work to be done in order to bring 
that State to the standard of those States that have had bureaus for a 
number of years. During this time, also, the older bureaus have 
been advancing and taking up still finer kinds of statistical work ; 
for this reason any attempt to have the statistical bureaus of the 
United States work with the same schedule, or upon the same 
blank, would be useless unless the older bureaus should consent 
to go back to the line of work being carried on by the new bureaus; 
this course the old bureaus cannot be expected to follow. 
The special features in Schedule No. 3 relate to securing infor- 
mation regarding the kinds of productive property specified. 
1.—Name of Productive Property. 
Beds, muck. Pits, gravel. 
Bogs, peat. Pits, sand. 
Fish ponds (private property). Quarries, granite. 
Fish ways (private property). Quarries, limestone. 
Mines, asbestos. Quarries, marble. 
Mines, coal. Quarries, sandstone. 
Mines, iron. Quarries, slate. 
Mines (not specified). Quarries, soapstone. 
Marl deposits. Quarries (not specified). 
Pits, clay; Salt works. 
Productive Property: By Name. 
2. —Number. 
3. —Whether on a Farm, or not. 
4. —Total area, in acres. 
5. —Total area excavated from beginning (cubic yards). 
6. —Acres of land actually worked. 
7. —Value of Land. 
In Inquiry 1 the names of the principal kinds of productive 
property connected with mines, quarries, pits, etc., are printed in, 
but blank lines were given upon the Schedule on which the names 
of other kinds of productive property could be written. The object 104 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
of Inquiry 2 is to ascertain the number of such mines, quarries, 
etc., and of Inquiry 3 as to whether they are located on a farm or 
not. 
Inquiry 4 calls for the total area, in acres, of the productive 
property under consideration, Inquiry 5 for the total area excavat- 
ed (in cubic yards) since the mine, quarry, pit, etc., was opened, 
Inquiry 6 for the acres of land actually worked at the present time, 
and Inquiry 7 for the value of the land in itself. 
In the case of fish ponds, fish ways, and salt works, Inquiries 4 
5, 6, and 7 may or may not be applicable. In case they are not 
applicable, the sign X referred to in the general instructions may 
be used. 
The answers given to Inquiries regarding fish ponds and fish 
ways were all transferred, and considered as part of Schedule No. 
5, devoted to “The Fisheries.” 
SCHEDULE NO. 4—Domestic Manufactures. 
Agricultural Products and Property. 
The object of this Schedule was to obtain returns from those 
owning, hiring, or carrying on farms, market gardens, orchards, 
nurseries, and seed gardens. 
Domestic Manufactures.—Perhaps a better term would have 
been “ home manufactures,” for by one of those circuitous forms 
of induction displayed by parties who are called upon to fill out 
Schedules, the term “ domestic manufactures ” was understood by 
many to mean the manufacture of domestic articles ; of course 
there was no warrant in the Schedule for such an understanding, 
but the statistician is obliged to be governed by the way that par- 
ties do understand his inquiries, and not by the way that he thinks 
they ought to understand them. 
i.—Names of Articles. 
Ashes, bu. 
Axe handles, no. 
Barrels, no. 
Barrels, half, no. 
Barrels, clam, no. 
Barrels, cranberry, no. 
Baskets, no. 
Beeswax, lbs. 
Domestic Manufactures. 
Blankets, pairs. 
Boots, including “work 
on,” pairs. 
Brooms, no. 
Brushes, no. 
Butter, lbs. 
Candles, lbs. 
Canned fruit, lbs. 
Cardigan jackets, no. 
Carpeting, rag, yds. 
Catsup, qts. 
Charcoal, bu. 
Cheese, ibs. 
Cider, gals. 
Cider, boiled, gals. 
Cloth, yds. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
105 
Clothing, including 
“ work on.” 
Clothes dryers, no. 
Crocheted goods. 
Dried fruit, lbs. 
Evergreen goods. 
Firewood, cords. 
Gaiters, pairs. 
Gloves, pairs. 
Hammer handles, no. 
Harnesses, no. 
Hats, palm-leaf, includ- 
ing “ work on,” no. 
Hats, straw, including 
“ work on,” no. 
Hoops, no. 
Hoops, barrels, no. 
Hoops, nail keg, no. 
Hoop-poles, no. 
Hop-poles, no. 
Horse-radish, grated, 
bottles. 
Hot-bed mats, no. 
Knit goods. 
Last blocks, no. 
Leather blacking, gals. 
Leggins, pairs. 
Liniment, bottles. 
Lumber, M. ft. 
Maple molasses, gals. 
Maple sugar, lbs. 
Mats, no. 
Mittens, pairs. 
Mop-sticks, doz. 
Nail kegs, no. 
Oil, gals. 
Ox-bows, pairs. 
Ox-yokes, no. 
Perry, gals. 
Pickles, barrels. 
Picture frames, no. 
Posts, fence, no. 
Quilts, no. 
Railroad sleepers, no. 
Rails, fence, no. 
Rope, lbs. 
Rugs, no. 
Salt, bu. 
Scarfs, no. 
Shirts, no. 
Shoes, including “ work 
on,” pairs. 
Skirts, no. 
Socks, pairs. 
Soft soap, barrels. 
Sorghum molasses, gals. 
Straw braid, yds. 
Stockings, pairs. 
Suspenders, pairs. 
Type, for the blind, sets. 
Vinegar, gals. 
Whiplashes, no. 
Whipstocks, no. 
Wine, gals. 
Wooden goods. 
Yarn, lbs. 
2. —Quantity manufactured for sale. 
3. —Value. 
4—Quantity manufactured for use in the family. 
5.—Value. 
Names of Articles.—The person filling out this Schedule will 
find the names of the principal articles of Domestic Manufacture 
enumerated on pages 2, 3, and 4. If he, or his family, is engaged 
in the manufacture of articles which are not mentioned by name, 
blank spaces will be found on page 4 for their proper entry. If 
these blank spaces are not sufficient, he should cross out the name 
of some article that he does Jiot make, insert the name of the arti- 
cle he does make, consider the Inquiries as applying to it, and write 
in the answers. 
Under “Lumber” include telegraph poles, piles, etc., and all 
similar articles which are not mentioned specifically by name in 
column 1. 
But one line seems to have been misunderstood by the farmers; 
the “ barrels, cranberry,” was considered by some to call for the 
number of barrels of cranberries; in fact, some of them inserted 
the word “of ” so as to carry out their idea; a better form would 
have been “ cranberry barrels.” 106 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
The alphabetical arrangement of articles of domestic manufac- 
ture and of agricultural products and property, as shown in the 
various sections of the Agricultural Schedule, presented and con- 
sidered in detail hereinafter, does not seem to be so likely to stimu- 
late the memory of a party filling out a Schedule as would a classi- 
fied arrangement such as is given below. The changes in the 
forms of inquiries, as regards different articles, necessitated, how- 
ever, the use of the alphabetical arrangement in the Schedule itself. 
CLASSIFIED ARRANGEMENT OF ARTICLES OF DOMESTIC 
MANUFACTURE, AND AGRICULTURAL 
PRODUCTS AND PROPERTY. 
Animal Products. 
Beeswax, 
Calf skins, 
Candles, 
Hides, 
Honey, 
Manure, 
Pelts, 
Wool, merino, 
Wool, Saxony, 
Wool: other than merino 
or Saxony. 
Clothing, Needle-work, etc. 
Blankets, 
Boots (including “work 
on”), 
Cardigan jackets, 
Carpeting, rag, 
Clothing (including 
“ work on ”), 
Crocheted goods, 
Gaiters, 
Gloves, 
Hats (including “ work 
on ”), 
Knit goods, 
Leggins, 
Mats, 
Mittens, 
Quilts, 
Rugs, 
Shirts, 
Shoes, 
Skirts, 
Socks, 
Stockings, 
Suspenders, 
Yarn. 
Dairy Products. 
Butter, 
Cheese, 
Cream, 
Milk. 
Food Products. 
Canned fruit, 
Catsup, 
Chow chow, 
Dried fruit, 
Horse-radish, grated, 
Ice, 
Ice cream, 
Lard, 
Maple molasses, 
Maple sugar, 
Pickles, 
Sausages, 
Sorghum molasses, 
Vinegar. 
Greenhouse Products. 
Flowers, leaves, and vines, cut. Plants, flowering and other. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
107 
Hothouse and Hotbed Products. 
Asparagus plants, 
Asparagus roots, 
Cabbage plants, 
Cauliflower plants, 
Celery plants, 
Pepper plants, 
Tobacco plants, 
Tomato plants. 
Liquors and Beverages. 
Brandy, cider, 
Cider, 
Shrubs, 
Trees, fruit, 
Eggs, 
Eggs, fancy, 
Eggs, game, 
Feathers, 
Ashes, 
Bark, 
Basket willow, 
Bean poles, 
Charcoal, 
Fence rails, 
Fire wood, 
Hoop poles, 
Cider, boiled, 
Perry, 
Nursery Products. 
Trees, ornamental, 
Poultry Products. 
Manure, hen and bird, 
Poultry, dressed: chick- 
ens, 
Poultry, dressed: geese, 
Wood Products. 
Hop poles, 
Logs, 
Logs, box board, 
Logs, shingle, 
Lumber, 
Piles, 
Poles, staging, 
Wine. 
Vines. 
Poultry, dressed: turkeys, 
Poultry, dressed: other 
than chickens, geese, 
and turkeys. 
Poles, telegraph, 
Poles, telephone, 
Posts, fence, 
Railroad sleepers, 
Shingles, 
Wood (for powder), 
Wood (for pulp). 
Anchor stoeks, 
Axe handles, 
Barrels, 
Barrels, cranberry, 
Barrels, half, 
Basket rims, 
Baskets, 
Brooms, 
Brushes, 
Buckets, ship, 
Butts, white oak, 
Boxes, palm-leaf, 
Braid, palm-leaf, 
Buttresses, lightning rod, 
Carrageen, 
Clothes driers, 
Die blocks, 
Flails, 
Frost blocks, 
Hammer handles, 
Hoops, 
Hoops, barrel, 
Hoops, nail keg, 
Ladders, 
Mop sticks, 
Other Products. 
Chairs (cane seating), 
Collars, husk, 
Conductor irons, 
Corn, broom, 
Wooden Goods. 
Ox-bows, 
Ox-yokes, 
Pails, stable, 
Picture, frames, 
Rounds, ladder, 
Sleds, 
Spokes, wagon, 
Strawberry crates, 
Whipstocks, 
Not classified. 
Evergreen goods, 
Flax, 
Grape cuttings 
Harnesses, 108 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Hops, 
Horse powders, 
Hotbed mats, 
Jewelry chains, 
Liniment, 
Manure, sea, 
Mats, husk, 
Mats, palm-leaf, 
Oil, 
Barley, 
Buckwheat, 
Corn, Indian, 
Ointment, 
Roots and herbs, medic- 
inal and aromatic, 
Seeds, garden, field, and 
flower, 
Seeds, grass, 
Seeds, millet, 
Seeds, pansy, 
Soft soap, 
Cereals. 
Corn, pop, 
Oats, 
Straw braid, 
Straw mats, 
Tobacco, 
Webs, palm-leaf, 
Wheat straw', bleached, 
Whiplashes, 
Window shades. 
Rye, 
Wheat. 
Fruits, Berries, and Nuts. 
Apples, 
Apricots, 
Barberries, 
Blackberries, 
Blueberries, 
Butternuts, 
Cherries, 
Chestnuts, 
Citron, 
Crab-apples, 
Cranberries, 
Currants, 
Gooseberries, 
Grapes, 
Grapes, hothouse, 
Huckleberries, 
Mangoes, 
Melons, 
Peaches, 
Peaches, hothouse, 
Pears, 
Plums, 
Quinces, 
Raspberries, 
Shellbarks, 
Strawberries, 
Thimbleberries. 
Hay, clover, 
Hay, English, 
Hay, meadow, 
Hay, millet, 
Hay, salt, 
Hay, not classified, 
Straw, 
Hay, Straw, and Fodder. 
Fodder, barley, 
Fodder, corn, 
Fodder, dry, 
Fodder, oat, 
Fodder, rape, 
Fodder, rye, 
Fodder, sorghum, 
Fodder, wheat, 
Maslin, 
Stover, 
Beets (for stock), 
Cabbage (for stock), 
Turnips (for stock). 
Meats and Game. 
Beef, 
Mutton, 
Pigs, dressed, 
Pork, 
Tripe, 
Veal, 
Game, wild. 
Vegetables. 
Artichokes, 
Asparagus, 
Beans, 
Beans, string and shell, 
Beet greens, 
Beets, table, 
Brussels sprouts, 
Cabbage, 
Cabbage greens, 
Carrots, 
Cauliflower, 
Celeriac, 
Celery, 
Chiccory, 
Corn, green, 
Corn salad, 
Cucumbers, 
Dandelions, THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
109 
Egg plant, 
Endive, 
Horse-radish, 
Kale, 
Kohl rabi, 
Leeks, 
Lettuce, 
Lettuce (hot-bed), 
Martynias, 
Mushrooms, 
Okra, 
Onions, 
Onions (for setting out), 
Oyster plant, 
Parsley, 
Parsnips, 
Pease, 
Pease, green, 
Peppers, 
Potatoes, 
Pumpkins, 
Radishes, 
Radishes, black, 
Rhubarb, 
Sorrel, 
Spinach, 
Squashes, 
Tarragon, 
Tomatoes, 
Tomatoes (hot-house), 
Turnips, table, 
Watercress, 
Not classified. 
Land. 
CULTIVATED.' 
Hay (used for), 
Principal crops (used 
for), 
Market gardens, 
Nurseries, 
Orchards, 
Seed gardens, 
Other cultivated, 
Cranberry bogs. 
UNCULTIVATED : 
Permanent pasture, 
Other unimproved, 
Unimprovable, 
Mines, quarries, pits, etc. 
WOODLAND• 
Over 30 years’ growth, 
Of 30 years growth or 
less, 
From seed or transplant- 
ed seedlings, 
Not classified. 
Buildings. 
Dwelling-houSes, 
Barns, 
Bee-houses, 
Breeding-houses, 
Carriage-houses, 
Charcoal kilns, 
Cheese-houses, 
Engine-houses, 
Granaries, 
Greenhouses, 
Grist and saw mills, 
Hen-houses, 
Hog-houses, 
Hop kilns, 
Hot-bed sashes, 
Ice-houses, 
Milk-houses, 
Outbuildings, 
Poultry-houses, 
Pumping-houses, 
Sheds, 
Shops, 
Slaughter-houses, 
Stables, 
Storehouses, 
Sugar-houses, 
Tobacco barns, 
Tool-houses, 
Water tanks, 
Windmills. 
Carts, wagons, harnesses, 
etc., 
Cultivators, 
Feed cutters, 
Harrows, 
Hay cutters, 
Hay tedders, 
Machines, Implements, etc. 
Horse hoes, 
Horse powers, 
Horse rakes, 
Hot air engines, 
Implements, 
Manure spreaders, 
Mowing machines, 
Plows, 
Reaping machines, 
Seed sowers, 
Steam engines, 
Threshing machines, 
Other machines. 
Domestic Animals, etc. 
Asses, 
Bees (swarms of), 
Bulls, 
Calves, 
Colts, 
Dogs, 
Ducks, 
Geese, 
Goats, 110 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Guinea fowls, 
Heifers, 
Hens, chickens (fancy), 
Hogs, 
Horses, 
Lambs, 
Milch cows, 
Mules, 
Oxen, 
Pigeons, fancy, 
Pigs, 
Sheep, merino, 
Sheep, Saxony, 
Sheep: other than meri- 
no or Saxony, 
Steers, 
Turkeys. 
Fruit Trees and Vines. 
Apple, 
Apricot, 
Butternut, 
Cherry, 
Chestnut, 
Crab-apple, 
Fig, 
Hickory, 
Mulberry, 
Nectarine, 
Peach, 
Pear, 
Plum, 
Pomegranate, 
Quince, 
Shellbark, 
Walnut, 
Grape vines. 
Persons Employed in domestic Manufactures. 
6.—Sex and Ages. 
Number of Males under 10. 
“ “ Males from 10 to 14. 
“ “ Males above 14. Total. 
8.—Sex and Ages. 
Number of Females under io. 
“ “ Females from io to 14. __ 
“ “ Females above 14. Total. 
We wish, under this head, simply the number of different males 
and females, of the specified ages, engaged at some time during 
the Census Year in Domestic Manufactures. The time they have 
been employed respectively in Domestic Manufactures and in Ag- 
riculture, their wages and board, the amount of and compensation 
for work done at home for manufacturing firms (such as “ work 
on ” clothing, boots and shoes, hats, etc.) should be entered on 
page 9, under the heading “Wages paid in Agriculture and Do- 
mestic Manufactures.” 
If the party filling this Schedule, his wife, daughters, or any 
other parties residing in the family, have been engaged in 
Domestic Manufactures, they should be included in the answers 
on page 4, as well as those who may have been hired for such 
work. 
It was intended that Inquiries 6 and 8 should include only those 
persons employed for wages, the object being to get the whole 
number occupied or engaged in turning out articles of domestic 
manufacture; the substitution of either the word “ occupied ” or 
“ engaged ” for the word “ employed ” would have undoubtedly led 
to more intelligent returns in many cases. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
111 
Agricultural Products.—Quantity, Value, and Acreage. 
10.—Names of Products. 
Asparagus, bunches 
Barley, bu. 
Beans, bu. 
Beans, string and shell, 
bu. 
Beets (for stock), bu. 
Beets, table, bu. 
Buckwheat, bu. 
Cabbage, heads 
Carrots, bu. 
Corn, broom, lbs. 
Corn, green, bu. 
Corn, Indian, bu. 
Corn, pop, bu. 
11. —Quantity. 
12. —Value. 
13. —Acreage. 
Cranberries, bu. 
Flax, lbs. 
Fodder, barley, tons 
Fodder, corn, tons 
Fodder, oat, tons 
Fodder, rye, tons 
Hay, clover, tons 
Hay, English, tons 
Hay, meadow, tons 
Hay, millet, tons 
Hay, salt, tons 
Hay, not classified, tons 
Hemp, lbs. 
Hops, lbs. 
Oats, bu. 
Onions, bu. 
Parsnips, bu. 
Pease, bu. 
Pease, green, bu. 
Potatoes, white, bu. 
Potatoes, sweet, bu. 
Rye, bu. 
Strawberries, qts. 
Tobacco, lbs. 
Turnips (for stock), bu. 
Turnips, table, bu. 
Wheat, bu. 
Acreage.—In the case of the 40 Agricultural Products compre- 
hended by Inquiries 10, 11, 12, and 13, on page 5, the acreage 
of land devoted to such crops is desired. Give the acreage in 
whole numbers and fractions. 
Quantity and Value.—In the case of all Agricultural Products, 
comprehended by Inquiries 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16, on 
pages 5, 6, and 7, the quantity and value are desired. In those 
cases where the basis of quantity or measure is omitted the person 
answering should supply his standard of weight or measurement 
in the proper column, next to the “Names of Products.” Values 
should be given in dollars only, all cents, or fractions of dollars, 
being omitted. The prices or values given should be the prices 
at which sold, or market values, and should include all expenses 
for packing, or making ready for market, for those products sold. 
Names of Articles—The principal Agricultural Products are 
enumerated on pages 5, 6, and 7. If the person filling out this 
Schedule raises products not mentioned byname, blank spaces will 
be found on pages 5 and 7 for their proper entry. If these blank 
spaces are not sufficient, he should cross out the name of some prod- 
uct that he does not raise, insert the name of the product he does 
raise, consider the Inquiries as applying to it, and write in the 
answers. 112 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Hay—We have classified Hay as returned by the State Census 
of 1875. Any needed changes can be easily made by crossing out 
the printed classification and writing iti the present designation. 
A blank space is left for hay that it may be impossible to classify 
in detail, but your hay crop should not be entered in lump. 
Double Keturns.—Beets and Turnips are classified as “for 
stock ” (including the coarser kinds) and for “ table ” (meaning 
the finer grades). The quantities and values of each kind should 
be given separately. Sugar beets should be included with “ Beets, 
for stock.” Cucumbers are called for by “ bushels ” and “ number,” 
and Grapes by “bushels” and “pounds.” The variations in value 
require separate returns in each case, or the average value, being 
made from widely differing prices, would be statistically worthless. 
Milk and Cream.—The total milk and cream product during 
the Census year is desired. The manner in which milk is used or 
sold is called for specifically on page 7, under the heading of 
“ Dairy Products.” 
It was found impossible, in many cases, to ascertain the acreage 
devoted to the cultivation of the smaller agricultural products 
which have just been specified; quite often the land cultivated is 
but a small portion of an acre, and the farmer cannot give an 
estimate of how much space was covered ; then, many farmers plant 
for the second time, or plant one crop with another, and these com- 
plications render it impossible for the farmers, as a rule, to specify 
the actual acreage devoted to each specified crop. If the farmers 
kept proper books of accounts, and knew they were to be called 
upon officially each year for returns of products, the results ob- 
tained would no doubt be largely in excess of the figures secured 
by the decennial Census. We can hardly expect, however, that 
the farmers will, as a rule, keep such books of account when it is 
borne in mind that the manufacturers do so much more without 
keeping records that would enable them to make proper returns of 
their business. In the case of many large farms the proprietors 
keep books, and in those cases the Schedules were fully and accu- 
rately filled. 
Agricultural Products.—Quantity and Value. 
14.—Names of Products. 
Apples, bu. 
Apricots, bu. 
Barberries, bu. 
Bark, cords 
Basket willow, lbs. 
Beef, lbs. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
113 
Beet greens, bu. 
Blackberries, qts. 
Blueberries, qts. 
Butternuts, bu. 
Cabbage plants, no. 
Cabbage greens, bu. 
Calf skins, no. 
Carrageen, lbs. 
Cauliflower, heads 
Celery, bunches 
Celery plants, no. 
Cherries, bu. 
Chestnuts, bu. 
Chiccorv, lbs. 
Citron, lbs. 
Crab-apples, bu. 
Cream, gals. 
Cucumbers, bu. 
Cucumbers, no. 
Currants, qts. 
Dandelions, bu. 
Eggs, doz. 
Eggs, fancy, doz. 
Eggs, game, doz. 
Feathers, lbs. 
Flaxseed, bu. 
Flowers, leaves, and 
vines, cut, 
Game, wild, lbs. 
Gooseberries, qts. 
Grapes, bu. 
Grapes, lbs. 
Hair, for plastering, lbs. 
Hides, no. 
Honey, lbs. 
15. —Quantity. 
16. —Value. 
Horse-radish, lbs. 
Huckleberries, qts. 
Ice, tons 
Leeches, doz. 
Lettuce, heads 
Mangoes, bu. 
Manure, animal, cords 
Manure, hen and bird, bu. 
Manure, sea, cords 
Melons, no. 
Milk, gals. 
Mutton, lbs. 
Oyster plant, bu. 
Parsley, bu. 
Peaches, bu. 
Pears, bu. 
Pelts, no. 
Peppers, bu. 
Plants, flowering and 
otherfrom greenhouses 
or gardens, no. 
Plums, bu. 
Pork, lbs. 
Poultry, dressed: chick- 
ens, lbs. 
Poultry, dressed: geese, 
lbs. 
Poultry, dressed: turkeys, 
lbs. 
Poultry, dressed: other 
than chickens, turkeys, 
and geese, lbs. (See 
“ Domestic Animals, etc. 
Pumpkins, lbs. 
Quinces, bu. 
Radishes, bunches 
Raspberries, qts. 
Rhubarb, lbs. 
Roots and herbs, medic- 
inal and aromatic, 
Seeds, garden, field, and 
flower, lbs. 
Seeds, grass, bu. 
Seed, millet, bu. 
Shellbarks, bu. 
Shrubs from nurseries, 
no. 
Silk cocoons, lbs. 
Spinach, bu. 
Squashes, lbs. 
Strawy tons 
Teasles, lbs. 
Thimbleberries, qts. 
Tomatoes, bu. 
Tomato plants, no. 
Trees, fruit—from nur- 
series, no. 
Trees, ornamental—-from 
nurseries, no. 
Tripe, lbs. 
Veal, lbs. 
Vines from nurseries, no. 
Watercress, bunches 
Wool, Saxony, lbs. 
Wool, merino, lbs. 
Wool, other than Saxony 
or merino, lbs. 
”) 
In the five cases where the word “from ” is printed in italics in 
the list of products, the original word used was “ in,” but the word 
“from ” seems to make the meaning a little plainer. 
Dairy Products.—Milk, Butter, and Cheese. 
17. —Value. 
18. —Quantity of milk used by family, gals. 
19. —Quantity of milk made into butter by family, gals. 
20. —Quantity of milk made into cheese by family, gals. 114 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
21. —Total quantity of milk used by or in family, gals. 
22. —Quantity of milk sold to cheese factories, gals. 
23. —Quantity of milk sold (not including that sold to cheese factories), gals. 
24. —Total quantity of milk sold, gals. 
25. —Total product of milk (used by or in family, or sold) during the Census 
year, gals. 
26. —Milch cows supplying this total product of milk, no. 
27. —Quantity of butter made by family (see page 2), lbs. 
28. —Quantity of cheese made by family (see page 2), lbs. 
The person filling this Schedule, in accordance with Instructions, 
has previously given the quantity and value of Butter and Cheese 
made by him (whether used or sold) and has also given his total 
Milk product for the Census year. The object of the Inquiries from 
17 to 28 is to ascertain the disposition and use of the Milk product 
in detail. The grand aggregates for the Commonwealth, if each 
farmer makes his return as requested, will be of particular value 
to the Dairy Industry, and special attention and care are required. 
Inquiries 25, 27, and 28, can be answered by bringing forward 
information previously given on pages 2 and 6. The answers are re- 
quired here in order to make the presentation of “ Dairy Products ” 
complete in itself, and to allow opportunities for comparison. In- 
quiry 21 simply calls for the total of 18, 19, and 20, and In- 
quiry 24 for the total of 22 and 23. Inquiry 25 calls, in the same 
manner, for the total of Inquiries 21 (milk used in family) and 24 
(milk sold). 
Although the Inquiries from 18 to 28, taken in connection with 
the instruction, would seem to be intelligible to the farmer, yet they 
were as a rule misunderstood, for the parties did not possess the 
proper information to supply an answer. It would require ten 
pages of this book in order to show the different points of view 
from which individual farmers answered the inquiries, each, of 
course, taking his own peculiar method of figuring up his dairy 
products as a basis for his answers. In order to. make a success 
of an enumeration of this kind, it would be absolutely necessary 
to have thoroughly instructed Special Agents visit each farmer, 
and by personal inquiries extract the information that was desired ; 
:the whole subject was evidently too intricate for the average farm- 
er to understand and make replies that would balance, and bear 
the test of critical examination. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
115 
Farms. 
29. —Acreage of this Farm. 
30. —Value (of the land). 
31. — Owned, hired, or worked on shares. 
32. —Capital invested in cultivating this farm not including the value of Farm 
Property enumerated in this Schedule. 
Agricultural Machines, Implements, etc. 
33. —Description. 
Cultivators, 
Feed cutters, 
Harrows, 
Hay cutters, 
Horse rakes, 
Horse hoes, 
34. —Number of— 
35. —Value. 
Horse powers, 
Hay tedders, 
Manure spreaders, 
Mowing machines, 
Plows, 
Reaping machines, 
Seed sowers, 
Threshing machines, 
Other machines, 
Agricultural implements, 
Carts, wagons, etc., and 
harnesses. 
It is absolutely necessary that there should be a separate Sched- 
ule filled out for each separate Farm ; that is, a person having 
more than one farm should receive and fill out a Schedule for 
each. 
We consider a farm to be the home of a farmer, his workshop 
and his means of obtaining a subsistence ; this necessitates certain 
appliances to enable him to carry on successfully the work of the 
farm ; these necessary adjuncts comprise arable soil for crop land, 
pasture land for stock; woodland for material for fuel, fencing, etc., 
and all the buildings requisite for housing family, products, and 
animals. 
As a general rule, a farm means land cultivated for the support 
or profit of the proprietor. In this respect, there are three farm- 
ing classes : first, those who are farmers in the general acceptation 
of the term ; second, those who carry on market gardens ; third, 
those who cultivate more or less land from which agricultural 
products of any kind are sold. 
The Industrial Statistics have nothing to do with the valuation 
of buildings not on farms, the valuation of village lots, nor the 
number or value of animals except those upon farms. 
Inquiry 32 was not understood either by the farmers or the 
Enumerators. It was supposed, when the Schedule was prepared, 
that a farmer would have in addition to his land, buildings, ma- 
chines, implements, etc., some ready cash or capital with which to 116 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
carry on his business ; there may have been a disinclination on the 
part of many farmers to thus disclose the amount of cash capital 
used in their business as farmers; at any rate the inquiry was not 
answered, and it is doubtful whether any change in the wording of 
it would have secured favorable replies. 
Buildings. 
39.—Description of Buildings. 
Dwelling houses, 
Barns, 
Carriage houses, 
Cheese houses, 
Cider mills, 
Granaries, 
Greenhouses, 
Grist and saw mills, 
Ice houses, 
Out-buildings, 
Sheds, 
Shops, 
Slaughter houses, 
Stables, 
Storehouses, 
.Sugar houses, 
Tobacco barns. 
40. —Number of— 
41. —Materials of which constructed. 
42. —Value. 
Description—The names of the different kinds of buildings, 
usually found upon farms, are in the printed list. Blank spaces are 
provided for any other kinds of farm buildings. 
Materials.—In the column under this heading state whether 
the buildings are of wood,brick, stone, etc. The initial letters “ W ” 
for wood, “ B ” for brick, “ S ” for stone, etc., may be used. Com- 
binations of building materials such as wood and brick may be 
indicated by “W B,” etc. Blank spaces are provided in case a 
farm has buildings of a certain kind constructed of more than one 
kind of material; for instance, wooden houses, brick houses, stone 
houses, etc. 
Value—The value desired for buildings is the combustible \alue 
—that is, the amount that would be claimed from an insurance 
company to replace the building if destroyed by fire. 
Although the number of cider mills on farms only were to be re- 
turned on this Schedule, in many cases the enumerators made the 
error of returning cider mills not on farms. The enumerators 
made similar errors as regards grist and saw mills, ice houses, 
slaughter houses, sugar houses, tobacco barns, etc., in many cases 
returning products on these Schedules, and then returning them 
again on the Manufactures Schedule ; in order to avoid duplication 
in these towns, a careful comparison had to be made between 
Schedules No. 2 and No. 4. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
117 
Fertilizers. 
36.—Description. 
Animal manure, cords 
Hen and bird manure, bu. 
Sea manure, cords 
37. —Quantity. 
38. Value. 
Commercial fertilizers 
(purchased), lbs. 
Commercial fertilizers 
(compounded on the 
farm), lbs. 
No special instruction was given as to whether the quantity 
and value of fertilizers referred to the amount on hand on the 
Census day, or whether it was intended to cover the amount used 
during the Census year; by this oversight in the instructions the 
value of the answers to the first three inquiries was vitiated, and 
the correct replies related only to the commercial fertilizers. 
Fences. 
43.—Description. 
Wooden, rods 
Stone (stone wall), rods 
Stone (faced wall), rods 
44. —Length. 
45. —Value. 
Wire, rods 
Wire, barbed, rods 
Mixed (wood and stone), 
rods 
After a long correspondence with enumerators and farmers, in- 
quiries 43 to 45 were abandoned as impracticable ; so many farms 
have changed hands that the present owners have no idea of the 
value of the fences on their farms, and the length could only be 
obtained by actual measurement; this would have added so much 
to the cost of the Census that it was deemed best to abandon the 
inquiries. 
Land.—Cultivated, Uncultivated, and Woodland. 
46.—Land Classification. 
CULTIVATED LAND: 
UNCULTIVATED LAND: 
WOODLAND: 
Hay land, 
Permanent pasture land, 
Of 30 years’ natural 
Principal crops, 
Other unimproved land, 
growth or less, 
Market gardens, 
Unimprovable land, 
Of over 30 years’ natural 
Nurseries, 
Mines, quarries, pits, etc., 
growth, 
Orchards (the land), (the land). 
Seed gardens, 
Other cultivated land. 
47. —Total Acreage in this farm. 
48. —Total Value of the land in this farm. 
From seeds or transplant- 
ed seedlings. 118 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Acreage—The total acreage of this farm has been given on 
page 8. The land classification on page 9, when added up, should 
give a total just equal to the farm acreage on page 8. Special 
care should be taken in the distribution of the acreage under the 
various heads given. 
Cultivated. Land.—The acreage devoted to hay should be given 
separately ; then the acreage devoted to the other crops mentioned 
on page 5, and for which the acreage was required. After giving 
the acreage in market gardens, nurseries, orchards, or seed gardens, 
the balance of the cultivated land should be given on the remain- 
ing line. 
Uncultivated Land.—Land used for roads, or covered by deep 
water, or well known to be unfit for profitable cultivation, should be 
returned as unimprovable. In general, if you believe a tract of 
land on your farm, by proper irrigation or drainage, or by filling 
in, can be made productive, return such land as unimproved. 
Should there be a mine, quarry, pit, bog, etc. (see page 10), upon 
your farm its acreage must be included so as to secure the total 
farm acreage as given on page 8, 
Woodland.—The division of your woodland so as to show the 
age of your trees will be of special value and is incorporated as an 
Inquiry in this Schedule in accordance with a resolve of the Leg- 
islature of 1884, as are also the Inquiries relating to “ Forest 
Products.” 
By some farmers the line “principal crops” was understood to 
mean the acreage and value of crops instead of the acreage and 
value of the land upon which those crops were raised, as was in- 
tended by the Schedule. There was no good reason for the far- 
mers making such an interpretation of the inquiry, but the errors 
were patent, and correspondence or the services of a Special Agent 
were required to correct them. 
Forest Products. 
49. Kind of Wood, and Lumber, cut during Census Year. 
Oak, Chestnut, Beech and birch, 
Maple, Pine, All other kinds. 
50. —Average age at time of cutting, 
51. —Value of timber, or wood, whether growing or cut, destroyed by forest 
fires during Census year. 
The object of these inquiries was to ascertain the kind of wood THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
119 
and lumber cut during the Census year, the average age at time of 
cutting, and the destruction caused by forest fires during the Cen- 
sus year; the inquiries were generally well answered. 
Farm Population. 
52. —Classification. 
Members of family, Farm laborers, Total. 
House servants, 
53. —Males. 
54. —Females. 
55. Total. 
We desire to obtain the whole number of persons necessary to 
the proper carrying on of the farm, whether members of the pro- 
prietor’s family or engaged by him for farm labor, or in domes- 
tic manufactures. 
The answers to Inquiries 52 to 55 were vitiated in so many 
cases by returning all the members of the family, whether they 
were engaged in the carrying on of the farm or not, that the ag- 
gregates were not considered reliable and they were not used in 
the Census Report; the instructions seemed to be plain, but in- 
structions are of little value if the party who fills out a Schedule 
has a preconceived idea as to the meaning of the inquiries. 
Paid in Agriculture apd Domestic Manufactures. 
—Age classification. 
Under io; 14 to 21; Above 60. 
10 to 14; 21 to 60; 
57. —Persons employed in Agriculture. 
Males.—Monthly wage with board; without board. Females.—Month- 
ly wage with board; without board. 
58. —Persons employed in Domestic Manufactures. 
Males.—Monthly wage with board; without board. Females.—Month- 
ly wage with board; without board. 
59. —Total amount of wages, including board, paid to persons employed in 
Agricidture during the year ending November 15, 1885. 
60. —Total amount of wages, including board, paid to persons employed only 
in Domestic Manufactures during the year ending November 15, 1885. 
It is well known that farm labor is variable, the greatest number 
being employed in the “busy season.” Many persons are em- 
ployed during “ haying time ” only. All persons employed in 120 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Agriculture or Domestic Manufactures at any time during the Census 
year should be entered under this heading. 
In giving “ total amount of wages ” endeavor to keep the dis- 
tinction shown between Inquiries 59 and 60, but if impossible to 
separate enter the total for Agriculture and Domestic Manufact- 
ures under 59. 
Inquiries 56 to 58 were quite generally misunderstood, and so 
much extraneous material was inserted in the answers that the 
aggregates were not considered reliable for Census purposes. 
Inquiries 59 and 60 were generally well answered, and were 
reliable. 
Domestic Animals, etc. 
Asses, 
Bees (swarms of), 
Buffaloes, 
Bulls, 
Calves, 
Colts, 
Dogs, 
Ducks, 
Geese, 
Goats, 
Guinea fowls, 
Heifers, 
Hens and chickens, 
62. —Number of— 
63. —Value. 
61.—Names of Animals, etc. 
Steers, 
T urkeys. 
Domestic animals pur- 
chased in other States 
during the Census 
Year. 
Domestic animals pur- 
chased in foreign coun- 
tries, and imported 
therefrom, during the 
Census Year. 
Hogs, 
Horses, 
Lambs, 
Milch cows, 
Mules, 
Oxen, 
Pea fowls, 
Pigeons, 
Pigs, 
Sheep, merino, 
Sheep, Saxony, 
Sheep, other than meri- 
no or Saxony, 
Consider as Calves those under one year of age ; as Lambs 
those under one year; as Pigs those under six months ; as Hogs 
those over six months ; as Colts those under three years ; as Heif- 
ers until they “come in.” 
If you own Domestic Animals, used for service or food, which 
are not specified in the printed list, cross out the name of some 
animal you do not own, insert the name of the one you do own, 
consider the questions as applying, and write in the answers. 
Follow the same plan in the case of Fruit Trees and Vines. 
But little if any difficulty was found with Inquiries 61 to 63. 
Fruit Trees and Vines. 
64.—Names of Trees and Vines. 
Apple, Apricot, Butternut, THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
121 
Cherry, 
Chestnut, 
Crab-apple, 
Eig, 
Hickory, 
65. —Number of— 
66. —Value. 
Mulberry, 
Nectarine, 
Peach, 
Pear, 
Plum, 
Pomegranate, 
Quince, 
Shellbark, 
Walnut, 
Grape vines. 
Generally well filled, but the variation in price was very marked 
in different places, some farmers considering their trees as being 
very valuable, when others placed but a nominal value upon them. 
A marked peculiarity in the return of fruit trees and vines, and of 
fruits, berries, and nuts, was the returning of products without any 
return of trees or vines, and, vice vcrsd, the return of fruit trees 
and vines without any corresponding products being entered in the 
proper sections. This may have sprung from two causes; either the 
farmer and enumerator remembered the products and forgot the 
property, or remembered the property and forgot the products, or 
else, as was undoubtedly the case in many instances, the property 
was returned, but there being no products that year they were not 
given in the Schedule. 
Silos and Ensilage. 
67. —Silos. Number. 
68. —Aggregate capacity, cubic feet. 
69. —Materials of which constructed, 
70. —Aggregate cost. 
71. —Corn, acreage 
72. —Rye, acreage 
73. —Other fodder, acreage 
74. —Cost of corn ensilage, per ton 
75. —Cost of rye ensilage, per ton 
76. —Cost of other fodder ensilage, per ton 
77. —Total amount of ensilage fed out as fodder during the Census Year, tons 
78. —Total value of same. 
79. —Relative food value of ensilage in proportion to good English hay. 
Agricultural Products used for Ensilage. 
In giving the relative food value of ensilage as compared with 
good English hay it is necessary to adopt some standard to indi- 
cate the food value of the hay. The simplest plan is to consider 
the hay as represented by 100. Then if ensilage, as a food, is, for 
instance, of one-fifth more value relatively than hay, indicate the 
ensilage value by 120; if one-fifth less food value, by 80. 122 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
In many cases the farmers, instead of stating the acreage of corn, 
rye, and other fodder, the products of which were used for ensilage, 
returned their whole acreage of corn, rye, and other fodder, thus 
destroying the value of the returns. Despite the careful instruction 
given as regarded inquiry 79 it was not understood, and a farmer, 
if he considered that ensilage was half as good again as good 
English hay, would put down 50 instead of 150 as he should 
have done according to the instructions. So many variations 
were found not in accordance with the general evidence obtained 
from other sources, that correspondence was resorted to, and it 
was found that the question had been misunderstood, or rather 
that the farmer did not understand the instruction, nor know how to 
put down exactly what he did mean. 
Other Productive Property. 
80. —Name of— 
Clay pits, 
Fish ponds (private prop- 
erty), 
Fish ways (private prop- 
erty), 
Gravel pits, 
Marl deposits, 
81. —Number of— 
Mines, asbestos, 
Mines, coal, 
Mines, iron, 
Mines (other metals), 
Peat bogs and muck 
beds, 
Quarries, granite, 
Quarries, limestone, 
Quarries, marble, 
Quarries, sandstone, 
Quarries, slate, 
Quarries, soapstone, 
Sand pits, 
Salt works. 
It is intended that on this Schedule you should state only the 
number of Mines, Quarries, Pits, Bogs, etc., that there may be upon 
your farm and included in the acreage given on pages 8 and P. 
The enumerators in filling out Inquiries 80 and 81 returned the 
specified kinds of productive property whether they had been 
worked or not. It was found that the productive property of this 
nature was of great extent in the State, but that the greater part 
of it had not yet been used ; in many country towns the gravel 
pits are only resorted to when it is necessary to fix up the roads, 
and there being no market in the vicinity for the sand and clay, 
it remains there until the advance of railroads and of manufact- 
uring industries open up these properties and make them of 
value. It will be seen that the farmer has everything to gain by 
the advancement of the manufacturing industry ; it supplies a 
constant market for his crops, and the building industry supplies 
him with a market for the other products of his land that have THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
123 
lain dormant for years, and would have continued to do so, but 
for the demand created by the establishment of workshops and 
factories, and the settlement in his neighborhood of the employes 
of such establishments. In addition to the general instructions 
that were printed in this Schedule and which have been herein- 
before given, it was found necessary to issue from the Census 
Office certain special instructions for the guidance of the Enumer- 
ators who took up the Agricultural Schedule. 
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS No. 1. 
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
Bureau of Statistics of Labor, 
20 Beacon Street, 
Boston, November 5, 1885. 
Sir: 
Enclosed yon will find letter of designation as Enumerator to gather the 
statistics asked for in Schedule No. 4. 
Extra Schedules, Work Report, Time Account, Express Receipts, and a List 
of persons from whom returns are expected, will be sent you by express. 
The instructions in Schedule No. 4 should be thoroughly understood before 
you commence your work, and with the following additional instructions all 
points would seem to be covered. 
A farm is considered to be the home of a farmer: it answers for his work- 
shop and his means of obtaining a subsistence, and comprises crop, pasture, 
and wood lands, buildings, stock, and appliances. From all persons owning, 
hiring, or carrying on a farm, returns should be obtained whether the product 
is sold or consumed on the farm, and also from all persons owning, hiring, or 
carrying on Market Gardens, Orchards, Nurseries, and Seed Gardens, or engaged 
in raising fruits, flowers, or poultry for sale. 
No returns are expected from persons having small gardens from which no 
profit is derived, or which are not carried on for business purposes. 
Large tracts of wood, pasture, or meadow lands should be returned, and in 
the case of non-resident owners of such, the returns should be obtained by mail. 
As a rule no notice is to be taken of village lots. 
The List sent you has the names of persons, returned by the Enumerators, 
from whom returns are expected. You should look carefully for any others who, 
in your opinion, should make returns, add their names to the List, check 
between the red lines the names of those who make returns, and return the 
List with your completed work. 
When parts of a farm are in adjoining towns, the return for the whole should 
be made in the town where the farm buildings are situated, and the several 
Enumerators should see that no omissions or duplications occur in such cases. 124 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Care should be taken in the return of fences, that the whole length of a 
parti-fence is not returned by both owners. 
Remember that an intelligent estimate is better than no answer, and that if 
you were making the inquiries with a view of purchasing, you would receive 
answers. 
It is expected that you will fill the Schedules. If you find any already filled, 
examine them to see that they are filled correctly. 
You are expected to act in the matter of travel and expense, as if it were 
your private business, using public rather than private conveyance when possi- 
ble. An estimate of the amount likely to be necessary must be made and 
authority for the same obtained, before any expense is contracted. 
As soon as you have completed ten (10) Schedules, return them to this office by 
express, using one of the enclosed labels, and if there is any point in your work 
needing correction, you will be advised at once. 
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS No. 2. 
SCHEDULE NO. 4. 
Bureau of Statistics of Labor, 
20 Beacon Street, 
Boston, November 30, 1885. 
Sir: 
The following additional instructions are sent you for your guidance, which, 
if carefully read, will answer most of the questions which are being asked by 
the Enumerators designated to gather the statistics of Domestic Manufactures 
and Agricultural Products and Property. (Schedule No. 4.) 
The certificate must be signed by the farmer, or other recipient of the 
Schedule, or by some person authorized by him. If a person who has given 
you returns, which you consider substantially correct, prefers not to sign the 
certificate, you can sign for him. 
You should not attempt to fill Schedule No. 2, at the request of manufac- 
turers who ask your assistance. 
When parts of a farm are in adjoining towrns, and a return is made in the 
town where the farm buildings are situated, if the person making the return 
has detached wood lots, pasture, or meadow lands, not properly considered 
part of the home farm, they should be returned, as detached lots, in the town 
in which they are situated. 
The names of non-resident land owners can be obtained from the Assessors’ 
Lists, and in the case of non-productive land, you may return the acreage and 
value as given by the Assessors, stating the kind of land. 
Values should be fixed by the person making the returns. Thev are not to 
be based on prices of today, but should be what the articles have brought, if 
sold. If on hand, then an estimate must be made, and you should call atten- 
tion to any estimates which seem incorrect. 
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
125 
In cases where for any reason peculiarities or complications 
arise, explain the matter on a separate sheet, and attach it to 
the Schedule. 
The symbol X need not be used. 
The subjoined inquiries, noted by page and number, are answered by the 
following explanations. 
PAGE 2. 
Boots, Clothing, etc., including “ work on.” (Inquiry i.) If the 
whole of any of the articles named are made in the family, the number or 
quantity should be given with the value of the articles made. If work is done 
on articles taken in from manufacturers or others, the number and quantity of 
the articles “worked on ” should be given, and the value of the work done. 
The wearing apparel of the family is not to be inquired into under the 
above inquiries. 
Cider. The Cider made on the farm, or made for the farmer from his 
apples, should be given. Proprietors of Cider Mills will make returns as 
Manufacturers, on another Schedule, directly to this office, but if they are also 
farmers, you should obtain returns of the Cider made from the apples grown 
on their lands only. 
PAGE 4. 
Persons employed in Domestic Manufactures. All who have 
contributed toward the manufacture of any of the articles named on the pre- 
ceding pages should be returned here. The fact that the same persons will be 
returned on Page 9 makes no difference. 
PAGE 5. 
Agricultural Products. When more than one crop is raised on the 
same land, enter in column 13, the acreage against each crop, and against the 
crop last raised say “second planting.” 
When vegetables are raised for family use, on a small piece of land termed 
the “kitchen garden,” the vegetables need not be returned in detail, but in the 
space below “ Wheat,” say “Garden Vegetables,” and give value of the whole 
with the acreage of the garden. 
Fodder. (Inquiry 10.) The returns here should be filled for the whole 
quantity grown. The inquiries numbered 71 to 77 have no bearing on these 
answers. 
If corn stalks have been used for Fodder, after the corn has been gathered, 
make another entry of “Fodder, dry,” with quantity and value. 
PAGE 6. 
Cream. (Inquiry 14.) The return should be made here of the total 
amount of Cream used or sold, as such. That made into Butter should be 
classed as part of the Milk on Page 7. 
Milk. The total quantity of milk produced should be given. If milk is 
purchased it is not to be included here. 126 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Poultry, Dressed. Only dressed poultry is to be given here. Live 
chickens, geese, turkeys, etc., on hand Nov. 15, 1885, are given on Page 10. 
PAGE 7. 
Dairy Products. (Inquiry 26.) The average number of cows which a 
farmer has kept during the year is the number required here. When milk has 
been purchased, give the number of cows kept by the person making the return, 
and state on the line following the number of gallons of milk purchased. 
PAGE 8. 
Farm Property. You will observe that the preceding pages have asked 
for Products. This page and the following ask for the Farm Property as it 
existed Nov. 15, 1885. (See front cover.) 
Acreage of this Farm. (Inquiry 29.) If lots of wood land and other 
land belong to the farm proper, they should be included here, this question 
being intended to cover the acreage of the home farm. If they are detached, 
and are not considered a part of the farm, they should not be so returned. 
Capital Invested. (Inquiry 32.) This inquiry is to ascertain the Cash 
Capital which a farmer has, as ready money, with which to hire labor, purchase 
seed, fertilizers, etc., until he receives an income from his crops. If he has 
none, so state it. It does not mean the total amount expended for those pur- 
poses during the year. 
Agricultural Implements. (Inquiry 33.) These are the small tools 
and appliances not elsewhere named. They are not to be named, but are to be 
valued in one total. 
Carts, Wagons, etc., and Harnesses. In cases where persons have 
horses and carriages used for pleasure driving, or teams used in some business 
other than farming, these should not be returned. Only such as are used for 
farm uses, or the business of the farmer, should be returned. This would 
include a single driving horse and vehicle. 
Description of Buildings. (Inquiry 39. ) The same rule will apply 
under this inquiry. Dwellings, barns, etc., which are connected with a farm 
should be returned. 
Fertilisers. (Inquiry 36.) The whole amount used during the year, 
whether bought or made on the premises, should be given. 
Fences. (Inquiry 43.) When the obtaining of answers to the inquiry in 
regard to Stone Wall is likely to consume much time you need not insist upon 
answers. Answers in general terms which will show whether the wall is consid- 
ered of some value, or none, would be useful. 
PAGE 9. 
Land Classification. (Inquiry 46.) If there are detached lots of any 
of the lands here mentioned, which are not included as part of the home farm 
(Inquiry 29), state in the spaces at the left of the column, Inquiry 47, the num- 
ber of acres of each kind which may be detached. 
Cultivated Land. Under Hay land, return the whole land from which 
hay is cut. Under Principal Crops, return the land devoted to such crops as THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
127 
the returns on Page 5 show to be the chief crops raised, such as corn, potatoes, 
strawberries, etc. When land is used for more than one purpose state it, as, 
for instance, after “ Orchards (the land),” say “ Used also for hay,” or after 
•‘Other unimproved land,” say “Used also for cranberries.” 
Forest Products. (Inquiry 49.) The quantity of wood cut is not asked. 
The object of these inquiries is to ascertain the age at which the forests are 
being cut. 
Farm Population. (Inquiry 52.) This should give the average num- 
ber in a household, of persons who have helped in any way to carry on the 
business for which these returns are made, either on the farm or in housework, 
and none others. 
Wages Paid. (Inquiries 56 to 60.) The persons only to whom wages 
are paid should be included in this table. * The value of the labor of those who 
are not paid wages should not be included. The number of persons of the 
various ages who have been hired by the month should be given, with the price 
per month paid them, and whether they are boarded or not will determine in 
which column that price should be entered. The answers to Inquiries 59 and 
60 should give the total wages paid, counting board as wages. 
If day labor has been employed, state on the bottom of the page opposite 
Page 9, as nearly as possible, the number of persons employed in each of the 
two kinds of employment, with the average daily wages. 
PAGE IO. 
Fruit Trees and. Vines. (Inquiries 64, 65, and 66.) Such trees and 
vines as are cared for, for the purpose of selling them or their products, should 
be entered here. Chestnut, hickory, and other nut trees not cared for as fruit- 
bearing are not to be counted. 
SCHEDULE No. 5-The Fisheries. 
The object of the Schedule devoted to “ The Fisheries ” was to 
find out the number of vessels composing the fishing fleet, their 
names and description, the year in which built, where the vessel 
was built, the tonnage, whether the vessel was registered or not, 
and the number of months engaged in the fisheries during the Cen- 
sus year. The inquiries in regard to outfit covered the original 
cost of the vessel and outfit, the present value of the vessel and 
outfit, the decrease of both vessel and outfit in value, the average 
annual cost to keep in repair, the cost of outfit during the Census 
year, the average annual cost of outfit during the past ten years, 
the value of imported manila and hemp used in outfit during the 
Census year, the value of the manila and hemp used in the orig- 
inal construction, and the total cost of repairs and of outfit during 
the Census year. 
The section devoted to “ Apparatus ” called for the number and 128 
PKACTICAL STATISTICS. 
value of dories, fyke nets, gill nets, trawl and hand lines, purse 
seines, mackerel pockets, eel and lobster pots, seines and seine 
boats, traps, trawls, and weirs. Under the heading “Capital In- 
vested ” the amount invested in vessels including outfit, in land 
wharves, buildings and fixtures, machinery, implements, and tools, 
cash capital, and credit capital, were called for. 
The division of the Schedule relating to “ Markets ” called for 
the percentage of local capital invested in the fisheries, the value 
of fish exported during the Census year, the value of fish import- 
ed or purchased from foreign vessels during the Census year, the 
percentage of same, fish caught and sold at each port, the percent- 
age of fish sold at other ports, and a statement of the principal 
markets for the products of the fisheries. 
As regards “ Persons Employed ” the fishing firms were called 
upon to state the number of resident and non-resident fishermen, 
the number of shore laborers and factory hands, and curers and 
packers not in factories; also, as regards “Nationalities”; that is, 
whether the persons so employed were of English, Irish, British 
Provincial, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Swedish, etc., extraction. 
The number of women employed in the fisheries was also 
called for. 
The section devoted to “Wages and Profits ” called for the high- 
est, lowest, and average wages paid, the number paid wholly by 
wages, the number paid wages and allowed for board, the average 
price of board, the comparative value of wages and board, the 
number having a share in the profits of the catch, the average 
amount of such share, the number owning shares in vessels, the 
number paid wholly by a share in the profits, the number paid by 
wages and a share in the profits, the number paid cash advances, 
and the number allowed credit. 
The division “ Kind of Fish, Where Caught,” called for the 
description, quantity, and value of the different kinds of fish, 
caught in American waters, in British waters, or on the high seas. 
The object of these inquiries was to ascertain officially, if pos- 
sible, the respective quantities and values of the fish caught in the 
three specified localities. 
The section devoted to “Food Fish Preparation ” called for the 
names of the kinds of food fish prepared, the method of 
aration and the quantity and value of preserved living fish, refrig- THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
129 
erated fish, pickled and kench cured fish, dried fish, pickled fish, 
canned fish, and boneless and desiccated fish prepared for the mar- 
ket. The Fishery Schedule was intended to cover only fresh fish, 
and fish prepared by the addition of salt only. The manufactured 
fish was to be returned upon the Manufactures Schedule under 
the heading “ Food Preparations.” 
The section devoted to Fishery Products of all kinds ” called 
for the quantity, number, and value of the following described 
kinds of fish : 
Fishery Products (all kinds) ; Description, Quantity, Value. 
hi.—Description of Fishery Pro- 
ducts : 
130. —Mackerel, 
131. —Mackerel (Spanish), 
132. —Menhaden, 
133. —Perch, 
134. —Pickerel, 
135-—pike, 
136. —Pollock, 
137. —Salmon, 
138. Porgy, 
139. —Seals, 
140. —Shad, 
141. —Shells, 
142. —Smelt, 
143. —Squeteague, 
145. —Swordfish, 
146. —Tautog, 
147. —Trout, 
148. —Turbot, 
149. —Turtles, 
150. —Whales. 
112. —Alewives, 
113. —Bait, 
114— “ 
115. “ 
116. —Bass, 
117. —Bluefish, 
118. —Carp, 
119. —Cod, 
120. —Cusk, 
121. —Eels, 
122. —Flounders, 
123. —Haddock, 
124. —Hake, 
125. —Halibut, 
126. — Herring, 
127. —Inorganic products, 
128. —Irish moss (carrageen), 
129. —Kelp and seaweed, 
“Catch’’from July i, 1884, to June 30, 1885. Basis. Number. Amount. 
“Catch” from Jan. 1, 1885, to Jan. 1, 1886. Basis. Number. Amount. 
175—Total value of a11 kinds of fishery products “caught” from July 1, 1884, 
to June 30, 1885. 
176.—Total value, from January 1, 1885, to January 1, 1886. 
The quantity and value of domestic and imported salt and of 
ice used in the fisheries was called for. The statistics of accidents 
covered the number of deaths and the number of employes per- 
manently disabled by accidents during the Census year, with the 
age of such employes. Statistics of motive power, and of machin- 
ery, tools, and implements were required by inquiries similar to> 
9 130 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
those which have been given in Schedule No. 2. The general 
instructions for the “ Fishery Schedule ” were the same as for the 
“ Manufactures Schedule.” 
SCHEDULE No. 6—Coastwise and Ocean Commerce. 
The Schedule devoted to “ Coastwise and Ocean Commerce ” 
called for the name of each vessel, whether it was engaged in coast- 
wise or ocean commerce, the kind of vessel, its tonnage, the value, 
and a statement as to what flag the vessel sailed under; the quan- 
tity of freight carried during the Census year was called for, as 
also the amount received for transporting this freight. Similar 
inquiries called for the number of passengers carried, and the 
amount received for carrying them. Two inquiries that were not 
very generally answered requested the length in miles of a regular 
trip, and the time employed in the trip. The majority of vessels 
in the United States are owned by citizens of different States, and 
suitable inquiries called for the amount owned by citizens of Mas- 
sachusetts, by other American citizens, and by foreigners. The 
owners of vessels were called upon to state the principal port or 
ports visited by each vessel, and the principal article or articles 
transported to said port or ports. An attempt was made to obtain 
the nationalities of seamen employed upon the vessels, stating 
whether they were American, English, Irish, Canadian, Spanish, 
Portuguese, Italian, etc., but in the majority of cases the owners 
were unable to answer. The practice is to ship a crew for a partic- 
ular port; when that port is reached that crew is usually discharged, 
and when the vessel is ready to sail a new crew is engaged. It 
would require considerable bookkeeping to supply accurate figures 
concerning the nationalities of seamen. Inquiries similar to those 
found in Schedule No. 2, relating to “Manufactures,” were made 
concerning the salaries paid to officers, and wages paid to seamen 
employed upon vessels. 
SCHEDULE Wo. 7—Libraries and Reading Rooms. 
For the first time statistics of reading rooms were included in the 
Massachusetts State Census of 1885. The Inquiries in regard to 
libraries called for a statement as to the number of secular 
libraries, and as to whether they were city or town public, public 
or private school, college, scientific, artistic, law, medical, hospi- 131 
TIIE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
tal, association, or private circulating libraries. As regards reli- 
gious libraries a classification was made for church, Sunday-school, 
and religious association libraries. The following inquiries were 
general in their nature as regards all libraries: the name of the 
library, the year in which it was opened to the public, the name of 
the donor of library building or endowment fund, or the principal 
donor of books, how the library is supported, the amount of endow- 
ment, the quarterly income from fund, the value of the library 
building when owned, the annual rental of the library rooms when 
hired, number of manuscripts, pamphlets, and bound books in the 
library, the estimated value of same, and what days the library was 
kept open, and for how many hours daily; the sex and age of per- 
sons using the library principally, its comparative use day and 
evening, and the class of books called for principally—whether 
fiction, travel, biography, scientific, artistic, etc.; the number of 
books used in the library and at home was called for; that is, the 
total circulation was given. Inquiries in relation to “reading 
rooms ” covered the points as to whether this reading room was 
connected with the library, its name, the year in which opened, 
donors of building fund or books, means of support, amount of 
endowment, quarterly income from fund, value of building if owned 
and rental if hired, number of newspapers and pamphlets on 
file, number of works of reference on file, estimated value of all 
reading matter on file at a specified time, estimated value of reading 
room fixtures, greatest seating capacity of the reading room, aver- 
age number using the reading room daily during the Census year, 
its comparative use day and evening by males and females, and 
what days the reading room was kept open and for how many hours 
daily, the sex and age of the persons using the room, the class 
of newspapers, periodicals, and books called for particularly, and 
the whole number of males and females using the room during the 
Census year. 
SCHEDULE Ho. 8—DIVISIONS A and B—Schools 
and School Property. 
Public Schools, Colleges, Academies, and other Private Schools. 
In the Schedules the public schools were classified as primary, 
grammar, high, Latin, normal and training, free colleges, institutes, 
etc. The parties making the returns, principally chairmen of the 132 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
school committees, found it impossible to make an accurate classi- 
fication by kinds of schools as regards buildings, for in many 
country towns a primary and a grammar school, or a grammar and 
a high school, are often found in the same building, and in many 
small towns all the grades of schools are in the same building. In 
many towns, also, the schools are not graded, and this prevented 
an accurate classification. The Inquiries made were—the number 
of public school buildings, by each classification in each town or 
city, the value of the same, and the value of public school property 
(not including libraries). Inquiries in relation to private schools 
covered the points as to whether they were incorporated or unin- 
corporated, the name of the proprietor, president, principal, or 
master, the year in which the private school was started and 
incorporated, the number of school buildings owned and their 
value, the number of school buildings hired and their value, and 
the school property, not including libraries, in the buildings occu- 
pied by private schools. By school property was meant maps, 
pianos, chemical and other scientific apparatus, and such miscel- 
laneous books of reference as do not form a library ; in a word, 
it includes the value of all material in the building used for educa- 
tional purposes. It was directed that the value of the furniture 
should be included in the value of the building, for it is the school 
furniture that makes it a school building. 
INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
ANNUAL SCHEDULE.—Manufactures. 
The object of the Annual Statistic Schedule ” is to obtain statis- 
tics of manufactures each year. The framers of the law wisely 
dropped the great majority of the questions included in the decen- 
nial Schedule for 1885, and made that for 1886 and succeeding 
years as simple as possible, but 12 inquiries being included in the 
Schedule. It covers but three pages, ten by eight inches, the first 
page being devoted to a general statement to the manufacturers, 
extracts from the Annual Statistics law, and the certification to be 
signed by the party making the return. The first column on page 2 
is devoted to the general instructions; the second column on 
page 2 is filled with the inquiries ; opposite each inquiry on page 3 
is the special explanation for each inquiry, and the blank space THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
133 
for the answers; so that a party who desires, for instance, to answer 
Inquiry 3 finds on the same line with the inquiry the explanation 
for that inquiry and the space for the answer. 
It is impossible in a printed description to give any adequate 
idea of the construction of a Schedule ; the best that can be done 
is to give the text portion of the inquiries and explanations and 
the headings of the blank spaces supplied for the answers. 
ANNUAL SCHEDULE.—Manufactures. 
[kind of goods made or work done.] 
To 
Town (or City) of 
Please read This Page, the General Instructions on Page 2, and the Explana- 
tions 011 Page j, before writing in Answers. 
To comply with the Laws of the Commonwealth, as given for your informa- 
tion below, you are called upon to answer the Inquiries made in this Schedule. 
All instructions necessary for your guidance will be found upon Pages 2 and 3. 
Any person authorized by you may write in the particulars. 
By Chap. 174, Acts of i386, this Bureau was directed to collect the Annual 
Statistics of the Manufactures of the Commonwealth. The object of this 
Schedule is to ascertain the products, capital invested, and other particulars 
concerning the condition of Manufactures in the Commonwealth for the year 
ending December 31, 1886, or, if more easily given, for the last financial year 
of an establishment. 
By Sections 1 and 2 of the Annual Statistics Law (see below) it is provided 
that the Annual Schedule shall be sent by mail to manufacturers, and returned 
by them, by mail, to this Bureau. This provision enables manufacturers to 
make returns without annoyance, and with plenty of time for the purpose, 
without disclosing information concerning their private business to Enumera- 
tors or individuals of the locality. The front leaf will be detached before tabula- 
tion, and thus the clerks will not know whose Schedules are passing through 
their hands. 
Black ink should be used in writing, in all cases where possible. Replies 
written in pencil will be accepted, if the writing is firm and legible. 
It is of importance to every one engaged in developing the manufacturing 
resources of the Commonwealth that the fullest and most correct return possi- 
ble should be obtained from each recipient of this Schedule; and no manufac- 
turer, or employer engaged in a mechanical trade, should allow himself to 
perform his duty in a careless or imperfect manner. 
The facts supplied by you are not to be used as the basis of any system of 
taxation, or other liability, and the information secured will be presented in the 134 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Annual Statistics Abstract by figures only, the names of persons in no case being 
printed, and every precaution will be taken in town and city showings so that 
the business of individual manufacturers may not be divulged. The Bureau is 
bound by law (see section 4, below) to consider your answers in this Schedule 
as strictly confid ential. 
This Schedule was mailed to your address. 
Twenty Days from above Date is allowed you by Law in which 
to make your return and mail same, in accompanying envelope (first affixing 
thereto the enclosed stamped, addressed label), to this office. 
All parties filling out this Schedule must certify that the answers are correct. 
This is required by law (see section 2, below) and a form for signature will be 
found at the foot of this page. Your post office address must be given so that 
we may communicate with you by mail in case any error or omission is found 
in your Schedule. 
Extracts from the ANNUAL STATISTICS LAW.—Chap. 174, 
Acts of 1886. 
Section i. It shall be the duty of the bureau of statistics of labor, annual- 
ly, on or before the fifteenth day of December, to transmit by mail to the owner, 
operator or manager of every manufacturing establishment in the Common- 
wealth, a schedule embodying inquiries as to, * * * * (See Inquiries 
on Page 2). 
Section 2. It shall be the duty of every owner, operator or manager of 
every establishment engaged in manufacturing, and receiving the foregoing sched- 
ule, to answer the inquiries borne thereon for the year ending the thirty-first day 
of December, or for the last financial year of the establishment, and return said 
schedule to said bureau, with the answers therein certified as to their accuracy, 
on or before the twentieth day of January following the receipt of such schedule, 
********** 
Section 4. No use shall be made in said reports of the names of individ- 
uals, firms or corporations, supplying the information called for by this act, 
such information being deemed confidential, and not for the purpose of dis- 
closing any person’s affairs, and any agent or employee of said bureau violating 
this provision shall forfeit a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars or be im- 
prisoned for not more than one year. 
CERTIFICATE. 
This is to Certify that the Answers to the Inquiries in this Schedule are 
complete and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. 
Signed: * 
Particular Post-office Address: 
[* The signature should include the name of the person, firm, company, or 
corporation owning, operating, or managing this establishment, and also the 
name of the partner, or the name and title of the officer, certifying to the com- 
pleteness and correctness of this Schedule.] THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
135 
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS. 
[Special Explanations are given upon page 3 coming between 
the Inquiries and Answers when the Schedule is opened, and 
being upon the same line make cross-references easy.] 
The Inquiries.—The Inquiries provided for by law are twelve 
in number, “ the name of the individual, firm, or corporation ” 
being the first, and the “ kind of goods made or work done ” 
forming the second. Inquiries 1 and 2 are on the first page, while 
numbers 3 to 12 are on the second page. The Answers should, in 
all eases, be written on Page 3. 
Annual Statistics Day, and Year—The Annual Statistics Pay 
is December 31, 1886. The Annual Statistics Year began January 
1, 1886, and ended December 31, 1886. Present time means the 
Annual Statistics Day. In the answers to certain of the Inquiries 
the element of time is not necessary; in some the condition or facts 
on the Annual Statistics Day are required, and in others for the 
Annual Statistics Year. 
Money Values—Money values should be given in Dollars 
only, omitting all cents or fractions of dollars. For instance, 
$38,629.89 should be written $38,630. In all cases where the num- 
ber of cents is 50 or over, increase the dollars by one, as above. 
If the cents number less than 50, omit them entirely. 
Mercantile Values—The prices or values given for stock or 
materials used or goods made should be the prices at which bought 
or sold, or market values, and should include all expenses for 
packing, or making ready for market, for those articles bought or 
sold. In the case of “work done ” the value is the price paid for 
the work done. 
Book Values—Certain values required are matters of record, 
such as Capital Invested, and exact amounts should be given from 
your books of account. 
Estimates—When, from any good reason, it is impossible to 
give exact answers to any Inquiry, make the best possible estimate, 
and add the letter iL E to indicate that the answer is an estimate. 
Number of Inquiries—The number of Inquiries is much 
smaller than in previous Censuses. The Annual Statistics Sched- 
ule, with its few, simple inquiries, takes the place of the large De- 
cennial Census Schedule. See inclosure, “ To the Manufacturers 
of Massachusetts 136 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Instructions by Mail—The Census Office holds itself in readi- 
ness to return prompt replies by mail, when fuller instructions are 
requested regarding any of the Inquiries in this Schedule. 
3. —Number of Partners or Stockholders. [At close of last fiscal year. ] 
4. —Capital Invested. [December 31, 1886, or on last day of your last fiscal 
year.] 
5. —Principal Stock or Raw Material used, and Total Value. [During the 
year ending December 31, 1886, or during your last fiscal year.] 
6. —Gross Quantity and Value of Articles manufactured. [During the year 
ending December 31, 1886, or during your lastfiscal year.] 
7. —Average Number of Persons employed, distinguishing as to Sex, and 
whether Adults or Children. 
8. —Smallest Number of Persons employed, and the Month in which such 
number was employed. 
9. —Largest Number of Persons employed, and the Month in which such 
number was employed. 
10. —Total Wages, not including salaries of managers, paid during the year, 
distinguishing as to Sex, Adults, and Children. [For wage workers 
only.] 
11. —Proportion that the business of the year bore to the greatest capacity for 
production of the establishment. 
12. —Number of Weeks in operation during the year, Partial Time being re- 
duced to Full Time. 
INQUIRIES. 
EXPLANATION'S. 
3. Private firms are usually composed of general partners, but 
in some cases special partners are connected with same. These 
answers are of particular value in arriving at the number of manu- 
facturers. A person doing business by himself is considered as 
one (i) general partner. 
4. Only the total Capital invested is called for, but that “ total ” 
should include the various amounts invested in land, buildings, 
fixtures, machinery, implements and tools, your cash capital, and 
also your credit capital. These values need not necessarily be 
the original cost, but rather what you considered the actual value 
to be December 31, 1886, or on the last day of your last finan- 
cial year. Cash capital should include not only the actual cash 
on hand but also the cost of your stock of merchandise on hand 
December 31, 1886, or on the last day of your last financial year. 
All the capital used in securing your production, of whatever 
nature, whether on hand, borrowed, or accumulated from profits, THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
137 
should be included. Credit capital (borrowed capital) includes all 
amounts supplied by partners or stockholders, these sums being 
practically loaned by them to the firm ; credit capital also includes 
what money you have the use of through the giving of notes or the 
obtaining of credit for a long time either for goods or cash. 
5. We desire to ascertain the quantity and value of the prin- 
cipal stock or material used in your business. For instance, a cot- 
ton mill should give the quantity and value of raw cotton used ; a 
boot and shoe factory should give the quantity and value of leather 
used ; a tannery, the quantity and value of hides used ; a building 
contractor, the quantity and value of lumber and of brick used. 
The quantity and value of the minor articles of stock are not 
called for. The values given should be what the articles cost you. 
6. This is the most important question in the Schedule. The 
object of taking the statistics of industry is primarily to ascertain 
the product, that is, the value of goods made and the amount re- 
ceived for work done in the way of repairing of articles already 
manufactured, or of work done upon articles originally manufac- 
tured by somebody else. In all cases where possible you should 
mention by name the different articles made, and the quantity and 
value of each article. If you cannot state the names and quan- 
tities of all the articles made or repaired, or the nature of the work 
done, be sure to give the principal ones and also a totalfigure which 
will indicate the amount of business done by you for the e?itire year. 
This total figure should be the selling price of your goods, or the 
price charged your customers for repairing, or work done. 
This value of product being your selling price must include the 
value of all your stock used, your total wages paid, and also your 
gross profit. As the Bureau does not call for all the stock used, 
nor for amounts paid out for rent and other expenses, the office has 
no means of ascertaining your ?iet profit, even if it were so dis- 
posed. 
7. 8, 9. The law contemplates a classification of persons em- 
ployed by sex, and as to whether adults or children. This latter 
point would require an age classification,—under 14 years, 14 to 
21 years, and 21 years and over. As the manufacturers have 
given such a classification in the recent Decennial Statistics for 
1885, and as such statements require much labor to prepare, the 
classification is omitted in this schedule but will be included in that 138 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
for 1887. Manufacturers will find no difficulty in answering Inqui- 
ries 7, 8, and 9 in their present simple form. 
10. For the same reasons as given above under 7, 8, and 9 
total wages only are called for, the classification as regards sex, 
adults, and children being omitted. The classification will be re- 
quired in the returns for 1887, and parlies in charge of pay rolls 
can adopt some plan now which will enable them to easily supply 
the figures that will be required in January, 1888, for the year 1887. 
Uuder Total Wages should be given all those who work by the 
piece, day, week, etc., and whose labor directly produces or adds to 
the value of the articles made or performs the work done. It is 
absolutely necessary that the total amount paid out in wages by 
you during the year ending December 31, 1886, or for your last 
financial year, should be given, and also the average number of 
persons to whom these wages were paid. 
11. This inquiry, when answered correctly, supplies a com- 
parison between the actual business done during the year ending 
December 31, 1886, or during your last financial year, and the 
greatest business that could have been done if the establishment had 
been run to its fullest capacity ; that is, if the greatest possi- 
ble number of employes that could have been advantageously 
employed with the present plant or facilities had been actively 
employed on all the working days of the year. 
12. This inquiry is simple. If a factory ran full time for 26 
weeks, half-time for 13 weeks, and two thirds time for 12 weeks, 
and stopped one week for repairs, the answer to Inquiry 12 would 
be— weeks. 
3-—Partners or Stockholders. Males. Females. Total. 
No. of General Partners. 
No. of Special Partners. 
No. of Stockholders. 
4. —Capital Invested. 
5. —Principal Stock or Material used. Article. Quantity. Value. 
6. —Articles manufactured. Articles. Quantities. Values. 
7. —Average No. of Persons employed during year. 
8. —Smallest No. employed. No. Month. 
9. —Largest No. employed. No. Month. 
10. —Total Wages. 
11. —Proportion, per cent. 
12. —In operation, weeks. 
These inquiries have been well understood and well answered. 
ANSWERS. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
139 
They were sent by mail according to the law, filled out by the par- 
ties receiving them, and returned by mail to the Office. 
The use of one envelope both for sending the Schedule and for 
its return by the aid of the gum label has been previously explained. 
Notwithstanding the full explanations given, it became necessary 
to issue a special instruction in relation to Inquiries 6 and 11, a 
copy of which is appended. 
SPECIAL NOTICE. 
PLEASE READ SCHEDULE INSTRUCTIONS. 
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS. 
Every point in this Schedule should be answered. 
We find that the Inquiries which are not answered and require 
the most correspondence are numbers 6 and 11. 
In answer to Inquiry 6, besides giving the Description and 
Value of Goods made, also state the Quantity, as we are desirous 
of establishing a basis of comparison by quantities produced as 
well as by values, which latter are often misleading. 
In answer to Inquiry 11, state the proportion the business of 
the year bore to the greatest capacity for production of your estab- 
lishment ; that is, whether with the same plant and facilities you 
could have employed a larger number of persons, thus increasing 
your production a certain percentage. 
The reasons that led to the adoption of the annual collection 
of statistics, and of the small schedule, are best given in a cir- 
cular letter issued to the manufacturers of Massachusetts by the 
Chief of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor, a copy of which we 
present. 
TO THE MANUFACTURERS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
By Chapter 199 of the Acts of 1837, entitled “ An Act to obtain 
statistical information in relation to certain branches of industry,” 
the Legislature of the Commonwealth called upon manufacturers 
to make returns relative to the quantity and value of stock used, 
and of goods manufactured, the amount of capital invested, and 
the number of hands employed, and in that year returns were 
made in accordance with the provisions of the Act; similar returns 
were also made in the years 1845, *855, 1875, and 1885. 
The schedules for the census of industries have grown larger each 140 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
decade as the conditions of manufacturing have become more 
complicated. 
In 1874 the Act providing for the collection of industrial statis- 
tics for 1875 transferred the whole work of the Census from the 
office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth to that of the Bureau 
of Statistics of Labor. In carrying on the work of 1875 I became 
thoroughly convinced that the results of a decennial census of in- 
dustries were not commensurate with the expense necessary for 
such Census, and the annoyance to the manufacturer in making 
the returns required by law. In consultation with many of the 
leading manufacturers of the State it became apparent that the 
collection of statistics annually, upon a short and simple Schedule, 
would give to the producing community results of great value. 
Governor Robinson took an interest in this matter, and in his ad- 
dress to the General Court, Jan. 7, 1886, he suggested the expedi- 
ency of a more frequent inquiry into, and report upon, the facts and 
changes touching the great industries of the State, and said further, 
“Censuses taken at intervals of ten years are liable to be quite in- 
adequate for comparison, for the reason that one decade may end 
when our industries are in a flourishing condition, while the next 
may terminate in a year of great depression. Statistics are relied 
upon as of great value in scientific and economic inquiries, but 
they may be very misleading and insufficient to present the true 
conditions when collected only at long intervals. An annual 
account involving a few inquiries to be taken as of January first 
and the results reported immediately, or by the first of April follow- 
ing, would present to the Legislature and to the people the exact 
data needed relating to total products and other important features, 
so that proper comparisons could be made through good and bad 
years alike. Such annual accounts should involve but few inqui- 
ries ; as for instance, capital invested, quantity and value of stock 
or materials used, quantity and value of principal products, total 
number of persons employed, total wages paid, capacity of works, 
number of weeks in operation, and perhaps some general classifi- 
cation of wages by sex.” 
In accordance with this suggestion a bill was laid before the 
Committee on Manufactures which received its unanimous appro- 
val, and the approval of those manufacturers who came before the 
committee, no one objecting to it. The committee reported the 
bill, and it passed both branches without criticism, and became THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
141 
Chapter 174 of the Acts of 1886, entitled, “An Act relating to the 
annual collection of statistics of manufactures.” This Act prac- 
tically calls for answers to but nine questions and repeals the 
law calling for the decennial collection of industrial statistics. 
It is believed that the simple annual collection will prove of far 
greater value to the public than the decennial collection. The 
question of the preservation of the industrial position of Massa- 
chusetts is one which appeals to the patriotism of every manufac- 
turer in the State. The new industrial competition springing up in 
the South, a competition which, if properly understood, means the 
greater development of the industries of our own State, will result 
in transferring some of our industries to other localities. To know 
whether the volume of production in this State is keeping pace 
with the past, resort must be had to an annual collection of facts. 
Apprehension often exists relative to the decay of manufacturing 
industries. This apprehension can only be removed by faithful 
returns made at short intervals. The Census of 1885 has been 
pushed with the greatest energy, often to the annoyance of manu- 
facturers, but with the patriotic desire to show to the public the full 
volume of the production of our State, that our producers might 
know whether they were holding their own in comparison with past 
decades, and if so, might have the encouragement to be gained 
only by a complete statement of the facts relating to the industries 
of the Commonwealth. Nearly all of the manufacturers of the 
State have responded to the demands of the Legislature made 
through this Bureau. Now, with the abandonment of the Decen- 
nial Schedule, which of necessity grew to considerable proportions, 
manufacturers are called upon to make a simple return each year, 
involving but few minutes labor, of the facts concerning their in- 
dustry for their own last fiscal year. In the interest, therefore, of 
the industrial welfare and prosperity of the Commonwealth, let me 
urge all concerned to promptly and cheerfully comply with the 
demands of the Legislature. 
The Annual Schedule for 1887 contained a few changes. The 
point was brought out strongly that a statement for the last fiscal 
year ending in 1887 would be accepted if more easily given than 
one for the year ending December 31, 1887. It was stated more 
clearly in the instructions that, for persons employed, the largest 
or smallest number employed at any one time should be given. 
Particular caution to exclude the salaries of managers, bookkeepers, 142 
PEACTICAL STATISTICS. 
clerks, overseers, and superintendents from all wage showings was 
inserted. 
As Inquiries 4 and 6 still seemed to be hard to answer, and as 
much correspondence was required in order to obtain correct 
replies, the information sent in the letters was put in printed form 
and given on page 4 under the heading 
SPECIAL EXPLANATIONS. 
4. Capital Invested. 
In securing the statistics of manufactures for the year 1885 upon the Census 
Schedules, and for the year 1886 upon the Annual Statistics Schedules, the 
inquiry that has caused the manufacturers the most trouble seems to be 
number 4, relating to “Capital Invested.” The bookkeeper of a large firm, 
or corporation, could easily prepare a balance account showing the assets and 
liabilities, but such a statement is not the one desired by this Office. We wish 
to secure under the total capital invested, a figure showing the whole amount 
of money, whether invested in plant, goods, accounts, etc., which may be 
needed and used in the production of goods. Perhaps the difference between 
a bookkeeper’s balance and the census statement may be best shown by a 
printed illustration, and we supply the following Bookkeeper’s Balance, and 
Census Statement: 
bookkeeper’s BALANCE. 
Assets. 
Liabilities. 
Land, .... 
Buildings, 
Machinery, 
Implements and tools, 
Accounts receivable, . 
Mdse., and stock in process, 
Patent rights, . 
Patterns, .... 
Cash on hand, atid in bank, 
$20,000 
50,000 
2 5,000 
5,000 
48,565 
95.463 
10,000 
5-3*4 
1,000 
Capital stock, . 
Notes payable (for goods'), 
Notes payable (borrowed 
money), . 
Accounts payable, 
Balance (profit and loss), 
$150,000 
8,600 
15,000 
45-586 
41,156 
$260,342 
$260,342 
Land, 
$20,000 
Buildings, ........... 
50,000 
Machinery, ........... 
25,000 
Implements and tools, ......... 
5,000 
Accounts receivable {balance), ........ 
2.979 
Mdse, and stock in process, 
95.463 
Patent rights, ......... . 
10,000 
Patterns, .......... 
5-314 
Cash on hand, and in bank, 
1,000 
Notes payable {borrowed money and due for goods), 
23,600 
Total capital invested, used, and necessary for the production 
of goods 
$238,356 
CENSUS STATEMENT. TIIE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
143 
It will be seen that we wish the value of the land. If the land were hired, 
it would be impossible to give this figure under this head, for the amount paid for 
rent would be an expense. So, too, with buildings ; if not owned, they would be 
rented, and the rent would be an expense. These rents would come from the 
cash on hand, and the return of cash capital, in this way, would account for 
rented land and buildings. 
The value of machinery, implements and tools, and patterns should evidently 
be included in capital invested, as these items form a permanent investment 
required from day to day for the manufacture of goods. Merchandise on hand, 
manufactured and paid for, and also stock on hand, paid for and in process, 
should be included, because so much cash capital has been put in this form, 
and has been used to secure the product. 
Notes payable should include all those notes, whether due to stockholders, 
members of the firm, or other parties, where they represent what has been 
borrowed and used in the business, in order to aid in the larger production of 
manufactured goods. 
If a firm should pay all its bills, and all the accounts due the firm should 
also be paid, and the balance being in favor of the firm, the surplus cash would 
naturally be added to cash capital; so, in making up the census statement, the 
difference between the accounts payable and the accounts receivable should 
be added to the capital invested, if the balance is in favor of the firm, and 
deducted if against the firm, for the amount due outside parties in such a case 
would have to be made up from the capital invested. Of course the cash on 
hand in the office or in the bank should be included as part of the capital invest- 
ed. Accrued profits, still used in the business, should be included under cash 
capital. Business notes given in lieu of cash, as payment for goods purchased, 
should be included. 
If each manufacturer would bear this classification carefully in mind, he 
would be able to make up his statement of capital invested with little difficulty. 
Of course there are, in certain firms, certain peculiarities in investments which 
may require special decisions. 
6. Articles Manufactured, and Quantities and Selling 
Values of the Same. 
In the past censuses, excepting in a very limited degree, all comparisons of 
relative product from year to year have been based upon values. As is well 
known, these values are fluctuating, and a dollar’s worth of goods in 1885 
meant more than a dollar’s worth in 1875; besides this, all values in 1875, 
being on the currency basis, were 12 per cent higher than a gold basis, and, 
for this reason, in order to make comparisons between 1875 and 1885, it is 
necessary to reduce the values given for 1875 twelve Per cent order to secure 
a comparison upon a gold basis. 
Having the Annual Statistics Schedule, and being able each year to call upon 
the manufacturers for the quantity and value of goods manufactured, it is the 
aim of the Bureau to gather such figures as will enable it to make comparisons 
from year to year upon the basis of quantities. The comparisons by values 
will not be omitted, but they will be supplemented by this more valuable 
figure—the comparison by actual production shown by quantity. 144 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
In the cases of a few industries, we cite below the bases upon which returns 
should be made. The request for such detailed information as regards quanti- 
ties made, is not confined to these industries, however, but in all industries the 
quantities should be specified. 
Cotton Goods: Give number of pounds of cotton cloth produced, as 
well as the number of yards; give pounds, if only one basis can be supplied. 
Boots and Shoes : Give number of pairs of boots, pairs of shoes, pairs 
of slippers, etc., instead of giving the number of cases, which latter designa- 
tion is indefinite. Designate the kinds,—as men’s, women’s, boys’, youths’, 
misses,’ children’s, etc. By boots is meant long-legged boots. 
Clothing: Give the number of dozens of shirts, drawers, etc., and the 
number of overcoats, undercoats, vests, pairs of pantaloons, etc., made. 
Cordage and Twine : Give the number of pounds produced. 
Furniture : Give the number of dozens of chairs, number of lounges, 
tables, mattresses, parlor or chamber sets, etc., made. 
Leather: Give the number of pounds or feet of the various kinds of 
leather tanned or curried. 
"Woollen Goods: Give the number of yards of woollen goods manu- 
factured. Designate the kinds,—as cassimeres, union cassimeres, satinets, 
meltons, cheviots, etc. 
A college professor, who has given much attention to the subject 
of teaching statistical processes, propounds the following inquiries 
to which answers are appended: 
1. What are the chief difficulties in getting full and truthful an- 
swers to Census questions relating to industries ? 
(a) The failure of parties receiving Schedules to read the instruc- 
tions carefully. 
(b) A natural objection on the part of individuals and firms to 
stating the details of private business. Corporations rarely 
fail to answer fully and promptly. 
(c) Lack of proper accounts to supply the desired facts. 
(d) Because time and expense are required to answer many in- 
quiries. 
(e) Many inquiries made are impracticable. 
(f) Many inquiries apply only to certain industries. 
2. What questions relating to industries are practically never an- 
swered with precision so that statistics on these subjects are to be 
received only with great caution l 
(a) Average number of persons employed. This inquiry entails 
much labor upon large establishments. THE EXAMINATION OF RETURNS. 
145 
(b) Capital invested. There is an objection to giving details. 
In many cases it is difficult to state the details, for proper 
accounts are not always kept, and the “ scaling down ” for 
depreciation leaves, the book figures much lower than market- 
able values. There.is often a fear expressed that the infor- 
mation supplied will fall into the hands of the assessors, who 
lay the taxes. 
(c) Inquiries calling for information as to expenses and profits. 
There is an indisposition to supply figures that will enable 
any one to figure out the gross or net profits of an estab- 
lishment. 
3. How does the Census office control the returns of individuals 
so that it is almost impossible for them to make false returns l 
(a) The relations of Capital Invested, Stock Used, Goods Made, 
Persons Employed, and Working Time from perfect sched- 
ules are brought out by grand averages for each industry, 
and are easily applied. Cases of disproportionate returns are 
investigated by correspondence. In many cases the ques- 
tioned figures are substantiated, there often being peculiar 
circumstances connected with the industry. 
4. How far is it allowable for the Census office to fill out industrial 
returns which are incomplete ? 
(a) By transferring information given in the wrong part of a 
Schedule but omitted in the proper place. 
(b) At least 75 per cent, answer substantially correct, although 
25 per cent are slow' in answering at all. The remaining 25 
per cent are usually small establishments. Although one- 
quarter in number they do not represent more than 10 per 
cent, of the total product. They know their business is small 
and think it of no great account if they do not make a return. 
Letter writing comes hard to them and they seem to be gifted 
with unusual powers for misunderstanding simple inquiries, 
no matter how graphically explained. In such cases, the 
Census Office having exhausted time and patience to obtain 
a product that probably does not exceed $500 per annum, 
finally estimates the product and other points, taking care to 
make them less than the supposed fact, so that no aggregates 
may be exaggerated. The same plan may be followed as 146 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
regards all statistics of production, but estimates are not 
allowable in the case of population or social statistics. In 
these instances the usual plan is to call the point “unknown ” 
or “ not given.” Then, statements of fact are not improperly 
influenced by guess-work. CHAPTER V. 
TABULATION. 
We have reached the fourth stage in the progress of statis- 
tical work. First, the preparation of the schedule and instructions, 
then the collection of information followed by the examination of 
returns. When the schedules have passed through these three 
stages they are ready for the fourth—or Tabulation. 
The past fifty years has seen a great advance in manufactures 
and in the mechanic arts. The factory and workshops have grasped 
every industry, and by the sub-division of employment, and the use 
of machinery in those sub-divisions, have made each workingman 
a specialist. Few workingmen at the present day manufacture a 
complete article. They make a part only, but make that part bet- 
ter than it was ever made before. 
The profitable inventions in machinery have had three points in 
view, or have secured those points—first, reduction in brain labor; 
second, reduction in physical labor; third, a saving in material and 
a consequent reduction in the cost of production. 
Notwithstanding the great expansion of manufacturing and com- 
mercial business, the consequent increase in the number of banks, 
large business houses, and the various branches of the city, state, 
and national governments, the computation incident to business and 
accounts has been carried on uniformly in the old ways in vogue 
a century or more ago. We have had “ lightning calculators ” who 
now find the dime museum their most lucrative field. We have had 
expert accountants who are called in when business records are in 
a bad condition as the result of ignorance, or systematic embezzle- 
ment. The great body of the people have clung to the old ways 
and have resisted, or rather ignored, innovations. The metric sys- 
tem, with its sensible decimal basis, is tolerated, but is used by the 
few only. 
;u r 148 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
It would not be creditable to human ingenuity and progress to 
assume that no inventor has realized the need of quick computa- 
tion and done nothing to secure it. 
The progress in computation and tabulation, like that in all 
sciences, has been one of evolution as regards methods. There has 
been no change as regards the kind of work to be done. That has 
always consisted and will ever consist of two, in themselves, simple 
processes—Counting and Addition. Counting is adding one at a 
time. Addition is the aggregating of larger numbers than one. 
In both cases, the result is called the total. It is evident, therefore, 
that the problem of “ quick computation ” is to introduce new and 
rapid methods of doing the same kind of work that always has 
been done. 
We can imagine the first counting or tabulating was done orally, 
the results only being written down. The next natural step would 
be to cut notches in a stick, or to use beans, peas, small stones, or 
other articles that could be added after the tallies had been made 
upon the stick, or the beans, etc., dropped into some receptacle. 
The next move would be to make marks or lines. Thus four would 
be indicated by ||[|, the horizontal-diagonal line being added to 
make five— Mil- But one answer or point was tallied at a time, 
at first. The progress to a sheet upon which several answers 
could be tallied was easy and natural. In a similar manner, when 
a number of numbers were to be added or aggregated, only one 
series of answers would be handled at one time. By a natural 
progression would come the ruled sheet upon which many columns 
or numbers could be recorded, and then added. 
The first calculating machine of which we have any record, un- 
less the Chinese abacus be considered, was invented in 1642 by 
Blaise Pascal who was born at Clermont, France, in 1623. This 
machine was the basis of those now used to indicate the revo- 
lutions of printing presses, in gas meters, and for hundreds of other 
purposes. M. Thomas of Colmar invented the arithmometer by 
which all ordinary mathematical operations are performed. Messrs. 
E. and G. Scheutz of Sweden invented the first difference machine, 
or engine, which was improved upon by Mr. Charles Babbage, an 
Englishman, who made use of punched cards similar to those used 
in the Jacquard loom. Mr. Babbage died in 1871, and the engine 
was never completed. Mr. Grant of Boston, Massachusetts, has TABULATION. 
149 
constructed a difference engine for the University of Pennsylvania 
said to be less expensive than Babbage’s and less complicated than 
Scheutz’s. In 1883 the application of electricity to tabulation was 
made by Mr. Herman Hollerith, of New York, and in the same 
year, by the author of this book, to addition. Thus, at the pre- 
sent time, the principal tabulating, adding, and arithmetical ma- 
chines in use in the world are the inventions of Americans, two 
being residents of Boston. 
It should not be supposed that the machines previously referred 
to are all that have been invented to secure rapid computation. 
The following list, compiled from Knight’s Mechanical Dictionary, 
gives an idea of the fecundity of inventors in this line. 
Abacus. 
Adding-machine. 
A ddressing-machine. 
Almucanter-staff. 
Ambulator. 
Angular instruments. 
Arrow. 
Atwood’s machine. 
Authometer. 
Back-staff. 
Balance. 
Ballot-box. 
Batter-level. 
Bench-marks. 
Bevel-square. 
Boning. 
Bow. 
Burette. 
Calculating-machine. 
Caliper-rule. 
Calipers. 
Chain-inclinometer. 
Circumferentor. 
Circumventor. 
Coin-assorter. 
Coin-weighing machii 
Comparateur. 
Conformator. 
Counter. 
Counter-scales. 
Cross. 
Cross-staff. 
Danish balance. 
Datum-line. 
Declinator. 
Delineator. 
Demi-circle. 
Dendrometer. 
Dividers. 
Dividing-engine. 
Dotchin. 
Dumpy-level. 
Dynamometer. 
Electrometer. 
Electric-balance. 
Fare-box. 
Fare-register. 
Faucet, measuring. 
Fore-staff. 
Funnel, measuring. 
Gage. 
Gaging-rod. 
Garment-measurer. 
Gas-meter. 
Gas register. 
Geometric square. 
Grading instrument 
Graduated-glass. 
Grain measurer. 
Grain-scales. 
Grain-tester. 
Gun-pendulum. 
Gunter’s chain. 
Gunter’s scale. 
Hydrostatic balance. 
Hygrometric balance. 
Indicator. 
Jacob’s staff. 
Label. 
Level (varieties). 
Letter-balance. 
Leveling-staff. 
Libella. 
Limb. 
Linen-prover. 
Litrameter. 
Log. 
Lumber-measurer. 
Map measurer. 
Meter (varieties). 
Metrograph. 
Metronome. 
Micrometer. 
Miter-square. 
Multiplying machine. 
Napier’s bones. 
Needle-instrument. 
Nonius. 
Numbering machine. 
Numbering stamp. 
Object-staff. 
Octant. 
Odometer. 
Optical square. 
Outkeeper. 
Paging machine. 150 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Pedometer. 
Perambulator. 
Plane table. 
Planemeter. 
Platform-scales. 
Plotting-scale. 
Plumb. 
Prismatic compass. 
Quadrant. 
Quadrat. 
Recipiangle. 
Register. 
Scale. 
Scales. 
Sea-way measurer. 
Sector. 
Semicircle. 
Sextant. 
Shuffle-scale. 
Sliding scale. 
Specific gravity appara- 
tus. 
Speed-indicator. 
Sphereometer. 
Spring balance. 
Square. 
Stadium. 
Station-pointer. 
Steelyards. 
Stereometer. 
Surveying-cross. 
Surveying-chain. 
S urveying-compass. 
S ur veying-instruments. 
Swan-pan. 
Tally. 
Tangent-scale. 
Tape-measure. 
Testing machine. 
Theodolite. 
Time-table. 
Tourists’ indicator. 
Transit. 
Traverse-board. 
T r i angular-scale. 
Tripod, surveyor’s. 
Tron. 
T-square. 
Universal square. 
Vernier. 
Vernier compass. 
Vernier-transit. 
Volvette. 
Way-wiser. 
Weather-glass. 
Weigh-bridge. 
Weighing machine. 
Weighing scales. 
As indicated in many cases by their names these calculating or 
registering machines are used for a great variety of purposes, but 
few, however, being of practical value in statistical work. By this 
we mean proved value. An inventor may claim that his machine 
is better than any other one made, but its practical use may disclose 
unforeseen drawbacks in some points which neutralize acknowl- 
edged gains in other directions. 
We have not the space in which to describe the various machines, 
but shall simply state their applicability to various kinds of statis- 
tical work. It is not intended to advertise any particular machine, 
but to mention all known to the author and enable statisticians to 
make their own selections for special work. In machine tabulation 
or aggregation the “ scheme ” adopted in itself fixes the style of 
machine to be used. The “ factory system ” when applied to tabula- 
tion means sub-division of labor as it does in other industries, and 
each part of the labor, each sub-division, requires its own mechani- 
cal device. The calculating machine that will do everything is on 
a par with the patent medicine that cures all human ills. Each 
particular tabulation requires its peculiar “ result slips ” upon which 
to record the results of the machine work, and as much invention is 
required in some of them as the construction a new calculating ma- 
chine would call for. In some instances, the manner in which cer- TABULATION. 
151 
tain results obtained by machine tabulation are entered upon the 
special result slips supplies the statistician with ten times the ma- 
terial for use that the original counting furnished. Thus it is that 
the brain that invents the “ scheme ” for machine tabulation and 
records its results upon novel result slips does more than any 
machine can accomplish—in fact, the machine is useless without it. 
The clerk who runs the machine may need to do but a small amount 
of brain labor, but this diminution should not be credited to the 
machine nor its inventor, but instead to the one who invents the 
“ scheme ” to use the machine, and whose brain labor dominates 
every movement of his mechanical servant. These plain words 
are written so that parties who start to use mechanical devices in 
statistical work may not be disappointed if the machines do not 
run themselves. 
The present application of printed or mechanical devices for 
rapid computation to statistical work are as follows : 
I. Countuig or tallying one at a time:— 
(a) The Self-counting Tabulation Sheet. 
(b) The Abacus Adding Machine. 
(c) The Pascal Counting Machine. 
(d) The Rotary Counting Machine. 
le) Seaton’s Tallying Machine. 
(f) The Electrical Tabulating Machine. 
(g) The Electrical Adding Machine. 
(h) The Chip System. 
(/) The Automatic Door Counting Machine. 
(/) Italian Tabulating Machine. 
(k) Benton’s Counting Devices. 
II. Counting or tallying small numbers from i to ioo. 
(a) The Self-counting Tabulation Sheet. 
(b) The Rotary Counting Machine. 
(c) The Electrical Adding Machine. 
(d) The Chip System. 
(e) Column Adding Machines. (Various makes.) 
III. Counting or tallying from i to 144 points at one handling of 
the schedules. 
(a) The Automatic Door Counting Machine. 152 
PRACTICAL, STATISTICS. 
IV. Counting or tallying more than 144 points at one handling of 
the schedules. 
(a) The Chip System. 
(b) The Printing Tabulator. 
V. Adding one series of nutnbers, showing consecutive totals from 
1 to 1,000,000,000. 
(a) The Valuation, Quantity, and Number Self-counting 
Sheet. 
(b) The Billionnaire Adding Machine. 
(c) The Electrical Adding Machine. 
(d) The Cylinder Adding Machine. 
VI. Adding from 1 to 144 series of numbers, each aggregating any 
amount. 
(a) The Chip System. 
VII. Processes used in preparing schedules for tabulation. 
(a) The Slip System. 
(b) The Chip System. 
(c) The Slip-Chip System. 
VIII. Other devices for quick computation. 
(a) Thatcher’s Percentage Machine. 
(,b) Percentage Charts. 
(V) Addition Percentage Tables. 
(d) The Arithmometer. 
(<?) Electrical Multiplying Machine. 
(f) Bookkeeper’s Trial Balance Sheet. 
(g) Multiplication Proof Sheet. 
IX. Improved schedules and result slips. 
(a) Record Margin Schedule. (To secure secrecy.) 
([b) Coupon Schedule. 
(c) The General Sorter Result Slip. By sex, etc., and 12 
related points ; may be extended indefinitely. 
(d) The Age Result Slip. 
(e) The Place of Birth Result Slip. 
(/) The Parent Nativity Result Slip. 
(g) The Occupation Tally Scheme, and Result Slips. 
Actually used for 22,000 details. 153 
TABULATION. 
(K) Correlated Result Slips. 
(i) The Children and Children Living Result Slip. 
(J) The Chip System Result Slip. 
(k) The Adding Machine Result Slip. 
(/) The Punch Schedule. For electrical tabulation. 
(m) The Enumerator’s Punch Schedule. 
X. Other machines, etc., used in mechanical tabulation and addition. 
(a) Sorting Boxes. 
(b) Proof Boxes. 
(c) Proof Wires. 
(id) Punches. 
(e) Position Cards. 
(_/.) Numbering Machines. 
(g) Cutting Machines. 
(h) Perforating Machines. 
(i) Printing Machines. 
(J) Elastic Label Cards. 
(k) Notched File Cards. 
(/) Eyelet Sets, and Eyelets. 
(m) Wire Binders. 
As has been stated, none of these machines can be used advan- 
tageously unless the “ scheme ” is prepared and the ways to utilize 
the machine explained to the clerks. Then they mean much 
more for the same money, or the same for much less money. How 
much more or how much less depends entirely upon the nature of 
the work to be done, and no general rule can be given, and no 
special rule, unless that particular work has been done covering 
the same details as that for which an estimate of cost is desired; 
so much depends, also, upon the facility or availability of different 
clerks that no estimate can be guaranteed to be realized practically. 
Machine tabulation requires “grasp” and “consecutivity” in 
the clerk—that is the ability to “grasp ” instructions and the brain 
power to apply them in “ consecutive ” order as laid down in the 
scheme. The instructions should be written, in type writer work, or 
printed. Machine clerks should be as expert in horizo7ital as in 
perpendicular addition. Machine tabulators are not obliged to 
bend over to their work, there is a certain fascination in running a 
machine, there is more physical than brain tire; for these reasons, 154 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
and others, machine tabulation is more healthful for the clerks than 
the old systems. 
Mechanical and printed devices for quick computation will event- 
ually be placed upon the market at such prices and on such terms 
that they will come within the reach and means of all persons 
whose livelihood is gained by arithmetical calculations in any form. 
These devices will be to the brain-wearied accountant what the 
sewing machine has been to the seamstress or the typewriter to 
the copyist. Their use will not throw accountants out of employ- 
ment, but will enable them to do more and better work for the 
salaries paid them. They will make it possible for statistical offi- 
cers to prepare exhaustive reports with small appropriations, and 
will enable State and National Governments to tabulate and aggre- 
gate census and industrial returns in less time and for less money 
than has been possible with the old forms of work. Given a 
certain work to do, mechanical tabulation will do it in less time and 
for less money; given a certain sum of money, mechanical tabula- 
tion will do much more for the money; and, finally, by mechani- 
cal tabulation, many things can be done that no other system can 
accomplish, or which would be so expensive that they would never 
be undertaken on the old plan. CHAPTER VI. 
THE PRESENTATION OF RESULTS. 
A fine schedule, careful enumeration and correction, and accu- 
rate tabulation may yet fail in impressing the public, owing to a 
poor presentation of the results. The results need careful “edit- 
ing.” Merely interesting facts must always be cut out to make room 
for the valuable. Worthless lines must be excised, and the tables 
must be so arranged as to avoid blank spaces which are usually 
filled in with unmeaning “dashes” ( ) and leaders ( ). 
In no way is the possession of statistical knowledge shown so 
plainly as in the printed arrangement of statistical tables. 
The general rule to follow as regards detailed statistics is to pre- 
sent in detail what the reader or student may reasonably wish to 
use in detail, or may wish to combine in some way different from 
the totals or recapitulations given with the detail. 
The maker of statistical tables should always bear in mind that 
his object is to supply information. In his head lines he should 
aim to help the reader—not to mystify him. He should use foot- 
notes freely to this end. The best statistical style is necessarily 
tautological, for tautology is directness. In literature you may say 
“spade” in one line and “instrument of husbandry” in another, 
but in statistics you must say “ spade ” every time. 
Statistical tables should always be “ carried out; ” that is, totals 
should be given for every sub-division occurring in the detail tables, 
whether by cities, towns, industries, or classifications. These 
are called “recapitulations.” “Totals” are a few items added 
together; “aggregates” cover many items. Tables of percen- 
tages and averages should follow the recapitulations so that the 
principal points of the tables may be handled easily by these 
percentages and averages, which render it unnecessary to mem- 
orize long numbers. 
155 156 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
A great gain may be made as regards space needed for statisti- 
cal presentations by “correlating” facts, that is by so arranging 
tables that several classes of facts,'and their relation to each other, 
can be shown in one table. In the Massachusetts State Census 
for 1885, conjugal condition and color and race -are shown by 
cities and towns, sex, age periods, and native and foreign born in 
one table, so that if in a certain town you wish to know the number 
of white, married females, native born, from 30 to 39 years of age, 
one place in a column gives you the desired correlated information. 
The foot-note should be supplemented by the head-note at the 
top of the first page of the presentation, and, when necessary, as in 
census statistics, by a full page or more of condensed description. 
All statistical tables should be carefully analyzed, with full expla- 
nations and descriptions in text, and many small but valuable tables 
may be included which might properly be called trivial in the body 
of the printed work. A table of contents, with a considerable 
degree of detail, should follow the title page. Indexes, at the end 
of the book, are of use and value when there is much text, but in 
purely statistical works, in which the text is only introduced to 
explain the tables, the detail table of contents answers all purposes. 
In cases where statistics on many points are given as regards cities 
and towns a tabular index may be advantageously used. 
In head lines for tables, punctuation can, as a rule, be dispensed 
with, to the typographical improvement of the page. The practice 
of putting periods after figures denoting “years” has nothing to 
commend it, while it destroys entirely the symmetry of the page. 
When a table is too wide for a single page, so arrange it as to 
have it extend across two pages. Better do this, even if the table 
is somewhat “open,” than perpetuate that statistical monstrosity 
—a table with the head lines and figures running horizontal with 
the length of the page. Such a page is unhandy to read, and 
wrhen this horizontal-perpendicular plan is followed for a number 
of pages, not only is the reader wearied but the book loses in the 
line of a book’s great strength—usability—and some of its strong- 
est points may escape the attention of persons who often “skip” 
these “ turned-’round ” pages. 
As explained in Chapter VIII., diagrams may often be used 
advantageously in books and analyses to emphasize results. The 
statistician may read and compare figures more easily without the THE PRESENTATION OF RESULTS. 
157 
diagrams but to the average mind the graphic line, the block of 
color, or the circles of various sizes, carry a basis of comparison 
that simple figures do not supply them. Routine tables, or those 
in which new lines are added from time to time, are particularly 
susceptible of exposition by means of diagrams. 
As regards the preparation of copy several hints can be given. 
Use a medium size sheet of paper. Better have two sheets, easily 
handled, than one that is unhandy all the time. As a general rule, 
in statistical work, it costs more to devise ways to save paper than 
it does to use it freely. Have a unit of size for all paper, say 8i 
inches by 11 inches, and have double sheets, quarters, eighths, etc., 
based on that unit. Your written material will then “pack up” 
squarely and save wear and tear on the ends. Whenever there are 
many copy pages requiring head lines to be written in, always have 
them printed when it is cheaper rather than condemn a clerk to the 
drudgery of writing them in. If a dollar can be saved by print- 
ing, follow that plan and utilize your clerks’ abilities on more 
broadening work. Certain forms of detail work are drudgery pure 
and simple. When a page of copy is prepared, for a new table, 
let the printer set it up so you can examine it critically. Nothing 
brings out imperfections like “cold type,” and it is much better for 
you to see the imperfections and correct them in “ a sample block ” 
than to have them perpetuated and, perhaps, finally pointed out 
by an outside critic when it is too late to remedy the evil. The 
closest bonds of friendship and sympathy should unite the statis- 
tician and the printer. If they work together the result can rarely 
fail to be a success for both. Even the printer suffers when he 
prints an unsuccessful book. 
Avoid “ indices ” in tables as much as possible. The ordinary 
marks,—asterisk, dagger, double dagger, etc., are far from hand- 
some, but the small index figure also lacks beauty and besides 
is a constant tax to the anxious eye. 
When preparing copy, if a figure is found to be wrong do not 
erase it! You may wish to use that “wrong figure” in some way. 
Instead of erasing, mark it out, and write the correct figure over it, 
or beside it. Do not waste time, knives, and pencils by allowing 
clerks to sharpen their own pencils. Buy a pencil sharpening 
machine for five dollars which will sharpen better than any knife 
can do it, with the office boy’s aid, two hundred pencils in an 158 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
hour. Choose carefully your grades of pencils for different kinds 
of work. 
As regards “proofs,” have each page on a separate sheet of 
paper. It is easier to read, and can more easily be handled for 
comparisons, verifications, etc. Have a wide margin so as give 
plenty of room for corrections, changes, and additions. Read your 
proof (or “revise”) from copy, and make typographical and other 
changes. Then have “second revises,” with all changes made as 
indicated on proof or first revise. Add and re-figure all statistical 
material on the second revise. Errors may have crept in which 
only a careful re-figuring will disclose. 
It is not simply a blunder,—it is a crime for a statistician to 
print statistical tables containing figurative errors. His tables 
may be faulty in material and construction but the mathematical 
part should always be correct. If necessary, a “ third revise ” may 
be called for if many changes have been made, and that should be 
carefully compared with the “ second revise ” to see if all correc- 
tions have been made. You are now ready to order to plate (stereo- 
type or electrotype) or print. If to plate, you have one more chance 
to compare plate proofs with the last revise, to see if the printer 
has done his correction work properly. If to press, be sure your 
printer is reliable, or insist upon revises until you can send a clean 
sheet to press. As a matter of record you should keep in a suita- 
ble book an account by dates, of the times when copy was sent, by 
pages, as to when the proof or first revise was returned, when 
ordered to plate or press, and when sample copies of print were 
received. This record may be of great service in estimating, as 
regards future publications. The printer fixes the speed on the 
preparation of a book, and the date of its publication. Useless it 
is to push your own work unless the printer’s facilities are equal to 
your own. As a safeguard, all pages ordered to press or print 
should be endorsed “Ready for press when corrected,” and signed 
by the party so ordering to print. If errors corrected by you on 
the last revise are not corrected in the printed copy, then the 
printer must make it good by printing new pages and destroying 
the old. For this reason, as soon as printed pages are received 
they should at once be compared with the last revise, of which a 
duplicate copy with all changes thereon should be kept in the office. 
The following rules should be borne in mind by those having THE PRESENTATION OF RESULTS. 
159 
charge of the preparation of copy and proof-reading. No rules 
can be given which will be unalterable, nor should there be. The 
best use of a rule, sometimes, is to call particular attention to the 
exceptions to it. 
1. “ System” is absolutely necessary in every part of the science 
of “Practical Statistics.” 
2. Adopt a unit of medium size for copy paper, and double, 
halve, etc., that unit. 
3. White paper, ruled horizontally in blue and perpendicularly 
in red is a standard. 
4. Use black ink for body of table, and red ink for totals or 
aggregates. Blue ink may be used advantageously, some- 
times, together with the black and red. 
5. Write on one side of the paper only. 
6. Plain, legible, writing is best. No shading or fancy flour- 
ishes should be indulged in. As there are only ten char- 
acters every one should learn to make good figures, and write 
them units under units, tens under tens, etc. Use a comma 
(5,986,348) to set off each three places. For percentages, a 
raised decimal point,—19-86. For cents, a point on the 
line,—$6.32. 
7. Page all copy with blue or red pencil in upper right hand 
corner. The consecutive numbering machine can also be 
used. Add “ X ” to indicate the last page of any division of 
copy. 
8. Keep “ old copy ” until you are sure it will not be needed 
again for reference. 
9. Foot-notes should be written upon the pages to which they 
refer. 
10. If pages are taken out after copy is numbered, include them 
in the next number. Thus if page 58 is followed by page 
63, mark the last page 59-63. This is more logical than to 
mark it 58-62, then 63. 
11. If extra sheets are inserted add a, b, c, as 58#, and 
x for the last page added, as showing it is the last of 
the additions. If a small slip is to be inserted mark it with 
a letter, as “G,” and having put a caret at the prop- 
er place in the page, write—“ Insert G.” 
12. The paging should be consecutive from “1” to the last 160 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
page of copy in a book. As title pages, introductions, and 
tables of contents are usually paged in Roman, the Arabic 
paging beginning with the first page of the book proper 
(always odd on right hand pages and even on left hand 
pages) this completing copy can be paged on at the end of 
the copy for the book proper. 
13. New sentences and paragraphs should always be plainly 
designated. 
14. Punctuate your own copy, and notify the printer to “follow 
copy.” Proper punctuation is an indication that the author 
knows the meaning of what he has written, for incorrect 
punctuation may change the author’s meaning, or even ren- 
der his writing meaningless. 
15. If you wish a change in type, draw a perpendicular line 
down the side of the copy, and write the name of the type 
desired. 
16. When copy is sent, always indicate the page-heads, and run- 
ning-titles, and names of tables. This will save the printer’s 
time and the expense for changes. 
17. The proof-reading for a statistical work should all be done 
by one person, or one person should have the final revision 
of all proofs, and should order to plate or press. CHAPTER VII. 
WORKING AND ILLUSTRATIVE DIAGRAMS. 
As the word diagram is generally understood, statistically, its 
use is to illustrate the relation of numbers. It is thought by many 
that diagrams impress a fact more forcibly upon the reader or 
student than do comparative columns of figures, or results. On 
the other hand, some statisticians maintain that nothing can be 
more graphic than the figures themselves, and that the habit of 
comparing figures is as readily acquired as the habit of judging 
from diagrams. 
It would be impossible here to show all the forms of illustrative 
diagrams. Much of the comparison is based upon the use of 
different colored inks, which contrasts throw up prominently the 
desired comparisons. 
Illustrative diagrams usually take the form of the narrow graph- 
ic line, the wide graphic line, the block system, the decimal dot sys- 
tem, or the sub-divided circle or square. In some works, white lines 
upon a black base are used. In others, figures of various kinds are 
sub-divided to indicate comparative values, as in Mulhall’s Statis- 
tical Dictionary. The statistical atlas based upon the United 
States Census of 1880, prepared by Henry Gannett, the geogra- 
pher of the Census, is probably the finest specimen of diagram 
work that has been printed in this country. The diagram work 
done by the Royal Bureau of Statistics at Rome, Italy, under the 
direction of Signor Luigi Bodio is very fine. Nearly every one who 
has studied statistics is familiar with the colored maps in which 
comparisons are indicated by different tints of the same color, 
or by different colors. Black ink is used in a similar way, perpen- 
dicular lines indicating one thing, horizontal lines another, crossed 
lines or lattice work indicating a third point, and so on as far as 
the ingenuity of the draughtsman or engraver can carry the process. 
161 162 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Schedules, leaving out the inquiries which are printed in, are, 
in themselves, diagrams; and after the word-form of the schedule 
has been settled upon, it calls for another order of talent, but one 
just as necessary, to draw the skeleton of the schedule into which 
the inquiries are to be fitted. These must be so arranged as to fit 
the schedule page, related subjects being brought upon the same 
page. A subject must not be divided between two pages if it can 
possibly be avoided, and a proper allowance of space suitably ar- 
ranged must be kept for the answers or replies. This arrangement 
pre-supposes a knowledge of the kinds of answers that will be 
received, and good work calls for an intimate knowledge of census 
taking and the usual replies. Parties filling schedules are prone 
to write the answers in the wrong spaces, and a systematic arrange- 
ment with heavy or double lines to mark divisions of subjects is of 
great assistance to the enumerator or the person who fills out a 
schedule himself. The book schedules used in the Massachusetts 
State Census of 1885 covered 90 pages and 968 inquiries, and 
these had to be arranged in proper diagram form as copy for the 
printer. When the wording of the inquiries was settled upon, 
each page took from three to four hours’ work for the drawing 
alone, and many pages had to be re-drawn in order to secure the 
proper relations between the spaces for inquiries and the spaces 
for answers, to confine a subject to one page or less, and to 
make the necessary inquiries fit the page. The practical statisti- 
cian should be a good plane draughtsman, and should understand 
the use of many drawing utensils and appliances. 
Another class of diagrams calls for more knowledge and inven- 
tion than the schedule skeleton. This is the class of result slips, 
including all those forms upon which the results of a tabulation are 
taken down. Their proper construction in advance of the tabula- 
tion, as they must be printed before the tabulation begins, requires 
the ability to foresee the end of a tabulation. Not only must the 
regular results be provided for, but proper spaces must be left in 
which to record the exceptions to the general rule. The genius 
of statistical tabulation lies in the selection of the proper system 
for a specified kind of work, and its application or fitting to the 
work in hand. All rules have their exceptions, and the exceptions 
to statistical rules require more time and attention usually than 
does the mass of the work done under the general rule. WORKING AND ILLUSTRATIVE DIAGRAMS. 
163 
Each tabulation requires its particular result slip, and paper 
should not be spared. The crowding of points on a result slip 
causes more labor in the end, and, if the results are not related, 
time is lost by the supposed economy in paper. 
After the tabulation is done, and the result slips are ready for 
final examination before being put into copy, then another class of 
diagrams are needed upon which to secure aggregations and make 
comparisons in order to discover errors. These diagrams, usually 
ruled paper, form the intermediary copy, or office copy, from 
which the printers’ copy is prepared. In the preparation of result 
slips the papyrograph, hektograph, cyclostyle, and autocopyist 
may be used, but in Census work so many are needed that printing 
is the cheapest manner of preparation. The ruled sheets should 
have the headings printed in where they are numerous, for it will 
be cheaper than to have a clerk spend his or her time in the 
drudgery of copying head-lines. CHAPTER VIII. 
APPLIED STATISTICS. 
By “ applied statistics ” we mean the use of statistics. It 
would be of no practical value to spend money in the collection, 
t ibulation, and presentation of statistics unless the results were 
applied or used for some good purpose. For many years, until 
1869, there were no official statistics of labor excepting the reports 
of various commissions. The members were not statisticians and 
the statistical matter presented in their reports was small in 
quantity, and usually based upon very few returns. The statistics 
were usually “pro” and “con,” that is “facts” supplied by both 
sides, each side ignoring the facts presented by the other side. 
Foreign governments had for years collected or recorded statistics 
of mortality, and of births and marriages. Their application con- 
sisted in figuring birth, marriage, and death rates, or proportion to 
the hundred or thousand. Censuses were taken also in order to 
ascertain the “ movement ” of the population, that is, the increase 
or decrease. These statistics of population were applied in various 
ways,—in the United States the figures forming the basis of appor- 
tionment for representatives to Congress. 
The reports of Parliamentary committees in Great Britain, and 
of commissions in the United States, demonstrated that political 
economists must forsake the realms of theory, logic, and argument, 
and begin to investigate the domain of fact. There was a grim 
nonsense in declaring that the people were as well off as could be 
expected. It has been truly said that the surest sign of progress 
is discontent with one’s environment. Since 1869 the bureaus of 
statistics of labor have grown rapidly in number in this country, 
and foreign countries are now following in the path laid out by our 
American statistical offices. 
The appropriations made for the support of the American offices 
164 APPLIED STATISTICS. 
165 
are too small. Too little money is paid for competent service, and 
the allowances for contingent expenses are inadequate. A statis- 
tician is a professional man. To succeed in his chosen profession 
he must make it a life work. He must read and study incessantly 
to keep abreast with the times. He is continually called upon to 
discuss the different phases of the labor question with specialists, 
and with one and all he must maintain the argument or discussion 
with credit. He must be prepared to talk intelligently upon 
socialism, anarchism, the ten-hour law, the education and employ- 
ment of children, convict Labor, employers’ liability, profit sharing, 
co-operation, arbitration and conciliation, and scores of other ques- 
tions connected with the labor problem. 
There should be but one basis for appropriations for statistical 
work. The law making power should be sure that its official 
statistician is conscientious and reliable, and, whether he selects 
the topics for investigation or whether they are ordered by legisla- 
tive resolve, he should be given what money he needs to complete 
his work. The statistician should be judged by the results he 
presents to the public and not by the amount of money he spends. 
The tendency is to elaborateness of detail in all statistical presen- 
tations and these details largely increase the expense of statistical 
work. 
How are statistics applied or used ? The newspapers, ever 
ready to disseminate information, are first in the field. As soon 
as a statistical publication is ready, advance sheets are sent to the 
newspapers. They print abstracts and editorials, and the attention 
of the people is drawn to the work in question. Then follow the 
speakers and orators, including the politicians. All political parties 
find aid in the same statistics, for few subjects are so one-sided 
that something cannot be justly said on more than one side. The 
law makers follow next in their use of statistics, and it is for them, 
chiefly, that the treasure-houses of statistics have been opened. 
Next in line are the writers of review and magazine articles, and 
finally the authors of books. Among those latter are the compilers 
of statistical dictionaries, year books, almanacs, guide books, 
abstracts, compendiums, atlases, etc. They are all dependent for 
new and original information upon the statistician, whether his 
source of supply may be records or the results of original investi- 
gations. The public demand is for more records, more original 166 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
investigations, more facts about the people for the use of the 
people—and, by furnishing a basis of fact for legislation, more laws 
to benefit the people. The statistician’s work is as broad as hu- 
manity and as long as the world may exist. He is a social pioneer 
who works, not with weapons of destruction, but with the money of 
the people wisely used for the good of the people—not for a class, 
a sect, a hobby, a theory, or any personally selfish ends. CHAPTER IX. 
SOME SPECIAL FEATURES IN STATISTICS. 
As we have stated, the public demand is now for finer details in 
statistics. Formerly, the aggregates for counties sufficed; now 
the details for cities, towns, and minor sub-divisions are deemed 
absolutely essential. The introduction of machine tabulation 
renders possible many tabulations that would never have been 
undertaken upon the old plan. 
The Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of Labor for the 
United States, and Chief of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics 
of Labor, set forth so graphically the value of certain special fea- 
tures in statistics in his opening address before the American 
Social Science Association, of which he is president, at Saratoga, 
Sept. 5, 1887, that no better presentation of these facts could be 
made, and the most important are quoted hereinafter: 
“ The inquiry as to the age of each person in the community involves some 
cloudiness in the answer, and yet on the whole the results are satisfactory, the 
chief difficulty being with imported citizens, who rarely remember their age as 
to years but usually give it at the nearest even period; so one will always find 
in all age statistics, wherever they have been collected, whether in this or in 
other countries, a concentration on quinquennial periods. This concentration, 
however, is growing less and less in our own country, as the influence of the 
public schools reaches a larger and larger number of our children. Until this 
concentration is reduced to a minimum the age statistics secured under the census 
cannot be used in a strictly scientific sense for the establishment of mortality 
rates, either for insurance purposes or for the common use of determining the 
age death rate. In some localities, however, they are so nearly accurate as to 
be exceedingly valuable for scientific purposes.” 
In the Massachusetts State Census fcr 1885 the figures are 
presented for each year from one to that of the oldest person, and 
in detail by months from one to eleven, with distinction as to sex. 
167 168 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
A presentation by age periods, twelve in number, is found to be 
of great practical value to the people. 
“Statistics of illiteracy receive much public attention. While it is evident 
from inherent conditions that the statistics of illiteracy cannot be correct, it is 
fully apparent that whatever misleading inferences may be drawn from them, 
such inferences are on the side of safety, for if, for instance, under the Tenth 
Census the returns showed that six million people of ten years of age and over 
were illiterate in the sense that they could neither read nor write, or that they 
had not acquired one or the other of these accomplishments, it is perfectly safe 
to conclude that the number was no less than six million, but, as a matter of 
fact, much greater than that. So, any action taken by states individually or by 
the federal government, based upon the census returns relative to illiteracy, 
will be the result of truth, or less than the truth, and no harm, therefore, can 
result from their use, even though the number of illiterates given may be only 
a small proportion of the truth.” 
No question can be more important than the one of illiteracy. 
If education is the corner stone of the republic the statistics of 
illiteracy show that the stone is undermined. Many states are 
cognizant of this fact, and compulsory education laws, evening and 
half-time schools, efficient factory, workshop, and store inspection, 
and other safeguards are being applied with rigor. Any system 
of national aid to education must be based upon statistics, and the 
particular value of this special feature must be apparent. 
“The statistics of place of birth and parent nativity are among the most val- 
uable features of the census, a value which is more thoroughly appreciated at 
the present time through the popular discussion of the question of the restric- 
tion of immigration. The census renders one perfectly competent to show 
the absorption of foreign elements in various branches of industry, and the ex- 
tent of the absorption.” 
At the present day many persons maintain that the flood of im- 
migration should be checked. Nearly all agree that the pauper 
and the criminal should not be allowed to land in this country. 
In Massachusetts the foreign born number about one-fourth of the 
population. Those with foreign born fathers and mothers supply 
another fourth, so only half the population are native born with 
native born fathers and mothers. This fact when made plain by 
statistics demolishes the arguments of theorizers. Whether this 
fact bodes good or ill to the Commonwealth must be settled by 
as equally conclusive facts as those supplying the simple enume- 
ration. SOME SPECIAL FEATURES IN STATISTICS. 
169 
“ In 1875 the number of aliens in Massachusetts was ascertained by the state 
census, and in 1885 this feature was again incorporated and results by place of 
birth and other particulars secured. In order to show the absorption or non- 
absorption of immigrants in the ranks of citizenship, and also the extent to 
which the privileges of our form of government are enjoyed by those who fail 
to attest their loyalty to our institutions by renouncing all foreign allegiance, it 
might be expedient to incorporate inquiries in the schedules of the Eleventh 
Census that will supply full information concerning the ages, place of birth, 
occupations, illiteracy, etc., of our alien population. The value of such infor- 
mation lies in the fact that they are true to the extent given, and no harm can 
come from incompleteness.” 
These statistics have had a practical value in Massachusetts, for 
the aliens have been stimulated by the facts, and other circum- 
stances, to forswear their foreign allegiances and take out their 
naturalization papers. This is a question which has two sides. 
If a large number of Americans had settled in Great Britain or 
some other foreign country and engaged in business, they might 
be obedient to those countries’ laws, but yet hold back when asked 
to renounce their allegiance to the United States and become 
British or French citizens. It is only natural then that our foreign 
born should cling to their old-time allegiance for purely senti- 
mental reasons, though good citizens in all but name of their 
adopted country. If foreign countries should pass proscriptive 
laws regarding American residents we imagine those laws would 
be deemed illiberal. At the same time, statistics supply us with 
the true condition of affairs so that our law makers can proceed 
understandingly with legislation. 
“ Another class of facts, which can, from the nature of things, rarely be 
ascertained, relate to physical, mental, and moral conditions. No enumeration 
of the insane, for instance, would be accepted by our worthy secretary, an expert 
in such matters, as correct. In my own State when I give the number of the 
insane, as ascertained under the census, I am perfectly well aware that his 
opinion is worth more than my facts. It is easy to secure the number of insane, 
as collected in institutions for their care, but the most searching census cannot 
ascertain accurately the number of insane persons in a state. It can secure the 
most of them; it can secure all those that are insane to such an extent that 
their insanity is recognized in the community in which they live, but the finer 
gradations cannot be comprehended, except in a partial degree. It is safe, 
therefore, to say that the number of insane reported by any census, in any state, 
does not equal, the fact. There is much danger in this class of statistics. We 
draw conclusions in regard to the increase of insanity, conclusions which may 
be true or false, but more often false, because previous enumerations may have- 170 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
stated and probably did state only half the truth, while subsequent enumera- 
tions may give four-fifths of the truth, and conclusions are- usually based on 
the assumption that the whole truth was given in each case.” 
No part of Census statistics is more interesting than the particu- 
lars regarding the defective, dependent, and delinquent classes. 
American civilization has produced the highest form of wealth and 
the lowest form of poverty. Perhaps for the word “ produced ” 
the phrase “rendered possible ” might, with justice, be substituted. 
The remedy has been commensurate with the disease, for in no 
other country do public and private charity work so harmoniously 
together for the melioration of conditions of poverty, the proper 
treatment of the physically defective, and the reclamation of the 
evilly disposed. To know the extent of these triple evils is a point 
gained, and reliable statistics of paupers, criminals, and the afflicted 
classes, point a finger to be seen by the law maker, the humanita- 
rian, and the philanthropist. 
“The progress of insanity can be ascertained through the census, and the 
present problem as to whether insanity increases with our advancing civilization, 
increased facilities for securing education, and all the beneficent influences 
which we boast come from our advanced position, can be solved. It is a vital 
question and one which demands the persistent efforts of the government in 
ascertaining exact facts. It will take several decades of years, however, to 
bring the enumeration of the insane to such perfection that the margin of error 
growing out of insufficient data shall no longer be a factor in determining results. 
In this work the states can perform far more satisfactory labor than can the 
federal government. 
The prevalence of idiocy can only be ascertained to a partial extent, the 
results being even more faulty than those relating to insanity, because a family 
might hesitate about giving the facts relative to an idiot child when they would 
not hesitate to state that an insane person was a member of the family. 
So with homeless children and paupers. Our pauperism increases much faster 
statistically than actually, because we are constantly classifying new features 
of pauperism. Statistically, we reach out and take in all that are in any way 
dependent upon the public treasury. As against the old, crude, and undefined 
information relative to pauperism, we have intelligent, comprehensive statistics, 
which, in themselves, prove a vast increase in pauperism, because we try to 
match comparative accuracy with crudeness. The result is against us in this 
period. We must go on with the statistical research, however, until accuracy is 
the rule, and the comparisons are made on the conditions of accuracy and 
become as intelligent as the facts themselves. When the legislature appre- 
ciates the exact proportions of pauperism, as pauperism includes not only the 
ordinary condition known as such but that of all the homeless children which 
must be cared for by society, it can shape its law making with greater intelli- 
gence and with more advantage to the community. SOME SPECIAL FEATURES IN STATISTICS. 
171 
“ Social statistics should go still further, and comprehend all conditions of 
work, of education, and of school attendance, surrounding the children of the land. 
All these ramifications of statistical knowledge have been brought within the 
scope of the census, because the knowledge was demanded by the people of the 
the government. The government is wise that recognizes the demand and 
furnishes the information.” 
Preceding 1880 the statistics of the pauper, criminal, and physi- 
cally defective classes were taken in such a way that the aggregate 
number was a fictitious figure. For instance, the criminals and 
paupers were counted up, as were the blind, insane, idiotic, etc. 
By this plan a “ blind criminal ” was counted twice, once as a 
criminal and once as blind. By the new method a “ blind crim- 
inal ” is tallied as one person only. Thus the correct basis of 
individuals is now used and not the exaggerated and incorrect 
basis of conditions. When the conditions reach the number of four 
or even five for one individual, as they often do, the variation from 
the actual individual fact is much more marked. 
“ Another line of information sought for by the federal census, of necessity, 
are the statistics of mortality. Several of the states have established registra- 
tion boards or created registration offices for the registration of births, deaths, 
and marriages through municipal and county returns. This is in conformity to 
the European custom and is the only method by which the facts relating to 
births, deaths, and marriages can be ascertained with the fullest degree of 
accuracy. But the states of the union are so few which have taken up this 
work that the federal census takers have added to their schedules one relating 
to mortality, and so in those states not collecting such statistics a series of 
questions is asked concerning deaths occurring during the year closing with the 
census day. A moment’s consideration of this point convinces any one that 
such statistics must be far from satisfactory ; they are, however, always less than 
the truth. It would seem at first glance quite impossible for a family, in giving 
information to an enumerator, to forget that a death had occurred during the 
previous year; yet such is often the case, and the consequence is that death 
rates in localities where medical science would insist they were the highest are 
often shown to be the lowest. The death rate in states where there is a reason- 
ably accurate registration of deaths under legal requirements is often higher, 
so far as statistics show, than is ascertained through the census for states where 
such requirements do not exist. This defect is true as relates to births and 
marriages, and yet I see no reason why the United States census should not be 
made to comprehend such statistics in those states where registration reports 
are not required. Even with their defects they become more and more accurate, 
and are useful, as time goes on, in determining the increase or decrease in 
death rates for any specified locality, but they are, and must be, quite useless in 
comparing rates in communities widely separated and which come under vary- 
ing sanitary conditions or conditions of disease. 172 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Censuses of mortality can solve the relative death rates of different races in 
this country, a question which constitutes a vital problem. How exceedingly 
valuable it would be could the exact facts in this connection be determined in 
regard to the Indians, the colored people, the adopted citizens of different 
climes as in comparison with the death rate of what may be called American 
stock, nor would there be any less value connected with the birth and marriage 
rates of the same classes of people. In some of our states where birth, death, 
and marriage returns are required by law these facts can be determined, and 
logical conclusions drawn therefrom, but unfortunately for the scientist these 
returns are rarely called for in the very communities where they would be most 
useful in solving the problems involved in them.” 
The nation, many states, and large cities have their Boards of 
Health, and each of them considers the relation or ratio of deaths 
to population as the index of their success or failure. This ratio 
upon which so much dependence is placed should be based upon 
an accurate enumeration of the population and an equally as ac- 
curate registration of deaths. No plague can visit us without 
having its ravages at once recorded. Then follows the investi- 
gation as to cause, and the reasons for its spread. Thus science 
and statistics join hands for the benefit of the human race. 
“ There are still sociological conditions which have not been included in the 
federal census and which it may not be advisable to incorporate in the schedules. 
Some of these have been adopted in our Massachusetts Census with success, 
the most important of them being questions as to the birth rate among foreign 
and American mothers, this birth rate being brought into comparison with the 
number of children reared. It embraces one of the most interesting questions 
for the social scientist, and, so far as I know, the Massachusetts State Census 
furnishes the only facts of like nature obtainable in this or any other country. 
It has been a piece of experimental work on the part of the state. It only in- 
dicates what can be done in solving scientific questions, when the people 
are asked to answer inquiries directed to what on the surface may be considered 
matters on which the state should make no inquiry. The extension of special 
inquiries in the direction named, that is, those aimed at the real inside life of 
the people, is to my mind perfectly justifiable. The law making power of the 
state, especially in America, is constantly called upon to exercise greater and 
greater supervision over the affairs of the people. To do this it has to assume 
autocratic power. Boards of health can order private dwellings to be vacated, 
and the convenience of the individual in such cases is sacrificed to the welfare 
of the community. This spirit prevails in all directions. The law making 
branch of our governments cannot resist the demands ; call it socialism, if you 
choose, the tendency is as strong as it is perceptible, and as inevitable as it is 
strong. We insist that the dependent classes shall be cared for at the public 
expense; we say that individual members of society shall be relieved of special 
taxation for the support of the dependent, because their support is for the SOME SPECIAL FEATURES IN STATISTICS. 
173 
benefit of the whole community. The doctrine is right, and just, and moral. 
This being the case, the legislature meets the demand. Shall it meet the de- 
mand intelligently or blindly? The statistician says he should meet it intelli- 
gently, and that statistical science is the chief source of intelligence in such 
matters. Statistics covering the whole community must be taken through the 
census. It must comprehend all or none. So, as the inquiries of the census 
have become enlarged, persons afflicted with acute and chronic diseases, the 
blind, deaf, dumb, maimed, lame, insane, idiotic, paralytic, bedridden, and other 
afflicted persons, have come under the searching inquiries of the enumerator. 
The people object to these things when the inquiry comes. They insist upon 
intelligent legislation regarding them. Popular antagonism to such inquiries 
must, therefore, be ignored by the legislature, in order to meet the advanced 
demands of the very people who create the antagonism.” 
For years the pessimists have declared that the pure American 
stock was fast dying out. This has been said in a complaining, 
despondent way, as if this “dying out ” was the greatest of evils. 
History shows us that all nations have been invaded either peace- 
ably or forcibly and foreign blood mingled with the pure native. 
America has been invaded peaceably and foreign blood from its 
admixture has produced the most cosmopolitan nation in the 
world. The question is not, is the old stock dying out, but rather 
is the new stock as good as the old. If it is as good, or better, 
then the pessimists are reasoning on abstract sentiment and ignor- 
ing practical fact. Nothing will point the argument so quickly as 
reliable statistics of fecundity in which the purely native stock is 
brought into comparison with the mixed or purely foreign stock. 
“ The industrial schedule of the federal census, since it was authorized by 
law and in nearly every census taken since and including that of 1810, has con- 
tained inquiries relating to capital invested, raw material or stock used, total 
wages paid, aggregate product, and the number of employes, in the leading in- 
dustries of the country. To these simple inquiries the manufacturers have from 
time to time made great opposition, although, as a rule, they have supplied in. 
formation as to all the points involved, except capital invested. The census 
inquiry on this point has called simply for capital invested. In this form lies 
the initial defect. Credit capital, it is submitted, if used, is just as essential to 
secure a certain product as the capital that is owned by an establishment itself. 
Leaving out the factor of the expensiveness of the use of borrowed capital, of 
the fictitious or inflated value which is given to the product by such use, and 
limiting ourselves to the purely economic relations of capital and product, in- 
finite harm has been done by the old method of procedure. To solve the prob- 
lem of the amount of capital required to secure a given product in each of the 
leading industries of a country is within the ability of the census taker. The 
manufacturers have stood in their own light. The manufacturer tells you at 174 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
once that $2,000,000 of capital cannot produce $4,000,000 worth of goods. The 
conclusive answer to his statement is that such is the return he has made. He 
then tells you that census statistics are vicious, and he is correct in this particu- 
lar instance. If you attempt to correct this error by asking him to account for 
his whole capital, that paid in and that borrowed, in fact, all the capital which 
he uses to secure a given product, he antagonizes the work of the state by say- 
ing that you are prying into his private affairs. He does not perceive that he 
has deceived not only himself and his employes but the public generally, and 
that every argument, conclusion, or deduction, based upon the statistics report- 
ed as giving the capital invested in manufacturing, is false in all its elements 
and consequently exerts a vicious influence in every direction.” 
It has been the plan of social economists and labor reformers 
to add the value of stock used and wages paid together, subtract 
this sum from the value of goods made, and consider the balance 
as the gross profit. This gross profit has then been compared 
with the capital invested and a supposed ratio of profit obtained. 
But inasmuch as the statistics of capital invested have shown too 
small an aggregate, so this ratio has been correspondingly too 
large. Double your capital invested and you at once cut down 
your ratio of profit one-half. Until the actual capital, both cash 
and credit, is ascertained the ratios of profit must be set aside, 
and when properly ascertained these important ratios must be 
recast upon the new lines. Thus statistics will furnish the basis 
for the consideration of the most important question of our times 
—the question of profits, and its no less important corollary—the 
distribution of wealth. 
“ Another error w'hich has been made relates to average earnings, as ascer- 
tained by dividing the aggregate wages paid in any industry by the 7iumber of 
employes involved. In all censuses w'here industrial statistics have been a 
feature in this country, until the Tenth Census, the question relating to em- 
ployes has simply been the‘number of hands employed.’ What is the number 
of hands employed? Can you ascertain the true quotient which shall repre- 
sent average w’ages by dividing the total amount of w'ages paid during a year in 
any given industry by the total number of hands employed ? I assert that you 
cannot, for the number of hands employed returned under the old form of in- 
quiry simply meant the number of employes borne on the rolls at the close of 
the census year, while the total wages paid represented the aggregate amount 
disbursed in the form of wages to all who had been employed at any time dur- 
ing the same year; the number of people returned might represent a much 
larger number at the close of the year than were employed at any other period, 
or the reverse, a much smaller number. In any event, and with the utmost 
care on the part of the manufacturer, it would be impossible in the answer to 
such a form of inquiry to state anything more than the number employed at the 
end of the year, or at some stated period.” SOME SPECIAL FEATURES IN STATISTICS. 
175 
Instead of these unreliable wage statistics the classified wage, 
as explained in Chapter V., and the actual wage for each bra7ich of 
occupation must take its place. There should be no margin of 
uncertainty in wage statistics. They should be actual, and abso- 
lute, and as worthy of credence as the reconstructed statistics of 
profits. Then capital and labor can be placed side by side and 
judged by their fruits. That this work is under way is shown by 
the following: 
“ The division of labor which marks this age as distinct in all its industrial 
features from previous periods constitutes a very interesting study. The 
attempt has been made in the Census of 1885, for the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts, the reports of which are now rapidly approaching completion, 
to ascertain and report to the finest degree the various but distinctly designated 
divisions of labor, so far as the occupations of the people are involved. Incom- 
prehensible as it may seem, this, classification shows over 20,000 distinct desig- 
nations. This classification, in connection with nationality as shown by place 
of birth, age periods, and illiteracy, constitutes a fine contribution to socio- 
logical knowledge. This has been done in Massachusetts. It may be done 
for the United States in the future, now that the basis has been laid.” 
When wage statistics based upon this scheme are secured, we 
shall hear no more of average wages in any industry, but instead 
the actual wages paid in each branch of occupation in that indus- 
try. Then the high-priced and low-priced workers will be classed 
each by themselves and not merged in an aggregate in which 
high-priced or low-priced workers may preponderate, giving, natu- 
rally, a fictitious, unreliable, untruthful average. 
“ Perhaps the greatest difficulty which confronts the federal census taker, and 
which offers the least possibility of solving problems, is to be found in the 
agricultural department of the work. The products of various localities differ 
so widely in their character and kind, that any single schedule framed to com- 
prehend them all becomes in itself impracticable. Yet certain facts, like total 
value and quantity of the great staple products, ought to be easily ascertained. 
The question of renting or ownership, of the acreage of the farms, of alien 
ownership, are entirely within the possibilities of census taking without enlarg- 
ing the field of operations. Such problems ought to be readily solved. They 
have been solved for the time being in past censuses. As the conditions vary 
the problems vary, and the intelligence of the government should see to it that 
the facts sought should be those necessary to indicate the true relations of 
things in the agricultural field of knowledge. 
From what has been said it is readily seen that there is quite a range of prob- 
lems, the elements for the solution of which can only be supplied through com- 
prehensive censuses. As yet, however, no co-ordinate effort has been made 176 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
between the state and federal governments for systematic work. This question 
is difficult and yet important. Its importance lies in this reflection, that no 
member of a state or the national government can intelligently discuss the land 
question, the solution of the immigration problem, the question of how far educa- 
tional efforts shall be extended, the tariff problem, the questions of currency, of 
railroad transportation, in fact, any question of any great state or national im- 
portance, without full and constant reference to the tables of the census reports. 
This being the case, and census work becoming more and more complicated, 
as all these great questions come nearer and nearer to the people, how impor- 
tant it is that the whole range of census taking should be reduced to systematic 
forms and methods. The United States cannot do it all, and do it well. The 
country is too large to admit of extended inquiries through the methods of enu- 
meration. The States should enlist in the work, and they could do it generally 
without much expense through their established machinery. They should be 
called upon by the federal government, but aided to the extent of the results 
furnished, to do certain things at short intervals relative to the enumeration of 
the people, the ascertaining of products, the ownership of land, and may be 
half-a-score of leading features, the federal census itself being confined to those 
things which reach over the whole country and which may be called purely 
national topics. Such a system, involving the co-operation of the states, would 
not only simplify labor, but would reduce the burden in many respects and 
would certainly remove much of the irritation which exists whenever the census 
is taken; and further simplification should be reached, as I have indicated, 
through special investigations. All census work, both state and national, should 
leave out of sight every question which can be brought under the methods of 
special investigation, in which aggregates are not essential but in which repre- 
sentative facts are just as important as the total facts.” 
The quotations from Mr. Wright’s address cover its main points, 
and bring out forcibly the great statistical questions of the time. 
To these, in time, many as valuable points will be added. Industry 
pictures will be formed showing the composition of each indus- 
try—partners, stockholders, salaried workers, and wage laborers— 
marshalled, as it were, in battle array. Then with statistics of 
profits and wages we shall get clear views at both sides of the 
statue of labor. Statistics of trade will be demanded in time, 
and the dealer will be called upon to disclose for the general good 
the facts concerning his business. The only way in which the 
middle-man can be honestly judged is to ascertain the facts con- 
cerning him first. If he is a public benefactor, he has nothing to 
fear. If he is a public evil, he will prefer to be judged on facts 
rather than opinions—so the facts will have to be secured. At 
the next National Census a request has already been made that 
the number of survivors of the Rebellion be ascertained, with cer- SOME SPECIAL FEATURES IN STATISTICS. 
177 
tain facts as to their condition. This enumeration should include 
all soldiers, in all wars. Statistics is a catholic science and should 
always give the facts for the people, and not for a class. 
This Chapter could be extended indefinitely, but enough has 
been written to show that statistics is interwoven with the life of 
the nation. Its results, like the physician’s diagnosis, must pre- 
cede salutary treatment. The best nhysicians are specialists. 
Special statistics reach facts while general statistics only reach 
numbers. CHAPTER X. 
THE TEACHING OF PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
Statistics being a science and destined to have in the future a 
much greater influence than in the past as regards the progress of 
mankind, it follows that as the statisticians of to-day retire from 
active duty or die, others must take the places that they vacate. 
In other words, the statistician of the present time must teach 
his science to others. 
This teaching may be done in two ways: theoretically in the 
institution of learning, or practically in the statistical office. We 
shall endeavor to show hereinafter how statistics may be studied 
practically in the college or academy. 
The subject of the study of statistics in colleges has been con- 
sidered only in the last few years. Mr. Wright, in a paper read 
before the joint session of the American Economic Association 
and the American Historical Association, at Sanders Theatre, 
Harvard University, May 24, 1887, brought into twenty pages all 
that could then be said upon the matter. We shall quote liberally 
from the paper in question, for it puts the case strongly as regards 
the absolute necessity of making educational provisions for the in- 
struction of statisticians. Referring to the European statisticians, 
Mr. Wright says : 
“America has no counterpart to the continental school of statisticians, whose 
members have entered their particular field of science after special training by 
a systematic course of instruction. We have our statisticians, to be sure, but 
they have taken up their work accidentally, and not as a profession. Men 
engaged in the practice of law or of medicine, or in the other learned profes- 
sions, enter them only after careful preparation. Our government trains its 
soldiers and sailors; our colleges and higher institutions of learning fit men for 
various special scientific and professional labors, but we have not yet reached 
the advanced stage of educational work in this country which comprehends 
administration in its broadest terms. The European has an advantage over 
178 179 
THE TEACHING OF PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
those engaged in statistical work in this country. Many of the leading colleges 
and universities of the continent make special effort to fit men to adopt statis- 
tical science as a branch of administration, or as a profession. 
Korosi, Neumann-Spallart, Ernst Engel, Block, Bohmert, Mayr, Levasseur, 
and their score or more of peers, may well excite our envy, but more deeply 
stimulate the regret that one of their number, from his brilliant training and his 
scientific attainments, cannot present to you to-day the necessity of copying 
into the curricula of our American colleges the statistical features of the foreign 
school. For magnificent achievement the American statistician need not blush 
in the presence of the trained European, for, without conceit, we can place the 
name of our own Walker along with the names of those eminent men I have 
enumerated. With all the training of the schools, the European statistician 
Jacks the grand opportunities which are open to the American. Nowhere has 
the former been able to project and carry out a Census involving points beyond 
the simple enumeration of the people, embracing a few inquiries relating to 
social conditions; such inquiries rarely extending beyond those necessary to 
learn the ages, places of birth, and occupations of the population. Such a 
Census, compared with the ninth and tenth Federal enumerations of the United 
States, appears but child’s play. 
Dr. Engel once said to me that he would gladly exchange the training of the 
Prussian Bureau of Statistics for the opportunity to accomplish what could 
be done in our country. For with it all, he could not carry out what might be 
done with comparative ease under our government. The European statistician 
is constantly cramped by his government; the American government is con- 
stantly forced by the people. The Parliament of Great Britain will not consent 
to an industrial Census, the proposition that the features of United States 
Census taking be incorporated in the British Census being defeated as regularly 
as offered. Nor does any continental power yet dare to make extensive in- 
quiries into the condition of the people, or relative to the progress of their in- 
dustries. The continental school of statisticians, therefore, is obliged to urge 
its government to accomplish results familiar to our people. The statistics of 
births, deaths, and marriages, and other purely conventional statistics, are sub- 
stantially all that come to the hands of the official statisticians abroad. In this 
country, the popular demand for statistical information is usually far in advance 
of the governments, either State or Federal, and so our American statisticians 
have been blessed with opportunities which have given them an experience, 
wider in its scope, and of a far more reaching character than has attended the 
efforts of the continental school. Notwithstanding these opportunities which 
surround official statistics in this country, the need of special scientific training 
for men in the administration of statistical work is great indeed.” 
One point is brought out strongly in the preceding—that Amer- 
ican statisticians have the best opportunity to carry out statistical 
investigations. Here the people demand the facts. In Europe the 
rulers may not wish to have them known, and statistical advance- 
ment must bow to imperial mandates. Mr. Wright continues: 180 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
“The best school for statistical science in Europe is connected with the 
Prussian statistical bureau, and was established a quarter of a century ago by 
Dr. Ernst Engel, the late head of the bureau, probably the ablest living statis- 
tician in the old world. The seminary of this statistical bureau is a training 
school, for university graduates of the highest ability, in the art of administra- 
tion, and in the conduct of statistical and other economic inquiries that are of 
interest and importance to the government. The practical work is done in 
connection with the government offices, among which advanced students are 
distributed with specific tasks. Systematic instruction is given by lectures, and 
by the seminary or laboratory method, under a general director. Government 
officers and university professors are engaged to give regular courses to these 
advanced students. It is considered one of the greatest student honors in 
Berlin for a university graduate to be admitted to the Statistical Seminary.” 
There is no doubt but that the system of instruction and practice 
followed turns out statisticians fitted to do the work allotted to the 
European bureaus, but it does not follow that these graduates of 
courses in statistics would be fitted to carry on investigations in 
America until they had unlearned many of their old processes and 
had learned many new ones. Statistics, like medicine, is not an 
exact science. Hence it watches bad symptoms in the body politic, 
and, like a skilled physician, looks for causes before attempting to 
suggest a remedy. 
A little, comparatively, has been done in America to teach the 
science of statistics. But little, if anything, has been done to 
teach any system of practical statistics. Indeed, the course of 
study seems to teach the manner of criticizing the work done by 
others, rather than a way of doing the work. This will be seen 
from a perusal of the following : 
“ Our colleges are beginning to feel that they have some duty to perform, in 
the work of fitting men for the field of administration, and specifically in 
statistical science. Dr. Ely is doing something at Johns Hopkins, giving some 
time, in one of his courses on political economy, to the subject of statistics, 
explaining its theory, tracing the history of the art or science, and describing 
the literature of the subject. He attempts, in brief, to point out the vast im- 
portance of statistics to the student of social science and to put his student in 
such a position that he can practically continue his study. Johns Hopkins, as 
soon as circumstances will admit, will probably secure teachers of statistics and 
administration, in addition to its present corps of instructors. 
Dr. Davis R. Dewey, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is also 
devoting some time, in connection with his other work, to statistical science. 
He has two courses: 
First, A course of statistics and graphic methods of illustrating statistics in 
which attention is chiefly given to the uses of official statistics, of the United THE TEACHING OF PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
181 
States. Students are directed to the limitations there are in this respect, what 
compilations have been and are made, and to the possible reconciliation of 
discrepancies which appear in official reports. This course is taken in connec- 
tion with a course in United States finance, and the student is trained to find 
and use the statistics which will illustrate the points taken up, and to present 
them graphically. 
Second, An advanced course is given in statistics of sociology, in which 
social, moral, and physiological statistics are considered, in short, all those facts 
of life which admit of mathematical determination to express the “ average 
man.” Some of Dr. Dewey’s actual problems may serve to illustrate the prac- 
tical work of his course. 
Perhaps the most systematic teaching of the science of statistics in America 
is given at Columbia College, under the direction of Professor Richmond M. 
Smith. He has lectured on the subject of statistical science in the Columbia 
College School of Political Science since the year 1882. His course is an ad- 
vanced one for the students of the second or third year of that school. In the 
first year of the work there were but three students of statistical science; at 
present there are about twenty-five. Professor Smith gives them lectures two 
hours per week through the greater part of the year. The theoretical lectures 
cover a brief history of statistics; a consideration of statistical methods; of 
the connection of statistical science with political and social science; of the 
attempt to establish social laws from statistical induction; the doctrine of 
probabilities, etc., this part of the course being based on German and French 
writers, principally Mayr, Engel, Wagner, Knapp, Oettingen, Quetelet, Block, and 
others. The practical part of the Columbia course covers the ordinary topics 
of statistical investigation, and the statistics are taken, as far as possible, from 
official publications. These latter lectures are of course comments on the 
tables and diagrams themselves. Wall tables are used to a certain extent, but 
experience has found it more convenient to lithograph the tables and diagrams, 
giving a copy to each student, which he can place in his note-book, and thus 
save the labor of copying.” 
Mr. Wright is strongly impressed with the value of the work of 
the statistician. He says— 
“The problems which the statistician must solve, if they are solved at all, are 
pressing upon the world. Many chapters of political economy must be rewrit- 
ten, for the study of political economy is now brought under the historical and 
comparative method and statistical science constitutes the greatest auxiliary of 
such a method. There is so much that is false that creeps into the popular 
mind, which can only be rectified through the most trustworthy statistical 
knowledge, that the removal of apprehension alone by it creates a necessity 
sufficient to command the attention of college authorities. The great questions 
of the day, the labor question, temperance, tariff reform, all great topics, 
demand the auxiliary aid of scientific statistics, and a thorough training is 
essential for their proper use. But in the first place there should be a clear 
understanding of what is necessary to be taught.” 182 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
It is certainly essential that “there should be a clear under- 
standing of what is necessary to be taught,” and it is equally 
essential that there should be a clear understanding of the man- 
ner of doing the work—the “ practical statistics ” part of the 
science. Mr. Wright recognizes this fully, as will be seen : 
“ Statistics is a science in its nature, and practical in its working. 
The science of statistics, practically considered, comprehends the gathering 
of original data in the most complete and accurate manner; the tabulation of 
the information gathered by the most improved methods, and the presentation 
of the results in compact and easily understood tables, with the necessary text 
explanations. It is the application of statistics which gives them their chief 
popular value, and this application may, therefore, legitimately be called a part 
of the science of statistics. The theoretical statistician is satisfied if his truth 
is the result of statistical investigation, or if his theory is sustained. The 
practical statistican is only satisfied when the absolute truth is shown, or, if this 
is impossible, when the nearest approximation to it is reached. But the belief 
that theory must be sustained by the statistics collected, or else the statistics 
be condemned, is an idea whiqh gets into the popular mind when the expres- 
sion, theory of statistics, is used. I would, therefore, avoid it, and I hope 
that should our colleges adopt courses in statistical science, they will agree 
upon a nomenclature which shall be expressive, easily understood, and com- 
prehensive in its nafure. 
The necessity of the study of statistical science w'ould not be so thoroughly 
apparent if the science was confined to the simple enumeration and presenta- 
tion of things, or primitive facts, like the number of the people; to tables 
showing crops, exports, imports, immigration, quantities, values, valuation, and 
such elementary statements, involving only the skill of the arithmetician to 
present and deal with them. The moment the combinations essential for 
comparison are made, there is needed something beyond the arithmetician, for 
with the production of averages, percentages, and ratios, for securing correct 
results, there must come in play mathematical genius, and a genius in the exer- 
cise of which there should be discernible no influence from preconceived ideas. 
The science of statistics has been handled too often without statistical science, 
and without the skill of the mathematician. Many illustrations of this point 
involving the statistics of this country could be given.” 
He summarizes, as follows, the various sub-divisions of the 
science of statistics. 
“ The teaching of statistical science in our colleges involves three grand 
divisions: 
1. The basis of statistical science, or, as it has been generally termed in col- 
lege work, the theory of statistics. 
2. The practice of statistics, which involves the preparation of inquiries, the 
collection and examination of the information sought, and the tabulation and 
presentation of results. THE TEACHING OF PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
183 
3- The analytical treatment of the results secured. 
These three general elements become more important as the science of sta- 
tistics becomes more developed; that is, while in conventional statistics, or 
official statistics if you prefer, meaning those which result from continuous 
entry of the facts connected with routine transactions, like custom house opera- 
tions, the registration of births, deaths, and marriages, etc., these three elements 
may not be apparent. But when considered as regards the collection of infor- 
mation from original sources by special investigation through the Census, 
through our bureaus of statistics of labor and kindred offices, and through the 
consular service, these three grand elements assume a vast importance, and 
statistical science demands that men be employed who comprehend thoroughly 
and clearly all the features of the three elements of the science, for the variety 
of facts to be collected suggests the variety of features connected with the work.” 
The need of practical instruction in the working part of the 
science is stated clearly. 
“ The analytical work of statistical science demands the mathematical man. 
While this is true, it is also true that the man who casts a schedule (for instance, 
to comprehend the various economic facts associated with production), should 
have the ability to analyze the tabulated results of the answers to the inquiries 
borne upon the schedule. In other words, the man who casts the schedule 
should not only be able to foresee the work of the enumerator, or the gatherer 
of the answers desired, but he should foresee the actual form in which the com- 
pleted facts should be presented. Furthermore, he should foresee the analysis 
which such facts stimulate and not only foresee the detail, but foresee in a com- 
prehensive way the whole superstructure which grows from the foundation laid 
in the schedule. He should comprehend his completed report before he gath- 
ers the needed information. 
How can these elements in one’s statistical education be secured ? ” 
In reply to the objection brought forward by some that our 
colleges now teach too much and should reduce rather than 
increase the number of branches, Mr. Wright states : 
“ Every well appointed college has its chair of political economy, and this 
department can be broadened sufficiently to take in statistical science, without 
impairing efficiency in this or any other department. If this cannot be done, 
then I would say to the colleges of America that the institutions which soonest 
grasp the progressive educational work of the day will be the most successful 
competitors in the race. That college which comprehends that it is essential 
to fit men for the best administrative duties, not only in government, but in the 
great business enterprises which demand leaders of as high quality as those 
essential for a chief magistrate, will receive the patronage, the commendation, 
and the gratitude of the public.” 
He substantially closes his paper with the following recommen- 
dation : 184 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
“I urge, therefore, that our American colleges follow the example of Euro- 
pean institutions. I would urge upon the government of the United States, and 
upon the government of the States, the necessity of providing by law for the 
admission of students that have taken scientific courses in statistics as honor- 
ary attaches of, or clerks to be employed in the practical work of, statistical 
offices. This is easily done without expenditure by the government, but with 
the very best economic results. 
We take a Census in the United States every ten years, but as a rule the 
men that are brought into the work know nothing of statistics : they should be 
trained in the very elementary work of Census taking and of statistical science. 
How much more economical for the government to keep its experienced sta- 
tisticians busily employed in the interim of Census taking, even if they do no 
more than study forms, methods, and analyses, connected with the presentation 
of the facts of the preceding Census. Money would be saved, results would 
be more thoroughly appreciated, and problems would be solved.” 
It is impossible here to mention but a small part of the details 
that a statistician will find connected with his practical work. 
The plan of tabulation changes with each subject, and instructions 
for one would be inapplicable to another. But with each prac- 
tical success will come the desire and ability to undertake new 
investigations and follow them to their presentation to the public. 
General principles or points of instruction to guide the teacher 
in his work may be stated. From these must be evolved the de- 
tails inherent in the subject considered. 
1. Supply the students with blank printed schedules. 
2. Supply the information to be written in. 
3. Give practical instruction in filling schedules. 
4. Examine the schedules when filled and point out errors and 
omissions. 
5. Have the students act as special agents or enumerators, the 
teacher giving the answers. 
6. Have the teacher stimulate inquiry by unsatisfactory replies. 
7. Have the students present in writing a statement of all the 
points of information supplied by the schedules. 
8. Have the students discriminate between the valuable and 
the simply interestmg classes of information. 
9. Teach the proper system of classification of the schedules. 
10. Sketch tables for presentation ; examine and improve them. 
11. Have samples of principal tables put into type. Consider 
rule work, typography, punctuation, general effect, etc. THE TEACHING OF PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
185 
12 Decide upon the plan of tabulation. 
13. Work to secure the correlation of facts in the tabulation and 
presentation. 
14. Teach the uses of mechanical devices for quick computation. 
15. Prepare suitable result sheets to take down the results of 
tabulations. 
16. Prepare the intermediary or office copy from the result 
sheets. 
17. Endeavor to condense tables, and cut out weak or useless 
lines. 
18. Prepare copy for press, and criticize carefully. 
19. Give instructions regarding proof reading and corrections. 
20. Make proper records of the dealings with the printer. 
21. Give instructions concerning “ revises,” “ second revises,” 
“ plate proof,” corrections, and ordering to press. 
22. Have each student write an analysis or consideration of the 
tables prepared. 
Although the preparation of schedules comes first in the pros- 
ecution of actual statistical work, yet the preparation of sched- 
ules with accompanying explanations, instructions, and illustrations 
is the highest form of practical statistics, and should not be 
attempted until the student is thoroughly grounded in the other 
branches of this division of the science. In fact, a student might 
be proficient in all the other branches, which are executive or pro- 
gressive in their nature, and yet be unable to prepare a satisfac- 
tory schedule or blank, this part of the work being fundamental, 
inventive, and constructive. 
The best plan would seem to be to settle upon some subject for 
investigation. Have each student prepare a series of inquiries, 
the maximum number being fixed by the teacher. 
The various lists should then be examined and criticized and a 
final list, with the least number of inquiries possible, adopted. 
Each student should then put this list into shape for printing. 
These blanks or schedules should then be examined and criti- 
cized, as before, and the best one adopted. The usual result will 
be that the best forms submitted will have to be put into a new 
blank, differing in some respects from any particular one submit- 
ted by the students. Then explanations and instructions should- 186 
PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
be prepared in a similar way and made to go undergo thorough con- 
sideration and careful criticism. The blank or schedule should 
then be put in type and the “proof” again criticized. When the 
schedules are printed a plan of filling in the schedules should be 
devised. Each student may fill out a certain number, or each stu- 
dent may obtain a schedule from all the other students. They 
should not endeavor to make each schedule complete, but “refu- 
sals to answer certain inquiries,” “ indefiniteness in replies,” “false 
returns,” etc., may be introduced, and their presence in the tabu- 
lation will give the students practice in handling incomplete and 
unreliable returns. These schedules may now be put through the 
successive stages of examination, tabulation, presentation, and the 
final consideration of results secured. This consideration should 
be limited to the necessary text and notes to make plain the 
meaning of the tables. Discussions as to what the tables prove, 
and their application to the body politic, are outside of the do- 
main of practical statistics. The same line divides the practical 
statistician and the “ applied ” statistician as comes between the 
author, artist, or composer and the critics of their works. 
A careful examination of the statistical field for the past fifty 
years, as regards all countries, shows that statisticians have given 
nearly all their time and attention to the consideration of statis- 
tical results. But little can be learned concerning the practical 
part of the work. No papers or books have considered at length 
the questions to which this volume is devoted, and it is to be pre- 
sumed that, with a few exceptions, the practical work of statistics 
has been done in the old way without the advantage of improved 
methods of quick computation. In all progressive countries, at 
the present day, in every industry the most improved time-saving 
and labor-saving devices are used, and in the teaching of practical 
statistics in this country it would seem to be in accord with prog- 
ress if the old forms of work were superseded by what are found 
to be improved methods. The difficulty, as in all reforms, is in 
getting “out of the old ruts” and into the new ones; but the 
change should be made if for no other reason than that it will give 
the same results for less money and more results for the same 
money. 
As has been stated strongly, we must have educated statisticians, 
and they must study before engaging in actual statistical work. THE TEACHING OF PRACTICAL STATISTICS. 
187 
The plan in the past has been to throw the burden of a census 
upon individuals who were willing to work but who were unpre- 
pared, scientifically and practically, to cope with such a task. The 
apprentice learns the use of tools under competent supervision, 
the future chemist practises his future work in his laboratory, and 
the student physician attends instructive and realistic clinics. 
Practice before practising is a specially good rule for statisticians, 
and the students of the new science should have opportunities sup- 
plied for preliminary work before endeavoring to superintend a 
“ figure factory.” Printing is called “ the art preservative of all 
arts,” and, in its own peculiar way, statistics is an ally and a con- 
servator of many other sciences. INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
Page 
The Preparation of Schedules, 1-4 
The proper wording of the inquiries, 1, 2 
The writing of the general instructions, 2, 3 
The writing of the special instructions for each inquiry, . . 3 
Quotations from the law authorizing the collection of information, 3 
The typographical arrangement of the schedule, . . . . 3, 4 
The Collection of Information, . . ■ 5-11 
Return envelope and label, . 5 
Methods of collecting information, 6 
Well-informed parties, ........ 6 
Special agents, 6 
Census enumerators, 6 
Printed reports, 6 
Manuscript records, 6 
Sources of statistical information used in Massachusetts Labor Re- 
ports, 1873-1887, 7-10 
Schedules sent by mail, 7 
Agents, 8 
Massachusetts State Census of 1875, 9 
United States Census of 1880, 9 
Massachusetts State Census of 1885, 9 
Printed material, manuscript, and correspondence, ... 9 
Material supplied, 10 
Information gathered must be exhaustive, 10 
Information gathered must be honest, 10, 11 
Instructions to Enumerators and Agents, .... 12-27 
Instructions for mail blanks, 12 
Special instructions for agents and enumerators, . . . . 12 
General instructions, 13 
Instruction to census enumerators, 13-25 
Dealings with the census office, 13, 14 
Correspondence, 13 
Packages by express, 14 
Outfit, 14 
Schedules, forms, etc., sent, 14 
Inventory 
189 190 
INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
Instructions to Enumerators and Agents—Continued. Page 
General instructions, . 14-17 
Correspondence, 14, 15 
Postal card receipt for outfit, 15 
Enumerator’s book, 15 
Schedules, 15 
Pencils and rubber, 15 
The schedule case, 15 
The work, 16 
Personal service, 16 
A day’s work, ' 16, 17 
Distinguishing boundaries, 17 
Examining and correcting returns, 17 
Materials not used, 17 
Dealings with the people, I7-I9 
Courtesy, 17 
False statements, 18 
Refusal to answer, 18 
Confidential nature of returns, 18, 19 
Special instructions 19, 20 
Prisoners and convicts, 19 
Homeless children and paupers, 19 
Acute and chronic diseases, 19 
Blind, deaf, dumb, and deaf and dumb, . . . . 19 
Insane and idiotic, 19 
Maimed and lame, 19 
Bedridden, paralytic, etc., 19 
Domestic manufactures, 19, 20 
Agricultural products and property, 19, 20 
Records.and accounts, 20-22 
General instructions, 20 
Separation cards, ........ 20 
Daily work report cards, 20, 21 
Consolidated daily work report, 21 
Enumerator’s expense statement, 21 
Time account and bill form, 21, 22 
Gummed labels for express packages 22 
Receipt form for express companies, 22 
Accounts by mail 22 
Name and address lists, 22, 23 
Manufacturers, 23, 24 
Definition of “ manufacturers,” 23 
Manufacturers and dealers 23, 24 
Location of mills, factories, etc., 24 
Definition of “ manufactures,” 24 
Cards, price lists, etc. 
Enumerator’s lists 24, 25 INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
191 
Instructions to Enumerators and Agents—Continued. Page 
Quarries, mines, etc., 25 
Agriculture, 25 
The fisheries, . . . 215 
Commerce, 25 
Libraries and reading rooms, 25 
Colleges and academies, 25 
Private schools, 25 
“ Practical ” civil service examination for enumerators, . 25 
Error and omissions in statistical enumeration, . . .25,26 
Characteristics of a good enumerator or agent, ... 26 
The advantages of small or medium sized schedules, . . 26, 27 
The Examination of Returns, 28-146 
Imperfect inquiries, 28 
Wrong interpretations of inquiries, 28 
Inapplicable inquiries, 28 
Incomplete or erroneous returns, 28 
Incompatible answers, 28 
Examination and arrangement, 28 
Necessity of examination, 29 
Value of competent examination, 29 
Trained examiners needed in all statistical work, .... 29 
Original, special, and supplemental instructions, ... 29 
Illustrations of errors and omissions, 29 
The schedules of the Massachusetts State Census of 1885, . . 29, 30 
Population and social statistics, . . ... . . . 30-61 
Description of the population and social statistics schedule, 30, 31 
Symbols, 31 
House number, 32, 33 
Family number, . . 33,34 
Number in each family, 34, 35 
Population number, 35—37 
Surname, and Christian name and initial, 37, 38 
Residence; street, etc., town or city, ward, precinct, and county, 38, 39 
Relation to head of family, 39-41 
Color and race, . > 41 
Age, 41, 42 
Conjugal condition, 42 
Place of birth, 42-45 
Parent nativity (place of birth of father and mother), . . 42-45 
Occupations, 45-53 
At home, 45, 46 
At school, 45, 46 
Employed in some gainful occupation, . . . . 45,46 
Not given, 45, 46 192 
INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
The Examination of Returns—Continued. Page 
Retired, 45.46 
Dependent, 45, 46 
General instructions, 46,47 
Special instructions, 47-53 
Errors, omissions, and suggestions, 53 
The unemployed, 53—55 
Illiteracy, 55> 56 
Language spoken, 55,56 
School attendance, 57, 58 
Physical condition, 58 
Political condition, 59. 60 
Ratable polls, 59.60 
Legal voters, 59.60 
Naturalized voters, 59,60 
Aliens, 59,60 
Mother of how many children, 60, 61 
Number of these children now living, 60, 61 
Description of the “ special ” population schedule, . . . 62-64 
Prisoners and convicts, 63 
Homeless children, 65 
Paupers, 65,66 
Physical condition, 66-70 
Acute and chronic diseases, 66, 67 
Residence, 66 
Physicians, 66,67 
Maimed and lame, 67 
Bedridden, paralytic, or other defective physical condi- 
tions, 67 
Blind, 68 
Insane, 68 
Deaf, dumb,—deaf and dumb, 68, 69 
Idiotic, 69, 70 
Manufactures, 70-102 
Letter of instructions to manufacturers, .... 70-72 
Extracts from the census law, 71, 72 
Date of establishment, 72,73 
Partners, 73 
Stockholders, etc., 73 
Capital invested, 74.75 
Markets, transportation, etc., 75 
Stock or materials used, 7 5—77 
Goods manufactured or work done, 77—79 
Persons employed, 80, 81 
Working time 81-83 
Salaries, 83 INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
193 
The Examination of Returns—Continued. Page 
Wages paid: in general, 83,84 
Relation of wages to cost of production, .... 84 
Wages paid: in detail, 85-87 
Motive power, 87,88 
Machinery, tools, and implements, 88,89 
Size and value of establishments, . . . . . . 89,90 
Manufactures “ plant,” 90 
Losses by fire, 90 
Accidents, 91 
Work furnished women at their homes, 91,92 
Condition of the employe's of each establishment, . . 92, 93 
General instructions, 93-95 
Census day, and year, 94 
Money values, 94 
Mercantile values, 94 
Book values, 94 
Combustible values, 94 
Symbols, 94,95 
Number of inquiries, 95 
Instructions by mail, 95 
The classification of manufacturing industries, . . . 95-97 
Industries, 96,97 
Manufactures: special schedules, 97-102 
Gas companies, 97 
Prices; transportation, etc., 97 
Printing and publishing, 97-99 
Kind of work done, etc., 98 
Newspapers, and other periodicals, 98,99 
Books, pamphlets, engravings, sheet music, etc., . 99 
Expenses for preparation, 99 
Print works, dye works, and bleacheries, .... 99-101 
Processes, etc., 99, 100 
Stock or materials used, 100 
Products, 100, 101 
Shipbuilding, 101, 102 
Vessels built, etc., 101 
Vessels built and repaired, 101,102 
Mines, quarries, pits, etc., 102-104 
Productive property: by name, 103 
Domestic manufactures; agricultural products and property, . 104-127 
Domestic manufactures, 104-106 
Names of articles, 104-106 
Classified arrangement of articles of domestic manufacture, 
and agricultural products and property, .... 106-110 194 
INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
The Examination of Returns—Continued. Page 
Animal products, 106 
Clothing, needle-work, etc., 106 
Dairy products 106 
Food products, 106 
Greenhouse products, 106 
Hothouse and hotbed products 107 
Liquors and beverages, 107 
Nursery products, 107 
Poultry products, 107 
Wood products, 107 
Wooden goods, 107 
Other products, 107,108 
Cereals, 108 
Fruits, berries, and nuts, 108 
Hay, straw, and fodder, 108 
Meats and game, 108 
Vegetables 108, 109 
Land, 109 
Cultivated land 109 
Uncultivated land, 109 
Woodland, 109 
Buildings, 109 
Machines, implements, etc., 109 
Domestic animals, etc., 109,110 
Fruit trees and vines, . no 
Persons employed in domestic manufactures, . . . no 
Agricultural products,—quantity, value, and acreage, . 111,112 
Names of products, in 
Acreage, hi 
Quantity and value, in 
Names of articles, in 
Hay 112 
Double returns, 112 
Milk and cream, 112 
Acreage of small crops, 112 
Farmers’ accounts, 112 
Agricultural products,—quantity and value, . . . 112,113 
Names of products, 112,113 
Dairy products,—milk, butter, and cheese, . . . 113,114 
Disposition and use of the milk product, . . . 114 
Intricate inquiries, 114 
Farms, 115,116 
Agricultural machines, implements, etc., . . . . 115 
Buildings, 116 
Description of buildings, 116 
Materials, 116 INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
195 
The Examination of Returns—Continued. Page 
Value, 116 
Fertilizers, 117 
Fences, 117 
Land,—cultivated, uncultivated and woodland, . . .117,118 
Land classification, 117 
Cultivated land, 117 
Uncultivated land, 117 
Woodland 117 
Acreage, 118 
Cultivated land (definition), . . . .... 118 
Uncultivated land (definition), 118 
Woodland (definition), 118 
Principal crops, 118 
Forest products 118, 119 
Forest fires, 118,119 
Farm population 119 
Wages paid in agriculture and domestic manufactures, . 119,120 
Domestic animals, etc., 120 
Fruit trees and vines 120, 121 
Silos and ensilage, 121, 122 
Other productive property 122, 123 
Market for crops, 122,123 
Special instructions No. 1, 123, 124 
Examination of first day’s work, 124 
Special instructions No. 2 124-127 
General information, 124 
Peculiarities or complications 125 
Boots, clothing, etc., including “ work on,” . . . 125 
Cider, 125 
Persons employed in domestic manufactures, . . . 125 
Agricultural products, 125 
Fodder, 125 
Cream, 125 
Milk, 125 
Dressed poultry, 126 
Dairy products, 126 
Farm property, 126 
Acreage of each farm, 126 
Capital invested 126 
Agricultural implements, 126 
Carts, wagons, etc., and harnesses, .... 126 
Description of buildings, 126 
Fertilizers, 126 
Fences, 126 
Land classification, 126 
Cultivated land, 126, 127 196 
INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
The Examination of Returns—Continued. Page 
Forest products, 127 
Farm population, 127 
Wages paid, 127 
Fruit trees and vines, 127 
The fisheries, 127-130 
Number of vessels, 127 
Names and description of vessels, 127 
Year in which built, 127 
Where built, 127 
Tonnage, 127 
Registered or not registered, 127 
Months engaged in the fisheries, 127 
Outfit, 127 
Minor particulars, 127 
Apparatus, 127, 128 
Capital invested, 128 
Markets, 128 
Persons employed, 128 
Nationalities, 128 
Women employed in the fisheries, 128 
Wages and profits, 128 
Kind of fish, where caught, 128 
Food fish preparation, 128, 129 
Fishery products (all kinds); description, quantity, value, . 129 
Domestic and imported salt, 129 
Accidents, 129 
Motive power, 129 
Machinery, tools, and implements, 129 
General instructions, 130 
Coastwise and ocean commerce, 130 
Libraries and reading rooms, 130, 131 
Schools and school property 131, 132 
Industrial statistics of Massachusetts, ..... 132-144 
Annual schedule,—manufactures, 132-139 
Circular letter in schedule, 133, 134 
Extracts from annual statistics law, . . . . 134 
Certificate, 134 
General instructions, 135, 136 
The inquiries, 135 
Annual statistics day, and year, . . . . 135 
Money values, 135 
Mercantile values, 135 
Book values, 135 
Estimates, 135 
Number of inquiries, 135 
Instructions by mail, 136 INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
197 
The Examination of Returns— Continued. Page 
Inquiries, 136 
Explanations, 136-138 
Partners or stockholders, 136 
Capital invested, 136, 137 
Principal stock used, 137 
Articles manufactured, 137 
Persons employed, 137, 138 
Wages paid, 138 
Proportional business done, 138 
Weeks in opqption, . * 138 
Answers, 138 
Special notice, 139 
To the manufacturers of Massachusetts, 139-141 
The annual statistics schedule for 1887, .... 141-144 
Changes, 141,142 
Special explanations 142-144 
Capital invested, 142, 143 
Bookkeeper’s balance, 142 
Census statement, 142 
Articles manufactured, and quantities and selling value 
of the same 143, 144 
Cotton goods, 144 
Boots and shoes, 144 
Clothing, 144 
Cordage and twine, 144 
Furniture, 144 
Leather, 144 
Woolen goods, 144 
Inquiries made by a college professor in relation to census 
statistics, 144, 145 
Answers to the inquiries, 144-146 
Tabulation, 147-154 
Advance in manufactures and the mechanic arts, . . . . 147 
Profitable inventions, 147 
Computation, 147 
“ Lightning calculators,” 147 
Expert accountants, 147 
The metric system, 147 
Methods of tabulation, 148 
Counting and addition, 148 
Calculating machines, 148-150 
Machine tabulation, 150-154 
The “scheme,” 150 
The “ factory system,” 150 
Result slips, 150 
Printed or mechanical devices for rapid computation in statistical 
work, IS1"153 198 
INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
Tabulation—Continued. Page 
Printed or mechanical devices for rapid computation in statistical 
work IS1"1 S3 
Printed devices: 
The self-counting tabulation sheet, .... 151 
The valuation, quantity, and number self-counting sheet, 152 
The slip system, 152 
The chip system 151, 152 
The slip-chip system, 152 
Bookkeeper’s trial balance sheet, 152 
Percentage charts, 152 
Addition percentage tables, 152 
Multiplication proof sheet 152 
Record margin schedules, 152 
Coupon schedule, 152 
Occupation tally scheme, 152 
Correlated result slips, 153 
Improved schedules, 153 
Improved result slips 152, 153 
Mechanical devices: 
The abacus adding machine, 151 
The automatic door counting machine, ... 151 
The arithmometer, 152 
The “ Billionnaire ” adding machine, .... 152 
Benton’s counting devices, 151 
Column adding machines, 151 
The cylinder adding machine, 152 
The electrical'adding machine 151,152 
The electrical multiplying machine, . . . . 152 
The electrical tabulating machine, . . . . 151 
Italian tabulating machine, 151 
The Pascal counting machine, 151 
The printing tabulator 152 
The rotary counting machine, . . . . 151 
Seaton’s tallying machine, 151 
Thatcher’s percentage machine 152 
Other machines, etc., 153 
Manner of utilizing machines in statistical work, . . . 153,154 
“ Consecutivity,” 153 
Instructions, 153 
Horizontal addition, 153 
Physical advantages of machine tabulation, . . . 153,154 
Financial advantages of machine tabulation, . . . . 154 
Statistical advantages of machine tabulation, ... 154 
The Presentation of Results, 155-160 
“ Editing ” of statistical tables, 155 INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
199 
The Presentation of Results—Continued. Page 
Details, . . . *55 
Object of statistics to supply information, .... 155 
Totals and aggregates, 155 
Percentages and averages 155 
Correlated facts, 156 
Foot-notes and head-notes, 156 
Analyses, * 5^ 
Tables of contents and indexes 156 
Punctuation, * 56 
“ Turned ” tables, 156 
Diagrams, 1 157 
The preparation of copy, 157 
Sharpening pencils, 157 
Proof-reading, 158 
Statistical “crimes,” 158 
Rules for the preparation of copy, and proof-reading, . . 159,160 
Working and Illustrative Diagrams, 161-163 
Illustrative diagrams, 161 
Working diagrams, 162, 163 
Schedules, 162 
Result slips, 162,163 
Intermediary, or office copy, 163 
Printer’s copy, 163 
Applied Statistics, 164-166 
The use of statistics, 164 
Statistics of mortality, and of births and marriages, ... 164 
“ Movement ” of the population, 164 
Reports of legislative committees, 164 
Statistics of labor, 164 
Appropriations for statistical offices, 164, 165 
Qualifications of a statistician, 165 
Uses of statistics, 165, 166 
Newspapers, 165 
Speakers, orators, and politicians, 165 
Law makers, 165 
Writers of review and magazine articles, .... 165 
Authors of books, 165 
The public demand, 165,166 
The statistician’s work, ........ 166 
Some Special Features in Statistics, 167-177 
Finer details in statistics demanded, 167 
Ages, 167, 168 
Illiteracy, 168 
Place of birth, 168 200 
INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
Some Special Features in Statistics—Continued. Page 
Parent nativity, 168 
Immigration, 168 
Aliens 169 
Physical, mental, and moral conditions, 169, 170 
Insanity, . 170 
Idiocy, 170 
Homeless children and paupers, 170 
Children at work, 171 
The education of children, 171 
School attendance, 171 
Correct method of counting the pauper, criminal, and physically 
defective classes, 171 
Statistics of mortality, 171 
Relative death rates, . . . s 172 
Boards of health, 172 
Birth rate among native born and foreign born mothers, . . 172 
Scientific questions solved by statistics, ..... 172 
The lawmaking power and statistics, 172,173 
Is the American stock “ dying out ? ” 173 
The industrial sch dule, 173,174 
Credit capital 173, 174 
Gross profit, 174 
Ratios of profit, 174 
Actual capital, 174 
Wages paid, 174, 175 
Average wages are erroneous statistics, 174 
Classified wages, 175 
Actual wages for each branch of occupation, . . . . 175 
The division of labor, 175 
Actual wages, 175 
The agricultural schedule, 175 
The wide range of statistical problems, 175 
Co-ordinate effort in statistical work, between the state and federal 
governments, 176 
The land question, 176 
Immigration, 176 
The tariff, 176 
Currency, 176 
Railroad transportation 176 
National topics, 176 
Special investigations, 176 
The great statistical questions of the time, 176 
Valuable points to be added, 176 
Industry pictures, 176 
Profits and wages, 176 
Statistics of trade, 176 INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
201 
Some Special Features in Statistics—Continued. Page 
The middle-man, 176 
Survivors of the United States wars, 176,177 
Statistics a catholic science, 177 
General statistics reach numbers, 177 
Special statistics reach facts, 177 
The Teaching of Practical Statistics, . . . . 178-187 
Necessity of teaching statistics, 178 
Theoretical instruction in institutions of learning, . . . 178 
Practical instruction in statistical offices, .... 178 
Practical instruction in colleges and academies, . . . 178 
The study of statistics in colleges, 178-181 
Educational provisions for the instruction of statisticians, 178 
American and foreign statistical offices and statisticians 
contrasted, 178,179 
American statisticians have the best opportunity for statistical 
investigations, 178 
The Prussian statistical bureau, 180 
Statistical criticism, 180 
Statistical work in colleges, 180, 181 
The work of the statistician, 181 
The science of statistics 182 
The sub-divisions of the science of statistics, .... 182, 183 
Need of instruction in practical statistics, .... 183 
The professor of political economy should teach practical statistics, 183 
How to encourage the study of statistics in colleges, . . . 184 
How to provide competent statisticians for census work, . . 184 
General principles or points of instruction to guide the teacher of 
practical statistics, 184-186 
Explanation of these principles, 185, 186 
The statistical field for the past fifty years, 186 
Improved statistical methods should be introduced, . . . 186 
Statistical errors in the past, 187 
Statistical practice, 187 
Statistics an ally and conservator of other sciences, . . . 187