the plaintiff must show cause why the defendant should not be released; either party may then demand a trial by jury, and if they find for the plaintiff, the defendant may be remanded to prison. But females shall not be kept in custody, nor non-residents for debts contracted out of the District. Processes already in the hands of the marshal shall be executed. June 17, 1844.

No. 59. An Act concerning conveyances or devises of places of public worship in the District of Columbia. Land conveyed to trustees for the use of a congregation as a place for public worship, shall be held by the trustees for the purpose of the trust, and not otherwise. If any such conveyarce or devise has been or shall be made, it shall not be voided from the want of trustees to hold it, but the Circuit Court of the District shall appoint trustees, either originally, when there are none, or to fill vacancies from death, refusal, &c., and the legal title shall be exclusively vested in the whole number of trustees. A majority of the trustees may sue and be sued, without abatement by the death of any, or the substitution of others. They shall not hold in this way a tract of more than 50 acres in the county, or 3 acres in any incorporated town; nor for any other purpose than public worship, religious or other instruction, burial-ground, or residence of their minister. June 17, 1844.

No. 60. An Act to continue the pensions of certain widows. The act of March 3, 1843, granting pensions to certain widows, is extended for a further term of four years. Widows admitted by special acts to the benefit of the pension act of July 7, 1838, or of the act hereby extended, shall be entitled to the benefit of this act.

No. 61. An Act supplementary to the Act entitled "An Act to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, and to preserve peace on the frontiers," passed June 30, 1834. The U. S. Courts in the District of Arkansas shall have the same jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Indian country, as they had before the Territory was changed into the State of Arkansas; and the Indian country is annexed to the State of Arkansas, for the sole purpose of carrying this Act into effect. June 17, 1844.

No. 62. An Act explanatory of the treaty made with the Chippewa Indians at Saginaw, Jan. 23, 1838. The first and second articles of this treaty shall be so construed, that, after Sept. 1, 1843, the minimum price of the lands ceded by it shall be $2.50 an acre. June 17, 1844.

No. 63. Civil and Diplomatic appropriation bill. See abstract on page 144. June 17, 1844.

No. 64.

17, 1844.

Army appropriation bill. See abstract on page 144. June

No. 65. Navy appropriation bill. See abstract on page 144. June 17, 1844.

No. 66. Indian Department appropriation bill. See abstract on page 144. June 17, 1844.

XII. MISTAKES IN THE CENSUS OF 1840.

THE last three volumes of the American Almanac contain copious abstracts of the information collected in the course of taking, the sixth census. It was deemed proper to insert them, as the document was of high official authority, containing information that had been collected with great labor and expense, and which, if it had been correct, or even a tolerable approximation to the truth, would have been of vast importance. The returns showed the results of an attempt, made under the patronage and direction of the General Government, to give a complete statistical survey of the United States. As such, great reliance was placed upon them, and arguments and deductions have been drawn from them in support of legislative and diplomatic proceedings of great moment. It is not too much to say, that this confidence was wholly misplaced, and that subsequent examination has shown the returns to be so very inaccurate, that any conclusions founded upon them are entirely unsafe. In respect to the mere enumeration of the inhabitants, perhaps, they may be trusted; though, even in this respect, in the case of a single county in Maryland, that of Montgomery, a reexamination ordered by Congress showed an error of 800 in a population of 15,000, or more than five per cent.

In publishing the statistics of the census in the American Almanac for 1843, before any of the blunders had been publicly exposed, we stated, that "the information here given can be considered only as an approximation to the truth," that "there were some errors and deficiencies in the plan, and unavoidable mistakes and defects in carrying it into execution." Later scrutiny of the returns has shown the truth of these remarks in a greater degree even than we had anticipated. The scheme for taking the census and collecting the statistics was very unskilfully prepared; questions were propounded to individuals, that they could not, or would not, answer; replies were given at random; culpable negligence was shown by the marshals and their subordinates in committing these answers to paper; and, to crown the whole, the returns were printed by the official printers at Washington in such a manner, that the typographical errors probably outnumbered the mistakes in the original papers. And these erroneous results have been embodied in a great number of publications, have been copied and commented upon in Europe, and have had a sensible influence on the legislation and diplomacy of this country. Blunders committed by high authority, are apt to produce very wide and injurious effects.

The general scheme of the census was faulty, as it involved the hopeless attempt to collect information of immense extent, variety, and minuteness. It was proposed to ascertain "the aggregate value and produce of the mines, agriculture, commerce, and manufactures of the country, and the number of persons employed in them," and thereby to exhibit “a full view of the pursuits, industry, and resources of the several States and

Territories." No European government ever attempted to execute so broad a plan as this, for the obvious reason, that its execution, with an ordinary degree of correctness, is impossible. In our volume for 1843, we remarked, that "all persons are not willing to make a full disclosure of their private concerns, their annual profits and amount of capital invested, especially when an undefined apprehension exists, that the facts thus obtained will be made the basis of future taxation. In certain respects, concealment is impossible, and the returns are probably very accurate. The number of manufactories and machines, of persons employed, and, in many cases, the quantity of annual products, may be ascertained with great correctness. But the valuation of these articles must be quite arbitrary, and the statements of the amount of capital invested deserve little or no credence. In future attempts, it will be well to confine the inquiries to those points, on which individuals are able and willing to give full and precise information."

On the other hand, the plan was a very defective one, as it did not provide for collecting many kinds of information, that are quite accessible, which might be obtained with great accuracy, and which would have been of vast importance. In a country like this, it is very desirable to know the extent and direction of the great streams of immigration. The inhabitants should have been divided into those of native and of foreign origin, specifying in the latter case the countries whence they had emigrated. Other classes might be formed of those who were born in the State where they resided, and those who had removed into it from other parts of the United States. The number of buildings used as places of residence can easily be counted, and they should be divided into those constructed of brick, stone, framed work, and logs. The number of buildings used for purposes of public worship can easily be ascertained, and the religious denominations specified, to which they respectively belong. On these, and a great variety of other topics, precise information can be had, and it would be of great use.

In a former article upon the subject, we stated, that "government might do much for the progress of statistical knowledge, if it would organize and support a Statistical Bureau, connected with one of the Departments at Washington, whose duty it should be, not only to contrive the plan and superintend the business of taking the census every tenth year, but at all periods to collect information relative to the great interests of the country, and to digest and publish it in the most convenient form. The salaries of a Superintendent and a few clerks would be the only expense, and it is quite probable that an equal sum would be saved from the printing of the bulky and confused documents, which would be superseded by the well-arranged, succinct, and far more accurate returns, prepared by men practised in the work, and devoting their whole attention to collecting the various materials. The legislative bodies are continu

ally making calls upon the several Departments for information upon particular subjects, and the demand is hurriedly answered by throwing together, in a loose form, whatever materials may be at hand, while it is confessed, that more complete and accurate returns might be obtained, and put into a shorter compass and a more convenient shape, if time and labor could be spared for the work. Most European governments have organized statistical offices of the kind here mentioned, and the reports which they publish, from time to time, are very valuable." Congress has since acted upon this suggestion, and established a Statistical Bureau, consisting of a Superintendent and two clerks. If competent persons are appointed to these offices, much good may be effected.

It is not necessary to search far for illustrations of the errors committed in taking the last census. Many are apparent on the very face of the returns. Thus, the number of tons of hemp and flax, raised in one year in Kentucky, probably the largest hemp-growing State in the Union, is stated at 9,99214; while the quantity for Virginia, where but little com. paratively is raised, is made to be 25,5944 tons. The quantity of bituminous coal mined annually in New Hampshire is stated at 29,920 bushels; and for Connecticut, at 38,000 bushels. We never heard, that a bituminous coal-mine was worked in either of these States. The number of slaves in Connecticut is said to be 17; in New Jersey, 674; in Pennsylvania, 64; though in each of these States, slavery has long since ceased to exist. The number of commercial houses engaged in foreign trade, in Boston, is said to be 142; in New Orleans, only 8 are given; in Louisville, Ky., only 1 is put down; while in Richmond, Va., there are said to be 17, and in Troy, N. Y., 44. In Salem, Mass., according to the census, there is not a dollar of capital invested either in foreign trade or commission business; nor is there a lumber-yard or a butcher in the whole city. No inquiry is necessary to show the falsity of these statements.

The "American Statistical Association," established in Boston, Mass., sent a memorial to Congress during the past winter, drawn up by Messrs. William Brigham, Edward Jarvis, and J. W. Thornton, in which, though they "confined their investigations to the reports respecting education and nosology," they exposed an extraordinary mass of errors in the census. We can find room only for a few extracts from this memorial.

"According to the census of 1840, there are in the United States 173 Universities, or Colleges, containing 16,233 students. There is good reason to suppose, that the number of colleges given is almost twice as large as the true number, and that the number of students is exaggerated nearly as much. Four colleges, for example, are put down to Maine, which has two. Four to Massachusetts, which has three. Four to Connecticut, which has three," &c.

"In many of the States, common schools are supported by a public

tax, or by funds provided by the public, for the education of all the children within the respective States. All the children, therefore, who are educated at these schools, are educated, so far as instruction is concerned, 'at the public charge.' In relation to Massachusetts, it is stated, that there are 160,257 scholars in common schools,' and '158,351 at public charge;' and in relation to New Hampshire, where schools are supported in a similar manner, it is stated, that there are '83,632 scholars in common schools,' and only '7,715 at public charge.' The instance of Connecticut might also be adduced, where the munificent provision of the school fund reaches every child in the State between the ages of four and sixteen, and is nearly sufficient to defray the cost of their instruction in the common schools. Yet in Connecticut, according to the census, only 10,912 children are taught at public charge, out of the 65,730 in the common schools."

"The most glaring and remarkable errors are found in the statements respecting nosology, the prevalence of insanity, blindness, deafness, and dumbness among the people of this nation.

"The undersigned have compared these statements with information obtained from other more reliable sources, and have found them widely varying from the truth; and, more than all, they have compared the statements in one part of the census with those in another part, and have found most extraordinary discrepances. They have also examined the original manuscript copy of the census deposited by the Marshal of the District of Massachusetts in the Clerk's office in Boston, and have compared this with the printed editions of both Blair & Rives and Thomas Allen, and found here, too, a variance of statements.

"Your memorialists are aware, that some of these errors in respect to Massachusetts, and perhaps also in respect to other States, were committed by the Marshals. Mr. William H. Williams, Deputy Marshal, states that there were 133 colored pauper lunatics in the family of Samuel B. Woodward, in the town of Worcester; but on another page he states, that there are no colored persons in said Woodward's family. Mr. Benali Blood, Deputy Marshal, states, on one page, that there were 14 colored pauper lunatics and two colored lunatics who were supported at private charge, in the family of Charles E. Parker, in the town of Pepperell, while on another page he states, that there are no colored persons in the family of said Parker. Mr. William M Jackson states, on one page, that there are in the family of Jacob Cushman, in the town of Plympton, four pauper colored lunatics and one colored blind person, while on another page he states that there are no colored persons in the family of said Cushman. But, on comparing the manuscript copy of the census at Boston with the printed edition of Blair & Rives, the undersigned are convinced that a large portion of the errors were made by the printers, and that hardly any of the errors of the original document are left out. The original document

66