MORE FACTS WANTED

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 44, 16 November 1920, Page 7

MORE FACTS WANTED

WORK FOR THE STATISTICS ■ OFFICE. More advertising of New Zealand tef - S U /?r e<l K th 6 Government Statistician (Mr. Malcolm Eraser) in a report presented l» Parliament shortly belore the end of the session. Representations wore mndo to mo at tlie Hign Commissioner's office in London says Mr Eraser, "as to the lack ot suitable literature for distribution, and of up-to-dato information as to con. anions in. the Dominion. Certainly ono of the disappointments of my toni- was ? "' 1(1 ,10W life was known anywhere of New Zealand—practically no references to New Zealand were ever seen in thlo English or American newspapers. Apart from the need for specialised pamphlets, interestingly written nnd well illustrated, for the immigrant the business man, and tho tourist, I think something more is required from the Statistical Office. At presrnt the Statistical Office issues a 'Monthly Abstract of Statistics, and two animal volumes— tha Official Year Book and the statistical volume—tho latter being in four parts. The defect of the. 'Monthly Abstract of Statistics' is that it is mainly a mass of tables and, figures. \Mucii could be done to make it interesting and more informative if the fc\v notes and comments now made were extended with further information as to conditions, etc., throughout the country. I am suro that this could be made to supply a much-felt want in the High Commissioner's Office, London, and with very little additional work or cost. "So. far as the Year Book is concerned, there is room for improvement, and it is hoped that more attention can now be paid thereto. The scope nnd object of tho volume is all riglrt, and the crux of the problem for its improvement lies in the employment of properly trained nnd qualified men in the senior positions on the staff. . , "With regard to the annual volume ot statistics, this purports to give in detail all the statistics in regard to the Dominion, and is, as to scope nnd form, etc., a legacy from the past. T noticed that in the other countries visited the growing tendency is to issue from the Statistical Office a special report on ench particular branch, which includes, besides the detailed faWos, an analysis of their contents, with comments, elc., as to progress or movement. This, I think, is on improved lines, as it facilitates collaboration between the professional, administrative, and statistical experts in tbie writing-rtp of the data."