COMPILING THE CENSUS.

Shannon News, 28 May 1926, Page 2

COMPILING THE CENSUS.

THE ENUMERATOR'S WORK. The work of coarjjpiling and checkI ing the census returns' is an uridcrl taking of more magnitude then may be imagined, as a "News" reporter discovered when he approached Mr B. Magee, census enumerator for the Horowhenua district, i About 8000 schedules were distributed throughout the Horowhenua district, 1500 of this number having been issued to houses within.the Levin Borough, where, in practically all cases, both dwelling and household schedules were supplied to each house, while in, hotels, .boarding houses and other similar institutions where people other than the family had their residence on the night of taking the census, personal census papers were supplied for each person. In many instances, then, quite a large number of these were received from a single building. The completion and collection of these returns was hampered a good deal through the absence of persons at the time when the sub-enumerator called, or through, the former's failing to forward their papers to the enumerator, whose work of counting and checking was thereby retarded until the full quota had been returned from the town or riding concerned.

A resume of the method employed in the satisfactory functioning of census work, may give a slight illustration of the almost endless amount of ■detail work involved after" we-'have signed our names in testimony of the particulars recorded in our census papers. In the first place all the various forms returned from each household had to be correctly assembled and pinned together. Next, the total number, of male and female Europeans and Maoris, as well as the uninhabited and occupied dwelling, has to be ascertained, after which Hie particulars were copied into a register. Apart from the total population of either town or riding, it was necessary to obtain the census- of each division, or "mesh" as 1 it is officially designated, of town or riding and record the findings for each of these divisions. These subsidiary totals are then added together,-the number thus arrived at being the total for the whole locality or area. , There is still a further step before the operation is finalised, each schedule having to be carefully scrutinised for incorrect particulars, and, where mistakes have been made, fresh en-, ! quiries instituted. Haying done this, the enumerator dispatches the papers j to headquarters, where the officers in the statistical department- classify the ; data contained on each paper, and so compile their statistics. It will be easily understood that m a district like Horowhenua County, there would be a. possibility of overlooking a number of men working in sawmills, flaxmin swamps and backblock farms, and that some delay might jbe occasioned : .through such men not receiving word of their liability to make census returns before a prescribed date. There were a few instances of this description at the census taken last month, but, fortunately, they did not occasion very much delay.