Chapter 319.
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CHAP. 319.— An act to provide for taking the eleventh and subsequent censuses.March 1, 1889. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Eleventh census. That a census of the population, wealth, and industry of the United States shall be To date June 1, 1890.taken as of the date of June first, eighteen hundred and ninety. 761 Sec. 2. That there shall be established in the Department of theCensus Office Interior an office to be denominated the Census Office, the chief officer of which shall be called the Superintendent of Census, whose dutySuperintendent of Census. it shall be, under the direction of the head of the Department, to superintend and direct the taking of the Eleventh Census of the United States, in accordance with the laws relating thereto, and to perform such other duties as may be required of him by law.
Sec. 3. The Superintendent of Census shall be appointed by theAppointment. President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and lie shall receive an annual salary of six thousand dollars; and for theSalary. purposes of taking the Eleventh Census of the United States, the Secretary of the Interior may from time to time as the necessity therefor arises appoint a chief clerk and one disbursing clerk of the CensusClerical force. Office at an annual salary each of twenty-five hundred dollars, two stenographers, ten chiefs of division, at an annual salary each of two thousand dollars, ten clerks of class four, twenty clerks of class three, thirty clerks of class two, with such number of clerks of class one, and of clerks, copyists, and computers, at salaries of not less than seven hundred and twenty dollars nor more than one thousand dollars per annum, as may be found necessary for the proper and prompt compilation of the results of the enumeration of the census herein provided to be taken.
And the Secretary of the Interior may also appoint one captain of the watch at a salary of eight hundred andCaptain of the watch, etc. forty dollars per annum, two messengers and such number of watchmen and assistant messengers, laborers and skilled laborers at six hundred dollars each per annum, and messenger boys at salaries of four hundred dollars each Tier annum, and charwomen at salaries of two hundred and forty dollars each per annum, as maybe found necessary to carry out the provisions of this act.
And upon such compilation and publication of said census, or at an earlier date, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, the period of service of said clerks and employees shall end: *Provided*, That clerks transferred*Proviso*. Transfers in civil service. or detailed for service under this act from existing branches of the civil service shall not lose their positions or rights under the act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States. All of the clerks of classes four, three, and two, above provided for, may be statistical experts.
The disbursing clerk herein provided for shall, before entering upon his duties, give bond to the Treasurer of the United States in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, which bondDisbursing clerk’s bond. shall be conditioned that the said officer shall render a true and faithful account to the Treasurer, quarter-yearly, of all moneys and properties which shall be by him received by virtue of his office, with sureties to be approved by the Solicitor of the Treasury. Such bond shall be filed in the office of the First Comptroller of the Treasury, to be by him put in suit upon any breach of the conditions thereof.
All examinations for appointment and promotion, under this act, shall be in the discretion and under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior. Sec. 4. That the Secretary of the Interior shall, on or before theSupervisors of census to be appointed. first day of March, eighteen hundred and ninety, on the recommendation of the Superintendent of Census, designate the number, whether one or more, of Supervisors of census, to be appointed within each State and Territory, and the District of Columbia, who shall be appointed by the President of the United, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
The number of such supervisors shall not exceed one hundred and seventy-five. The Superintendent and the supervisors shall, before entering upon the duties of their offices, respectively, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: I,______(Superintendent or supervisor, as the case mayOath. be), do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and perform and discharge the duties of the office of (Superintendent or supervisor, as the case may be), accord- 762 ing to law, honestly and correctly, to the best of my ability; which oaths shall be tiled in the office of the Secretary of the Interior.
Sec. 5. Duties. Each Supervisor of census shall be charged with the performance. within his own district, of the following duties: To Subdivision of district.propose to the Superintendent of Census the division of his district into subdivisions most convenient for the purpose of enumeration; Enumerators.to designate to the Superintendent of Census suitable persons, and, with the consent of said Superintendent, to employ such persons as enumerators within his district, one for each subdivision, and resident therein, who shall be selected solely with reference to fitness, and without reference to their political party affiliations, according *Proviso*.
Preference.to the division approved by the Superintendent of Census: *Provided*, That in the appointment of enumerators, preference shall, in all cases be given to properly qualified persons honorably discharged from the military or naval service of the United States residing in their respective districts: but in case it shall occur in any enumeration district that no person qualified to perform and willing to undertake the duties of enumerator resides in that district, the supervisor may appoint any fit person, resident in the county, to be the Transmission of forms, etc.enumerator of that district; to transmit to enumerators the printed forms and schedules issued from the Census Office, in quantities suited to the requirements of each subdivision: to communicate to enumerators the necessary instructions and directions relating to their duties, and to the methods of conducting the census, and to advise with and counsel enumerators in person and by letter, as freely and fully as may be required to secure the purposes of this act; and under the Schedules for householders.direction of the Superintendent of Census, and to facilitate the taking of the census with as little delay as possible, he may cause to be distributed by the enumerators, prior to the taking of the enumeration, schedules to be filled up by householders and others; to Returns.provide for the early and safe transmission to his office of the returns of enumerators, embracing all the schedules filled by them in the course of enumeration, and for the due receipt and custody of such returns pending their transmission to the Census Office: to examine and scrutinize the returns of enumerators, in order to ascertain whether the work has been performed in all respects in compliance with the provisions of law: and whether any town or village or integral portion of the district has been omitted from enumeration; to forward to the Superintendent of Census the completed returns of his district in such time and manner as shall be prescribed by the said Superintendent, and in the event of discrepancies or deficiencies appearing in the returns from his district, to use all diligence in causing the same to be corrected or supplied; to make up and forward to the Superintendent of Census the accounts required for ascertaining the amount of compensation due under the provisions of this act to each enumerator of his district Whenever it shall appear Incomplete returns.that any portion of the enumeration and census provided for in this act has been negligently or improperly taken and is by reason thereof incomplete, the Superintendent of the Census, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, may cause such incomplete and unsatisfactory enumeration and census to be amended or made anew under such methods as may, in his discretion, be practicable.
Sec. 6. Compensation. Each supervisor of census shall, upon the completion of his duties to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior, receive the sum of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and in addition thereto, in thickly-settled districts, one dollar for each thousand or majority fraction of a thousand of the population enumerated in his district, and in sparsely-settled districts one dollar and forty cents for each thousand or majority fraction of a thousand of the population enumerated in such district; such sums to be in full compensation for all services rendered and expenses incurred by him, Clerk-hire.except that an allowance for clerk-hire may be made, at the discretion 763 of the Superintendent of Census: *Provided*, That, in the aggregate,*Proviso*.
Minimum pay. no supervisor shall be paid less than the sum of five hundred dollars. The designation of the compensation per thousand, as provided in this section, shall be made by the Secretary of the Interior at least one month in advance of the date for the commencement of the enumeration. Sec. 7. That all mail matter of whatever class, relative to the censusMail to be sent free. and addressed to the Census Office, to the Superintendent of Census, his chief clerk, supervisors or enumerators: and indorsed “Official business, Department of the Interior, Census Office,” shall be transported free of postage; and if any person shall make use of anyPenalty stamps. such indorsement to avoid the payment of postage on his private letter, package, or other matter in the mail, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and subject to a fine of three hundred dollars’, to be prosecuted in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Sec. 8. No enumerator shall be deemed qualified to enter upon hisEnumerators. Appointment. duties until he has received from the supervisor of census of the district to which he belongs a commission, under his hand, authorizing him to perform the duties of an enumerator, and setting forth the boundaries of the subdivision within which such duties are to be performed by him. He shall, moreover, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: " “I, ______, an enumerator for taking the ——census of theOath.
United States, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will make a true and exact enumeration of all the inhabitants within the subdivision assigned to me, and will also faithfully collect all other statistics therein, as provided for in the act for taking the-census, and in conformity with all lawful instructions which I may receive, and will make due and correct returns thereof as required by said act, and will not disclose any information contained in the schedules, lists, or statements obtained by me to any person or persons, except to my superior officers.
(Signed) ______” " Which said oath or affirmation may be administered by any judge or clerk of a court of record, or any justice of the peace, or notary public empowered to administer oaths; which oath, duly authenticated, shall be forwarded to the supervisor of census before the date fixed herein for the commencement of the enumeration. Sec. 9. It shall be the duty of each enumerator, after being qualifiedDuties of enumerators. in the manner aforesaid, to visit personally each dwelling-house in his subdivision, and each family therein, and each individual living out of a family in any place of abode, and by inquiry made of the head of such family, or of the member thereof deemed most credible and worthy of trust, or of such individual living out of a family, to obtain each and every item of information and all the particulars required by this act, as of date June first, eighteen hundred and ninety.
And in case no person shall be found at the usual place of abode of such family or individual living out of a family competent to answer the inquiries made in compliance with the requirements of this act, then it shall be lawful for the enumerator to obtain the required information, as nearly as may be practicable, from the family or families, or person or persons, living nearest to such place of abode. The Superintendent of Census may employEnumeration of Indians. special agents or other means to make an enumeration of all Indians living within the jurisdiction of the United States, with such information as to their condition as may be obtainable, classifying them as to Indians taxed, and Indians not taxed.
Sec. 10. And it shall be the duty of each enumerator to forwardSchedules. the original schedules, duly certified, to the supervisor of census of his district, as his returns under the provisions of this act. 764 Sec. 11. Compensation. The compensation of enumerators shall be ascertained and fixed as follows: In subdivisions, where the Superintendent of Census shall deem such allowance sufficient, an allowance not exceeding two cents for each living inhabitant, two cents for each death reported, fifteen cents for each farm, and twenty cents for each establishment of productive industry enumerated and returned, and for each surviving soldier, sailor, or marine, or widow of such soldier, sailor, or marine returned five cents, may be given in full *Proviso*.
To be designated in advance.compensation for all services: *Provided*, That the subdivisions to which the above rate of compensation shall apply must be designated by the Superintendent of Census at least one month in advance of the enumeration. Rates of compensation for all other subdivisions shall be fixed in advance of the enumeration by the Superintendent of Census. with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, according to the difficulty of enumeration, having reference to the nature of the region to be canvassed and the density or sparseness of settlement, or other considerations pertinent thereto: but the compensation Maximum and minimum rates.allowed to any enumerator in any such district shall not be less than three dollars nor more than six dollars per day of ten hours actual fieldwork each, when a per diem compensation shall be established by the Secretary of the Interior: nor more than three cents for each living inhabitant, twenty cents for each farm, and thirty cents for each establishment of productive industry enumerated and returned, when a per capita compensation shall be deemed advisable by the Mileage, etc.Secretary of the Interior.
No claim for mileage or traveling expenses shall be allowed any enumerator in either class of subdivisions, except in extreme cases, and then only when authority has been previously granted by the Superintendent of Census. The Superintendent of Census shall prescribe uniform methods and suitable forms for keeping accounts of the number of people enumerated or of the time occupied in fieldwork for the purpose of ascertaining the amounts due to enumerators, severally, under the provisions of this act.
Sec. 12. Extent of subdivisions. That the subdivision assigned to any enumerator shall not exceed four thousand inhabitants, as near as may be, according to estimates based on the Tenth Census. The boundaries of all subdivisions shall be clearly described by civil divisions, rivers, roads, public surveys, or other easily distinguished lines. Sec. 13. Punishment of officers for malfeasance. That any supervisor or enumerator, who. having taken and subscribed the oath required by this act, shall, without justifiable cause, neglect or refuse to perform the duties enjoined on him by this act, or shall, without the authority of the Superintendent, communicate to any person not authorized to receive the same, any information gained by him in the performance of his duties, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars; or, if he shall willfully and knowingly swear or affirm falsely, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and, on conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned not exceeding three years, and be fined not exceeding eight hundred dollars; or if he shall willfully and knowingly make false certificates or fictitious returns, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction of either of the last-named offenses, he shall be fined not exceeding five thousand dollars and be imprisoned not exceeding two years.
Sec. 14. Punishment for receiving pay for securing appointments. That if any person shall receive or secure to himself any fee, reward, or compensation as a consideration for the appointment or employment of any person as enumerator or clerk or other employee, or shall in any way receive or secure to himself any part of the compensation provided in this act for the services of any enumerator or clerk or other employee, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and. on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than three thousand dollars, or be imprisoned not more than one year or both, in the discretion of the court. 765 Sec. 15.
That each and every person more than twenty years ofPunishment for refusing to give information. age. belonging to any family residing in any enumeration district or subdivision, and in case of the absence of the heads and other members of any such family, then any representative of such family shall be. and each of them hereby is, required, if thereto requested by the Superintendent, supervisor, or enumerator to render a true account to the best of his or her knowledge, of every person belonging to such family, in the various particulars required by law, and whoever shall willfully fail or refuse shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars.
And every president, treasurer, secretary, agent, director, or otherOfficers of corporations. officer of every corporation from which answers to any of the schedules provided for by this act are herein required, who shall, if thereto requested by the Superintendent, supervisor, or enumerator, willfully neglect or refuse to give true and complete answers to any inquiries authorized by this act, or shall willfully give false information, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be fined not exceeding ten thousand dollars, to which may be added imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year.
Sec. 16. That all fines and penalties imposed by this act may beEnforcement of penalties. enforced by indictment or information in any court of competent jurisdiction. Sec. 17. That the schedules of inquiries at the Eleventh CensusSchedules. R. S., sec. 2206, p. 385. shall be the same as those contained in section number twenty-two hundred and six of the Revised Statutes of the United States, of eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, as amended by section seventeen of the act entitled “An act to provide for taking the Tenth andVol. 20, p. 177. subsequent censuses”, approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, with such changes of the subject-matter, emendations, and modifications as may be approved by the Secretary of the Interior;To be in discretion of Secretary of the Interior. *Provisos*. it being the intent of this section to give to said Secretary full discretion over the form of the schedules of such inquiries: *provided, however*, That said Superintendent shall, under the authoritySpecial inquiries. of the Secretary of the Interior, cause to be taken on a special schedule of inquiry, according to such form as he may prescribe, the names, organizations, and length of service of those who had served in the Army.
Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States in the war of the rebellion, and who are survivors at the time of said inquiry, and theSurvivors of the war. etc. widows of soldiers, sailors or marines: *And provided*, That the population schedule shall include an inquiry as to the number of negroes,Negroes, etc. mulattoes, quadroons, and octoroons. The report which the Superintendent of Census (if directed by said Secretary) is required to obtain from rai road corporations, incorporated express companies, telegraph companies, and insurance companies, and from all corporationsReport from corporations. or establishments reporting products other than agricultural products, shall be of and for the fiscal year of such corporations or establishments having its termination nearest to the first of June, eighteen hundred and ninety; the Superintendent of Census shall collect and publish the statistics of the population, industries, and resources of the district of Alaska, with such fullness as he mayAlaska resources, etc. deem expedient, and as he shall find practicable under the appropriations made, or to be made, for the expenses of the Eleventh Census.
He shall also, at the time of the general enumeration herein provided for, or prior thereto, as the Secretary of the Interior may determine, collect the statistics of and relating to the recorded indebtedness ofIndebtedness of record. private corporations and individuals, and make report thereon to Congress: and he shall collect, from official sources, information relating to animals not on farms. The only volumes that shall beVolumes to be published. prepared and published in connection with said census shall relate to population and social statistics relating thereto, the products of manufactories, mining and agriculture, mortality and vital statistics, 766 valuation and public indebtedness, recorded indebtedness, and to statistics relating to railroad corporations, incorporated express, telegraph and insurance companies, a list of the names, organizations, and length of service of surviving soldiers, sailors and marines, and the widows of soldiers, sailors and marines.
Sec. 18. Collection of special statistics. That each enumerator in his subdivision shall be charged with the collection of the facts and statistics required by each and all the several schedules, with the following exceptions, to wit: In Deaths.cities or States where an official registration of deaths is maintained, the Superintendent of Census, may in his discretion, withhold the mortality schedule from the several enumerators within such cities or States, and may obtain the statistics required by this act through official records, paying therefor such sum as may be found necessary, not exceeding the amount which is by this act authorized to be paid to enumerators for a similar service, namely, two cents for each Manufactures, etc.death thus returned.
Whenever he shall deem it expedient, the Superintendent of Census may withhold the schedules for manufacturing, mining, and social statistics from the enumerators of the several subdivisions, and may charge the collection of these statistics Employment of experts.upon experts and special agents, to be employed without respect to locality. And said Superintendent may employ experts and special agents to investigate and ascertain the statistics of the manufacturing, railroad, fishing, mining, cattle, and other industries of the country, and of telegraph, express, transportation, and insurance companies as he may designate and require.
Preparation of questions.And the Superintendent of Census shall, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, prepare schedules containing such interrogatories as shall, in his judgment, be best adapted to elicit this information, with such specifications, divisions, and particulars under each head as he shall deem necessary to that end. Such experts and Oath, etc., of experts.special agents shall take the same oath as the enumerators of the several subdivisions, and shall have equal authority with such enumerators in respect to the subjects committed to them, and they shall Pay.receive compensation at rates to be fixed by the Superintendent of *Proviso*.Census with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior: *Provided*, Maximum.That the same shall in no case exceed six dollars per day and actual necessary traveling expenses.
Sec. 19. Commencement of enumeration. That the enumeration required by this act shall commence on the first Monday of June, eighteen hundred and ninety, and be taken as of that date, and each enumerator shall prosecute the canvass of his subdivision from that date forward on each weekday without intermission, except for sickness or other urgent cause; and any unnecessary cessation of his work shall be sufficient ground for his removal and the appointment of another person in his place; and any person so appointed shall take the oath required of enumerators, and shall receive compensation at the same rates.
And it shall be the duty of each enumerator to complete the enumeration of his district, Returns to be forwarded by July 1, 1890.and to prepare the returns hereinbefore required to be made, and to forward the same to the supervisor of his district on or before the first day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety, and in any city having over ten thousand inhabitants under the census of eighteen hundred and eighty, the enumeration of population shall be taken within two weeks from the first Monday of June; and any delay beyond the dates above respectively, on the part of any enumerator, shall be sufficient cause for withholding the compensation to which he would be entitled by compliance with the provisions of this act, until proof satisfactory to the Superintendent of Census shall be furnished that such delay was by reason of causes beyond the control of such enumerator.
Sec. 20. Limit of cost. That the sum of six million four hundred thousand dollars is hereby fixed and limited as the maximum cost of the census herein provided for, exclusive of printing, engraving, and binding, 767 and it shall not be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior or the Superintend of Census to incur any expense or obligation whatever, in respect to said census, in excess of that sum; and the sum of one million dollars is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be immediately available,Appropriation. and continue available until the completion of the Eleventh Census.
Sec. 21. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorizedInformation from Departments. whenever he may think proper, to call upon any other Department or office of the Government, for information pertinent to the enumeration herein required. Sec. 22. Any supervisor of census may. with the consent of theRemoval of enumerators. Superintendent of Census, remove any enumerator in his district, and fill the vacancy thereby caused or otherwise occurring; and in such cases but one compensation shall be allowed for the entire service. to be apportioned among the persons performing the same in the discretion of the Superintendent of Census.
Sec. 23. That upon the request of any municipal government,Cities, etc., may be furnished with names, etc., of persons. meaning thereby the incorporated government of any town, village, township, or city, or kindred municipality, the Superintendent of Census shall furnish such government with a copy of the names, with age. sex. birthplace and color, or race, of all persons enumerated within the territory in the jurisdiction of such municipality, and such copies shall be paid for by such municipal government at the rate of twenty-five cents for each one hundred names, and all sums so received by the Superintendent of Census shall be accounted for in such way as the Secretary of the Interior shall direct, and covered into the Treasury of the United States to be placed to the credit of.Sums be credited to census fund. and in addition to, the appropriation herein made for taking the Eleventh Census.
Sec. 24. That the Secretary of the Interior may authorize the expenditureSecretary of Interior to direct expenses. of necessary sums for the traveling expenses of the officers and employees connected with the taking of the census, and the incidental expenses essential to the carrying out of this act. including the rental of convenient quarters in the District of Columbia and the furnishing thereof, and an outfit for printing small blanks, tally-sheets, circulars, and so forth, and shall from time to time make a detailed report to Congress of such expenditures.
Sec. 25. That the act entitled “An act to provide for the takingInconsistent provisions of law repealed. Vol. 20, p. 173. of the Tenta and subsequent census”, approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed: and all censuses subsequent to the Eleventh Census shall be taken in accordance with the provisions of this act, unless Congress shall hereafter otherwise provide. Approved, March 1, 1889.