be clearly understood that the government has no legal right to make any contract, express or implied, that shall bind it in anticipation of appropriations, you are authorized to say to all who desire to serve without pay, and with an express disclaimer in relation thereto, that all of the facts necessary to a full understanding of the case will be laid before Congress at the earliest practicable moment. Very respectfully, &c., A. BELL, Acting Secretary. Acting under the authority given in the above letter, an average force of seven hundred assistants has been retained from the 15th of June to the present time. Not only has no falling off in efficiency been manifested by the clerical force as a consequence of the peculiar and regretable condition of service, but the average amount of work done in every division of the office has steadily improved. The work in every department has made rapid progress, and it is my confident expectation that by the time Congress meets the compilation of the Tenth Census will be substantially completed. A comparatively small force will further be required to reduce the statistical matter to tabular form and to prepare it for the printer; but it is safe to say that at least eight months have been saved, in the publication of the final results of the census, by keeping the clerical force at work during the summer, as compared with what would have taken place had the office been disbanded and subsequently organized a second time after the meeting of Congress. While I have spoken thus in regard to the increase in the cost of the Tenth Census above my estimates and calculations, it should not be understood that the census so taken has been expensive, as compared with any preceding enumeration, reasonable allowance being made for the increase of population and other elements of expense. The Ninth Census cost three millions and a third ($3,336,000). Our population has, in the interval, increased 30 per cent., and other elements of the cost of a census have increased at least proportionally. An increase of 30 per cent. upon three millions and a third would amount to four millions and a third. By the twentieth section of the act of March 3, 1879, Congress provided only three millions for the expenses of the Tenth Census, exclusive of printing and engraving, being a million and a third below its proportional cost, as compared with the census preceding. By the act of March 3, 1881, $500,000 additional were appropriated, making the total appropriation for the purposes of the act of 1879 three millions and a half, or $836,000 below the proportional cost of the Ninth Census. This is all that has thus far been appropriated for this service, exclusive of the amount provided for printing and engraving ($250,000), and of the amount appropriated ($210,000) to meet the expenses involved in carrying out the provisions of the sixth section of the act of April 20, 1880, which act required of the enumerators services altogether additional to those prescribed by the act of 1879. Should, therefore, an additional $540,000 be appropriated for this service, according to the recommendation hereafter to be made, the expense of the Tenth Census, according to the scheme of the act of March 3, 1879, would still be considerably below that of the census of 1870. But such a comparison would not be fair without reference to the vastly wider range of the present census, the minuter and more extensive compilations undertaken, and the improvement in the quality of the results obtained. The census has, for the first time, collected the statistics of railroads and telegraphs; of fire, marine, and life insurance; while in the departments of agriculture and manufactures the information obtained has been at least double, in mere matter of bulk, what has heretofore been obtained. In the inquiries respecting taxation and public debts, the investigations of the census have been extended to embrace an amount of detail which exists in regard to the public indebtedness of no other country of the world. In the great field of our mining and fishing industries, the worse than worthless statistics of 1850, 1860, and 1870 will be found replaced by a body of economical, social, and technical information respecting these great and growing interests which will be of incalculable value to the country. There is not one direction in which the published results of the present census will not cover more ground, divided into greater detail, than any preceding, while the character of the results will testify to a more rigid examination and a more careful revision of the results of the enumeration. Out of a total appropriation of $3,960,000 (inclusive of the appropriation of $250,000 for printing and engraving, and of $210,000 for the purposes of the act of April 20, 1880), $3,860,068 67 have been expended, leaving a balance of $2,120 50 on the general appropriation (all in the hands of the disbursing officers of the mining and fishery investigations), and of $97,810 83 on the appropriation for printing and engraving. The accompanying table shows the various objects of expenditure, classified under certain general heads. It appears from this exhibit that $2,094,947 95 have been paid to enumerators and interpreters, $133,457 54 to supervisors of census, while certain re-enumerations, under the orders of the Secretary of the Interior, have cost $8,099 67. The enumeration of the manufacturing statistics of cities, conducted by 345 special agents, cost $87,085 37. The collection of the statistics of mining industries, including both the precious and the non-precious metals, both east and west of the Mississippi river, have cost $149,897 23, while the collection of the statistics of the fisheries has cost $45,329 19, and other investigations by special agents, smaller sums. The expenses of the central office at Washington have aggregated $1,063,468 48, of which $817,359 40 has been expended as compensation for clerks and other employés. Ledger page. Statement of disbursements on account of the Tenth Census to October 31, 1881. Branch of investigation. Name of person in charge. Miscellaneons. Pay of inter preters. Total. 31 Statistics of the mining industries east of Prof. R. Pumpelly and 57 as 49, 822 22 2,158 56 143 38 1,690 33 50 57 72.00 the Mississippi river. sistants. 36 Statistics of the mining industries west of Clarence King and 54 assist 37, 163 36 22, 999 00 1,792 56 383 81 891 67 1, 923 60 87,085 37 65, 154 00 104 Statistics of forestry and the lumbering Prof. C. S. Sargent and 24 asindustry. Ledger page. Statement of disbursements on account of the Tenth Census to October 31, 1881-Continued. Branch of investigation. Name of person in charge. Compensation. Total. Statistics of the manufactures of glass and Joseph D. Weeks and 4 assist 5, 423 89 1, 720 30 111 93 77 00 200 00 31 44 7,564 56 interests. Statistics of the silk industry. 72 Statistics of the production of cereals..... Statistics of Alaska, its population, industry, and resources. 75 Statistics of newspapers and the publishing S. N. D. North. 64 Statistics of the movement of population.. 96 Statistics of the production of petroleum. 83 Statistics of the manufacture of iron and steel C. S. Mixter and W. A. King. 5, 144 08: 234 17 5,378 25 4,034 50 816 30 12.80 4 20 4,867 80 2,918 56 1,149 00 4,067 56 2,547 00 1, 149 30 3, 696 30 Ivan Petroff and 1 assistant... 88 Statistics of the manufacture of wool George Wm. Bond and i assistant. 2,275 48 40 20 14.65 120 00 1. 80 Statistics of the chemical manufacturing in. Henry Bower and 2 assistants dustry, 1,546 30 753 70 89 Statistics of the factory system of the United Carroll D. Wright. 1,536 00 689 59 3, 442, 983 52 132, 731 29 164, 852 84 34, 825 41 33, 938 73 48, 752 35 $1,984 53 |