CENSUS (ante). The tenth C.. of the States was taken in .Tune, 1880. Up to 1860 our decennial progress in population and material wealth had been uniformly rapid and wonderful. The war of the rebellion then interfered, and both directly and indi rectly tended to arrest that progress—directly in the destruction, through war and dis ease, of more than three quarters of a million of men in the beginning of life, when, in the natural course of events, they would have largely increased the population; and in directly in checking the flood of immigration, a flood that had been bringing us half a million inhabitants in a single year. The regularity of progress from 1790 to 1860 is very remarkable. The percentage of increase in each decade is here shown: Decade. Per Cent. Decade. Per Cent.
1790 to 1800 35.02 1830 to 1840.... ........ 32.67 1800 to 1810.... 36.45 1840 to 1850 • 35.87 1810 to 1920 33.13 1850 to 1860 35.58 1820 to 1830 33.49 1860 to 1870 22.22 So, for the 70 years up to 1860 the population grew at an average rate of 3f per cent per annum, dividing the whole period into periods of ten years each. Without the war the population of the United States in 1870 would have been 42,600,000; in 1880, by the saine ratio, it would have been upward of 57,000,000.
The numbering of the people, though on one special occasion forbidden 'by the highest power, is an ancient custom. Moses numbered the Israelites in the wilderness, and, in later times, Joshua and David followed his example. The Chinese tell of a C. of their people taken 2,042 years before the birth of Christ. In Japan an enumeration was made about 1,900 years ago. Solon ordered the C. of Athens to be taken, especially with reference to classes of the people and taxable property. Servius Tullius, sixth king of Rome, ordered a C., when every citizen had to appear on the field of Mars and declare on oath his name and residence, the number and names of his children, and the value of his property. Failing to do this, his property might be confiscated and him self scourged and sold for a slave. Augustus enlarged the scope and improved the manner of taking the census. In the 16th c. the church began to record births, mar riages, and deaths, and from this practice gradually grew up the modern C., though there does not appear to have been any exact popular C. made until after the beginning of the 18th century.
Russia, then almost a barbarous country, appears to have led other nations in C. taking. Partial enumerations were made in 1700, 1704-5, and 1710. In 1719, Peter the great sent a commission into all the provinces to make a general census. This commission took account of the number of peasants, mechanics, domestics, and men unemployed. Women were not taken into account at all at the commencement, but
they were recognized before the work closed, and in some districts were partially enumerated. In 1722, the C. distinguished the insane and infirm without means of subsistence, and the czar ordered that a C. should be taken every twentieth year. In 1802, a central bureau of statistics was organized, reorganized in 1852, and again in 1858. This bureau is charged with the taking of the a, which now includes much the same information as that obtained in the United States. Prussian enumerations were begun under Frederick William L, and improved by his successor. From 1748 to 1800, the C. was taken annually, except when prevented by war. In 1805, the central bureau of statistics was established. In 1834, a triennial C. was ordered. The schedules for questioning were very full, and the enumeration was to be made some one day in December. The first C. of the German empire' was taken on the 1st of Dec., 1871. Austria first took a C. in 1754, and kept it up triennially until 1857, when it was enacted that the enumeration should be made every sixth year. In Sweden, as early as 1686, there was a law requiring the clergy to record marriages, legitimate and illegiti mate births, deaths, persons removed from or settled in parishes, and all the population, arranged by place of habitation and households. Such information was first published in• 1746. A statistical bureau was established in 1857, to collate and publish C. and other statistical information. Norway has kept up a decennial C. since 1815, and the work is usually thoroughly done. In Spain, eumnerations were made in 1787, 1798, 1857, and 1860, and, by calculation, in 1867. The work is done by government officials in one night. Denmark had a C. once in five years, from 1840 to 1860; now it is decennial, the last enumeration beiqg on the 1st of Feb., 1870. The first and only C. of Portugal was made Jan. 1, 1864, and extended only to the number of the population. Switzerland began enumerations about 1750. 'Her C. is now decen nial. Belgium doubtless leads all nations in the fullness and accuracy of her statistics, although her C. is taken but once in ten years. The last was in 1876. The Nether lands C. is decennial. The last was taken Dee. 1, 1870. Italy has an enumeration Once in ten years, the last Dec. 31, 1871. Greece counts up irregularly. From 1836 to 1845, a C. was made every year; then in 1848, 1853, 1856, 1861, 1868, and 1870. Turkey has never taken. a C. except for conscription or taxation. The first C.