The American Journal of Sociology/Volume 01/Number 3/Contributions of the United States Government to Social Science

by Carroll Davidson Wright

CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO SOCIAL SCIENCE.

The student of social science depends for his data upon two general sources—first, the results of personal observation, whether made by himself or others; second, the entries of official transactions and investigations into conditions conducted under governmental authority. His béte noire is insufficient information. If social science is anything more than a fad with him, he is skeptical of all statements, whether resulting from personal observation or official inquiry, which bear upon the relations of men, and from which he hopes to deduce some law or establish beyond controversy the cause of some existing condition. If he be scientific in his methods of study, he cares not so much what the results of investigation show as to feel assured that the showing is an accurate one. He is ready at all times to recast his opinions, modify his reasoning, and even to turn his mind into new channels of thought, whenever the facts indicate that such changes should be made. His face is always turned to the light. He is more fond of the inductive than of the deductive method of reasoning. He is the friend, therefore, of the historical school, and welcomes every endeavor of societies and of organized government to secure accurate and sufficient data bearing on the questions which interest him. So the efforts of governments everywhere to report the facts relative to the conditions of the people, their numbers, their habits, their business interests, their moral, economic, and social relations—everything, in fact, which grows out of the relations of men to each other and to society—are welcomed with enthusiasm.

Nor does the social scientist question the motives of the government in ascertaining and presenting facts. Government, for the purposes of revenue legislation, may ascertain the facts relative to the manufacture and sale of intoxicants, having no reference whatever to the bearing of the results of the inquiry upon the moral and social welfare of the members of a community. If the truth is ascertained social science is satisfied, and can use the facts presented by the government in every relation in which they are capable of legitimate use.

The student of social science cannot be a partisan; he must accept conclusions which are proved. He may advocate reforms, he may insist upon changes in legislation, upon the adoption of new systems of finance or commerce, but he does all this because to his mind the ascertained facts lead to his conclusions, and until they are completely overturned he will adhere and must adhere to his position ; yet he knows well that statistical statements are open to much criticism, and that the results of any governmental inquiry are open to the charge of inadequacy, even when the integrity of the inquiry cannot be questioned in the least. He uses the results of statistical inquiry because the method of obtaining and presenting them is scientific, and because he recognizes with the German Schlosser, that "statistics is history ever advancing," and that if he wishes to grow with advancing history and keep himself fully and thoroughly informed of progress in every direction, he must use the statistical or historical method; and if he is well advanced in his studies the student of social science will use statistical results most critically and with a power of analysis which will enable him at once to see the harmonies involved by which he will accept the true and reject the false. This makes the social scientist an interested observer of what government does in the way of making contributions in his favorite field. So a somewhat detailed statement of what our own Federal Government is doing and has done becomes interesting and valuable.

The question is often asked, What right has the government to collect facts other than those absolutely essential for intelligent legislation and the proper administration of laws? The answer is sufficient, to my mind. The education of the masses in the elementary facts of political and economic science is one of the greatest educational ends of the day. The whole effort of government, therefore, to put the people in the possession of facts concerning all their conditions in life, so far as the same may be subject to official inquiry, belongs to the educational work of the people. It is the mission of government to secure that information which is essential for the proper understanding of industrial and social conditions. This feature of educational work cannot be done by the schools, nor can it be done by individuals. It must be done, if done at all, by the government, and our government finds its duty under the constitution to put the public in the possession of certain lines of information. The constitution itself provides that Congress shall have power to provide for the general welfare of the United States, the preamble making the declaration that the constitution is ordained and established for the purpose, among other things, of promoting the general welfare and of securing the blessings of liberty. The general welfare and the blessings of liberty can neither be secured nor promoted without an intelligent understanding of all the conditions surrounding life.

In obedience to this lofty sentiment, the framers of the constitution further provided for a decennial census, and that organic provision for a periodical census was the first of its kind in any country. The framers of the constitution led the way in all civilized countries for the systematic collection of facts from which the study of the relations of men could be intelligently made. It was part of the vast machinery of government established for the purpose of enabling the nation to know more of itself. "Know thyself" is an injunction which should be applied to communities as well as to individuals, and it was recognized by the founders of our own government that it is only through rigid, impartial, and fearless investigation that any community can know itself in the many directions in which knowledge is to be obtained.

It is true that it was not contemplated that the Federal census should take the range which in later years has been given it, for the only references in the constitution to a census are those which provide for an actual enumeration of the people for the purpose of apportioning representatives and direct taxes, and that no capitation or other direct tax shall be laid unless in proportion to the census or enumeration that was provided for in a previous section. It is also true that the incorporation of the organic provision for a periodical census was the result of a good deal of discussion by the framers of the constitution, the discussion growing out of the difficulties which were experienced in apportioning representatives and taxation, and there were wide differences of opinion in the convention, but after due deliberation the majority settled upon the provisions contained in the constitution and they became a part of the organic law of the land.

There had been, prior to the adoption of the constitution in 1789, various colonial and local censuses, and foreign countries had made enumerations at irregular intervals. It must be concluded, therefore, that the members of the constitutional convention were not entirely unfamiliar with the benefits of census-taking. Notwithstanding desultory enumerations and the unsystematic collection of information by foreign countries and by the home government through our colonial period, the credit of the first regularly organized periodical census is due to the United States, and our government has, commencing with 1790, made regular enumerations of the population, and, beginning with the year 1850, has conducted what may be properly called a national census, comprehending many features beyond the mere enumeration of the inhabitants.

This example set by our Federal constitution has been followed by the leading countries of the world, nearly all of which now have a regular periodical enumeration of the people. None of them, however, incorporate in their national censuses much beyond a brief schedule of inquiries relating to the people.

A distinguished French writer on statistics, Moreau de Jonnès, has pronounced the following eulogium on the founders of the American government:

The United States presents in its history a phenomenum which has no parallel. It is that of a people who instituted the statistics of their country on the very day when they founded their government, and who regulated in the same instrument the census of the citizens, their civil and political rights and the destinies of the country.

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To obtain the statistics of population is, in the United States, a civil duty that appeared so important to the assembly over which Washington presided, and of which Madison, Livingston, and Franklin were members, that it pronounced penalties against the inhabitant or the magistrate who neglected it.

The constitution contains the germ of the modern census. The census itself has been a growth. While, however, the constitution contained the germ of the census in its modern proportions, the men who framed it and who were first called upon to carry its provisions into effect comprehended the necessity of immediately expanding the germ, and they at once set the pace for official inquiry, which pace not only has not slackened during the present century, but has been accelerated even to a speed which has sometimes been criticised.

In studying the nature, the value and the extent of the contributions of the Federal Government to social science, one turns naturally to the efforts of the first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton knew the needs of the country; he knew the dearth of information; he knew that the necessities of the country could not be thoroughly understood and systems adopted for the development of industry without information relating to existing conditions. His associates, not only in the administrative but in the legislative branches of the government, understood this also, and as these men constituted the first practical interpreters of the constitution and of what was right and proper to do under it, their action becomes of vital importance in the consideration of our subject.

Our present government went into effect March 4, 1789, and the second law passed under the constitution was approved July 4, 1789, with the following preamble:

Whereas, it is necessary for the support of the government, for the discharge of the debts of the United States, and for the encouragement and protection of manufactures, that duties be laid on goods, wares and merchandise imported:

Be it enacted, etc.

It was easy to adopt this preamble and the sections of the act which followed it, but how should the principles enunciated in the preamble be carried out? If it was necessary for the encouragement and protection of manufactures that certain things should be done, how should these things be done? Congress found itself absolutely without information, and to secure it an order was passed in the House of Representatives on the 15th of January 1790, directing the Secretary of the Treasury to apply his attention, at as early a period as his other duties would permit, to the subject of manufactures, and particularly to the means of promoting such as would tend to render the United States independent of foreign nations, for military and other essential supplies, and under this order Alexander Hamilton made his celebrated report on the subject of the manufactures of the United States, this report being sent to the House December 5, 1791. Congress sought this information for the purposes of intelligent legislation, but in making his report Mr. Hamilton led the way for the vast contributions to social science which have constantly been made since that time. His report on manufactures, taking the conditions and the means of collecting the facts relating to them into consideration, is a masterpiece of official investigation. Its value was of vast importance at the time it was made, but its value is a continuing one. Every student of economic relations, or of the condition of labor, or of the progress of manufactures, or of the development of industrial interests, must make liberal use of this report. It was one of a most valuable series of reports made by Mr. Hamilton, the others relating to the public credit of the United States, the national bank and coinage. Mr. Lodge, in his life of Hamilton, speaks of the report on manufactures as the most elaborate and, economically, the most important of all his reports, and at the same time the most far-reaching politically. It rested on the implied powers of the constitution, and was intended to do more than anything else toward the development of the resources of the country, the purpose nearest Hamilton's heart, and toward rendering the nation as strong and independent materially as in all other ways. The report completed the financial policy devised, and carried through by Hamilton and the Federalists. It must, therefore, be considered as the first important contribution of the Federal Government to social science, and as such becomes the foundation of the vast amount of work which has been done since then in furnishing information to the people through official sources. It proves that the framers of the constitution, in providing for a simple enumeration of the people, were free in their own minds, under the provision for promoting the general welfare of the people, in stepping far beyond the counting of the inhabitants. Mr. Hamilton's action was never criticised as an unconstitutional one, nor was the action of the House of Representatives in ordering the report ever criticised as one going beyond the powers of Congress. The national census, in its present scope, is often criticised in this very direction, and Congress condemned for going beyond the strict letter of the constitution in the collection of information on subjects having no relation to the enumeration, but the framers of the constitution had no such criticism to offer, and the very first Congress directed an investigation on as broad lines as any which have been carried out in later years. An inquiry into the condition of the industries of the country on the scale of that made by Mr. Hamilton must be convincing evidence of the intention of the founders of our government and the justification of their first practices under it. The contributions of the first Congress have opened the way to all future contributions to social science.

What has been the structure erected on Hamilton's solid foundation? In answering this question the contributions through the census should first be considered, and then all important contributions made through other official sources.

the census.

The information secured by the first enumeration, that of 1790, was obtained on a schedule calling, first, for the names of heads of families; second, the number of free white males of 16 years of age and upwards, including heads of families; third, free white males under 16 years of age; fourth, free white males, including heads of families; fifth, all other free persons; sixth, the number of slaves. The enumeration gave the basis for the apportionment of representatives, and as a contribution to social science it gave the opportunity to study, along the lines of primitive classification, the composition of our population as to numbers, with a crude distinction as to those above and below 16 years of age and as to free and slave populations. Primitive indeed this seems when we look at the schedules used in later censuses, but it was of vast importance at that time, and, perhaps, of sufficient importance.

It did not take many years for Congress to understand that it had not secured through the first census information in sufficient detail to enable it to consider fully the composition of the people. Students began to clamor for more, and so prior to the enactment of the law which provided for the second enumeration, that of 1800, public-spirited citizens, engaged in scientific and philosophical pursuits, sought to prevail on Congress to make the census of that year (1800) something more than a bare enumeration of population. Two learned societies memorialized Congress on the subject, one the American Philosophical Society and the other the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences. The memorial of the first named society was sent to the Senate January 10, 1800, and was signed by Thomas Jefferson as the president of the society; that of the second was laid before the Senate the same day, and was signed by Timothy Dwight as president. These memorials are exceedingly interesting and show the demand for information which should constitute a vital contribution to social science. The memorialists informed Congress that they considered the census as offering an occasion of great value, and not otherwise to be obtained, of ascertaining sundry facts highly important to society. They considered it as important to determine the effect of the soil and climate of the United States on the inhabitants as simply to ascertain their number, and they urged that in the coming census a most important division of life into certain epochs be made, so that one could ascertain the existing numbers within each epoch, from whence might be calculated the ordinary duration of life, the changes of life for every epoch, the ratio of the increase of population, etc. The memorialists also urged, for the purpose of more exactly distinguishing the increase of population by birth and immigration, that facts be collected showing the respective numbers of native citizens, citizens of foreign birth, and aliens; and, in order to ascertain more completely the causes which influence life and health, and to furnish a curious and useful document relating to the distribution of society and the conditions and vocations of the people, they urged that facts be collected specifying the number of free male inhabitants, of all ages, engaged in business of various kinds. They thought that truth would result very satisfactorily to our citizens from such data; that under the joint influence of soil, climate and occupation the duration of human life would be found at least equal to what it was in any other climate or country, and that the population of the United States increased with a rapidity unequaled in any other land. They not only sought these things, but also the number of married and unmarried persons and the number of widows and widowers. In general, the memorialists had in contemplation the collection of materials for a complete view of the natural history of man and society in this country, and they urged the aid of legislation to secure the data on which such history could be based.

Now all this information was sought for purely scientific purposes. The distinguished memorialists, however, were not able to secure all they asked. Their memorials were referred to a Senate committee charged with the duty of preparing a new law relating to the census; yet the records of the Senate do not show that the committee ever made a report, although it was instructed so to do. The treatment of these memorials shows the peculiar attitude of the particular Congress dealing with them, and brings it into sharp contrast in this respect with that which directed the investigation made by Mr. Hamilton. The Federal Legislature of 1800 could not have been much interested in the scientific bearing of a national census. Nevertheless, the act of February 28, 1800, contained some new features of minor importance not contained in that of 1790; as, for instance, the schedule provided for 1800 contained fourteen specific inquiries instead of six. It provided for all the facts called for in 1790 and additional subdivisions as to ages.

In 1810, however, a fundamental departure in census work was taken by Congress. The population schedule remained the same as in 1800, but there was added to the work of the census takers the collection of the statistics of manufactures. The scope of the census, therefore, became greatly enlarged at the third enumeration. The census takers were charged with securing an account of the several manufacturing establishments and manufactories in the country. This was done by the Secretary of the Treasury, who at that time had the execution of the census law. The schedule was not incorporated in the law itself, the Secretary being given discretion as to collecting the information relating to manufactures. Unfortunately, the results obtained were of no great value, but a beginning had been made and the experiment was repeated in 1820, when the census was placed under the charge of the Secretary of State, and again the attempt was unsuccessful, and so unsuccessful that when the census of 1830 was taken the attempt to secure facts relative to manufacturing was wholly abandoned. The population schedule of 1820, however, was an improvement over that of 1810, and shows the steady expansion of the contributions of the government. In this census the government not only sought all that had been sought in the previous census, but made finer subdivisions as to ages and as to foreigners not naturalized.

The contributions to social science under the enumeration of 1830 were practically repetitions of those under previous censuses, the chief elaboration being a still finer subdivision of ages, specifying by sex, and whether slaves, free colored persons, or free white persons. But this census stepped into a new field for government inquiry, for the white persons included in the enumeration were to be designated as to their capacity of speech, whether deaf and dumb, with the ages of the deaf and dumb classified, but crudely, however—that is, under 14 years of age, 14 and under 25 years, and 25 years of age and upward—and the distinctions as to the deaf and dumb were made to apply to slaves and colored persons as well as to whites. The number of blind in these classes was also required.

At the census of 1840 the manufactures schedule was again used. Still the results were not of any substantial value, but the schedule relating to the people was expanded in a most satisfactory way. All the features of previous schedules were retained, not only as to ages—a better classification being incorporated—but as to the deaf and dumb. Beyond these features comprehended in the enumeration of 1830, that of 1840 ascertained the number of persons employed in mining, agriculture, commerce, manufactures and trade, navigation of the ocean, navigation of canals, lakes and rivers, and in learned professions and engineering. Here was a departure in exact conformity in this respect to the appeals of the memorialists of 1800, and in further compliance with the terms or principles of such appeals Congress called for the number of universities and colleges, the number of students therein, the number of academies and grammar schools and their pupils, the number of primary and common schools, and the whole number of scholars at public charge; but going still deeper into the character of the population. Congress asked the number of white persons over 20 years of age who could not read and write. An inquiry was also made, purely for legislative purposes, relative to the number of pensioners for revolutionary or military services; but Congress became still more inquisitorial, and in addition to asking the number of deaf, dumb and blind, as in the previous census, it added inquiries as to the insane and idiots.

In 1850 Congress again made expansions and new departures, and there was an improvement in the form of the schedules of inquiry. It was a courageous thing in 1840 to ask for the number of persons who could neither read nor write, but it was more courageous to be so inquisitorial as to attempt to ascertain the number of deaf, dumb, blind, insane, and idiotic. This was going very closely into personal affairs, and there was some resentment and criticism. Nevertheless, Congress was not deterred, for it enumerated in 1850 all the facts called for in 1840, and more. It inquired as to the value of real and personal estate for each person, the place of birth of each inhabitant, whether married within the year, and whether attending school within the year, and it also ascertained the number of convicts. Not satisfied with this, special schedules were added relative to the slave population—the number of fugitives, number manumitted, etc.,—while the third special schedule related to mortality statistics, covering the place of birth of decedents, the month of death, the disease or cause of death, and the profession, occupation or trade which the deceased had followed. The deceased were classified as to age, sex, color, whether free or slave, married or widowed, and, furthermore, an inquiry was made as to the number of days of illness preceding death. The schedules of industry were again added, and this time with some success, but the enumeration of industries even then was very imperfect in operation; yet it formed the turning point of the great contributions along economic lines of the Federal Government. We do not attempt to go back of 1850 in handling industrial statistics, except to use those previously taken as indicative, and in connection with intelligent estimates independent of the census.

The census of 1850, while asking all the questions of the census of 1840 as to colleges, academies, and schools, went still further, and made inquiry as to the character, rank, or kind of schools; number of teachers; amount annually realized from endowment; amount raised by taxation; amount received from public funds, and the amount received from all other sources. The schedule under which these inquiries were made was designated "social statistics," and on it were borne questions relating to the name and kind of annual taxes; the amount and how paid; the valuation of estates, real and personal; whether crops were short, and to what extent, and the usual average crop. The same schedule also made inquiry as to the number of libraries in the country and the kind and number of volumes contained in each library; the name, character, frequency of publication, and circulation of all newspapers and periodicals. An attempt was made also to secure the number of churches of each denomination and of all denominations, the number which each church would accommodate, and the value of church property.

The industrial schedules of 1850 related to the productions of agriculture, and they covered most important elements, such as the number of acres of land in each farm, the cash value of the farm, the value of farm implements and machinery, the value of live stock and of each particular product of any importance. The schedule relating to the products of mechanical industry resulted in giving the capital invested, in real and personal estate, in the business under consideration; the quantity, kind, and value of raw material used; the kind of motive power, machinery, structure, or resource; the average number of hands employed; the wages paid, and the quantity, kind, and value of the product.

This brief description of the census of 1850 shows the wonderful expansion and growth of our census system. The germ contained in the constitution, watered by the work of Alexander Hamilton, constantly fertilized by the memorials of scientific societies, cultivated and encouraged in its growth by all the demands of progressive civilization, had not only sprouted, but grown to a large tree, whose fruit was abundant if not always perfect. Like all fruit, the fruit of the census tree has been of various grades. The information was not always accurate, but it was rarely vicious, and taking the census of 1850 as the first great stage of growth, it must be understood as of varied quality. I have said the results were never vicious. This is true, because overstatements are rare under census-taking. If the returns were in any sense defective they were defective as to quantity stated. I believe that no census ever taken in this country has given the full amount of production, for instance. If more than the full amount was given the results might be damaging, but statements of less than the full amount, while disappointing, have little or no disastrous effect. The contributions of the census of 1850 must be considered as positive and valuable. They must be used, however, in a critical way and with a thorough understanding of the doctrine of errors in statistical work.

The censuses of 1860 and 1870 were taken after the methods adopted under the law providing for the census of 1850. The contributions, therefore, are practically identical with those under the census of 1850 and need not be particularly enumerated or described.

We now come to another epoch in our census-taking, for the enumeration of 1880 was of encyclopedic proportions. It was projected by General Walker, who had taken the census of 1870, at which time an ineffectual attempt was made to expand the scope of the Federal census. General Garfield at that time (1870) was the chairman of the committee of the House on the ninth census. January 18, 1870, he made a report from that committee. This report is exhaustive and instructive. It gives the history, briefly, of census-taking in the world, and closes with recommendations for the taking of the ninth census. It pointed out all the defects in the then existing census methods and asked Congress to legislate intelligently and fully for the future; and General Garfield presented a bill providing for the taking of the ninth census, etc. As I remember it, this bill passed the House but was defeated in the Senate. So the census of 1870 had to be taken under the law providing for that of 1850. The schedules in this bill were better proportioned than any previous schedules. They had the approval of General Walker, whose heart was set upon a scientific census, and of such proportions as to meet the constant demand for information. These plans and hopes, however, had to be deferred until the census of 1880, when practically the system which had been urged upon Congress for 1870 was adopted. To deal with the specific inquiries contained in the schedules of 1880 would take too much space. It is sufficient to say that all those involved in the census of 1850 were continued and many entirely new subjects introduced. These related to railroads; telegraphs; fire, life, and marine insurance; public indebtedness; the defective, dependent, and delinquent classes, and other important topics. The number of published volumes containing the results of all the inquiries was twenty-two, covering the following topics: Population; manufactures; products of agriculture; agencies of transportation; cotton product; valuation, taxation, and public indebtedness; newspaper and periodical press; Alaska, its population, industries, and products; seal islands of Alaska; ship-building industry; forests of North America; petroleum and its products; manufactures of coke; building stone; mortality and vital statistics; precious metals; United States mining laws; mining industry, power and machinery employed in manufactures; the factory system; social statistics of cities; statistics of wages in manufacturing industries; average retail prices of necessaries of life; strikes and lockouts; defective, dependent, and delinquent classes; machine tools and woodwork machinery; steam-pump and pumping engines; wool and silk machinery; manufacture of engines and boilers; marine engines and steam vessels; ice industry in the United States.

The contributions of the tenth census to social science constitute the most colossal official contribution that had ever been made by any government. The great variety of topics, their exhaustive treatment, the large number of specialists engaged, the clearness of presentation—everything connected with the tenth census—marked it as an epoch-making investigation. Its faults were the faults of any such great undertaking, but they were less than the faults of any previous census; and when it is understood that no other government embodies in its decennial account inquiries outside of the ordinary inquiries relating to population, the vast undertaking superintended by General Walker is more readily comprehended. This great work was conducted on the broad basis laid down by him, and the results secured for him the admiration of statisticians in every part of the world. It paved the way for the eleventh census, the centennial of that of 1790, which census (that of 1890) was conducted under a law practically a reënactment of that providing for the tenth census. The schedules of the eleventh census were substantially like those of the tenth, only enlarged, amended, and improved as experience under the tenth census indicated the necessity for changes. The results of the eleventh census are contained in twenty-five volumes, their nature being fully indicated by their titles. These twenty-five volumes cover the fifteen reports authorized by law. They comprehend reports on population; manufactures, agriculture, and irrigation; wealth, debt, and taxation; farms, homes, and mortgages; mineral resources; transportation; insurance; vital statistics; crime, pauperism, and benevolence; fish and fisheries; educational and church statistics; social statistics; Alaska, and the Indians. The chief subject covered in this vast collection of facts not comprehended in the tenth census is the report on farms, homes, and mortgages. Under this census the total number of living veteran soldiers, sailors, and marines and the widows of deceased soldiers, sailors, and marines was ascertained, the result being given in the report on population. In addition to these reports, the eleventh census, as did the ninth and tenth, covers a compendium and a statistical atlas. The Superintendent is directed by law also to prepare and publish an abstract, not exceeding 300 pages, of the most salient features of the whole census.

The liberality of the Federal Government in furnishing information for scientific study is well illustrated by this account of the decennial censuses. Without further contributions the government has established its claim as the chief promoter of the study of social science. It has not been content, however, to rest on the census. It has established other and various avenues for investigation. The census illustrates only one form of inquiry, that of enumeration. The census takes cognizance, as a rule, of those things which can be counted and summarized into aggregations. It does not seek to make investigation relative to conditions not ascertainable in this manner, nor does it seek to furnish the results of constant actions, or a record of the business transactions of any governmental office. It counts the people, and while counting them it ascertains all the characteristics as to age, sex, conjugal condition, nativity, occupation, and physical and mental conditions. For this purpose it has expanded the population schedules from six inquiries made at the first census to twenty-six made at the last. It counts the number of manufactories of all kinds and grades; it aggregates the capital employed in all industries, and, in fact, enumerates, by counting, the instrumentalities by which the various enterprises of the country are carried on; but it is emphatically a system of counting, and the census gives the results of the count. It is an account of stock in the true sense.

treasury department.

Closely allied to this method of ascertaining facts is another illustrated by the operations of the Treasury Department. This department has the execution of laws relating to commerce and the finances. Its transactions therefore become important, and the results are most valuable contributions to social science. Through this department we learn the course of immigration; the character, quantity and value of imports and exports; the financial condition of the country; all facts relative to the currency, including the operation of the mints, the condition of coinage, and the value of foreign coins in American money; the revenues and expenditures of the government; how the revenues are obtained, and the classification of the expenditures; quantity and value of articles manufactured under the internal revenue laws, like liquors and proprietary medicines—everything, in fact, relating to the financial condition of the country.

The publications of the Treasury Department bearing upon social questions are chiefly statistical in their character, and from what has been said it is easily seen that they can be divided into two classes, relating, first, to finance, and, second, to commerce, navigation, and immigration.

The annual report of the secretary embraces the reports of the various bureau officers in the department. These comprehend:

a. The report of the Treasurer, in which are to be found the receipts and expenditures of the government, the condition of the various funds, the amount of money in the treasury, and kindred facts.

b. The report of the Register of the Treasury, whose contributions relate to the condition of the national debt and the details of the expenditures and receipts of the government.

c. The report of the Comptroller of the Currency, in which are to be found all the facts relating to the number and condition of national banks, state banks and savings banks, and the amount of money in circulation. In the report for 1873 there was given to the public the first general information relating to the condition of banking institutions other than national. Pursuant to an act of Congress of that year (February 19, 1873), the comptroller of the Currency has since then collected information relating to banks of various kinds; that is, savings, state, or private banks, and loan and trust companies. The information thus collected is valuable, so far as it goes, but not complete.

d. The report of the Director of the Mint, which gives the amount of money coined, the amount of gold and silver exported and imported, the stock of gold in the various countries of the world, the value of foreign coins, etc. One of his most valuable reports is a special one, relating to the production and consumption of gold and silver in the United States.

e. The report of the Commissioner of Navigation, which gives information concerning our merchant marine and the wages and condition of seamen.

f. The report of the Commissioner of Customs and Internal Revenue, which furnishes in detail the information relating to the collection of taxes under the internal revenue laws.

For the collection and publication of statistics of commerce and immigration a special bureau of statistics has been organized. Its functions date from 1820, when Congress directed the Register of the Treasury to prepare annual statistical accounts of the commerce of the United States with foreign countries, and beginning with the year 1821 there is a continuous series of annual volumes on the commerce and navigation of the United States. Beginning with 1876 there is a similar annual volume on internal commerce. These two volumes are designated, respectively, "Annual Report on the Commerce and Navigation of the United States: Foreign Commerce," and "Annual Report on the Commerce and Navigation of the United Spates: Internal Commerce." In 1878 the bureau began the issue of an annual statistical abstract, which contains a condensed summary of the statistical information embraced in all the principal government publications.

Other regular publications of the Bureau of Statistics of the Treasury Department are its annual report in regard to imported merchandise, with rates of duty and amount of duties collected; an annual report, by countries and by customs districts, of the imports and exports of the United States; a quarterly report relative to the imports, exports, immigration and navigation of the United States; a monthly statement of the foreign commerce and immigration of the United States, and a monthly summary statement of the imports and exports of the country.

This bureau has also issued reports on subjects pertinent to trade and commercial interests, the chief of which are a table showing the prices of commodities and the immigration into the United States for a series of years; a report showing the arrivals of alien passengers and immigrants in the United States from 1820 to 1888; lists of boards of trade and other commercial and industrial organizations of the country. It has also published a most valuable special report upon wool and the manufactures of wool, and on the production and consumption of alcoholic liquors.

This industrious bureau has made other special reports, among which may be mentioned one made in 1871 on immigration, containing information for immigrants relative to land, products, markets, stock, labor, etc., with tables showing wages of labor, cost of living, and other facts which immigrants might desire. It also, in 1875, made a well-known report on labor in Europe and America, containing special reports on wages, subsistence, and the condition of the working classes in Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, the United States, British America, and other countries. Under a resolution of January 19, 1832, the bureau made a report relative to the manufactures of the United States. It has also published valuable documents on the mineral resources of the states and territories west of the Rocky Mountains, and reports upon the mining and metallurgical industries of the United States. This bureau has also furnished a history of the national loans of the United States from July 4, 1776, to June 30, 1880, while the metallic wealth of the United States was described in a report published in 1854. Hon. David A. Wells' well-known documents on the revision of the revenue system (1865-6) and the report of a special commission on the revenue, by Mr. Wells (1868), were also brought out by the bureau.

Among its most recent valuable special reports are those on the imports for consumption for eleven years, and the commercial aspects of cotton.

The Treasury Department must therefore be considered as a liberal contributor to social science, but it has done much more than simply record business transactions. Some of the earlier reports of the Secretary of the Treasury contained special reports concerning our commercial and industrial conditions that are of great value in the study of the history of economic conditions. The well-known reports of Alexander Hamilton, to which reference has already been made, are to be found in a volume containing the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury for the years 1801 to 1814. Albert Gallatin, as Secretary of the Treasury, made a valuable report on the manufacturing products of the United States. This report was made in 1813 and contained the well-known estimates of Mr. Tench Coxe. The volume published by the Treasury Department for the years 1829 to 1836 contains Taney's report of 1833 on the removal of public deposits, and that of 1834 on deposit banks, and also Woodbury's report of 1834 on public money, while the volume containing the reports for the years 1846 to 1848 contains Walker's report on the warehousing system. In 1849 Hon. W. M. Meredith, then Secretary of the Treasury, in his annual report on the finances of the country, embodied reports on the reduction in prices of articles of American manufacture, covering the fifteen years from 1835 to 1849, inclusive. This report also contains valuable data on wages, cost of producing iron, and much important information relative to manufactures abroad. In 1886 Hon. Daniel Manning, who was then Secretary of the Treasury, made an exceedingly valuable report on the revision of the tariff, containing a vast deal of information on wages, prices, and the cost of production, and in 1892 an important report was issued on the causes which incite immigration to the United States. Some of the earlier reports are now difficult to obtain, but it is well that the student should know that they were published and in what volumes they may be found.

The Marine Hospital Service makes reports on sanitary conditions, while the efforts of the government in life-saving are shown in the reports of the Life-Saving Service.

department of state.

One would hardly look for contributions to social science under the work of this department. Yet, although its work relates more to historical than to social questions, many of its publications are among the most important general contributions in the latter field; but whatever it has done in the way of historical publications is in the interest of social science, as history constitutes one of its most important branches. In history it has published the diplomatic correspondence of the country since 1776 and many volumes on American state papers, mostly relative to foreign relations. It has undertaken and carried on the publication of the historical archives of the department, consisting of journals of the Continental Congress, the Senate journal, the journal of the Federal Convention, and a work, in nine volumes, entitled "American Archives." By an act of Congress passed March 2, 1833, the Secretary of State was authorized to contract with Matthew St. Clair Clarke and Peter Force for the publication of a work entitled "Documentary History of the American Revolution." It is this history that is known as the "American Archives," just referred to. As originally projected it was to comprise six series, consisting of authentic records, state papers, debates, and letters and other notices of public affairs, the whole forming a documentary history of the origin and progress of the North American colonies, and of the causes and results of the American Revolution, covering the period from the discovery and settlement of North America to the ratification of the present constitution of the United States. Of this work only the fourth and a portion of the fifth series have been published. The fourth contains six volumes, relating to the period from the king's message of March 7, 1774, to the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was intended that the fifth series should cover the period from 1776 to the definitive treaty of peace with Great Britain in 1783, but of this series only three volumes were compiled, extending from July to December, 1776.

The State Department has published another valuable series of documents in thirty-eight volumes, entitled "American State Papers." This series of documents was published by Gales and Seaton under the provisions of an act of Congress passed March 3, 1831. They comprise the most important executive and legislative documents of the United States and were selected by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives with great care from the mass of manuscripts and printed papers in the offices of the two houses of Congress and in the several executive departments of the government. They are divided into ten classes, according to subject matter, as follows: (1) Foreign Relations; (2) Indian Affairs; (3) Finance; (4) Commerce and Navigation; (5) Military Affairs; (6) Naval Affairs; (7) Post Office Department; (8) Public Lands; (9) Claims; (10) Miscellaneous.

Another valuable historical work published by the Department of State is the "Bulletin of the Bureau of Rolls and Library." In September, 1893, there was inaugurated what promises to be the most important effort to publish the historical archives of the department that has yet been undertaken. This effort results in bulletins published from time to time, as the circumstances permit. Thus far six numbers have been published. These bulletins contain a list of volumes comprising the papers of the Continental Congress; the beginning of a miscellaneous index of those papers; the commencement of the publication of documentary history of the constitution of the United States, with proceedings of the Annapolis convention; a calendar of the correspondence of James Monroe; a list of the volumes of the Washington papers; a continuation of the index of papers of the Continental Congress; proceedings of the Federal Convention; a calendar of the correspondence of James Madison; a list of the volumes of the Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton, Monroe, and Franklin collections; continuation of the index of papers of the Continental Congress; constitution of the United States as framed by the Federal convention, the proceedings of the congress thereon and the ratification thereof by the several states; a calendar of the correspondence of Thomas Jefferson.

The Department of State has also published a volume containing all the state constitutions and the colonial charters; another containing the treaties and conventions between the United States and other powers during the years 1776 to 1887; a work, in three volumes, containing Wharton's Digest of International Law. It has also brought out reports on international congresses and conventions relative to marine, monetary and other affairs. Under authority of Congress it has aided in the distribution of the writings of Washington, edited by Jared Sparks (12 vols.); Washington Correspondence, edited by Jared Sparks (4 vols.); Works of Alexander Hamilton, edited by John C. Hamilton (7 vols.); Works of Thomas Jefferson, edited by H. A. Washington (9 vols.); Works of John Adams, edited by Charles Francis Adams (10 vols.), and the Madison Papers (3 vols.).

Some of the most important of the regular reports of the Department of State are those of its Bureau of Statistics, which was organized in 1856, pursuant to an act of Congress of August 18 of that year, under which the Secretary of State was directed to issue annual reports on our commercial relations with foreign countries. Prior to this date reports on this subject had been issued at different periods from 1793 to 1831, but commencing with the year 1855 an annual volume on commercial relations has been issued by the Bureau of Statistics of the State Department. Prior to 1880 the work of the bureau was limited to the publication of this particular report. Since then the bureau has also issued a series of monthly consular reports, and from time to time special consular reports. Each number of these reports contains from 150 to 200 pages, consisting of statements from our consular officers all over the world. Though for the most part the contributions relate to commercial and industrial matters, social questions, such as wages, prices, cost of living, workingmen's houses, etc., receive frequent attention. The material for these reports is largely drawn from official publications of foreign governments and is correspondingly trustworthy, although consuls and consular agents are frequently called upon to make special studies in special localities. The reports other than the monthly reports comprehend the results of investigations along particular lines by all the consuls. The more important of these special reports are–1, Labor in Europe, 1878 (1 vol.); 2, Commerce of the World and the Share of the United States Therein, 1879; 3, Commerce of the World and the Share of the United States Therein, 1880-1; 4, Declared Exports for the United States, First and Second Quarters, 1883; 5, Labor in Foreign Countries, 1884 (3 vols.).

This Department has also made another series of contributions to social science through the publications of the Bureau of American Republics. This bureau was organized as the result of the effort to increase the trade between the United States and other American nations. Its publications consist of annual reports, monthly and special bulletins, and handbooks descriptive of foreign American countries, their resources, trade, wages, etc.

Still another series of publications of the State Department contains a vast deal of information which the student of social science finds valuable. As this department is the medium through which the United States is represented at foreign expositions, conventions, etc., there are published under its auspices many valuable reports of such gatherings in which this country has participated. Chief among these may be mentioned the reports of the American commissioners at the Paris expositions of 1867, 1878, and 1889, and the exposition at Vienna in 1873; the reports of the International Statistical Congress in London in i860 and in St. Petersburg in 1872. It has also published reports of various international monetary congresses, notably those of 1878 and 1892, and it was through the encouragement and support of the State Department that the late Dr. E. C. Wines was able to lead in the organization of the international prison congresses at London and Stockholm, congresses which are now held regularly and to which various states of our Union send their representatives.

war and navy departments.

The publications of these departments do not apply particularly to our subject, but under authority of Congress they have published the most valuable official records that have ever appeared relative to any war. These are the Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, and a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. It is estimated that the work on the compilation first mentioned will comprehend 120 volumes. This work has been going on since 1874, the first volume being published in 1880. The work on the naval records is but barely begun, but it is being pursued along the same lines as those laid down for the compilation of the army records.

department of the interior.

The chief contributions of this department to social science, other than those of the census, have been made through the Bureau of Education, which publishes an annual report, special reports, circulars of information, and miscellaneous documents. The annual reports contain the statistics of the schools, colleges and other institutions of learning in the United States. The special reports are exceedingly valuable, both from an educational point of view, relating simply to school or college work, and in a wider sense. Among the chief special publications are those on art in industry, criminology, etc. The circulars of information embrace among their number two regular series—first, reports of the proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association; second, the history of higher education in the United States. A separate number is devoted to each state or territory, and as these numbers are prepared they are issued as circulars of information.

Information as to the settlement of lands, an important feature of social science, is obtainable through the publications of the General Land Office. The regular annual report of the Commissioner furnishes current information as to sales, settlements, and quantities of land still unassigned, while in special reports information as to laws relating to the settlement of lands may be found, together with the whole history of the land system of the government public lands, condition of the national domain, and everything relating to the action of government in settling the vast territory belonging to the people.

Through the publications of the Commissioner of Indian affairs much most valuable ethnological information can be secured. The transactions of the government with the Indians, as currently reported by the Commissioner, give the necessary information as to the relations of the Federal Government to the Indian tribes, while various other documents emanating from the Indian office are of exceedingly great value in studying so interesting a question.

The Geological Survey makes most important contributions relating to the mineral resources of the country, irrigation, and other information bearing upon the development of the country. The results of the researches of this office are published in annual and special reports.

The annual reports of the United States Patent Office furnish information of the progress of invention, and from them the business of the office can be readily understood.

The work of the census under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior has been described in full.

department of agriculture.

The Department of Agriculture is the chief publishing branch of the United States Government. The extent of its operations as a publisher may be seen from the last annual report of the Chief of the Division of Records and Editing. During the fiscal year 1893–4, the department issued 205 separate publications, embracing 10,512 pages of printed matter. There were 3,169,310 copies of these publications printed. The great majority of these publications relate to the technical details of agriculture or the scientific aspects of agricultural problems. The publications of its good roads, forestry, and statistical divisions are, however, of general interest, and are positive and valuable contributions to social science. Its statistical work is of especial value from the standpoint of this paper. The reports of the statistical bureau include monthly statistical reports, giving a survey of the condition of crops and special statistical papers on such subjects as freight rates, the production of farm products in foreign countries, etc.; monthly crop synopses, being a four-page summary of the conditions, prospects, yield, price, distribution, and consumption of crops, and the number and value of farm animals. This little publication is issued in advance of the monthly statistical reports in order that prompt information may be given to the public. The miscellaneous series includes special contributions on particular subjects. To mention some of the more important of this series that have been published during the last five years, we find there are:

1. The Album of Agricultural Statistics of the United States, being the results of investigations under the direction of the statistician. This was published in 1889.

2. Album of Agricultural Graphics, showing the values, per acre, of crops of the United States, based on the results of official statistical inquiry. This was published in 1891.

3. Report of Cooperative Credit Association in Certain European Countries and their Relation to Agricultural Interests. This was published in 1892.

4. Wages of Farm Labor in the United States, being the results of nine statistical investigations from 1866 to 1892, with extensive inquiries concerning wages from 1840 to 1865. This was published in 1892.

5. The Production and Distribution of the Principal Agricultural Products of the World. Published in 1893.

6. Foods: Nutritive Value and Cost. Published in 1894.

7. Production and Price of Cotton for One Hundred Years. Published in 1895.

In addition to the above the statistician of the department makes an annual report showing, among other things, wages, prices of agricultural products, freight rates, etc.

The department has also brought out some valuable specific reports relative to the diseases of the horse, treatment of cattle, and various subjects not only of interest to the farmer himself, but to those who are studying the progress of science in the treatment of crops and of animals.

 

smithsonian institution.

It would take almost a volume to describe the work of this wonderful office. Its chief publications are:

1. Annual report of the United States National Museum.

2. Proceedings of the National Museum (annual).

3. Extracts from Proceedings of the National Museum.

4. Bulletins of the United States National Museum, commenced in 1875.

5. Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.

6. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, commenced in 1848.

7. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, commenced in 1862.

8. Miscellaneous Publications of the Smithsonian Institution. Most of the work of this institution is of a purely scientific nature, but in its publications much information of value to social science is to be found.

No more important contributions to social science have been made under government auspices than those of the Bureau of Ethnology. Striking at the very roots of social science itself by reporting upon the conditions of tribes and peoples, it must take first rank in the estimation of social scientists. It publishes annual reports and reprints of special papers. Its volumes are bulky; they are thoroughly illustrated and are scientific discussions of ethnological topics.

interstate commerce commission.

The reports of this commission come strictly under the title of this article, so far as statistics of railroads are concerned. They have been published regularly since 1888, and they furnish the most trustworthy information relative to the conditions of railroad transportation that can be obtained.

commission of fish and fisheries.

The contributions of the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries relate directly to the study of social science, as they belong to the food question. The investigations of the commission relate to food fishes and to the methods of propagating them, and the reports show the results of the inquiries as well as the efforts of the commission to increase the supply of fish in the various parts of the country. It is in the practical line of the work established by government so many years ago when it sought to do all in its power to aid in the development of the natural resources of the country.

united states department of labor.

This department was established especially for the collection and publication of information bearing upon social science, the duties of the department under the law being to acquire and diffuse among the people of the United States useful information on subjects connected with labor, in the most general and comprehensive sense of that word, and especially upon its relation to capital, the hours of labor, the earnings of laboring men and women, and the means of promoting their material, social, intellectual and moral prosperity. Under this broad authorization the department has made ten annual reports. The first annual report relates to industrial depressions. The statistics published bore upon the various features involved in such depressions, and the report brought out the relations of nations to each other as producers and the various influences bearing upon discontent, and gave a summary of the causes and a classification as to regularity of industrial depressions.

The subject of the second annual report was convict labor as carried on in the penal institutions of the country. It comprehended all the facts ascertainable relating to the employment of convicts in every institution of whatever grade in the United States in which the inmates were in any way employed on any kind of productive labor.

The third annual report deals with strikes and lockouts occurring in the United States during the years 1881 to 1886, inclusive. The report contained a digest of laws relating to strikes and boycotts, so far as they existed at the time, the course of the change of sentiment in judicial decisions on conspiracies, and there was also a brief history of the great strikes of the past.

The fourth annual report relates to working women in twenty-two of the larger cities of the United States. Besides giving the statistics as to wages, expenditures, health, moral and sanitary surroundings and conditions, and results of work in shops, the report also comprehended what is being done in the cities canvassed in the way of clubs, homes, etc., to assist working women when out of employment or when otherwise requiring temporary encouragement.

The fifth annual report relates to railroad labor of the country, and by it the results as to pay and the efforts of companies to assist their employes, the liability for accidents, and other features were brought out.

The sixth and seventh annual reports are, perhaps, among the most voluminous labor reports in existence. They relate primarily to the cost of producing iron and steel and cognate products, the textiles and glass in this and other countries. It took three years and a half of the most laborious efforts to collect and tabulate the information. While the primary object of securing the information was the cost of production, the wages of those working in the industries comprehended by the investigation and the cost of living of the workers themselves were considered, and the bulk of these two reports (sixth and seventh) relates to wages and the cost of living, the latter feature covering the accounts of more than 16,000 families.

The eighth annual report relates to industrial education in this and other countries. The ninth is a report upon building and loan associations, and the tenth relates to strikes and lockouts, being a continuation of the third annual and bringing the account of such occurrences down to June 30, 1894.

In addition to its annual reports the department has also published eight special reports, as follows:

1. Marriage and Divorce.

2. Labor Laws of the Various States, Territories and the District of Columbia.

3. Analysis and Index of All Reports Issued by the Bureaus of Labor Statistics in the United States prior to November 1, 1892.

4. Compulsory Insurance in Germany.

5. The Gothenburg System of Liquor Traffic.

6. The Phosphate Industry of the United States.

7. Slums of Great Cities.

8. Housing of the Working People.

In addition to these two methods of disseminating the information collected, the Department of Labor is now authorized by law to publish a bulletin, which will consist of condensations of foreign and American reports on labor and industrial subjects, results of original inquiry, and any facts or information of value to the industrial interests of the country.

While it may be considered that the annual reports of all the departments, not only those that have been mentioned, but those of the Post Office Department in dealing with the transmission of intelligence, the Department of Justice in dealing with criminal conditions, so far as it may, and every office of the government in giving facts relative to the transactions of the government, are in themselves contributions to social science, those which have been specifically named are deemed to be emphatically so.

the congress.

I have endeavored to give in as brief manner as possible the principal contributions of the United States Government to social science through the various organized offices. I have not been able to make a chronological statement, nor is such statement necessary, but I have tried to indicate to the social scientist the chief contributions, their value, and where they may be found. Any one making application to any of the offices named may, so far as supplies still exist, secure the specific information to which reference has been made. There is another body besides these organized offices engaged in making such contributions, that is, the Congress itself, and I close the list with a brief reference to some of the more important specific contributions of that particular body to social science.

Prior to 1820 the statistical work of the government, apart from that of the decennial census and those figures given in the annual reports of executive officers, consisted in the purchase of statistical publications by private parties. Among these were Timothy Pitkins' Commercial Statistics of the United States, 1816. Two hundred and fifty copies of this valuable work were purchased in 1818 and distributed. In the same year Congress purchased Dr. Adam Seybert's Statistical Annals, being views of the population, commerce, navigation, fisheries, public lands, post office establishment, revenues, mint, military and naval establishments, expenditures, public debt, and sinking fund of the United States, founded on official documents, commencing on the 4th of March 1789, and ended on the 20th of April 1818. Another valuable work purchased by Congress was that of George Watterson and Nicholas Biddle Van Zandt, being statistical tables, Part I. (1829) and Part II. (1833).

Among the important documents published by Congress may be mentioned the report, December 20, 1819, of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Manufactures on statistics of foreign commerce. The result of this report was the passage of the act of February 10, 1820, providing for the taking of statistics of foreign commerce. In 1879 the Hewitt committee of the House made a report on the causes of the general depression in labor and business. Among the Senate miscellaneous documents for the Forty-sixth Congress will be found a report on the depression in labor and business and Chinese immigration. The Senate Committee on Education and Labor, Forty-eighth Congress, made a report upon the relations of labor and capital. This report is in four volumes, and is known as the Blair report. January 18, 1886, the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce made a valuable report on interstate commerce. In 1886 the House made a report giving a complete chronological history of revenue and general appropriation bills from the First to the Forty-ninth Congress. March 3, 1887, a select committee of the House made a report on existing labor troubles in the Southwest, while at the Fiftieth Congress, second session, a select committee made a report on labor troubles in Pennsylvania. A valuable report on immigration and naturalization was made January 14, 1891, by a House committee. This report contains much information concerning the character and condition of immigrants and the effect of immigration on domestic labor, and also a compilation of the immigration laws of the United States and Italy; also statistics of inmates of prisons and eleemosynary institutions of the United States and of education in Europe. Another report on immigration and naturalization was made by a House committee July 28, 1892. The Senate Committee on Finance, in 1892, made a report (3 vols.) on retail prices and wages, and, in 1893, a report (4 vols.) on wholesale prices and wages for fifty-two years. The House Committee on Manufactures made a report January 20, 1893, on the sweating system. A select committee of the House on the Regulation of Commerce, Fiftieth Congress, second session, made a report on the importation of contract labor. As the results of special investigation, two reports, with testimony, on the labor troubles at Homestead, Pa., were issued by Congress, one by the House Judiciary Committee February 7, 1893, and the other by a Senate committee February 10, 1893. February 10, 1893, a committee of the Senate made a report on labor troubles and the employment of detectives. The committee of the House on Agriculture and Forestry made a report February 23, 1895, on the condition of the cotton growers in the United States, the present prices of cotton and the remedy, and on cotton consumption and production. Congress has also published a very elaborate report on the growth of industrial art, being an illustrated report prepared in the Patent Office.

Congress is also doing something in the way of historical contributions, for it has given a notable encouragement to historical work through its grant of articles of incorporation to the American Historical Association by an act approved January 4, 1889. As the result of this incorporation the annual reports of the association are printed at the Government Printing Office. These annual reports are of especial value, on account of the attention given to the bibliography of history and the notices of the work of historical societies throughout the country. Thus, the reports of the American Historical Association must be numbered among the contributions of the government to social science.

The question might be asked; "What is the value of this vast storehouse of information contributed by the various departments of the Federal Government?" To my mind it is of inestimable value, and as a rule the information is trustworthy. Care is taken to secure only that information which has a positive bearing upon the current problems of the times, and the men engaged in the collection of the information are almost invariably so thoroughly interested in the ascertainment of the truth that their work is free from bias and may be accepted by the scientist as worthy of his use.

From the categorical statements that have been made it must be concluded that the Federal Government has been most generous in its contributions to social science, and that its study could not be carried on without such contributions. The efforts of private individuals, the results of personal observation, and the collection of facts by travelers and students, all valuable as they are, are entirely inadequate for the discussion of the great social problems of the day. Social science deals with the vital interests and relations of the people themselves. Can government do better than to make its contributions in the future, not simply as generous, as emphatic and as far-reaching as those in the past, but still more scientific and still more comprehensive?

Carroll D. Wright.

Department of Labor,
⁠Washington, D. C.