THE CENSUS.

Returns have been received from the officers engaged in taking the 'census in all the States and Territories, except California and Utah. Partial returns have been received from California, and the remainder are expected in a few days. This delay has prevented my making the apportionment of representation among the several States as contemplated by the act of Congress approved 23d May, 1850. That act provides that so soon as the next and each subsequent enumeration of the inhabitants of the several States, directed by the constitution of the United States to be taken, shall be completed and returned to the office of the Department of the Interior, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to ascertain the aggregate representative population " in the manner prescribed by the constitution and the laws, and then proceed to ascertain the representative population of each State, and the number of representatives to which each is entitled."

The law further requires that the Secretary of the Interior shall transmit to the House of Representatives, and to the Executive of each State, without delay, a certificate, under his seal of office, of the number of members apportioned to each State.

It will thus be perceived that there are two conditions precedent to the performance of this duty. Before I can act, the enumeration must be completed and returned to the office of the Department of the Interior; until these conditions are performed, I have no jurisdiction over the subject. I am not authorized to act upon partial returns, nor until they are officially made to the department. Neither of these pre-requisites having yet been complied with, I have not been able to make the apportionment. When the enumerations are completed and returned, no time will be lost in performing the duties devolved on the department.

A large number of clerks are now engaged in classifying and arranging, in a suitable form for publication, the diversified statistical information furnished by the tables. It is believed that when completed, it will be the most perfect work of the kind ever presented to the public. No pains have been spared to secure perspicuity of arrangement and accuracy of execution. To avoid the errors which have crept into former works of the kind, I have required that all the calculations and classifications should be made by responsible clerks in office, instead of being confided to females and other persons having no interest in the subject, as has been done on former occasions. This course has required the employment of more clerks on that particular service, but the small increase of expense thus incurred will be more than counterbalanced by the greater accuracy of the results.

Being desirous that this great national work should be rendered as perfect as possible in all respects, by the advice of the census board, I authorized Mr. Joseph C. G. Kennedy, the superintendent of the census, to visit Europe during the past summer for the purpose of examining the systems of statistics of most of the enlightened nations of the world; and of obtaining from them and from personal communication with those most familiar with the subject, all information which could be procured. He accordingly visited England, France, Belgium, Austria, and Prussia, and examined their official statistics, and had conferences with their public officers and others possessing the most extensive and varied knowledge of the subject. By these means he has gained information of much practical value in the

He was also instructed to

arrangement of our own census for publication. suggest to the proper officers of the respective governments the propriety of adopting a uniform system of classification for all nations who were in the habit of making enumerations of their population and productions. At present the census of each nation is taken upon different principles, and the results are stated in different forms, so that it is impossible to institute a comparison of their relative progress in regard to any particular subject of inquiry. I proposed that each nation should suggest its plan for taking the enumeration of the population, productions, &c., and upon an examination of their respective advantages, a common system should be formed for general adoption. Uniformity being thus secured, it would be easy to make a comparison of their relative progress, and to deduce correct conclusions as to the causes which contributed to produce the different results. The suggestion was received with favor by many of the most eminent men of Europe, and a proposition has been submitted for a Congress of representatives from the principal nations of the world, at Brussels, in September, 1852, for the purpose of carrying it into effect.

Mr. Kennedy was also directed to inquire into the measures which had been adopted by the most enlightened nations of Europe, for the development of their agricultural resources, and the agencies employed by them respectively for that purpose.

Upon all these points his report, which accompanies this communication, will afford much valuable information. The whole expense incurred by him in the performance of these important duties did not exceed $1,500, being nothing more than his actual personal expenses.

In my last report I stated my belief that the sum already appropriated for paying the expenses incurred in taking the census and preparing it for publication, would be sufficient for that purpose. It has been ascertained, however, that the additional sum of $150,000 will be necessary, and I therefore respectfully recommend the appropriation of that amount for the completion of the work.

With the view of enabling Congress to form a just estimate of the importance and varied character of the information derived from the late census, and of the admirable arrangement of the tables, the superintendent has, with my sanction, caused the returns of Maryland to be printed for the use of the members of the two houses. That State was selected because, from its central position and the character of its population, soil, productions, and industrial pursuits, its census presented the best illustration of the extent and practical utility of the information which has been gained.

Another object was to furnish a specimen of the style in which, according to my judgment, it ought to be published. Such a specimen will be of great value in contracting for the publication of the entire work, by furnishing a standard by which the contractor will be governed, in regard to the paper, printing, and general style of execution.

May, naturally attracted much attention in this country. It was the first, occasion in the history of the world when all the nations of the earth were invited to make an exhibition of their natural productions and the results of their labor, in all the departments of industry.

Believing that great advantages would accrue to the people of the United States from having an agent present at this interesting display, who was competent to understand and describe all the objects of interest which might be exhibited, I authorized Mr. Charles F. Stansbury, an intelligent officer connected with the Patent Office, to go to London and discharge that duty. He accordingly spent several months in making a minute examination of the most choice and valuable products of nature and art which were presented, and I have no doubt that his report, which is now in course of preparation, will be a valuable and interesting document. He was instructed to inform himself particularly in regard to all the natural productions, implements, machinery, manufactures and processes of manufacture, works of art, and other objects of interest, peculiar to each nation, so as to be able to impart the knowledge thus acquired, to the people of our own country.

The

As all the latest improvements in machinery and the useful arts were there displayed, a careful description of them will be of great value to the Patent Office, in enabling it to decide whether machines and other alleged inventions and discoveries are really new and useful, so as to be proper subjects of patents, or copied from those exhibited at the London fair. farmer and mechanic will also be benefited by obtaining information as to the most approved implements, tools, and processes employed in their respective occupations. And the general reader cannot fail to be interested and instructed by an accurate and authentic account of the most extensive and varied collection of useful objects which has ever been brought together from the different quarters of the world. It is proposed to append this report to that of the Commissioner of Patents; and if Congress shall degm it proper to publish it with that document, it will doubtless greatly enlarge the circle of useful information, and give a new stimulus to the enterprise and industry of the people.

AGRICULTURAL BUREAU.

In my last report I earnestly recommended the establishment of an Agricultural Bureau. My opinion on that subject remains unchanged, and I beg leave to refer to and reaffirm all that I then said in regard to it.

Agriculture is unquestionably the great interest of our country, whether we have reference to the number of persons employed in it, or to the value of their productions. It appears from the census of 1840, that the whole number of -persons at that time engaged in this pursuit was 3,719,951; in manufactures 791,749; and in commerce 117,607. More than four-fifths of the entire population were, therefore, employed in the cultivation of the soil: at present it is believed that the proportion is still greater, in consequence of the change in the policy of the government, which has induced many to become agriculturists who were formerly engaged in manufactures; and yet we find that, whilst a large portion of the sessions of every Congress is devoted to the protection and encouragement of manufactures and commerce, nothing has been done for agriculture. Within a few years after the adoption of the constitution, President Washington recommended to

Congress the establishment of a Bureau of Agriculture; but nothing was done to carry his recommendation into effect.

The subject has since been brought to the attention of Congress, from time to time, by Executive communications, reports of the heads of department, and petitions from the people; but without success.

As the results of the late census have furnished official evidence of the importance of this interest, and as we are now at peace with all the world, and fortunately relieved from those distracting and embarrassing topics which have so long disturbed the harmony of our legislative assemblies and withdrawn their attention from the true interests of the country, it seeins to me that no time could be more auspicious than the present to secure for this great subject a candid and enlightened consideration.

The best mode of illustrating the utility of an Agricultural Bureau is to present a condensed statement of the duties which it should be required to perform. It should be charged with the duty of collecting and disseminating information in regard to the cultivation of the soil, in all its branches. It should investigate every proposed improvement in the tillage of the earth or in the construction of implements of husbandry. It should collect from our own and foreign countries every variety of seed, fruit, plant and vegetable, and distribute them, with full and accurate information as to the soil, climate, and mode of cultivation best adapted to each. Through the agency of our national ships and merchant vessels, arrangements could be made for the importation of all the valuable vegetable productions and animals of other countries. This would enable us to appropriate to ourselves the advantages of the wisdom, experience, and improvements of all the world in regard to agriculture, and we should soon be rendered independent of other countries for many articles which are now imported at great cost. One or more officers should be connected with it, thoroughly acquainted with the principles of geology, mineralogy, chemistry, and botany, for the purpose of investigating and reporting upon the character and properties of every variety of soil, rock, mineral, and vegetable, and their adaptation to useful purposes. To this bureau should also be intrusted the duty of superintending the taking of each decennial census, and of procuring and classifying, from year to year, all the statistical information which can be obtained in respect to the agriculture, manufactures, commerce, tonnage, revenue expenditures, financial and banking systems, improvements by railways, canals, and roads, industrial pursuits, and general progress of every State in the Union, and of the principal nations of the world. By this means a vast fund of useful knowledge, which cannot now be obtained, would be always accessible to Congress and the Executive. The value of such information, in shaping our own policy, can hardly be estimated. Facts like these are the ground-work of all wise legislation. In the language of an enlightened statesman of Europe, "Statistical knowledge is the true basis of every just and paternal administration, and, without it, it is impossible to realize the ameliorations which are necessary to the prosperity of the country." This remark is peculiarly applicable to our own country, whose interests are so diversified and spread over such a wide extent of territory as to render it impossible to legislate wisely in regard to them, without a thorough knowledge of their value and relations to each other. The information furnished by the returns of our census is of great importance; but when we remember that it is obtained but once in ten years, and that in the intermediate time rapid changes are going on, and

new interests springing into existence, and new States added to the Union, it will at once be perceived that it is not sufficient for the purposes of our government. It should be the duty of the officers of the bureau to keep pace with the annual progress of the nation, and to present to Congress, at every session, a condensed view of all the statistical information to be derived from the proper authorities of each State.

England, in connexion with her Board of Trade, has a statistical bureau and registrar general, which keep the government constantly advised of the general condition of the country, and of the facts illustrative of the progress and wants of each particular branch of its industry.

France has regarded the subject of agriculture of so much importance as to create a separate department to take charge of its interests. She has also established, in connexion with it, a bureau of statistics, the results of whose labors are annually published for the information of her government and people. There are also no less than twenty colleges in France, established under the patronage of the government, in which botany, zoology, chemistry, agriculture, and the treatment of the diseases of cattle, are the subjects of instruction. Committees are also employed constantly, by the government, in investigating all improvements connected with agriculture, and in collecting and distributing seeds, plants, vegetables, and fruits.

The publications of the results of the inquiries and investigations of these different agents of the government, constitute the most valuable contributions. which have been made to agricultural and statistical science; and I avail myself of this opportunity to say that the acknowledgments of this department are due to the Minister of Agriculture for a valuable collection of seeds, &c., which he has courteously presented as specimens of the productions of France and its colonies.

In Belgium, the subject of agriculture is under the control of the Minister of the Interior, but is assigned to a special bureau, attached to which is an agricultural council, consisting of eighteen members, two of whom are annually chosen by each of the nine provincial boards. There is also a statistical bureau connected with the department, under the direction of one of the most scientific men in Europe.

Prussia has a bureau of statistics, which was established in 1806, and is now connected with the Department of Finance.

Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Spain, and other countries of Europe, have also exhibited their high appreciation of this branch of political science, by establishing bureaus to collect and classify all the important facts connected with the development of their resources and the condition and wants of their people.

The beneficial operation of these important agencies is everywhere visible in the improved condition of the agriculture of the countries into which they have been introduced, and in the exact information which the governinent possesses of the value and progress of every department of its industry.

In view of these facts, I cannot but think that a just regard to the welfare of our country requires that Congress should lose no further time in establishing an agricultural and statistical bureau; and I therefore request that you will again invite their attention to the subject.