The Great 1910 Census Padding Scandal
Across Washington state, towns are inflating their populations with ghosts, hobos, and unborn children to secure their status.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
For many years we have had an abiding faith in the documents and statistics sent out by the United States government. Never again shall we believe in them. An observation of the methods pursued by your Uncle Samuel in taking the census for 1910 in the state of Washington has cured us. All of our exchanges tell stories of a padded count: Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, Wenatchee, North Yakima, Puyallup, Bellingham, Aberdeen—everywhere it is the same. Disappointment at the first and honest count is the cry; then a claim that the count is short; then an extension of time, and a suggestion from the district supervisor to get busy—enthuse—count traveling men—count the hoboes and fly-by-nights—count men who have been in Alaska for years—count babies unborn, and patriarchs dead many long years. One community starts it; another follows in self-defense. Seattle must make a showing double or more than Tacoma. North Yakima must find an excuse for its extravagant claims; Aberdeen must count 20,000 souls, and Hoquiam must keep up with Aberdeen. And so we have done it. A carnival was suggested to help us. We threw confetti and counted paper statistics, arguing all the time that Uncle Sam had been remiss in his duty.
“We threw confetti and counted paper statistics, arguing all the time that Uncle Sam had been remiss in his duty.”
The frantic race for census data in 1910 reflects the perennial obsession with growth and boosterism that defined early Washington towns. Today, this 'padding' reflects our own modern anxieties about census undercounts and political representation in high-growth areas.
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