The Development of the Irish Census , and Its National Importance

THE people of Great Britain and Ireland are accustomed every ten years to the taking of the Census, occurring, as it does, in the first year of each decennial period. To a majority of the population this may seem a comparatively routine business, and to many, no doubt, a great trouble, as the head of each family is required to give certain information by means of a Form which must be filled up on a specified day. The information received, however, from this Form, troublesome as it may have appeared to some individuals to give, is of the greatest importance from a social, statistical, and national point of view. We find that the institution dates back to early ages. There is evidence in the Old Testament of various numberings of the people ; in ancient Greece enumerations of the citizens were made for political purposes ; while in the Roman Republic, about 400 years before Christ, the two highest magistrates were called " Censors." Their duty was to take a Census of the citizens, to estimate their property, and impose taxes in proportion to what each possessed ; to take cognizance of the bad cultivation of land; of the number and respective classes of all free persons, their domestic position as husbands or wives ; fathers and mothers ; sons and daughters ; celibacy ; and other inquiries. This was considered so important that it was usually conducted at intervals of five years. Since the fall of the Roman Empire, the principal compilations which, in the Middle Ages, partook of the nature of a