With regard to the important inquiries on the subject of Occupation and Industry , new and comprehensive classifications had been drawn up , as stated in the Preliminary Report of 1921 , by a fully representative departmental committee working in close cooperation with the Departments affected , with the result that standard classifications were established to which adherence has been very largely given by those Departments and which has formed the basis of participation by this country in certain international agreements .sx In the course of 1928 these classifications were reviewed by a similarly constituted committee and improved and extended in the light of experience gathered since their original formulation .sx The opportunity afforded on the previous occasion by the Imperial Statistical Conference of 1920 of consultations between the Census authorities of the several parts of the British Empire was not again forthcoming ; but the presence of various statistical officers of the Dominions in connection with the Economic Conference of 1930 enabled plans to be concerted for the early exchange of information regarding the census tabulation programmes of the several parts of the Empire in order to permit of their mutual accommodation and coordination , wherever possible .sx Further , a conference was provisionally arranged to take place in 1932 in Ottawa for the purpose of discussing questions of census policy among other matters of statistical interest to the several parts of the Empire .sx The enumeration machinery was based as hitherto upon registration sub-districts .sx These , amounting to 1,770 , were in turn sub-divided into 40,016 enumeration districts .sx In each sub-district a Census officer ( with rare exceptions the registrar of births and deaths ) was responsible under instructions from headquarters for the selection , instruction and supervision of the enumerators appointed in each enumeration district .sx Considerable public interest was evinced in the recruitment of enumerators ; and the conduct of the enumeration was not wholly uneventful .sx As the experience gained from the course of events on this occasion must obviously be of importance for the purpose of future Census arrangements it may be as well to relate the course of events somewhat fully while the information is still fresh .sx The subject needs , however , to be prefaced by a statement of the governing considerations and conditions .sx The work of a Census enumerator is by no means simple or unimportant .sx It consists in the main , it is true , of the distribution and collection of Census schedules ; but both must be carried out on special lines which ensure that the enumeration is exhaustive and that the returns are complete and in order .sx If every enumerator missed on average three households , the Census would under-state the population of this country by a figure approaching half a million .sx Further , the enumerator is required in the course of his distribution rounds to compile a complete record of all premises , resident and other , situated in the pre-arranged route by which he enumerates his district ; and this exhaustive record of premises , containing much incidental information as to the nature of the premises and their contents , is an integral part of the Census returns for many indispensable purposes .sx Finally , he is required to summarize the contents of this record and of the Census returns collected in a tabular analysis .sx The work is , therefore , by no means analogous to a simple process of distribution and collection .sx In addition to the competence and thoroughness which are necessary to permit of these duties being properly performed , a good standard of reliability and responsibility in enumerators is called for by the exigencies of the Census machinery itself .sx The magnitude of the operation must be borne in mind .sx In recruiting on so large a scale nothing can be left to chance or to the hazards of the last moment ; the requisite number must be secured in advance and allowed sufficient time to master their instructions .sx The heavy task incumbent upon the local Census officer makes it necessary that one stage of the operations should , so far as possible , be completed before the next is undertaken .sx Further , the system which has been evolved out of 130 years' experience is based upon a simultaneous enumeration in all parts of the country , completed in the shortest possible time in order to ensure that no complications arise owing to movements of population .sx For this rapid simultaneous operation no rehearsal is possible ; and it is imperative .sx to success that the enumerators , duly selected in advance and prepared as far as possible by instruction in their duties , can be confidently depended on to enter upon those duties without fail when the zero hour arrives .sx It is of no less importance that they should be fully capable , given the requisite opportunities of preparation and instruction in advance , of carrying out , singlehanded and unsupported , the whole programme of their duties .sx The magnitude of the operation must , again , be considered .sx A Census officer controlling , say , some 60 or 70 enumerators , cannot possibly supervise or keep in personal touch with their simultaneous proceedings ; and a less responsible staff who could give reasonably satisfactory service under continuous personal supervision would be wholly out of place in operations in which each enumerator works in isolation , and shortcomings or omissions may only come to light when the process is completed and it is often too late to make amends .sx While , for these reasons , the Census enumeration calls for a good standard of intelligence , experience , thoroughness and trustworthiness , it is obvious that an operation which occurs at ten-year ( or even at five-year ) intervals cannot maintain its own trained staff .sx From its inception 130 years ago Census-taking has accordingly had to make special provision for this difficulty .sx The earlier Acts provided a solution by placing the duties direct on certain classes of local statutory official in person .sx In evolution from the earlier Acts and with the willing cooperation of local authorities , the practice arose of the recruitment of their minor officials .sx For very many years the established system of obtaining the necessary staff of enumerators has been by resort to these classes of local government official ; and express provisions in the successive Census Acts , which found their ultimate inclusion in the permanent Census Act of 1920 , have recognised this course as the normal and regular arrangement .sx This class of personnel satisfied more fully than was possible by any other means the requirements set forth above .sx Being officers in permanent employment upon local government duties in a particular neighbourhood , they could be relied upon to be available in that neighbourhood without fail , apart from the normal contingencies of sickness or accident .sx Inured to official routine and accustomed to follow official instructions , they possessed the necessary foundation of training and experience which fitted them to master with least difficulty the special instructions and procedure imposed by Census requirements .sx In the case of many classes of such officers , moreover , their official duties made them familiar with the local boundaries , topography , and actual inhabitants of the areas in which they were called upon to serve .sx There can be no doubt whatever that the official element is by far the most suitable class of personnel for service as Census enumerators .sx Indeed , if any doubt remained it would be disposed of by the experience of the overwhelming majority of Census officers .sx In view , however , of the tremendous weight of unemployment at present prevailing a strong public demand was , not unnaturally , expressed that in the recruitment of enumerators on the recent occasion as much use as possible should be made of unemployed persons of a suitable type .sx It was , equally naturally , the desire of the Census administration to consult the interests of the unemployed to the utmost extent to which this could be done without prejudice to the efficient conduct of the Census arrangements ; and instructions were given to Census officers accordingly as to their action in recruitment .sx While pointing to the necessity for securing men of the requisite standard of competence who could be relied upon to serve without fail , these instructions required that , subject to these conditions , special consideration was to be given to the unemployed .sx Of the dual qualifications , competence and reliability , the latter appeared to be , however , a special difficulty in the case of unemployed persons .sx In view of the necessity for recruiting enumerators some period in advance of the Census date under conditions which bound them to serve without fail , it was by no means clear that the recruitment of unemployed persons would be wholly to the advantage either of the Census arrangements or of the unemployed persons themselves .sx Those persons obviously needed to obtain regular employment ; and the offer of the post of enumerator , carrying a few days' work only with corresponding remuneration , appeared unlikely to induce unemployed persons to forgo an offer of regular employment , should such occur in the interval between appointment and the actual Census day .sx The claims of the unemployed were , however , pressed in numerous quarters without regard to these considerations or to any question of the necessary standard of competence or reliability .sx In the belief that the duties were of the simplest .sx character and analogous , say , to the distribution of handbills , the claim was advanced from many quarters that recruitment should be restricted exclusively to unemployed persons , and the recruitment of any other person regarded as requiring explanation and defence .sx The true position was set forth in a reply on the 5th February on behalf of the Minister of Health to Parliamentary questions in the House of Commons , in which it was explained that wholesale recourse to the unemployed under the conditions explained above was not consistent either with their interests or with safety in the Census arrangements , and that , while all steps possible had been taken to ensure that full consideration was given to unemployed persons of the requisite qualifications , the success of the Census enumeration was necessarily the paramount factor .sx Further and more detailed instructions were given to Census officers with a view to ensuring that the utmost consideration was given to unemployed persons .sx In all urban areas in which an Employment Exchange was within reach , the Census officer was instructed to consult the Exchange Manager , if he had not already done so , and to obtain a list of any suitable unemployed persons offered , notwithstanding that he had already selected unemployed persons from other sources .sx He was then instructed to compare the quality of such candidates with those already provisionally selected who were not unemployed , and to substitute the former in all cases where this could be done without displacing a distinctly better man .sx By these means efforts were made to carry out the Minister's assurances in a thorough and exhaustive manner , applying the relative criterion that the unemployed man was to be taken in preference to others unless the exchange was distinctly for the worse .sx This course of action , carefully designed to give the utmost preference to unemployed persons while avoiding any excessive risk of prejudice to the Census arrangements , was , however , deflected by fresh developments .sx Local authorities , out of regard for the interests of the unemployed , began to evince signs of unwillingness to permit their officers to serve as enumerators .sx At an early stage of this development a letter was addressed , with the express authority of the Minister of Health , to the Council of every County , County Borough , Borough , and Urban and Rural District , setting forth the position as explained to Parliament and requesting the local authority to facilitate the service as enumerators , wherever requisite , of their officials , in reliance upon the assurances given that all practicable efforts consistent with safety were being made to utilise the services of unemployed persons .sx This request , however , had a very limited effect upon the increasing disinclination of local authorities to permit Census service on the part of their officials .sx A number of authorities , to whom full acknowledgment is due , recognised that the question of the use of the unemployed was receiving responsible attention by the Government from a national standpoint , and agreed to release officials for service as enumerators on the strength of the assurances given .sx But for the most part other counsels prevailed ; and the situation developed on lines which resulted in the Census administration being cut off from material assistance by local government officers throughout a great part of the country .sx