in Chicago, and Florence Kelley served as the expert in Chicago during an investigation of the slums of large cities. At one time, John R. Commons also worked with Wright, on Regulation and Restriction of Output (XI Special Report, 1904). Commons later criticized Wright's method of leadership, writing that he had "developed the military organization of privates carrying out the detailed orders of their commander." The agents, he continued, “were remarkably accurate in copying figures and making calculations. But they had no insight or understanding of what it was all about. But other contemporaries and associates of Wright evaluated his influence as broadly leavening in the developing social science field. Walter F. Willcox, in writing of the need to give practical assistance and experience to students of theoretical statistics, spotlighted "the group of young men who gathered around Carroll D. Wright" and complained that, after Wright's retirement, no agencies gave the "opportunity to get a training in statistics which would qualify one to rise to the most important statistical positions. . . ." And S.N.D. North declared of Wright, "His Bureau at Washington has been a university for the education of experts in statistics, in sociology, in economics, and in industrial studies."18 Conduct of studies The principles underlying Wright's methods for the conduct of original studies were defined and applied early. These were: Firsthand data collection, voluntary reporting, and confidentiality of returns. Wright explained his data collection methods: "The information under any investigation is usually collected on properly prepared schedules of inquiry in the hands of special agents, by which means only the information which pertains to an investigation is secured.” The schedule would avoid the collection of "nebulous and rambling observations." Mail collection, though it might be used occasionally, was deemed a failure. "With properly instructed special agents, who secure exactly the information required, who are on the spot to make any explanation to parties from whom data are sought, and who can consult the books of accounts at the establishment under investigation, the best and most accurate information can be secured." The completed schedules were then scrutinized under strict supervision to ensure internal consistency. The final statistics were carefully checked and rechecked, as were the analytical results presented by the staff. 19 Wright's British counterpart, Robert Giffen, head of the Bureau of Labour Statistics in the Board of Trade, sharply criticized Wright's methods, especially the use of field agents. Questioning the accuracy of their direct inquiries, Giffen declared in 1892, "I think I may say that there are no persons in the world whom I would trust with the kind of inquiries which some of the American agents make. . . . Cooperation from businessmen was essential to the Bureau, since they were virtually the sole source of information on many subjects. Wright opposed making reporting mandatory to avoid the appearance of adversarial relations between the Bureau and business. And with voluntary reporting there were increasingly fewer refusals. Generally, agents were received in friendly fashion, even if information was refused, and substitutions were made for refusing establishments. Cooperation was heightened by the businessman's knowledge that the Bureau maintained strict confidentiality regarding the identity of reporters. "The Bureau never allows the names of parties furnishing facts to be given in its reports," Wright assured respondents.21 Thus, in 1898, he wired a San Francisco businessman: "I pledge my word as a government officer that names of your plants and of city and State in which located shall be concealed. This will be done for all plants. If senator or representative should ask for these names, he should not have them."22 E.R.L. Gould explained to the International Statistical Institute in 1891, "Impartiality, fair-dealing, and a respect for confidence bestowed have not only disarmed suspicion but engendered even willing cooperation."23 Wright's reputation for impartiality and objectivity gave him entree to the business community, through organizations such as the National Civic Federation and the National Association of Manufacturers. His contacts were helpful in the planning and conduct of studies. For example, in developing its studies of production costs, the Bureau sought the advice of producers in various industries.24 Similarly, his labor contacts helped smooth the way for the Bureau's investigators. When Wright found that unions did not always cooperate, Gompers urged cooperation. "Let there be light," Gompers wrote, "confident that impartial investigations create numberless sympathizers in our great cause."25 Moreover, Gompers supported putting the census into the Bureau of Labor, advocated publication of a regular bulletin, and suggested topics for investigations. Wright sought to expand the scope of the Bureau's coverage by joining forces with the State labor agencies. He was one of the founders of the National Association of Officials of the Bureaus of Labor Statistics and was its president throughout his term of office. He envisioned a nationwide network of collaborating State and Federal agents-" a powerful chain of investigators," he called it. He planned, he said in 1885, to ask Congress to authorize a system whereby the Federal Bureau could compensate State agencies for their assistance and to allow the Federal Bureau to place agents in States without bureaus. 26 Although he had little success in carrying out joint studies with the States, the State bureaus drew increasingly on the Federal Bureau's experience, so that by 1900 the reports of work in progress in the States demonstrated a substantial degree of uniformity in inquiries covered.27 Achieving departmental status While Wright was laying the foundation for his agency, forces were at work to expand its power and influence. The Knights of Labor under Terence Powderly had been active in the campaign to establish the Bureau. Early in 1886, Powderly asked President Cleveland to increase the powers of the Bureau and also to have the Commissioner investigate the railroad strike in the Southwest then in progress.28 In April, Cleveland sent to Congress the first special message dealing with strictly labor matters, recommending that a mediation and arbitration commission be grafted onto the existing Bureau. Congress, however, adjourned without taking action. Powderly persevered, and, at the Knights of Labor convention in October 1887, he urged establishment of a Department of Labor with its Secretary a member of the Cabinet. The next year, he scored a partial success. It was again a Presidential election year with labor difficulties on the southwestern railroads. In June 1888, Congress established a Department of Labor, independent but without Cabinet status. A separate statute, the Arbitration Act of 1888, authorized the Commissioner of Labor, with two ad hoc commissioners, to act as a board of inquiry in railroad disputes. The growing reputation of the Bureau under Wright had contributed to its rise in status. Reflecting Wright's concerns, the act estab lishing the Department specifically called for studies of the domestic and foreign costs of producing goods, national trade and industrial activity, the causes and circumstances of strikes, and other special topics. The basic functions of the agency were not changed, but, for 15 years, it was to be more independent. Any uncertainty regarding Wright's continuance in the new agency was soon dissipated. Although it was reported that the Knights of Labor and the Federation would oppose his retention because of his opposition to the Knights of Labor, his protectionist views, and his Republican associations, in fact, observers in the labor press commented favorably on Commissioner Wright, his staff, and the Bureau's endeavors. The National Labor Tribune declared, "Inasmuch as Commissioner Wright conducted the Bureau with rare skill, energy, and impartiality and not as a politican, there does not seem to be any reason why there should be haste in changing."29 Powderly later wrote that President Cleveland had offered him the position but he had refused. At the time, however, in the Journal of United Labor, Powderly disclaimed all interest in the post of Commissioner. In fact, he declared that the campaign to boom him for the job was a conspiracy by his enemies to embarrass him and the Knights.30 Wright continued as Commissioner, now head of the Department of Labor. The Act of 1888 authorized 55 clerks and experts for the Department and substantially increased its appropriations. Until the early 1900's, Wright presided over the enlarged and independent operation largely without challenge. A sister agency: Bureau of the Census Wright took a prominent part in the establishment of a permanent Bureau of the Census in 1902. Until that time, each decennial census was conducted under temporary arrangements by a Superintendent of the Census appointed by the President. As early as 1884, during his service as Chief of the Massachusetts Bureau, Wright had testified before Congress on the benefits to be gained from the creation of a permanent census agency. Prominent academicians and Francis A. Walker, Superintendent of the 1870 and 1880 censuses, went beyond merely proposing a permanent agency; they proposed placing it in Wright's Department for greater efficiency and to take it out of the political arena. 31 Although there was support for a permanent agency, the 1890 census was still conducted under a temporary arrangement. But the impetus for a permanent agency increased in 1890, and the Secretary of the Interior recommended establishment of a permanent census office. In 1891, the Senate called for a report from the Secretary, and, in response, Robert P. Porter, then Superintendent of the Census, also suggested formation of a permanent agency. In his report, Porter included a letter from Wright supporting the idea.32 Widespread dissatisfaction with the conduct of the 1890 census, with especially sharp controversy in New York City, focused attention on the shortcomings of the periodic temporary arrangements. The immediate unhappiness was dissipated when, with the change of administrations and the resignation of Porter, Cleveland appointed Wright as Superintendent of the Census, a post he held concurrently with his leadership of the Department of Labor from 1893 until 1897.33 Years later, in a eulogy on Wright, S.N.D. North, first head of the permanent Bureau of the Census in the Department of Commerce and Labor, stated that Cleveland appointed Wright "because no other available man was so conspicuously fitted" for the task.34 Calls for legislation continued. In 1892, the House Select Committee on the Eleventh Census held hearings on Porter's report and, in 1893, recommended a permanent Census Bureau, but Congress took no action.35 Two years later, the International Statistical Institute suggested studying ways to conduct a uniform worldwide census at the end of the century, and, in 1896, Congress directed Wright to correspond with various experts on the International Institute's suggestion and to report on the best organization for the upcoming 1900 canvass. Wright submitted his report with a draft of a bill providing for an independent office. He opposed putting the work in the Department of the Interior because the Secretary changed with each administration and appointments were subject to political pressures. In his view, the proposed office could include the activities of the Division of Statistics in the Department of Agriculture and of his Department of Labor, but he opposed such a transfer. When pressed on the question, he responded, "Personally, I should dislike very much to be put in charge of census duties." But he did admit that, from an administrative |