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Show DOMESDAY BOOK First Census Taken 1086 LONDON The 1950 edition of Domesday Book, the English version ver-sion of a census, is now being planned, it was announced recently. recent-ly. The first census was ordered by William the Conqueror in 1086. Americans, who have been upset by the number of questions asked by tabulators this year, were no more upset than the Englishman of William's day when he announced an-nounced his decision to have the survey made. "So very straitly did he cause the survey to be made that there was not a rod of ground, nor it is shameful to say what he thought no shame to do was there an ox or a cow or a pig that passed by that was not set down in the accounts," ac-counts," an anonymous report said. Census for Tax Purpose William was not primarily interested in-terested in the population. He was more interested in taxes. The levy of two shillings per "hide" of land had not yielded the expected revenue. reve-nue. Besides that, he had no way of checking up on defaulters. He had no adequate records even of his own holdings. The time had come, he decided, for a reckoning. Besides counting noses, the local "census takers" were called upon to make three estimates of the value of the land in yearly revenue reve-nue at the time of the census, at the time it was acquired by the current owner, and at the death of Saxon King Edward in 1066. All this information was duly assembled, as-sembled, classified and copied by clerks in two great volumes which were given the name of Domesday Book. As the inventory covered all but four counties, those still held by Saxons, the book was a lush guide to the King in refilling the royal treasury. Besides the tax problem, the book also provided a list of all landowners and tenants and the Christian names of subtenants, peasants and slaves. In fact, the book was a tax roll, land register, military register, census of population and topographical topo-graphical dictionary. The American census this year is designed along many of the same lines. Government officials report that the complete United States census will take the guess out of many phases of life in this country. Unlike the original Domesday Book, tax levies will not be made from the census.vNor the amount of personal income, one of the questions asked by census takers this year, be revealed to anyone. Information Small These figures when accumulated, accumulat-ed, will provide accurate data on the standard of American life today. to-day. The centers of population, industry and potential wealth will also be clearly outlined after the census is tabulated and analyzed, census takers report. William the Conqueror planned to use his census as sort of a fifth column within the country. For instance, in-stance, the Norman lords with whom he shared his loot after conquering con-quering England, had built up feudal centers of considerable 1 strength. William had no definite knowledge of their resources either in property or men. He suspected some of them of trying to create little independent kingdoms within the realm to challenge his power. His census provided this valuable information. Like the Domesday Book, the American census will be a valuable valu-able source of information for future fu-ture historians. |