INTRODUCTION

In the introduction to Little Blue Book No. 1460, A Book of American Statistics, I have called attention to a few of the ways in which numerical expressions of facts may be misleading, especially if the person consulting a statistical table forgets that a census or a measurement must be taken at a definite time. In general, though, the population and the industries of Europe are somewhat more inclined to stability than are those of the United States and other American countries. It may be said, too, that most European countries are in a position to learn with considerable accuracy the number of people they contain and other information of a definite sort. There are a few vague or disputed boundaries, and, especially in the southeast, there are groups of people who flee from the schoolmaster and the census taker; but these are exceptional cases.

The statistical matter published by the governmental agencies of the United Kingdom, France, or Germany is fully as trustworthy as that which comes from the official printing office at Washington. Indeed, the European countries have fuller information than the United States about some important phenomena of society.

Fuller statistics may be found in various yearbooks and almanacs devoted to special interests or countries, as well as in those of a general nature. An inexpensive source of information is the Almanac and Book of Facts published by the New York World. A Political Handbook of the World, published by the Yale and Harvard University Presses, is devoted largely to party politics and governmental facts. The Statesman’s Year Book and the Europa Year Book contain statistical matter of all sorts.

Current information about Europe appears with fullness in few American newspapers. Perhaps the New York Times should be especially mentioned in this connection. However, several English newspapers that are to be found in large public libraries are naturally more useful for European statistics.