Kovacsics József: A történeti statisztika forrásai (Budapest, 1957)

Angol nyelvű összefoglaló

The author also discusses the practical problems of the execution such as the creating of the directing organisation of the conscription; the resistance of the landed gentry and the measures directed against it; the questions which emerged in the course of the work (the main problem was the separation of allodial and serf land). Then he briefly alludes to the next stage of the attempt of regulation which followed after the conscription, and to the factors which frustrated it. After a few remarks concerning the material, he deals with the possibilities of its histórico statistical elaboration, of its exploitation for the purposes of histórico-economic geography and the ways of evaluation of the data concerning farming methods, communal property, hired labour and statute services. It is from the last mentioned point of view that this conscription has furnished most valuable material. THE NATION-WIDE CONSCRIPTION OF 1828. The last nation-wide conscription carried out in feudal Hungary embraced — with the exception of Transylvania — the whole of the Kingdom of Hungary, inclusive of Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia and Fiume. Its aim was to collect data enabling the administration to reorganise, in the spirit of the reforming principles of the early 19th century, the country's tax system. Under this conscription fell the taxable heads of family, their dependents between 18—60 years and their movable or immovable property. The conscription was ordered by Article VII of 1827. According to this law, the conscription had to be led by the Palatine of the country and a National Committee. The conscription was carried out in 1828, by census officers sent to the spot from other counties or towns; the residents also assisted in the job. The conscription extended to nearly 11 000 communities; on every community a separate volume or leaflet was elaborated. The material includes a great number of records on hearings, proceedings and revisions. In the conscription scheme, only the taxable heads of families enter under separate headings. In the various columns figure: the name of the head of family; the global number of his dependents between 18—60 years who lived with him; the occupation of the head and members of the family; their social status and, as far as it was thought necessary from the point of view of the aim of the conscription, the relation between the head and the members of the family; the extent of taxable immovables: house, land, vineyard, garden, woodland etc. and the income derived from them; finally, the live-stock in possession of the taxable families. The tabular material concerning each community was completed by informations about the local conditions e. g. the earning possibilities, the geographical location of the community and the effect of the latter on its development, the level of agricultural production, the commercial possibilities, the special advantages or handicaps of the community, public debts etc. When analysing the conscription material from the point of view of historical statistics it should be taken into account that it was not intended to serve statistical purposes; its questionnaire may be considered rather as a form of declaration for tax assessment. Registered units were the heads of families. Thus, the material is not a primary but a secondary source of statistics. Some of its deficiencies are connected with its secondary character, others with the inexact formulation of certain questions. Other gaps follow from the conditions and the behaviour of the persons conscribed and of the census officers themselves. The possiblities of errors may be, however, greatly reduced by taking into account the main sources of errors and by using, in addition to the tables, also the material contained in the