Good oversight is certainly essential, as Mr Prewitt used to say in Africa.

ECONOMIST: The travails of a census man

And yet, though fights over the census are nothing new, there may all the same be something in Mr Prewitt's pessimism.

ECONOMIST: The travails of a census man

Mr Prewitt complains that he cannot get his staff to focus on census preparations, because explanations to outsiders take up all their time.

ECONOMIST: The travails of a census man

Then there are various advisory committees, representing racial groups or state governments or business associations, all of which demand information from Mr Prewitt's hard-pressed statisticians all the time.

ECONOMIST: The travails of a census man

One floor down from Mr Prewitt's office, somewhere at the end of a maze of grimy corridors, new carpets and computers have been installed for the comfort and convenience of a brand-new Census Monitoring Board.

ECONOMIST: The travails of a census man

What to make of Mr Prewitt's outburst?

ECONOMIST: The travails of a census man

But, despite the frustrations of getting started, the board displays admirable resilience: its members now have desks, some even have business cards, and they mean to monitor that census by tirelessly demanding briefings and testimony and documents from Mr Prewitt's team.

ECONOMIST: The travails of a census man

Then Mr Prewitt grows defiant.

ECONOMIST: The travails of a census man