First International Statistical Congress

The first International Statistical Congress was held on September 19, 1853 in Brussels, Belgium, with twenty-six countries in attendance. It was principally organised by Belgian astronomer and statistician Adolphe Quetelet, who envisioned a standardisation of European units of measurement to allow for collaborative research to be done between nations. The International Statistical Congress was therefore designed to create tentative guidelines for the process of unifying measurement in statistical research, and it was also aimed to establish leadership and regulations for future congresses. Although the first Congress was followed by seven further sessions across Europe between 1853 and 1876, it was unsuccessful in its initial goals to standardise all measurements across nations, as it occurred at a time when international conferences failed to overcome national interests.

In 1851, Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, organised the first World’s Fair held at the Great Exhibition of London. As the World’s Fair attracted scholars from different parts of Europe, Prince Albert began the task of influencing public opinion favourably towards the standardisation of international statistics. One of these scholars was the Belgian astronomer and statistician Adolphe Quetelet, who became convinced of the necessity for an international congress to unify the various methods of statistical measurement across different nations. Upon his return to Brussels, Quetelet wrote to Prince Albert expressing his desire to collaborate in the creation of an international statistical congress. Aided by members of the Belgian Statistical Commission, Quetelet and Prince Albert agreed to work together to create the First International Statistical Congress in Brussels.

The purpose of the International Statistical Congress went beyond simply standardising units of measurement throughout Europe. The founders believed that a common means of measuring, to use the same units to represent the same results, was necessary. It would allow for easier transfer of data between nations so that officials could interpret other states’ findings without previously converting them. In doing so, this would not only create a sense of unity amongst European nations, but it would also greatly increase the efficacy of statistical-based research, allowing for bigger scientific initiatives to be taken in the hopes of improving living conditions across Europe.

A total of twenty-six states and their leading statisticians participated in the Congress. Officially, the states represented were:

The first order of business for the Congress was to establish administrative roles. Ferdinand Piercot, Belgium's Minister of the Interior, was elected as President of the Congress; William Farr of England, Louis-René Villermé of France, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Dieterici of then-Prussia, Carl Mittermaier of then-Baden, Jan Akersdyck of the Netherlands, Ramón de la Sagra of Spain, Karl von Czoernig of Austria, and Bertini of Sardinia were named Vice-Presidents. A system of publications and operations, along with an official and regular correspondence scheme between members and nations, was devised for implementation in the Congress. The Congress proceeded to appoint one person by nation responsible for receiving and reporting new national scientific developments, and lastly, created the Bulletin of the Central Statistical Commission to publish an annual newsletter of statistical communications and documents relevant to the committee.

Despite the Congress's emphasis on international collaboration, a great portion of the conference was first spent highlighting domestic statistics and measurement processes to gain a better understanding of how best to begin standardisation. Delegates in attendance spoke of the methods in which their nations compiled statistical information. However, this was not without ulterior motives. Often, participating nations exerted their own interests to influence the agenda to varying degrees. For example, the Belgian commission expressed the need to focus on economic statistics for workers. Vienna introduced ethnographic statistics concerning demographics and populations at the encouragement of Karl von Czoernig, the director of the Habsburg’s statistical service, who believed in the viability of international demographic analysis. Furthermore, national interests directly conflicted with the gathering of statistical information. In France, statisticians were prompted to present misleading demographic statistics that would underestimate the population growth of the country as not to raise concerns among their European neighbours regarding the balance of power.

The Congress first decided that if a united system of information was needed in international statistics, they would have to establish a standard template for officials across nations to follow when informing the public of various statistics. As a result, the members of the Congress concluded that it was necessary to create a certain manner of tables and statements to be implemented across Europe. Likewise, they recommended that each national government establish a Central Statistical Commission, which would be uniform throughout the continent, and ensure that the standardisation of statistics by these officials would be done according to the new measures. In addition to these Central Commissions, the Congress advised that local Commissions also be established for the purpose of overcoming any local irregularities concerning the measurement process of statistics previously overlooked.

Collaboratively, the First International Statistical Congress took into account the nature of industries throughout European nations, including agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and commercial enterprises which consisted of import and export statistics. For agriculture specifically, censuses were designed to measure what and how much was produced, what farm equipment was used, and how many workers and animals were present; these took place once every ten years in the winter, after the annual harvests to ensure availability of farmers. Industrial censuses measured what kind of mechanical forces were prevalent in specific industries, such as hydraulics or steam power, as well as demographics like the number of workers, their salaries, and the quantity of goods produced. For example, mines would need to report the size and depth of the mine, as well as the methods of extraction, the good extracted, and how much was produced. The Congress agreed that in order to record the most precise information possible using these agricultural censuses, it was necessary to conduct surveys simultaneously and collect the results through local Commissions, at which point a final table could be created and used for comparison against other states.