George Broomhall

Abstract

We regret to record the death of George James Short Broomhall on 23 June. The loss of perhaps the greatest practical statistician of our age deserves more than passing notice from economists. There are numerous cases in which comprehensive statistics, which it should be the natural duty of governments to collect, have been compiled in the first instance by private enterprise. As a rule, however, after this pioneer work has been done for some years, the duty has been taken over by official bodies, which, as soon as they pay attention to the matter, naturally have more comprehensive figures at their disposal. The case of George Broomhall and the Corn Trade News is, however, remarkable, in that he not only built up an extraordinarily efficient pioneer institution on a matter of great importance, but has continued to be regarded as the first authority on the matter long after various official and semi-official bodies, including the chief governments of the world, the Agricultural Institute at Rome, and the Research Institute at Stanford University, have taken up the work. The compilations of these bodies are still found depending more on the compilations of George Broomhall in the Corn Trade News, than his on theirs.

From The Economic Journal, September 1938.