He removed to the United States on the death of his father in 1869, and begran active life as a school teacher in
Illinois. When the
Chicago Inter Ocean was founded, in 1872, he joined the staff of that paper, though his first statistical and economic writings were contributed to the
Galaxy, 1876, and
The Princeton Review, 1878–79. From 1879 to 1882, he had charge of the second division of the United States census under Gen. Francis A. Walker, and wrote the official reports on wealth, debt, taxation, and transportation. In 1882, he was appointed a member of the
U.S. Tariff Commission, and in this capacity he took an active part in framing the tariff law of 1883. He then joined the editorial staff of the
New-York Tribune and was sent to Europe to study and report industrial and housing conditions on the Continent. He contributed regular letters on European industries for fifteen months. Upon returning to the United States in 1885, he became one of the editors of
The Philadelphia Press. On December 1, 1887, Porter founded the
New York Press, assisted by Frank Hatton. In March, 1889, he was appointed superintendent of the 11th census, resigning in September 1893, to return to the editorial control of the
New York Press. In 1895–96, Porter reported on the industries and commerce of Japan for the Manufacturers' Association of America. He took an active part in the campaigns of
President William McKinley, and in 1898, the latter appointed him a special commissioner to Cuba and
Puerto Rico. He framed the tariff laws for these islands and the Philippines, and conducted the negotiations with Gen. Gomez that ended in the disbandment of the Cuban army. From 1900, he conducted a series of economic studies relating to street and other railways in Europe. In 1904, he joined the staff of the
London Times. He was a member of American and English Statistical Associations, and of the Republican, Ardsley, and Lawyers' Clubs of New York. ==Personal life==