writer and stenographer, to assist in the corporation department. The Auditor has a clerk at a salary of $125 a month, and the State Treasurer has a clerk who is paid the same salary, while the deputy in each of these departments is paid $150 per month. This discrimination is not justified by a comparison of the work done in the various departments, and why it was made when the salaries were fixed by the General Assembly is only a matter of conjecture. I feel that with the increased labor, the large increase in the revenues, due to the exclusive recommendations of the Secretary of State, and the increase in the cost of living in a city like Little Rock, there should be a desire upon the part of the General Assembly to properly compensate the clerical force for their competent and patient service. If the Legislature is of the opinion that this slight increase in the salary of the corporation clerk and the addition of a stenographer adds a burden to the State, then I submit this sugggestion: Frequently we have requests from parties interested concerning the financial condition of both State and foreign corporations, but this office is without anything in the way of annual reports from corporations upon which to give out a statement that will meet the request of those concerned. After the filing of the articles of incorporation, and amendments to the same, the statutes fail to require the filing of annual reports showing their true condition, although it is probable they have changed officers and stockholders in many instances. Now, the State, through an Act, can and should require all corporations to file at least once a year a statement showing the amount of stock paid up, the assets and liabilities of the company, and the officers of the company at the time the report is filed. For the filing of this report the State should charge a fee of five dollars, onehalf of which could be applied to the payment of extra clerical services made necessary by the increase of business in the department, and a stenographer employed under this Act to care for the correspondence, which is heavy, and to assist in the copying of articles, and other duties as may relieve the corporation clerk and keep him from getting behind with the recording, which frequently happens. This small fee would not be an imposition upon any corporation, and the purpose for which it would be exacted is worthy of consideration. The public is now very much in the dark regarding the financial condition of corporations chartered by the State, and we should compel them to exhibit from time to time their true

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condition under oath. The work done by this department is not fully known by the general public, but during the two years just closed charters have been issued to 924 domestic corporations, 52 railroads, 150 foreign corporations, and 250 amendments to articles of incorporation.

The domestic corporations articles of incorporation average twelve hundred words each, which gives a total of one million one hundred thousand words to record; the railroads articles will average fifteen hundred words each, which gives a total of seventy-five thousand words to record; the amendments will average one thousand words, or a total of two hundred and fifty thousand words to record; and in addition to all this record work, many copies are required, and thousands of letters are written in answer to letters of inquiry relating to the chartering of corporations. It is embarrassing to an officer to appeal to the General Assembly for help, even when he knows it is an absolute necessity, but I feel that I should acquaint the General Assembly with the situation, and that body can do as it wishes in this respect.

Among the new corporations chartered by this department in the last two years were eighty banks, which indicates the State is improving financially, and there is now more money in the country than formerly, and the deposits in the banks of the State are far greater than they were several years ago. The increasing prosperity is becoming known abroad, and, in consequence thereof, fifty-two new railroad companies have been granted charters and the railroad mileage of the State will be largely increased. It is a pleasure to record these facts and to bear testimony to the general advancement along all lines of our common country.

4

RAILROAD ASSESSMENTS.

At the time the last report was issued from this department the board to assess railroad property had been enjoined from certifying out the assessments made in 1903 and 1904 by order of the Federal court. Since that time, however, the matter has been adjusted under a compromise agreed upon between the attorney of the State board and the railroad companies involved in the suit, and the board accepted the compromise upon the advice of its attorney,d the taxes were collected for the years of 1903 and 1904 upon the basis agreed upon. A failure to accept the compromise would have