priated by the special session in October, 1898, for incidental expenses for the years 1897 and 1898 was $25,000, or $3,000 less than was appropriated for each of the two previous biennial terms.

CLERKS AND OTHER EMPLOYÉS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

The business of this office, which combines the duties of secretary of state, state auditor, state insurance commissioner and various other duties, is very important and extensive, and has been transacted with fewer clerks and less expense than the same amount of work of equal responsibility in any other public or private business. The clerks who have served in this department during the last four years are all exceptionally skillful, industrious and capable. It would be difficult, and perhaps impossible, to find the superiors of Chauncey M. Lockwood, chief clerk; Frank K. Lovell, bookkeeper and auditing clerk; Carey F. Martin, general correspondence clerk, law clerk and clerk of all work; Nicholas J. Haas, assistant to the bookkeeper; B. F. Giltner, recording clerk; and Miss Ella Hodson, stenographer. They are all experienced experts in their line of work. Mr. Lockwood, who is wonderfully quick and versatile in his accomplishments, has been indispensable in attending to the vast amount of business which is concentrated in this department. Mr. Lovell has performed a vast amount of work, requiring the highest skill, integrity, industry and patience, which usually receive much more compensation than he has. Mr. Martin has attended to a great amount of work, requiring the highest order of intelligence, skill and industry, and his services have been invaluable. Mr. Haas has been as faithful and industrious as any person could be. Mr. Giltner and Miss Hodson have been equally useful. Miss Hodson has perhaps not a superior in Oregon in her line of work, both as stenographer and typewriter, being remarkably accurate as well as rapid.

Nine employés in the department of state served under my predecessor, and have been retained by me during my entire term. I have removed only one person in my department during my four years in office-the engineer in the capitol-and have filled five vacancies caused by voluntary resignations. Those who served under my predecessor and have been retained by me are: F. K. Lovell, B. F. Giltner and N. J. Haas, clerks; J. H. Howell, janitor; George O. Cheney, carpenter (part of the time only); J. M. Howell, messenger and mail-carrier; Joseph H. Albricht, assistant janitor (who has served in this position continuously for about 20 years); J. A. Vanderpool and E. A. Graham, laborers. Those appointed by me to fill vacancies caused by voluntary resignations are: C. M. Lockwood and C. F. Martin, clerks; L. Rickel, nightwatchman; Joseph Fones, florist and gardener; and Miss Ella Hodson, stenographer. I. D. Driver, Jr., was appointed engineer in the capitol to fill a vacancy caused

For additional clerical service in the office of the secretary of state for the years 1895 and 1896, the sum of $11,960 was appropriated. Of this appropriation $802.60 was not used but was left in the treasury. No greater sum would have been used during the last two years-1897 and 1898- had it not been for the issuing of duplicate vouchers and the auditing of claims and drawing of warrants under the decision of the supreme court without appropriations, the large increase of correspondence resulting therefrom, and the special session of the legislative assembly, all causing a much greater amount of work than has ever been required in any other biennial

term.

SALE OF PROPERTY OWNED BY THE STATE AT CASCADE LOCKS.

January 20, 1898, L. H. Russell, who was acting as custodian of the locomotive, cars, rails and other property owned by the state, which had been used as a portage railroad at Cascade locks, offered to purchase said property, including the land, and pay $1,915; or $1,830 for the personal property without the land. The other members of the board thought it would be advisable to accept his offer for the personal property, as it was not likely that any other person would want it, and it would soon become worthless. I suggested to the other members of the board that we advertise the prop erty for sale, in order to give others a chance to purchase, and, with their consent, I advertised it for sale one month in the Oregonian. This brought out a number of bids some from Seattle, Vancouver and other places - and on the twenty-fourth day of February we closed the sale of all the personal property to E. H. Thompson, representing the Bridal Veil Lumbering Company, for $3,700, of which $1,200 was paid down and the remainder secured by notes - $800 payable May 31, $800 payable August 31, and $900 payable November 30, 1898,—thus realizing $1,870, less cost of advertising, more than if the offer of Russell had been accepted without advertising.

BOOKKEEPING.

I have followed the system of bookkeeping which has always been used in this office and have carried it out the same as my predecessors did. A better system of double entry bookkeeping and the balancing up of accounts with the treasurer should be adopted. Before I had been long enough in the office to become acquainted with the system then in use the appropriations for the years 1895 and 1896 had been made on the old basis. Then in 1897 the legislative assembly failed to organize, and there was no appropriations for the years 1897 and 1898. Much extra work was performed during those years in making long delayed and much needed indexes to incorporation papers, and in many other ways, and in issuing duplicate vouchers and auditing accounts and drawing warrants without appropria

tions. So, by the force of circumstances over which I had no control, the best that could be done was to follow in the footsteps of my predecessors in the matter of bookkeeping, which was in charge of a man who was as accurate as clockwork and whose integrity was and is above suspicion, making such improvements as were possible in other directions, and leaving to my successors to make such other improvements as more favorable circumstances will permit.

THE CAPITAL BOOK-BINDERY.

My predecessor made an arrangement with Mr. Geo. F. Rodgers to do the binding for the state in Salem at a somewhat reduced price from the rates formerly paid. It is as necessary to have a bindery near the capitol as to have the state printing office here, for the reason that there is need of continual and speedy communication between the bindery and the state departments. In order to provide for doing the work here promptly my predecessor arranged with Mr. Rodgers to put in a plant at Salem capable of doing all of the binding and ruling, excepting perhaps, some unusually large forms. I found this arrangement existing when I entered upon the duties of this office, and, as it seemed convenient and satisfatory, I have not tried to change it, but have had the bills reduced some from the rates formerly allowed and as low as seemed just and practical consistent with good work and reasonable pay to the people who do the work. As Mr. Rodgers has invested, for the convenience of the state, considerable money in a plant in Salem, where there is not sufficient business outside of that furnished by the state to justify such an investment, he is entitled to such treatment as will secure him from loss in his enterprise.

PAINTING,

Under direction of the board of building commissioners, the roof of the capitol has been painted for the sum appropriated for that purpose by the special session in accordance with the directions of the act. The best of materials were used and several coats were applied. The work was done by contract, as the law directed, but under the supervision of an expert and the direction of the board, as thoroughly and faithfully as could have been done by day labor. As stated in my report to the special session, the whole of the outside of the building should receive a coat of cement wash and then be painted, to protect and preserve it. The outside window frames and doors of the buildings have not been painted for many years, and some of them never received but one coat. They are decaying and need painting badly. A part of the interior also needs repainting.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE HEATING SYSTEM AND ELECTRIC LIGHTING OF THE CAPITOL.

Under the direction of the board of building commissioners the boilers have been overhauled and cleaned and new valves and cut-offs added to them by A. H. Forstner and Company so that the heat can be regulated. Before this was done there was no way to shut off heat until the fires cooled down and no way to increase it faster than could be done by putting more wood in the furnaces. By the time the furnaces were filled with wood the building would be too hot, and as soon as the furnaces cooled the rooms would be too cold. The heat can now be regulated by opening and closing a valve and kept at a uniform temperature.

By putting in new transformers the electric lights, which were regulated by an old transformer which was out of date and too old to do good service, the lights in the capitol have been greatly improved, and the cost of the new transformer has already been more than saved in the cost of new burners. The burners now last much longer than they did before this improvement was put in.

ASSESSMENT ROLLS.

Every year there have been complaints from different counties that the assessment rolls were not ready as soon as needed by the assessors. The state board of equalization did not complete its work until the first week in January, and as the board might suggest changes in the forms of the rolls, it was not deemed prudent to order them until after the board had adjourned, and then they could not be completed as soon as called for by some of the counties. As the state board of equalization was abolished by the legislative assembly at the special session, it was possible to make arrangements for the printing and binding of the rolls earlier this year than formerly. After writing to all the county clerks and ascertaining the number and size of books they would require, without sending certified copies to the secretary of state, as required by the present law, I ordered that number of books for each county, assuming that at the regular session the legislature will repeal or modify the present law and require a certified copy of the summary or totals to be filed in this office instead of a certified copy of the entire rolls. The rolls for the first year of my term were ordered by my predecessor the same as I have done, only they were ordered earlier this year than on that occasion because the abolishment of the state board of equalization made it safe to do so, and for the purpose of having them ready as soon as needed.

CLOSE OF FISCAL YEAR AND MEETING OF THE LEGISLATURE.

My administration of this office commenced on the second Monday in January, 1895, which was the fourteenth day of the month, and ends on

the second Monday in January, 1899, which is the ninth day of the month, being five days less than the four years provided in the constitution. The time between the last day of December, when the business of the state must close in this office and be reported for the last two years to the legislative assembly, and the second Monday in January, being only nine days this year, and never more than fourteen days, is entirely too short to have a volumnous report prepared, printed and bound and ready to be submitted to the legislature at the beginning or near the beginning of the session. For this reason the report of the secretary of state has, in former years, nearly always been delayed until almost the close of the session. My predecessor did not finish writing his report 1893 and 1894 until some time after his official term had expired and it was not ready for distribution until the middle or latter part of the session. In 1897, by special efforts and much haste and inconvenience, I had my report ready almost as soon as the legislature assembled, which was on the eleventh of January, two days later than occurs on the present occasion, and will, if possible, have this report completed, printed and bound in time for distribution to the members on the first day of the session or soon afterward, but it may be that a few items of expenses of some of the state institutions in the latter part of December will unavoidably be left out, as they are sometimes incurred at the very close of the year, and are then not promptly sent in. It seems to me that the law ought to be changed, so that the fiscal year would close on the last day of November or the legislative assembly should meet later than the second Monday in January. The time between the last day of December, when appropriations expire and accounts close, and the second Monday in January is not sufficient to enable this office to have all the fiscal concerns of the state prepared, printed and bound until some time after the meeting of the legislature. A month's time should be given.

INDEXES FOR ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION.

For more than thirty years articles of incorporation have been accumulating in this office and no index has ever been made until during the present administration. Frequently several hours would be required to search among thousands of old records to find whether a certain incorporation paper called for had been filed. I have had prepared by the clerks, in addition to their other duties, and without extra cost to the state, a complete index to all articles of incorporation which have been filed from the year 1862 to the present time. Instead of requiring a long and weary search among thousands of musty papers to ascertain whether any company named had been incorporated or not and the date, the information can now be obtained instantly by examining the index.