of the Commonwealth; and the Secretary is required to establish, with the assistance of a chemist, a standard of ink, and to furnish inks of such standard to the several departments and offices wherein their use is required. Under authority of this law advertisements were inserted in the Boston papers and notices were sent to manufacturers in New York calling for proposals, to be accompanied by samples of ink to be furnished. A standard was chosen from the specifications issued by the British Stationery Office, and in response to the advertisement seven samples of ink were received. These were subjected to chemical analysis and rigid tests of exposure to light and weather. As the result of these analyses and tests, and upon the advice of the chemist employed for the State, Prof. G. F. H. Markoe, the ink now in use, manufactured by one of the most prominent firms in the country, was adopted and the issue was begun about November first. It is used to-day probably by several thousand persons, and as only twelve complaints against it have reached this office, it may fairly be said to give general satisfaction. The complaints referred to are generally to the effect that the ink is too heavy, and is apt to blur unless it is allowed to become perfectly dry, and it is said by some that they cannot spare the time to allow it to dry. It is evident from the nature of these complaints that the use of thin fluids, which, while flowing smoothly and drying quickly, are not sufficiently permanent for records, has been too common; and it only serves to show more clearly the necessity for some enactment like that of the new law. For instance, one town officer who complains of the ink writes that "the ink we had been using gave us none of these troubles, and would stand in the wells a month if necessary, and flow well every day." It is apparent that an ink so thin that it could stand a month's evaporation without becoming thick enough to clog a pen must be too thin to be permanent. I judge from such complaints that it is a common practice to allow the ink to stand for indefinite periods in the inkstands, subjected, of course, to evaporation and consequent thickening if the ink be originally of a sufficient consistency to make a a permanent record. I am convinced that if the ink adopted be used properly and renewed frequently in the wells, as is done in all well-regulated public offices, no difficulty will be found with it except such as will attend the use of any ink heavy enough to insure its permanency beyond a doubt. There is, however, no prejudice in this office in favor of the present standard and if, as is quite probable, experiments shall prove that greater convenience in use can be secured without impairing the prime and indispensable quality of permanency, such an improvement will be made. Information comes to me, unofficially, that some recording officers are not complying with the law, and openly refuse to do so. A town clerk has written to me that he has been in the habit of making his own ink; and he says, in substance, that if he considers the State ink better than his he will use it, otherwise not. In view of these facts, I respectfully suggest that an adequate penalty be provided for non-compliance with this law. If this be not done, and recording officers are to be allowed to violate the law with impunity, it would be better, for the sake of a decent regard for the authority of the Commonwealth, to repeal the law. The amount of ink sold up to Jan. 1, 1895, is shown by the following table: — The receipts from these sales amount to $1,843.63. There have been issued free to State officers, boards and commissions, 3 gallons, 173 quarts, 17 pints and 46 half-pints. MISCELLANEOUS. As required by law, the return of the Surveyor-General of Lumber of the various kinds and quantities of lumber surveyed and the amount of fees received by him and his deputies in the year 1893 was received and filed. The return of the Inspector-General of Fish was received and published in the Boston "Daily Advertiser " for Feb. 23, 1894. The four special reports from this office which form a part of the Public Document series, namely, Returns of Births, Marriages and Deaths (Public Document No. 1); Abstract of Certificates of Corporations (Public Document No. 10); Aggregates of Polls, Property, Taxes, etc. (Public Document No. 19); and Returns of Assessed Polls, Registered Voters and Persons who voted, etc. (Public Document No. 43), have been made as required by law, and it is, therefore, unnecessary in this report to do more than refer to these documents. Respectfully, WM. M. OLIN, Secretary of the Commonwealth. ABSTRACT OF RETURNS made by the several City and Town clerks to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, in the year 1894, under the requirements of section 5, chapter 100, Public Statutes, showing the number of licenses issued for the sale of intoxicating liquors, the amounts received therefor, and the number of licenses revoked during the year, with a statement of the vote given at their last annual meeting on the question, "Shall licenses be granted for the sale of intoxicating liquors in this city (or town)?" [NOTE. The action of a town (in February, March or April) governs the year in which the vote is taken, while that of a city (in December) governs the following year.] Liquor Licenses, 1894. FIRST CLASS. SECOND CLASS. THIRD CLASS. FOURTH CLASS. FIFTH CLASS. SIXTH CLASS. SPECIAL CLUB. $1.00 $1.00 1 00 1.00 $2.00 $2.00 563 1,662 |