training which, I believe, should be the foundation of all our American life. Such technical branches as drawing, being general in their nature, very properly find a place in the public schools. But the great mass of industrial education is special and should be left to special schools. I have no sympathy with those who would have any one institution, or set of institutions, monopolize the educational work. Nothing can be broader or more liberal than our school system, and it is to be regretted that some in it should feel called upon to be narrow and uncompromising. The technical school, confined to its proper sphere, has a grand work to do. It will fill an important place in the education of the future. Its line of work is foreshadowed in such schools as the Cooper Institute, the Worcester Free Institute, the Boston Institute of 'Technology, the Franklin Institute, our various industrial colleges, and the technical departments of our universities. These institutions are not competitors of the public school. They simply supplement it, and do a work that it cannot do. As such helpers they should receive a hearty God-speed from all.

W. S. GEORGE & CO., STATE PRINTERS AND BINDERS.

REPORT.

To his Excellency,

DAVID H. JEROME, Governor :

STATE OF MICHIGAN,
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Lansing, December 31, 1881.

In compliance with section 231 of the Compiled Laws of 1871, I herewith submit my first annual report as Attorney General for the year ending December 31st, 1881.

As it is necessary to embody in this, the reports of the Prosecuting Attorneys of the several counties of the State, as required by section 532 of the Compiled Laws, setting forth the amount and kind of official business done by them respectively, and as many of the reports of such officers are delayed for weeks after the time fixed by law therefor, the annual report of the Attorney General is greatly delayed. Attention is called to this in the hope that hereafter an effort will be made by the Prosecuting Attorneys to send me their reports as soon after the close of the year as possible.

Repeated attempts have been made to obtain returns from all the counties, but I am compelled to submit my report without hearing from Antrim, Montmorency, Manitou, Oscoda, Roscommon, and Shiawassee.

Schedule "A" hereinafter set forth, contains a succinct report of all cases in the Supreme Court in which I have appeared in behalf of the people. The nature of each case is indicated, and the final disposition thereof, made by the Court.

The case of The People vs. The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company brought to recover specific taxes claimed to be due to the State, was tried by my predecessor in the circuit court for the county of Wayne, in October, 1880, and a verdict was rendered in favor of the People. The case was taken to the Supreme Court and there ably argued on the part of the People, by my predecessor, Hon. Otto Kirchner and Hon. C. A. Kent, and the judgment in the court below was affirmed in the main, giving to the State a judgment for $80,214.21, besides largely increasing the amount for which said Company may be liable to be taxed hereafter.

During the pendency of the above proceedings, the question was raised as to the proper basis of taxation of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company; some of the State officers being impressed with the belief that the

Company, if properly taxed, would be liable to a much larger amount than that recovered in the above suit in Wayne county, and in order that the true rule for the assessment of taxes against said Company, by the State, might be determined and set at rest, the Hon. W. B. Williams, Commissioner of Railroads, on the 10th day of March, 1881, made a computation of the amount of tax due from said Company, imposed under the general railroad laws of this State, upon gross receipts of said road, in accordance with the Joint Resolution of the Legislature, approved Feb. 4th, 1881, for the years 1878 and 1879.

It was the desire of all parties interested that the questions in issue might be brought before the Supreme Court without great delay or expense, and to this end the Hon. W. Irving Latimer, Auditor General, refused to proceed and assess and collect the tax upon gross receipts, for said years; whereupon, Hon. Benjamin D. Pritchard, State Treasurer, applied to the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to compel the Auditor General to proceed to assess and collect said tax against said road for 1878 and 1879, on the computation of the Commissioner of Railroads.

The application for mandamus was argued in the January term, 1881, by Hon. Fitch Williams and the Attorney General for the Relator, and Messrs. Pond and Lothrop on behalf of the Auditor General and for the Railroad Company.

The Supreme Court denied the writ, and we therefore behold the different. railroad companies of the State paying different rates of taxes; some upon gross receipts and others upon capital stock, an evil which needs the regulating hand of the Legislature of this State.

Schedule "B" is a report of chancery cases commenced in the courts of the State during the past year, and in which the State was interested as defendant, and which were referred to the Prosecuting Attorneys of the respective counties, as has been heretofore practiced.

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Schedule "C" contains a list of cases in which quo warranto proceedings were authorized by me, and which were conducted without the aid of the Attorney General, as the questions at issue were matters of local interest.

The appendix contains the abstracts of the reports of the Prosecuting Attorneys of the criminal cases in circuit and justices' courts during the year 1881, the character of the offenses, their number, and also the punishments meted out to those who were convicted.

The duties of the Attorney General are fixed by law, and limited in the matter of advice and the giving of opinions to the Legislature, State officers, and Prosecuting Attorneys. Yet county, township, city, village, school, highway, and drain officers, as well as private individuals, all demand of the Attorney General opinions upon matters of public and private interest, and feel hurt if he does not respond whenever required. And while I have endeavored to accommodate all, I find the labor so extensive and occupying my time so fully, that I shall be compelled to refuse opinions to private individuals in very many instances, in order that I may do justice to questions in which the State is more directly interested, and also leaving the Prosecuting Attorneys to give advice in county and other local matters; yet holding myself in readiness at all times. to aid any and all officers when not otherwise engaged.

The duties of the office have been very great, requiring all or nearly all of my time, and without the aid of my very efficient clerk, Mrs. Mary A. Miles, who knows and is able to perform any and all parts of the office work in a