(Appointed January 14, 1909; Resigned May 31, 1909.)

(Appointed Investigator Court of Claims, June 1, 1909.)

(Appointed May 6, 1909; Resigned December 8, 1909.)

REPORT.

To the Honorable, the Legislature of the State of New York:

By the provisions of section 66 of the Executive Law I am required to make an annual report to your honorable body regarding the matters therein set forth. As the field to be covered by this report is large, I shall divide the same into two parts. In the first I shall touch upon only the more important accomplishments of my admininstration and shall outline such changes in the internal administration of the department and the laws with the operation of which I have been concerned as have suggested themselves as a result of the year's experience. In the second part I shall set forth schedules showing in minute detail the steps taken. in every legal proceeding, together with copies of all opinions rendered during the year, and such other matter as is required by the Executive Law to be included in my report.

ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES.

At the last session of your honorable body the number of deputies in the Department was increased from fourteen to twenty, and the stenographic force somewhat enlarged. As a result of these changes, I found myself in position to more adequately handle the work of the Department, although, as will be pointed out later, much yet remains to be done before the Department is equipped as it should be to perform its proper function in the government of the State.

The Civil Service Commission, upon receiving my request to classify in the exempt class the additional deputies (which request was made in accordance with a long established custom of the Department), decided to adopt a new course. Accordingly, the classification of the Department was so changed as to provide that all deputies receiving salaries of less than $3,000 should be in the competitive class, and that all receiving salaries of $3,000 or more

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should be in the exempt class. In accordance with this classification, examinations were held by the State Civil Service Commission and an eligible list of successful candidates certified, from which list I have made, during the year, all subsequent new appointments to such positions. So far three such appointments have been been made from such list.

This is probably the most significant administrative change which has occurred in the Attorney-General's office for many years, as it shows the first step in the general policy of having the legal employees hold over from one administration to the next, and remedying to a large extent the unfortunate condition which previously prevailed when nearly all the attorneys in the Department went out with each retiring Attorney-General. I shall discuss this question subsequently in reference to my suggestions as to further changes.

Two other important changes in reference to the administration of the office occurred during the year. The first of these was in connection with the Special Franchise Tax Bureau. Owing to the press of work in this Department, and the inadequate force previously engaged upon it, I was confronted with a great mass of unclassified, unindexed and stagnant litigation. To meet this I reorganized the Department, placing three deputies in it and securing offices for it outside my regular offices where the work can be properly managed. The second change was similar. The construction of the Barge canal, entailing as it does the acquisition of thousands of parcels of land, the titles to which must be examined and approved by me, increased the work of the title department many-fold over what it had previously been. Under an appropriation made by your honorable body last year, I have employed a number of additional title examiners, the latter appointments having been made in the competitive class of the State Civil Service Commission and from lists certified by it. This department likewise could not be accommodated in my offices in the Capitol and has been moved to outside offices connected with those used by the Special Franchise Tax Bureau.

All these changes reflect in concrete form and in small degree the great growth of the work carried on by this Department.