Commission has now been issued, covering the work done from July, 1914, to July, 1916. The classified service of the state comprises the exempt, competitive, noncompetitive, legislative employee, and labor classes. In these classes there are about 3,200 employees. From July 1, 1914 to July 1, 1916, 4,995 persons took competitive examinations. Of these, 2,903 passed, 2,079 failed; 376 permanent and 147 temporary appointments were made. That is, 58% passed, and 10½% were appointed to positions. The number of applicants for positions at state institutions has decreased, for various reasons. The report contains a map showing the number and distribution of employees in the state classified service. It also presents the results of certain studies aiming to increase the efficiency of the service. Half of the report consists of financial tables and rules.
The chief functions of the state fire marshal, as indicated in his ninth annual report, are two: combatting incendiarism, and doing fire prevention work. Coöperating with the local departments, the fire marshal has investigated 389 fires during the period covered by the report, from July 1, 1915 to December 31, 1916. Forty-six arrests were made, 12 persons were convicted and sentenced, 5 pleaded guilty and were sentenced, 6 were paroled, and 5 were sent to the hospital for the insane. In the year ending December 31, 1915, 3,066 fires in the state damaged buildings and contents to the extent of $5,932,980. These figures show the importance of the educational campaign for fire prevention conducted by the fire marshal. Thirteen newspaper articles were issued. These are printed in full in the report. Some of the titles are: Some Fires and Their Lessons, Safe Homes, Gasoline, Kerosene, Spring Clean Up, Safe Schoolhouses, and Holiday Fires. The report contains tables dealing with values, losses, classification of property, fire causes, number of fires according to classification of risk and cause, and other matters.
The biennial report of the adjutant-general deals with the two fiscal years ending June 30, 1916. It is a survey of the military activities of the state of Wisconsin during a period of trial and service. From July 1, 1914 to June 30, 1916, the Wisconsin National Guard increased from 201 officers and 2,990 enlisted men to a total of 208 officers and 4,224 enlisted men. Of these the report states that “4,168 officers and men are temporarily in the service of the United States in response to the call of the President issued June 18, 1916.” Since the date of this report, the war has placed a new responsibility upon the guard. The adjutant-general’s report gives information in regard to organization and strength, legislation, equipment, instruction, small arms firing, naval militia, medical
department, expenses, military reservation, and pensions. The National Defense Act oath, making obligatory a three-year term of reserve service by national guard organizations, was taken by officers and enlisted men of the guard “with fine zeal and loyalty to their country, their state, and their organization.”
The first biennial report of the State Conservation Commission is one of unusual interest. Through a law of 1915 this commission (consisting of three commissioners and a secretary) succeeded to the powers and duties of the Forestry Board, State Park Board, Conservation Commission, Commissioners of Fisheries, and the State Fish and Game Warden Department. The purpose was to consolidate “all the closely related duties and problems of administration over forest and stream, fish and game, and to give powerful impetus to the conservation of the natural resources of the Badger State.” The result has been a notable increase in efficiency and economy. The change, it may be noted, dispensed with the services of twenty-two members of boards and commissions. A strict civil service régime has been inaugurated. The report contains a considerable number of papers and division reports dealing with the conditions, problems, constructive plans and achievements which are shaping the conservation movement in the state. A large number of admirably chosen illustrations show the richness, variety, and beauty of the resources of nature in Wisconsin. These pictures enhance the value of a report which contains information of peculiar interest and significance to the people of the state.
The biennial report of the secretary of state is largely a collection of financial statistics covering the fiscal years ending June 30, 1915 and June 30, 1916. The condition of all state funds, receipts and disbursements, the net disbursements of the state, the valuation of taxable property in the counties, and the apportionment of tax and special charges for 1914 and 1915, collected in 1915, are shown in detailed statements, and various tabular statements.
Part four of the ninth annual report of the Railroad Commission is an elaborate collection of financial and operating statistics of railroad companies for the period from June 30, 1914 to June 30, 1915. The report is divided into three parts: steam railroads, electric railways, and express companies. There are 234 closely printed pages of statistical tables and figures, which lay bare with utmost exactness and detail all phases of the finances and operations of the three classes of public carriers mentioned. The statistics are not confined merely to Wisconsin; for example, the tables exhibiting the income account of steam railroads for the year ending December 31, 1914, show first the accounts of interstate roads in Wisconsin, and
thereafter the records of the entire systems of interstate roads which operate in Wisconsin.
The Railroad Commission of Wisconsin has published a digest covering the decisions contained in volumes I to XV of the official reports of the commission. The digest therefore covers all the decisions from July 20, 1905 to February 4, 1915. The compilation has been made by Harold L. Geisse. Its purpose is “to state briefly and yet clearly the principles and facts set forth in the decisions of the Commission….” The subject titles are alphabetically arranged, and carefully supplemented by cross-references. Precise references to sources are given for each decision. The value of such a compilation for lawyers is obvious. It should be noted that the separate volumes of the reports are each provided with an “index-digest.” For example, in volume XVI, recently published, this index covers pages 869 to 936. Volume XVI contains the opinions and decisions of the Railroad Commission from February 10, 1915 to November 15, 1915. Reports are given on hundreds of important cases dealing with railway, telegraph, telephone, express, and public utility problems.
Though the task of administering the income tax law is not at all times pleasant or easy, yet, in the opinion of the Wisconsin Tax Commission, “five years of experience have proved the law workable; taxpayers generally comply with its mandates without objection; and the resulting revenue has exceeded all expectations.” A chapter dealing especially with problems in the administration of the income tax law, and a series of tables showing the results of the income assessments of 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1916, form an interesting part of the eighth biennial report of the Wisconsin Tax Commission. This report is a detailed statement of the work of the commission for the years ending June 30, 1915 and June 30, 1916. In addition to the section on the income tax, the chief features of the report are its chapters on “Duties of Tax Commission,” “General Revision of Tax Laws Recommended,” “Assessment and Taxation of Public Service Companies,” “Inheritance Tax,” “Report of Engineers,” “Municipal Statistics,” and “Statistics of Assessments and Taxes.” A thoughtful address by Thomas E. Lyons on the subject “Our Increasing Public Expenditures” is included. Mr. Lyons finds the remedy for the situation in a closer limitation of the taxing and borrowing powers.