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EONARD HIRSCH, late Supervisor of Public Printing, enjoys the unusual distinction of being appointed for the sixth term to the same state office, having been selected for the place by three different Governors. He was born in Berncastel on the Moselle, Rhenish Prussia, Germany, October 13, 1834. He received a common school education and learned the trade of printer. Emigrating to America about 1871, he remained for a period in New York, where he held several important positions, among them that of manager of the "Oestliche Post," a German daily. He accepted a similar position in St. Louis, where he remained until 1876. Removing to Columbus, Ohio, Mr. Hirsch worked for eighteen months in the "Westbote" office, and then established a Republican weekly, the "Ohio Sonntagsgast," although without any ready money, and in spite of the fact that the German population of Columbus was overwhelmingly Democratic. He established in 1891 a Republican daily, the "Express," the only German Republican paper in Central Ohio. In 1886 Governor Foraker appointed Mr. Hirsch to the office of Supervisor of Public Printing. He served under that executive for two terms, and was subsequently appointed by Governor McKinley to fill out the unexpired term of his Democratic successor, and later to two full terms. In April of 1897, he received his sixth appointment, this time at the hands of Governor Bushnell. He was succeeded by Mr. Mark Slater, of Dayton, June 1, 1900.

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The State Supervisor of Public Printing.

THE SUPERVISOR OF PUBLIC PRINTING.

The department of Public Printing consists of a board of Commissioners of Public Printing which is composed of the Auditor of State, the Secretary of State and the Attorney-General, and a supervisory department which is managed by an officer called the Supervisor of Public Printing, who is appointed by the Governor for a term of two years.

In the early history of the state, the Public Printer was elected by the General Assembly, generally on the recommendation of the Committee on Public Printing, which was charged with the duty of canvassing for bids and recommending as its candidate the party presenting the most favorable terms or most favorable conditions for the execution of the work.

The office of Supervisor of Public Printing was created by the General Assembly in the year 1860, the appointing power being vested in the Commissioners of Printing, who appointed L. L. Rice to the office. In the year 1864, the law was so changed as to vest the appointment of the Supervisor in the Governor, who appointed W. O. Blake as such officer.

STATE BINDERY.

The State Bindery was organized in the year 1867 by the Supervisor of Public Printing and the Trustees and Superintendent of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, for the benefit of the unfortunate deaf mutes of that Institution.

The Supervisor is charged with the superintendence of the State Bindery, which is located on the grounds of, and largely operated by pupils of, the Institution for Deaf Mutes, in Columbus. He is also given executive authority in the oversight of the printing done under the several state contracts, and must see that the work is properly done and promptly delivered. He must keep a record of all the work done by the two branches of state printing and state binding, and submit an annual report to the Governor covering the business done by these departments.

STATE PRINTING.

The contracts for state printing are let by commissioners every two year by competitive bids, which are duly advertised. There are nine classes of printing which are defined as follows:

First Contract Consisting of bills, resolutions, etc., of the General Assembly. Second Contract — Journals of the Senate and House of Representatives. Third Contract All reports, communications, etc., printed in pamphlet form, except bulletins of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station.

Fourth Contract - General and Local Laws and Joint Resolutions. Fifth Contract - All blanks, circulars, etc., for executive departments, other than pamphlets.

Sixth Contract - Bulletins Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station.

The State Supervisor of Public Printing.

Seventh Contract

Reports of Secretary of State, Inspector of Building and

Loan Associations and Commissioner of Labor Statistics.

Eighth Contract Reports of Auditor of State, Commissioner of Common Schools, Superintendent of Insurance (Life and Fire), and Report of the State Board of Agriculture.

Ninth Contract — German printing and translating, comprising all documents ordered to be printed in German by the General Assembly or either branch thereof. The state binding is done by day labor, chiefly, as has been stated

by the pupils or ex-pupils of the Institution for Deaf Mutes.

The number of persons so employed during the year is about forty.

THE STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION.

STATE BOARDS OF EQUALIZATION OF REAL PROPERTY FOR TAXATION.

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Method of valuing real property in Ohio.

Y AN ACT of the General Assembly in 1825, the method of assessing taxes upon real property which had been in vogue from the beginning of the state government, and which was based upon separation of lands into different classes for taxation, was abolished, and the present method was put in force. Briefly it is this: Land Appraisers are elected in each ward and township at stated periods who assess a tax value upon the land in their respective districts. This is reported by them to the County Board of Equalization which is composed of three County Commissioners, the County Surveyor and the County Auditor. The County Board of Equalization has power to equalize the value assessed against the property of the separate individuals and to increase or decrease the said values provided the total duplicate returned by them shall not fall below the total of all property returned to them by the local Land Appraisers. The finding of the County Board is then reported through the Auditor of State to a State Board of Equalization, which is elected. by the people of the several Senatorial Districts in Ohio, and which is composed of as many members as the next preceding Senate. Under the present law, the Land Appraisers are elected in the fall of the ninth year in each decade; perform their duties and make their report to the County Boards in the following spring; the returns are acted upon by the County Board in the summer and fall of the tenth year of each decade, in which year the State Board is elected at the November election and begins its decennial term of from four to six months, in December following the election. In addition to the equalization by County and State Boards, the property in each city is equalized, as between individuals, by City Boards of Equalization, whose reports of valuations are made to the County Auditor and by him transmitted to the State Board along with his report of the action of County Board in his county. The County Boards of Equalization have no authority over the valuations of property within cities having separate boards. The State Board of Equalization equalizes valuations between counties and cities, but has no jurisdiction over individual valuations.

The following tables show the membership of the State Boards of Equalization from 1825 to 1902, the first State Board being elected by the General Assembly then in session (December 15, 1825) one member for each congressional district: