Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-01-29
FROM COLUMBUS.
orrespondsuOe of the c~isvslssd Leader
ccLuxsUss January &c, 1850.
Report OF the Secretary of state.

COLUMBUS January 26, As66.
Report OF the Secretary OF state.
The annual report of the Secretary Of
State, which has just been laid upon the
desks of the members, contains some items
Of general interest.
Reference is made to the character of
the laws relative to election returns, and
theduties Of State officers and the General
Assembly Of canvassing them. These
have been amended and piled n upon
another, until a philadelphia Lawyer
would be puzzled to divide the duties and
assign them according to law" The
Secretary very properly advises an amend
ment of them, OF, what would be better,
q c~odihcation of the whole of them into
one plain and unambiguous law.
A history of sThe Great Seal of tho
State OF Ohio is given, from which the
wonderful fact is evolved that there is no
existing law relative to such a Seal, or
prescribing the form or character of it.
Several laws OIL the subject were passed i n
the early years of the State, prescribing
the size and form and device of it; but
none of them appearing satisfactory to
the Lawmakers of that primitive time,
they were all repealed as early as 1905
since which time a State Seal, of a very
unpretending character, has been used,
often changed or modified in its device,
but never improved, and constantly dimin-
ishing in size, until it has become q very
poor specimen of a "Great Sea- repre-
senting the sovereignty of a great State.
A seal established by law, and not left to
the oapriciousness of custom, is very prop
erly recommended.
Reference is made othe imperfect char
acter ola portion Of the records of original
surveys, under the authority of Congress
of lands in Ohio, deposited BY the same
authority in the office of the Secretary o.
State. Copies of these the Secretary il
required to furnish to counties or indfvid.
uals Supplying for them; and they are te
be regarded as authentic, when certified tc
by him, IN all courts of the State. They
embrace the entire State, except the Con,
n~ecticut Reserve, and the Virginia Mill
tary tract, Enormously denominated in
the report the United States Military
tract lying between the Sciota and tht
Little Miami rivers. Most of the surveys
are recorded carefully and correctly, anC
duly indexed, in permanent volumes; anC
it is recommended that the remainder be
copied in the same manner.
Reference is made to the laws recurring
Sheriffs of all the counties to mako an,
nual returns of jail statistics to the Score
larry of State, and the fact stated tina
very few Of them comply with the re
auirement- Very naturally, it is recon,
mended that the law be repealed, or meaa
ures adopted to constrain an enforcement
of it.
The statistics of this report are very ex
tensive and valuable.
LIST. Incorporated Villages-These, In
corporated during the year under the pro
visions Of the general law authorizing
them, are only seven, viz; Blauchester
Clinton county; Chsgrin Falls, Cuyaho
ga county (extended) Millersburg
Holmes county; Elyria, Lorain county
~(extended) West Salem, Wayne county
Martins Ferry, Belmont county; Forest
Hardin county.
I'd. Citiea of the second class, three
viz: Akron, Gallipolis, and Ironton.
Sd. Incorporated Companies, under thu
general laws, during the last year. Thes,
make a long list, amounting to oter fou7
hundred, and the number is mainly
sowing to the impetus given to business
by the discovery Of petroleum In the east
ern part Of the State"
4th-Times of holding Courts in 1856
6th-Election Misunderstanding tht
Ohio State election for 1865, for State of
fcers and members of the General As
sembly, in separate and full tables, BY
Counties and Districts.-Comparative vet,
by counties for State officers and Presi
dental electors, from 1851 to 1864
list of State officers, including judges o
all the courts, by Observation-Disclosures 0
the General Assembly, with their districts
ana Observation-Disclosures of Congress
with their districts and residences, &c, g..
These statisticaltsbles will be Unavailable
for reference for many years to come. R.