The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-16
The Government of Indiana.

INC III AhulAHAs
Mr.. w. w. Thornton. well-known men,
Der of the Indianapolis bar, is the author of
a little volume briefly outlining every de-
partment of the government of Indiana.
state, county township. town and city, with
some account of the duties of every impor-
tant public officer. The volume opens with
a short historical sketch of the State. This
is followed by a summary of the present
Constitution, a document by no means so
easily accessible to the student as the Con-
stitution of the United States, but with
which every Indianian should be familiar.
The full text of it is given in an appendix.
The distribution of the powers of the gov
eminent is explained and is followed by
chapters describing the work and purpose
of the legislative, executive and judiciary
departments. The various appointive offices
and the several boards are named and their
functions set forth, the public institutions
and their work described, the purpose and
character Of the tax levy outlined, the cdu-
cational system made clear, and so on
through every branch of the civil service.
Headings of the chapters will indicate the
ground covered: General Assembly"
Governor" Lieutenant Governor" Sec
rotary Of State" Auditor of State"
Treasurer OF State" Attorney General"
State Board of Health" State Geologist,"
Bureau of Statistics Board of Chari-
ties" commissioner of Fisheries" State
Librarian" State Benevolent Institutions"
Gfes Prisons I9|F7 6e Poor Ro 9%sS Or
t @Eie @Tags' Militia Taxes, Courts.
Miscellaneous" One appendix consists OF
the State Constitution, second has
register of state officers from the beginning
of the States history, and also table OF
population by counties from the census OF
1890. There is a comprehensive index. The
book seeris to have been compiled with
great care, and cursory examination
shows but one inaccuracy, namely, the as
Sprfinn that a longer hold
the position of state librarian If such
rule exists IL was made by the State Board
of Education, and Is subject 10 change as
the board changes it's membership and ac-
quires greater liberality Of view. There IS
nothing in the statutes 20 prevent the APP
pointment of a woman to this office. The
volume. which Is published in neat and at
tractive form by the Inland Publishing
Company, of Terre Haute. should be in
every school. and, indeed, in every home
library in the State
Messages and Papers of the Presidents
1t is not often that Congress does a wiser
thing in a literary and educational way
than it did in authorizing the compilation
in book forIu of the messages and papers
of the Presidents of the United States from
the foundation Of the government TO the
present time. Each one of these messages
possessed in its day great public interest,
and in their collected form they constitute
a mine of political and historical informa-
ton The work of compilation was intrusted
to Hon. James ID. Richardson, ex-re2re-
sentative from Tennessee. and it has been
thoroughly well done The work is en-
titled "A Compilation of the Messages and
Papers OF the Presidents, l7S9-iS9l Pub
lished by Authority of Congress. OF the
nine volumes which viii compose the series,
eight have already been issued. Volume
covers the period FROM liSS 10 1871 and sue
ceeding volumes bring the compilation
down 10 1897. They include all the messages
OF all the Presidents-annual veto and
special messages together with al the
proclamations from the first one issued by
Washington TO the latest one by Cleveland
during his first administration, and the con-