could be advantageously used in a civil session; and sometimes, though less frequently, the work in the civil sessions gives out, and the jurors could be advantageously used in the criminal session. For the purpose of enabling the court to utilize the jurors in such event I recommend an amendment to section 29 of chapter 157 of the Revised Laws, so that said section shall read as follows:

In the counties in which separate sittings of the superior court are established for civil and criminal business, criminal cases only shall be tried by jury at the criminal sittings, and civil cases only at the civil sittings, but the jurors summoned for either civil or criminal business may by order of the court be used interchangeably for either criminal or civil business, as occasion may require.

APPOINTMENT OF APPRAISERS.

It has been called to my attention that an ancient statutory provision, now R. L., c. 139, § 6, which provides that appraisers of the original inventory of an estate may be appointed by a disinterested justice of the peace is still sometimes acted under. As the almost uniform, and by far the better, practice is that such appraisers are appointed by the Probate Court, I recommend that the above statute be amended so that appraisers shall be appointed only by the Probate Court.

UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY.

In July the attention of this department was directed to certain alleged practices and business methods and arrangements employed by the United Shoe Machinery Company, and an investigation of the same was begun. Before it was fairly under way it became public that the United States government, through the Department of Justice, had been investigating the same matters for some five or six months, and that the whole subject had been submitted for consideration to the United States grand jury. The result of this action was the indictment in the federal court of several of the officers of the corporation. At that time I announced that these indictments would not prevent the continuance of the investigation by this department, as it

seemed to me that the indictment of these officials did not get at the meat of the objections to the alleged business methods of the corporation. I therefore continued the investigation so far as I was able. Recently, however, a proceeding in equity has been brought in the Circuit Court of the United States, entitled United States of America, petitioner, v. United Shoe Machinery Company of New Jersey et als., defendants, which appears to cover every point of complaint which has been brought to my attention concerning this matter. This action covers substantially the same procedure and ground that would be covered in case of prosecution under our State statutes. If successful, the result will be much. broader and more far-reaching than any State proceeding could be, inasmuch as the corporations complained of are not Massachusetts corporations, and a large part of the operation of said companies is carried on outside of this Commonwealth. It has seemed to me, therefore, advisable to await the outcome of this petition in equity in the United States court before attempting to institute proceedings under our State law.

In this connection I desire to call attention to the fact that the Attorney-General ordinarily is not the officer of the State government to discover facts. His principal duty is to pass upon questions of law, the facts having been furnished by the various departments in connection with which opinion or action is ought. (See Opinion of Attorney-General Knowlton, 1 Op. Atty.-Gen. 275.) This department has no means provided for acquiring information and facts except through voluntary disclosure on the part of such persons as may have knowledge of them. In acquiring the information obtained in this particular case I have had to depend largely upon the efforts of the State police and certain other outside assistance. In a number of instances persons inquired of have refused to give the information requested or to discuss the matter. The effective way to acquire such information is by inquiry before a grand jury, where witnesses can be summoned and compelled to disclose their knowledge and information. In this connection I concur in the recommendation of His Excellency in his inau

gural message, in substance that chapter 454 of the Acts of 1908 be amended by striking out, in the first line of section 2, the words "or by his direction," so that said section shall read: "The attorney-general, or a district attorney, may bring an action," etc.

DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL.

Without doubt the past year has been the busiest in the history of this department. This readily appears by comparison of the work with that of recent years. For instance, the number of cases standing upon the dockets of the department for 1905 was 2,534; for 1906, 2,858; for 1907, 2,610; for 1908, 3,398; for 1909, 3,321; for 1910, 3,363; and for 1911, 5,338.

Comparing the official opinions rendered, it appears that in 1906, 122 opinions were given; in 1907, 113; in 1908, 99; in 1909, 100; in 1910, 165; and in 1911, 246.

The cases disposed of during the year number 4,294, leaving now pending in the department 1,044 cases. It also appears that the amount of money collected in the way of fines, forfeitures and other collections is larger than in any preceding year, amounting to $382,329.17.

It is to be noted that this increased amount of work has been carried on without any proportional increase in the expense of the department.

Twelve cases have been argued before the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth during the year.

There are two cases pending in the United States Supreme Court, the case of Commonwealth v. Jordan on a writ of error from his conviction and sentence for murder, and Commonwealth v. Baltic Mining Co., involving the constitutionality of the law concerning taxation of foreign corporations.

The case against The Provident Institution for Savings in Boston, brought under the provisions of St. 1907, c. 340, and St. 1908, c. 590, §§ 56 and 57, has been decided in favor of the Commonwealth by the Supreme Court of the United States and said institution has paid to the Treasurer $114,729.14 thereunder. Petitions against other banks cov

ered by said provisions are in process of filing, whereby, it is estimated some $500,000 will be turned over to the Treasurer of the Commonwealth.

During the year, also, the so-called milk rate cases have been heard before the Interstate Commerce Commission, in which an intervening petition was filed by my predecessor. I attended the hearings of these cases before the Interstate Commerce Commissioner at the taking of testimony in Boston. A brief was submitted and argument made at the final hearing in Washington.

With reference to the order adopted by the General Court on June 2, 1911, to report as to whether the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company has complied with respect to the Springfield Street Railway Company with the order of the Supreme Judicial Court under date of June 23, 1908, I have to say that the answer to be given thereto is of such a special nature and so voluminous in its contents that I am compiling it in the form of a special report.

After a service of two years as law clerk and six years as Assistant Attorney-General, Mr. Fred T. Field leaves this department at the expiration of his official year, to enter upon private practice. During his term of service he has displayed marked ability, zeal and efficiency in the performance of his duties. His departure is a loss to the service of the Commonwealth.

Annexed to this report are the principal opinions submitted during the current year.

Respectfully submitted,

JAMES M. SWIFT,

Attorney-General.

OPINIONS.

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Armories Use for Public Purposes -Rallies of Political Parties and Meetings for the Discussion of Public Questions. Under the provision of St. 1908, c. 604, § 140, that "armories . . . shall not be used except by the organized militia for such military purpose or purposes incidental thereto as may be designated by the commander-in-chief: provided, however, that the commander-in-chief, upon terms and conditions to be prescribed by him and upon an application approved by the military custodian of an armory may allow the temporary use of such armory for public purposes," an armory may be used for rallies of political parties or meetings for the discussion of questions of public policy which are of interest or benefit to the community at large.

...

JAN. 19, 1911.

Brig. Gen. GARDNER W. PEARSON, Adjutant General.

DEAR SIR:- In your communication of January 16 you state that you are directed by His Excellency the Governor to request a written opinion from the Attorney-General upon the question whether or not State armories may be used for rallies of political parties and for meetings for the discussion of questions of public policy.

St. 1908, c. 604, § 140, is as follows:

Armories provided for the militia shall not be used except by the organized militia for such military purpose or purposes incidental thereto as may be designated by the commander-in-chief: provided, however, that the commander-in-chief, upon terms and conditions to be prescribed by him and upon an application approved by the military custodian of an armory provided in any city or town for the militia, may allow the temporary use of such armory for public purposes. The compensation fixed by the commander-in-chief for every such temporary use shall be paid to the treasurer and receiver general within ten days after the occupation of the armory for such temporary use ceases, accompanied by the certificate of the quartermaster general that the sum so paid is the correct amount; and all moneys so received shall be paid into the treasury of the commonwealth.