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2d Session.

No. 6741.

RECOPYING OLD RECORDS IN THE OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF DEEDS.

JANUARY 25, 1907.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. TAYLOR, of Ohio, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 22350.]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 22350) to authorize the recorder of deeds of the District of Columbia to recopy old records in his office, and for other purposes, report the same back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass when amended as follows:

Strike out all of section 2.

The bill as introduced involved two propositions relating to the office of the recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia; the first, to authorize the recorder to recopy certain old records, and the second, to authorize the appointment of an additional clerk in his office.

Your committee has provided for the additional clerk in another bill, since by its terms it becomes an amendment to an existing section to the Code of Law for the District of Columbia.

Your committee believes, in view of the reasons advanced by the recorder of deeds in his following report on this bill, that there is urgent necessity for the recopying of certain of the records, some of which have been in constant use for more than one hundred years. Many of these volumes have been rebound and repaired time and again, but the pages upon which the records are spread have become worn and damaged, so that it is almost impossible to handle them.

The office of the recorder of deeds is self sustaining, paying every item of its expense and turning into the District treasury the excess of fees over expenses, which amounted last year to something over $8,000, and which excess the recorder believes during the present year will total over $10,000.

The purpose of the legislation herewith reported is to authorize the recorder to have recopied certain of these worn records, the expense of which is not to exceed $1,000 in any one year, and the recopying is to be subject to the approval of the supreme court of the District of

Columbia. This will not involve any expense either to the District or to the United States Government, as it will be paid for out of the fees of the office.

The recorder's letter is as follows:

OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF DEEDS,
Washington, D. C., December 18, 1906.

DEAR SIR: Replying to your request for a report on House bill 22350, to authorize the recorder of deeds of the District of Columbia to recopy old records in his office, and for other purposes, I have the honor to report as follows:

First. Section 1 of the proposed bill authorizes and directs the recorder to recopy such of the old records in his office as may, in his judgment and that of the supreme court of the District of Columbia or one of its justices appointed for that purpose, need recopying in order to preserve the originals from destruction. The records of this office extend back to 1792, the title to every parcel of real estate in this District, possessed by private citizens or by the Government of the United States or the District of Columbia, depending upon the preservation of these records. Having been in practically constant use for 114 years, handled through examination almost daily during that time, these record books have necessarily been so worn and otherwise damaged that time and time again it has been necessary for the office to have them re-covered, rebound, and otherwise repaired. But so often have they been so repaired that it is, as to many of them, seriously doubted whether they can be successfully again repaired. Therefore I earnestly recommend and urge such legislative authority as will permit the office from time to time to have these old records recopied, so that the originals may be retired, as it were, from active service, and examiners restricted as far as possible to the examination of the copies. Of course it may happen that later or even current records may some time need recopying in order to preserve them, and I therefore respectfully recommend that the bill in question be amended by your honorable committee so as to provide the recorder with authority to recopy any of the records of his office as may, in his judgment and that of the District supreme court, need recopying.

That your honorable committee may, from personal observation, see the pressing necessity of taking the course recommended for the preservation of the old records, I would be pleased to send some of them to the committee for their inspection. Second. The second section of the bill under discussion proposes to authorize the recorder of deeds to appoint a cashier for his office, the salary of this desired employee being omitted, though I would respectfully suggest that an annual salary of $1,600 would not be extravagant. That matter, however, I feel should be left to the judgment of your honorable committee. Five years ago, during the year ended December 31, 1901, there were filed for record in the office 15,279 papers, exclusive of incorporations, while during the present calendar year my deputy estimates the number will reach, if not exceed, 21,350—an increase in five years of more than 6,000 papers. This increase, I am glad to be able to report, has been a steady, healthy one, evidencing a like steady, healthy growth in the real estate business of the District. This growth, there is every reason to believe, will continue, and it will mean, as it has developed, a like increase in the business of the recorder's office. Indeed, this increase has, during the past year or two, so increased the work of the office that it has been necessary to employ additional help every month to assist the comparer of the office. Unlike the register of wills, however, the recorder of deeds is not authorized to fix the number of his employees, and so can not increase his clerical force as the business of his office increases.

This office is, as you doubtlessly well know, a self-supporting one, paying out of its fees and emoluments every item of expense, including salaries, and depositing in the United States Treasury at the end of each fiscal year its unexpended balance. This balance is placed to the credit of the District of Columbia, forming one of its sources of revenue. With the increase of business during the past five years there has been a corresponding increase in the balances turned into the Treasury. For instance, at the close of the fiscal year of 1901 the balance turned into the Treasury was $191.98; 1902, $774.91; 1903, $1,053.81; 1904, $3,037.64; 1905, $6,184.90, and 1906, $8,615.03, while that for the current fiscal year will, if the present rate of increase is maintained, be about $10,000. The balance turned into the Treasury last July was the largest in the history of the office, and I most respectfully submit that an office which has in five years increased its unexpended balance not two-fold, or three-fold, but made it more than forty-five times larger, is justly entitled to the additional employee the bill under discussion proproses to provide.

I take this opportunity to again invite the attention of your honorable committee to the advisability of so amending the District Code as to require the payment annually by every concern incorporated under the provisions of Subchapter IV of Chapter XVIII of the code-that is, companies organized (incorporated) to engage in business-of a nominal registration fee to the recorder of deeds, making the penalty for nonpayment a forfeiture of the corporate rights. Your committee, you will recall, so amended the code two years ago as to require companies organizing under the District Code to pay at the time of presenting the certificate of incorporation to this office a fee of 40 cents on each $1,000 of the capital stock. The wisdom of that legislation has been demonstrated, for no longer is the District of Columbia known as a place of easy and unrestricted corporations, capable of being organized by the payment of a nominal recording fee of $1.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully,

Hon. JOSEPH W. BABCOCK,

JOHN C. DANCY,

Recorder of Deeds, District of Columbia.

Chairman Committee on District of Columbia, House of Representatives.

2d Session.

No. 6742.

PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

JANUARY 25, 1907.—Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. TAYLOR, of Ohio, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 5698.]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (S. 5698) to regulate the practice of veterinary medicine in the District of Columbia, report the same back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass, when amended as follows:

Page 8, strike out all commencing with the word "or" in line 8, where it appears the second time, down to and including the comma after the word "purposes" in line 10.

Page 8, line 13, strike out the period and insert a colon and add the following:

Provided, That any person may without compensation apply any medicine or rem, edy and perform any operation for the treatment, relief, or cure of any sick, diseased, or injured animal.

Relative to a bill to regulate the practice of veterinary medicine in the District of Columbia (S. 5698) the following facts are submitted: Laws regulating the practice of veterinary medicine have been enacted in 26 States, including Virginia and Maryland. In the District of Columbia, however, such practice is absolutely unrestricted. As a consequence incompetent practitioners of veterinary medicine. driven from other jurisdictions are likely to locate in this District. If, therefore, it is desirable to exclude incompetent veterinary surgeons from the District of Columbia, legislation should be directed to that end. The community at large or individual members of it have not sufficient means at present with which to protect themselves against injury due to incompetence on the part of veterinary surgeons or to secure redress for such injury as may result therefrom.

There are, however, certain injuries liable to result from the incompetence of veterinary surgeons for which no sufficient redress has been or can be provided, and it is for the prevention of these injuries that

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