viii REPORT OF THE COMPTROLLER OF THE TREASURY.

Government on account of the expenses of the war. Before
making said statement, I addressed an Inquiry to the Hon.
L. Allison Wilmer, Adjutant General, asking what sum, in
his opinion, would be returned to the State by reason of such
expenditures. A part of his reply is as follows : " The net
result of. which is that we should receive from the Govern-
ment under the rules already established, leaving out the
(about) $12,000,00 above referred to, $93,186.88 ; and we are
as fairly and equitably entitled to the remaining $20,903 84.
Claim will be made for the entire amount of $120,150.72."

To this aggregate $2,912,829.18 must be added the bal-
ance on hand September 30, 1808, of $566,351.30, making
$3,479,180.48, from which must be deducted the probable
disbursements, aggregating $2,795,779.56, all of which, if
realized, would leave the very comfortable balance, Sep-
tember 30, 1899, of $683,400.92."

FREE SCHOOL FUND.

The condition of the Free School Fund at the close of
the fiscal year, is fully shown in Statement "E." By ref-
erence thereto the gross receipts and balance from last
year are shown to be $77,415.57, or a gain of $9,156.43, but
$9,125.00 of this increase was occasioned by a redaction
during the year of the capital stock of the Central Na-
tiopal Bank of Frederick, of which bank the State held
$22,800.00 of its stock for the benefit of the counties of Car-
roll, Frederick and Washington, and through the payment
into the Treasury by said bank of this sum, viz., $9,125.00,
the State's holdings have been reduced from $22,800.00, to
$13,675,05, this difference of $9,125.00 being now in the
Treasury to the credit of those counties, all of which
will more fully appear by reference to Statement "F."
This amount being small, the Treasury officials were un-
able to secure a safe investment therefor; but it is the
present intention to place this sum in an equal amount of
the " Consolidated Loan of 1899," now about to be issued,
thus securing a safe and secure investment. The disburse-
ments on account of said fund to the several counties and
city of Baltimore amounted to $64,848.77, leaving a bal-
ance on hand of $12,566,80, in which balance is included
the amount of $9,125.00 above mentioned.

The Common Free School Fund now holds, and has
since the year 1878, $118,100.00 of the Preferred 6 per cent.
Stock of the Baltimore & Ohio R. R. Co., the dividends
upon which have been passed for several consecutive pe-
riods, occasioning a loss to this fund, which has been very
sorely felt. Exercising the authority contained in the
Constitution and statutes of this State, the Board of Public
Works has advertised said stock for sale, with every pros-