378 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



REPORT. 



Ben. E. Harris City and County Asssessor. 



Assessor's Office, ) 



San Francisco, August 2d, 1869. j 

 Hon. John W. Bost, 



Surveyor-General : 



Sir : In conformity with an Act of the State Legislature passed in 

 eighteen hundred and sixty-six (see Statutes, page 201), I herewith hand 

 you a statistical report of the agricultural products of the County of San 

 Francisco, together with a report of the manufactures and mechanical 

 industries of this city and county for the year eighteen hundred and 

 sixty-eight. 



In making up this report I regret very much to have to inform you 

 that similar reasons to which I referred in my report last vear have 

 almost entirely rendered the effort to gather statistics useless. 



You will at once perceive that in many instances the report is a com- 

 plete duplicate of last year. This is owing, as I have said before, to the 

 manifest unwillingness on the part of proprietors and others connected 

 with manufacturing enterprises, who are in possession of the correct 

 data, to give the same. It is evident that the gathering of statistics by 

 the Assessor has a tendency to prevent the necessary facilities so import- 

 ant and desirable in carrying out the instructions of the Surveyor- 

 General. 



There is evidently a prevailing notion with many of those persons 

 referred to, that a fall and correct report of their manufactures, etc., 

 would have an effectual tendency to increase their personal property 

 tax. Hence the oft reply fin answer to statistical interrogatories) is, 

 "put us down the same as last year." and hence the duplicate. 



Feeling a deep interest in a full and complete report from San Fran- 

 cisco County, 1 have endeavored to do all in my power to make it such. 



In many instances, when I could do no better, I have referred to the 

 United States revenue returns as an assistance in the matter, but you are 

 well aware that even that method would not suffice in point of accuracy. 



Earl}* in the month of February I put one man on this work, exclu- 

 sively, and have kept him continually at it up to this time. His time, as 

 an Assessor, has been completely used up in what seems to me almost 

 a useless work. There should be (in my judgment) a law of some force 

 upon this subject, if at all the State desires information in relation to it. 



Before submitting the following list, I beg to return you my thanks 

 for the prompt and official manner in which you have instructed the 

 work to be done, subject to your approval ; and trust that during the 

 next Legislature you may be able to secure the passage of a law by which 

 correct statistical information may be obtained, if it must be through 

 the Assessors' department : 



