1906-1908 Ind. Op. Att'y Gen. p. 147

The act of March 9, 1907, amending above section and which will be in force within a few days, also provides that- "Such license shall contain the signature and seal of the commissioner of fisheries and game, shall be counter- signed by the clerk issuing same and shall be good for one year, etc." Evidently the intention of the legislature was to require the official seal of the commissioner of fisheries and game to be at- tached to each license issued for the purpose of making it diffi- cult for interested persons to put out spurious licenses. Besides, when an applicant pays the fees required and receives his license, in a measure it is the possession of the license and not the fact of the payment of the fees that protect him. The seal being at- tached to the license gives credit to the paper no less than the signature of the commissioner, and the attached seal entitles the license to be admitted as evidence in court. The command of the law is plain, and it is my opinion that you can not legally dispense with your official seal, but that the same must be attached to each license issued by you and that the use of a facsimile would be illegal. LIBRARY-TRAVELING EXPENSES, ETC. April 5, 1907. Honorable Demarchus C. Brown, State Librarian, Indianapolis, Indiana: Dear Sir-You have requested my opinion upon the following question: "Under the law recently passed, establishing a legisla- tive reference department in the State Library, is it allow- able to pay traveling expenses to a member of the library staff in said department, for the purpose of fully carrying out the law?" The act in question (Acts 1907, page 236) contains the follow- ing: "There is hereby appropriated for the payment of the salaries of such legislative reference librarian and other assistants, and of the e-xpenses and cost of supplies and pub- lications necessary to effectually carry out the provisions of this act, the sum of $1,500 to be available on April 1, 1907, and the sum of $4,000 annually thereafter." In §1 it is made the duty of the department to collect infor- mation and data relating to legislative subjects, and the practical working and effects of laws enacted in other states. It is possible that, to obtain this information so as to "effectually carry the provisions of this act" some member or members of the depart- nment must travel to the state where such laws are in force. In such a case, and perhaps under other circumstances, the appro- priation could properly be drawn upon to defray necessary ex- penses. This is made clear by the use of the word "expenses" in §3, which includes expenses incurred while traveling on the business of the department. Accordingly, I am of the opinion that under the statute above mentioned, it will be allowable to pay traveling expenses to a member of the library staff in the legislative reference depart- ment, provided such expenses are reasonably necessary to fully carry out the purposes of the statute. BOND-EXPENSES OF PREMIUM FOR OFFICIAL BOND. April 5, 1907. Honorable John C. Billheimer, Auditor of State, Indianapolis, Indiana: Dear Sir-You have submitted to me certain questions, re- garding the payment of premiums upon official bonds, which I shall answer in order. First. Under the law as it stood prior to the enactment of M\Iarch 2, 1907, could a member of the board of trustees or board of control of the several educational, benevolent or correctional institutions of the state, pay the premium on his official bond out of the maintenance funds of his institution, or in anywise charge the state with the same ? I am of the opinion that he could not. While the trustees of many of the state institutions were required to file bonds (See Burns' Stats. 1901, section 3005, and opinion of Attorney-General Taylor, 1900-1902, page 52), the law made no express provision for payment of th6 expense of obtaining the same. At the time the above section of the statute was passed (1899) the business of bonding companies had not assumed the proportions it has since attained, and it can scarcely be presumed the legislature anticipated there would be any considerable expense connected with the execution of the bond, but personal security only, was probably in the mind of the legislators. At present, the premium