The law provided no requirement that the companies should furnish any information. In order to secure the data, it would have been necessary to employ a large number of men, and this would have been such a serious expense to the companies that refusal to comply would probably have followed such a request. Many of the companies had no men in their service able to prepare the required data; and, finally, eight or ten men after having worked in the files of companies owning reasonably full records, were much better able to take off the desired data intelligently from the records of other companies than men unfamiliar with the needs of the appraiser and with no prior experience. Then, too, the work secured was that of one body of technical men, all experienced in different phases of railway work, and thus was uniform and consistent. Had seventy-five or eighty different men or sets of men prepared these inventories, there would certainly have been a great variation in their worth and reliability. It must be kept clearly in mind that lack of time was the main feature which kept the appraiser from considering any such plan of co-operation with the railroads as was adopted later in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and that no distrust of the railroads, or lack of desire to co-operate, had anything to do with the appraiser's decision to use the method which was adopted. Shortly after the preparation of the blanks, access was granted to the records of the Ann Arbor Railroad, and almost immediately thereafter several other companies opened their files to the appraiser; the State Board of Auditors determined to pay the bills, as approved by the appraiser; and the initial difficulties were so far removed that it was possible to carry out, without any further delays, the plan of organization which had been perfected. The personnel of the staff was considered to be of the greatest importance, and, in the selection of men, the requirements desired were: experience in the construction and operation of railroads, thorough technical training, high standing in the Profession, as shown by membership in the American Societies of Civil or Mechanical Engineers, or of other Societies of high standing, and high moral character. Politics, residence in the State, or local influence, had absolutely no weight in the selection of any of the men. In a number of cases men were secured who had for some years occupied the position of Chief Engineer of important lines. In a very large number of cases men who were engaged on this work have since its completion held the position of Chief or Principal Assistant Engineer of important railroads, and practically all of them returned to railway service. Dozens of these men are well known, and their work deserves that full credit should be given to each, but it is impossible to do so within the limits of this paper.