Section 83. Gas and electric companies and manufacturing companies and persons engaged in the manufacture and sale or distribution and sale of gas or electricity shall annually, on or before such date as the department fixes, make to the department, in a form prescribed by it, a return for the year ending on such date as the department may from time to time require, signed and sworn to by the president or vice president, and treasurer or assistant treasurer, and a majority of the directors, of the amount of their authorized capital, their indebtedness and financial condition, on the said date, their income and expenses during the preceding year, their dividends paid and declared, a list of the names of all their salaried officers and the amount of the salary paid to each, and the balance sheet of their accounts as of said date. Such companies and persons shall at all times, upon request, furnish any information required by the department or its duly authorized employees relative to their condition, management and operation, and shall comply with all lawful orders of the department; but manufacturing companies in which the manufacture and sale of gas or electricity is a minor portion of their business shall be required to include in their annual returns the income and expenses and other data relative to their gas and electric business only.