YOM JIF .17.
NEW SERIES.
COVERSOn_MBSSICB.
To the Honorable, the Senators and .Members ;
of Hie House of Representatives of the. Com- '
monwealth of Pennsylvania :
•GENTLEMEN :—ln submitting to the Genera! !
Assembly my last annual communication, it is
the source of unleig -i gratification to be able
to announce to the • .pie, am. to their Kepre
sentati es, that n -withstanding the present un- 1
favorable crisis HI the monetary affairs of this
country, and the general prostration of business
and credit, the financial condition of Pennsyl
vania is highly satisfactory.
The receipts at the State Treasury, from all
sources, for the fiscal year ending on th 30th
of November, 1860, were $3,479,257 31, to
which add the available balance ;n the Treasury
on the Ist day of December, 1859, $839,323
09, and the whole sum available for the year
will he found to be $>..318,580 -to. The ex
p. nditure?, for all purposes, "for the same peri- 1
od, were $3,637,147 32. Leaving an availa
ble balance in the Treasury, on the Ist day of
December, 1860, ol $681,4-33 08. The fol
lowing items are embraced iu the expenditures
for the fiscal year, viz :
Loans redeemed, $664,857 65
Relief notes cancelled, 1,811 00
Interest certificates, 2,439 52
Domestic creditors' certificates, 5 40
Damages on the public works, and
old claims, 22,644 32
Making, of the public debt actually
paid during the year, the sum ot, 691,757 89
The funded and unfunded debt of the Com
monwealth on the first day of December, 1859,
was as follows :
FUNDED DEBT.
6 per cent loans $400,63) 00
5 do 37,625,153 37
4j do 388,200 00
4 do 100,000 00
Total funded debt 33,513,983 37
UNFUNDED DEBT.
Relief notes in circulation, $101,213 00
Interest certificates outstanding 18,513 82
Do unclaimed 4,448 38
Domestic creditors 802 -60
Total unfunded debt 124,977 70 ,
Making the entire debt of the Common- 1
wealth, at the period named, $35,63?,96l <
07.-
The funded and unfunded debt of the State,
at the close of the last fiscal year, December I,j
iB6O, stood as follows :
FUNDED DEBT.
6 per cent loans $400,630 00 ;
6 do 36,967,295 721
4i do 381,200 00!
4 do 100,000 00
Total funded debt 37,849,125 70 |
UNFUNDED DEBT-
Relief notes in circulation $99,402 00 ,
Interest certificates outstanding 16,074 30 !
Do unclaimed 4,448 38 j
Domestic creditors'certificates 797 10;
. i
Total unfunded debt 120,721 7S
Making the entire public debt of Pennsylva
nia, on the Jst day ot December last, $37,969,
547 50.
To pay the principal and interest of these
debts, besides the ordinary sources of revenue,
the Commonwealth holds the following mort
gage bonds, derived from the sale of her pubiic
improvements, viz :
Bonds of Pennsylvania railroad
company, $7,200,000 00
Bonds of Sunbury ar.d Erie rail
road company, 3,500,000 00
Bonds ot Wyoming canal company 281,000 00
Total, 10,981,000 00
At the close of (he fiscal year, on
the first day of December, 1857,
the public debt of this Common
wealth, funded and untuned,
was $39,881,738 22
It is now, at the close of the fiscal
year, 1860, 37,969,847 50
Having been reduced, during the
last three years, 1,911,890 72
The available balance in the Trea
sury on the first day of Decem
ber, 1857, was 528,106 47
On the first day of December, 18-
60, it was, 681.433 08
Exceeding the former balance in
the sum of 153,326 61
Add to this the sum paid at the
Treasury during the past three
years, lor debts and claims a
gainst the Commonwealth, ari
sing out of the construction and
maintenance of the public im
provements, and which was sub
stantially a part of the unfunded
debt ot the Commonwealth, a
ir.ounting to 171,664 82
And we have the sum of 324,991 43
By adding this sum to the amount paid on
the public debt from December 1,1857, to De
cember 1, 1860, to wit : $1,911,890 72, it
will be found that during the past three years j
the State has not only met all her ordinary li- j
abilities, including the expenses of the govern
ment, and the interest on her public debt, but :
has diminished her actual indebtedness the 1
sum of $2,236,882 15.
When it is remembered thai for the last three
vears the tax on real and personal estate has
seen but two and a half mills on the dollar,
while from 1844 to 1857 it was three mills—
tiiat for the past two years and six months the i
r'ate has received no part of the tax on ton- !
nage due from the Pennsylvania railroad com- !
pany—and that since July, 1859, the interest
I on tfie bonds held by the State against the Sun
| btirv and Lrie railroad company has remained
| due ami unpaid, it is certainly cause for hear
ty congratulation, that, without aid from these
iindortant sources of revenue, so great a reduc
tion ot the public debt has been accomplished
'in comparatively so short a period. The fun
ded debt of the State is now less than it has
, been since 1842, and the unfunded and floating
debt, which at that time arnounded to upwards
! of two millions of dollars, has been almost en
t.rely redeemed. It is now reduced to $l2O,
i2l iS—and ol this sum over ninety-nine
thousand dollars consists of relief notes, most of
which are undoubtedly either lost or destroyed
and will, therefore, never be presented for pay
ment. The claims against the State, accruing
from the construction and maintenance of her
canals and railroads, are now reduced to a
mere nominal sum ; and, in the future, after
providing fur the ordinary expenses ot govern
ment, her revenues and her energies may be ex
clusively applied to the payment of tile inter
est, and the discharge of the principal of her
public debt.
The people o! this Commonwealth have hith
erto m>-t, vvith promptness, the demands made
upon them, from time to time, for the ways and
means of "replenishing the Public Treasury;
and now, that they see that the onerous debt
with which they nave so iong been burdened,
is each year certainly and rapidly disappearing
—that tile amount required to meet the interest
is annually being diminished—that consequent
ly a still greater sum can each year he devoted
to the reduction of the principal of the debt,
without r.-s irting to add it i >nal sources of reve
nue—and tha:, with a proper husbanding of the
resources of the State, the day is not lar distant
when direct taxation in Pennsylvania will
cease altogether—Uie payment of such taxes as
may for the time be required to meet the pub
lic necessities, will continue to be met with
cheerfulness and alacrity. Put they will un
questionably hold those to whose care Illsv have
entrusted ihe financial interests of the State to
a tigid accounrabiiyty. That there should, at
this particular juncture, when the business and
monetary afiatrs of the country are so greatly
depressed, be the strictest economy in public
expenditures, is so manifest, that it can scarce
ly be necessary to call attention to so plain a
duty. It is equally clear that any legislation
. winch would, tend greatly to lessen the ieve
i nues ol the Commonwealth would, at this time,
j be peculiarly unwise and inexpedient. The
I exigencies ot the future no man can foretell
the prospect before us is beclouded with d.pbt
i and uncei taiuty—it is, therefore, no mure than
I the p art of w tsdom to guard, with unceasing
vigilance, all our present sources of revenue,
j and to thus t e prepared k t +*)ssibie con
tingency.
Since July, 1858, the Pennsylvania railroad
! company has refused to pay the tax on tonnage
required to be paid by the act incorporating fhe
J company, and its various suplements ; and.
; there is now due to the State, on that account,
J exclusive of interest, the sum of $674,296 22.
< Including the intrest, the sum now due is about
$700,000. Before my last annuafimessage was
• communicated to the Legislature, a case had
i been tried in the court of common pleas of
, Dauphin county, between the Commonwealth
j and the railroad company, involving the qin-s
--| tion of the constitutionality of this tax, which
' was decided in favor ot 'he State, and the im
| position of the lax pronounced constitutional.
| In January last, another suit was tried between
i the same pirties, in the same court, involving
j the same question, with a like result. In De
| cernber last, a judgment was obtained in the dis
j trict court of Philadelphia, upon one ol the
; semi-annual settlements, for SIIO,OOO. So
j that judgment lias been ob'.aioed lor $365,000
j ol the debt, being the whole amount which be
i came due prior to 1860. The tax, which ac
, crued during the past year, amounts to S3OB,
I 829 03. The first settlement for the year is
j before the Dauphin county court, on an appeal
i taken by the company , and the second, or last
j settlement was made hut a few days since by
the accountant department of ttie Comrnon
j wealth.
I After the recovery, in the common pleas of
j Dauphin county, the cases were removed by
j writs of error, taken on behalf of the defend
j ants, to the Supreme Court of this State, where
j they were argued in June last, and in October
| that tribunal sustained the decision of the court
; of common pit as, and held the tax to be clearly
! constitutional jthus uniting with the law ma
i king power in affirming the right of the State
| to tax a corporation under a law to which it
; owes its existence. But, notwithstanding this
j concurrence ol opinion and action on behalf ol
the constituted authorities ot Pennsylvania,
j the litigation is not \et an end ; for the rnil
j road company has recently removed the casts,
I by writs of error, to the Supreme Court of the
j Untied States, where they are now pending.
That the decision of that court will, when
made, hilly sustain the right of a Sovereign
i State to enforce a contract between the State
. and a corporation, and entirely vindicate the
' power i)i a State to impose such taxes upon
corporations, as in her sovereign will she may
deem proper, I cannot for a moment doubt.
To complete-the history of this important
litigation, and to show (hat every eilort has
been, thus far, made to compel the payment of
this large sum of money into the Treasury of
the State, it is proper to add, that the law offi
cer rf the Commonwealth, being of opinion that
the writs of error were not issued from the
Supreme Court ot the United States in time to
prevent the collection of the judgments render
ed in the State court?, execution Jwere'issued to
the sheriff of the county of Dauphin, and pro
ceedings are now pending in the Supreme Court
of this State, to determine whether the Com
monwealth can compel the payment of the
judgments already recovered, before the final
decision by the Supreme Couit ol the United
States.
The Sunbury and Erie railroad company hav
ing failed to negotiate its mortgage bonds in
BEDFORD, PA., FRIDAY MORNING, JANUARY 11, irl.
their present condition, .the expectations con
fidently entertained ol an early completion of
that most important improvement, have not
been realized. The work during the past year,
however, although greatly retarded, has been
continually progressing ; upwaids of one mil
lion of dollars having been expended on the
line fioni November 1859, to November iB6O.
The v.hnle length of the road, from the borough
ol Stirfbnry to the harbor on the lake, ot the
city ol E ie, is 288 miles ; of which 148 miles
are now finished and in operation, and 115
miles of the remaining portion ol the line are
graded : leaving but twenty-five miles yet. to
grade. Pennsylvania ! s largely interested in
the early completion and success of this gr--at
thoroughfare, not only because she is the cred
itor of ttie company to the amount ol three and
a half millions of dollars, but for the additional,
and more cogent reason, that the impiovement,
when completed, will open one ol the most
important channels of trade between the city
of Philadelphia and the great lakes of the wes\
at Hi- best barber op Erie, entirely within
the limits of our own State, which has ever
been contemplated. Tt will, moreover, devel
op the resources of a large portion of North-
Western Pennsylvania, abounding with the
richest minerals, and a large lumber region of
unsurpassed excellence, which ihe munificent
hand ot the State has hitherto totally neglected.
By disposing ul her branch canals to that com
pany, in exchange for its mortgage bonds, the
State has already largely aided in the construc
tion of this great work ; and it may be ne
cessary, to insure its completion, tnat further
legislation should be had in order to reader the
means of the company available. It is evident
that a liberal policy, on the part of the govern
ment, will promote alike the interests ot the
Gommonwealth and the railroad company .
nevertheless, great care should be takeu to pro
tect, as lar as possible, the debt now due from
the company to the State. If all propositions
which may lie made for a change in tlie secu
rities now held by the Commonwealth, be care
fully considered by the Legislature, and no
more yielded than sound economy demands,
with proper provisions lor the due application
of whatever means may be realized, it is be
lieved, that sufficient relief can be gianted to
the company, to enable it promptly to finish
thp road, while the security remaining will be
fullv adequate to insut e the ultimate payment
ol ttie principal and interest ol the bonds ol the
railroad company now held by the com:noii
wealth.
I commend this subject to the Legisla! if-p,
as one entitled to its most carelul considerately
as well oil account ot its vast importancejui
that petition of the State through wh;ti*et
rarh'7R<J puJnr-s—to thu cTtK.-s ok
and Erie—and to the railroad company—as to
the Commonwealth herself. Premising that
whatever policy it may be thought expedient
to pursue, should be adopted solely with refer
ence to the protection and furtherance ol the
pulic interests.
The attention ol the Legislature is again in
vited to the subject of general education. At
the present juncture it presents peculiar claims.
The experience of a quarter ot a century his
satisfied the proverbially cautious people of
Pennsylvania, of the adaptedness of the com
mon senool system to their wants and condition.
No less has the severe ordeal of the past three
years shown its capability to endure those sud
den reverses which occasionally prostrate the
other interests ol the community. Involving
greater expenditure than the rest of tile depart
ments of governments, and that, too, mainly
drawn from direct taxation, it is a proud fact,
that, while most of the enterprises of society
have been seriously embarrassed, and some of
them suspended, by tht. pecuniary crisis of
1857, our educational system nas not been re
tarded in any appreciable degree. On the
contrary, its operations have been maintained,
to an extent which plainly indicates that our
citizens fully appreciate its value. Contrasting
its main results during the past year with those
of 1857, we find that the whole number of
pupils now in the schools, is 64.7,414., being an
increase of 44,422 ; these were taught in 11,-
577 schools, 621 more than in 1857, dnn ing an
average term of five months and five and one
half days, at a cost of fifty-six cents per pupil,
per month, by 14,065 teachers, being 529
more than m 1857. The entire expenditure
of the syrfem, for the past year, including that
of the School Department, is $2,638,550 80.
These figures afford some idea ot tiie magnitude
of the operations of the system; but neither
words nor figures can adequately express the
impot tance ot its influence upon the prestuit,or
its ielations to the future.
In contemplating the details of a pfan for the
due training of the youth of a community, its
large proportions and imposing array of statis
tics do not display the point of its greatest im
portance. Pupiis may be enrolled by hundreds
of thousands : school-houses of the best structure
and most complete arrangement may be dotted
at convenient distances over the whole lace of
the land : tht? most perfect oider oI stad-es may
be adopted, and the best possible selection of
books made ; but what are all these, without
the learned and skilful, the faithful, moral and
devoted teachpr ? Without this animating
spirit, all is barren and unfruitful. In this vital
department, I am happy to announce that the
improvement ol the common school teachers of
the State shows more solid advancement, witn
in the past three years, than any other branch
ol the system. This, therefore, being the poiit
whence all real progress in learning and cul
ture must originate, is also the one to which
the fostering attention and caie of the public
authorities should be mainly directed.
Our peculiar modeol training teachers under
the normal act ol 1857, has now stood the test
of practical experience ; and, against the moit
adverse circumstances, has produced results
decisive ol its success. Already it has placel
one institution in full operation in the south
eastern part ol the State, equal in standing an!
Freedom of Thought and Opinion.
xtent to any in the Union. Another, with all
the requirements of the law, has just applied
for Slate recognition in the extreme norlh-west.
' I commend these noble, and peculiarly Penn
| sylvania, schools to your favor. Aid to. them
will be the best investment that can be made
for the rising generation. Good instruction for
our chiidien is the strongest earthly guarantee,
that, whatever else we bequeath them, their
' inheritance will be a blessing, and not a curse ;
! and, if nothing more is left, in the well cultur
ed minds, the willing hands, and the trust in
God, of freemen, they w ill have all that is
essential.
Nearly eleven thousand of our fellow citizens
are now devoting their efforts to the improve-,
, inent of the common school, as directors, 'i ban
| this there is no more meritorious body of men.
i An increase of the annual State appropriation
would not only be a material relief to the dis
j Iricts, at this lime, but would, to some extent,
disembarrass directors in their local operations.
It is not, however, the common school sys
| tem, vast and honorable to the Slate as it is,
that claims your entire attention, in reference
|to education. Pennsylvania also boasts her
• coilegiate, academical, scientific, professional,
j and philanthropic .institutions, and numerous
i private schools of every grade. In this re
j spect she is second to no member of the con
i federary ; but, from mere want of attention to
| the proper statistics, 6he has thus far been
hanked far below her just standard. The pre
j sent is not the proper time to renew grants to
I institutions ot these classes which heretofore
| received State aid. If it were, the public au
thorities do not possess the requisite data for
' a safe and just extension of liberaiitv. The
i period will arrive when all public educational
agencies must be included in one great system
for the elevation of mind and morals ; and
when the State will, no doubt, patronize every
proper effort in the good work.
Lor the details of the system during the last
school year, the attention oi the Legislature is
respectfully referred to the annual report of the
Common School Department, herewith submit
ted.
By the act passed by the last Legislature, es
tablishing a system ol free banking in Pennsyl
vania, and securing the public against loss from
; insolvent banks, radical changes were irade in
! the banking laws of this State. Instead of'cor
j porations created by special laws, voluntary as
assocuiii ns are authorized to transact the bu
| sines* of banking without further legislation,
j and as an 'indispensable prerequisite to tiie
j issuing of Dank notes for circulaiioti as money,
\ ample security must be deposited with the Au
| <iitor General lor their prompt redemption.,.—
j The iaw makes provision, not only for the in
j tdK'-fr. fJWTinr ot -m-v/ 3es<ettr/n*> birt
> enables banking institutions already in existence
• to continue their business for twenty ytars af-
I ter the expira'ion ot their present charters, up
on complying with its provisions, by withdraw
ing their old circulation, and givpig th" secu
rities required for redemption of (heir new is
sues. ihe pubiic, lam sure, will rejoice that
no further necessity exists for legislative action
either on the subject of creating new, or jre-cnar
teriugold banks; and that the time and atten
tion ol their representatives will now, happily,
be no longer monopolized in the codsideration
of a subject hitherto productive ot so much
strife and contention, it not of positive evil.
The rapid increase of private banks, through
out the Mate, makes it eminently right that
they should be placed under proper [legislative
restrictions, and that the large amount of capi
ta), thus employed, should be made to contril>-
ute its fair proportion to the revenue? of the
Commonwealth. Their business, in the aggre
gate, is now believed to amount to a sum almost
it not quite, equal to the whole business, in the
regularly chartered banks ; and yet it is entire
ly unrestricted, and with the exception of a
merely nominal license tax, is free from taxa
tion. This is unjust to every other class of our
| tax paying citizens, and especially so to
| the banking institutions holding charters from
j the Commonwealth, for which they have each
j paid a liberal bonus, and are, in addition, sub
j ject to a very large tax on their dividends. I
respectfully commend this subject to the atten
: tion ol the Legislature.
i A high sense of duty impels me again ta call
; the attention of the Legislature to fhe inade
quacy ofexisting laws, regulating the receiving,
I keeping and disbursement ot fhe revenues ot
; the State. The public moneys are now paid
j directly to the State Treasurer, who deposits
them, at his own discretion, whenever and
wherever he chooses, and pays them out in sums
either small or great, upon his own unattested
check exclusively. The amount thus recei
ved, kept and disbursed is annually between
three and four millions nf dollars, with balances
on hand, at times, exceeding one million of
dollars ; while the bond of the State Treasurer
is for only eighty thousand dollars. His ac
counts are settled monthly by the Auditor
General, by whom the receipts for money paid
into the Treasury are countersigned, and these
are the only safeguards ptovided by law to
prevent the illegal and improper use of the
money ot the Slates, by the State Treasurer.
Happily the revenues of the Commonwealth
have hitherto been safely kppt, properly dis
bursed, and promptly accounted for, bv those
in charge of the Public ; but in view
of the serious defalcations which have occur
red elsewhere, and in other States, this fact
should furnish no reason why we ought not to
guard against loss in the future. Keferring to
my former annual messages, I respectfully, but
most earnestly, recommend that provision be
made by law :
First —That no money shall be deposited by
the State Treasurer in any bank, or elsewhere,
without first requiring ample security,to be
given to the Commonwealth for the ' prompt
repayment of \such sum as may be deposited ;
and that such securities shall be deposited in
the ofliceof the Auditor General.
Second —That all checks issued by the State
Treasurer, shall be countersigned by the Audi
tor General, be/ore they are used, and that dai
ly accounts shail be kept of the moneys receiv
ed, deposited and disbursed, in the Auditor Gen
eral's office, as well as in the Tieasury Depart
i meat.
Thrd—That condensed monthly statements,
vei : bv the signatures of the Auditor Gen
eral ami State Treasurer, shall be published in
one newspaper 10 Philadelphia and one in Har
i isourg, showing the balances in the Treasury,
and where deposited, with the particular a
niount of each dejiosit ; and
Fourth —That the bond of the S'ate Treasu
rer be increased to the surnol two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars.
Jhe inspectors of the State Penitentiary for
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in their
annual reports for the yea~s 1803 and 1859,
called the att ?nlion ot the Legislature to the in
security of such parts of the penitentiary buil
ding as were exposed to their own fires and
(hose of the neighborhood, and lecommended
that roofs of such of the corridors as were cov
ered with shingles, and needed renewal, should
be replaced with slate or metal. On visiting
the institution, my attention was called to the
subject by the inspectors. The necessity for
the change was so apparent and urgent, that I
advised them not to hesitate in having the old,
dilapidated and dangerous wooden roofs of such
portious of the building as required renewal,
replaced with some substantia! fire proof matp- i
rial. This has accordingly been done, and I j
respectfully recommend that a small appropti- !
ation be granted to defray the expenses incur- ;
red.
The extraordinary and alarming condition of ]
our national affairs demands your immediate at- i
tention. On tne twentieth of December last,!
the convention ot South Carolina, organized !
under the authority of the Legislature of that
State, by a unanimous vote, declared "that the
union now subsisting between South Carolina
and the other States, under the name of the U- \
nited States of America, is hereby dissolved ;" .
and the action already taken in several other
Southern States indicates, most clear! v. their
intention to follow this example.
On behalf of the advocates of secession, it is
claimed, thai this Union is merely a compact
between the seveial States composing it, and
that any one ot the States, which mav feel ag
grieved, may, at its pleasure, declare that it
will no longer be a party to the compact.—
1 his doctrine is clearly erroneous. The Con
stitution of the United States is something more
than a mere compact, or agreement, between
the several States. As applied to nations, a
compact is but a treaty, which mav be abro
gated at the will of either party ; responsible to
the other tor its bad faith in refusing to
keep its engagements, but entirely irresponsible
to any superior tribunal. A government, on
the other hand, whether created by consent, or
by conquest, when clothed with lejej>la!i'"e,
judicial and executive powers, is necessarily in
its nature sovereign ; and from this sovereignty
tiows its right to enforce its laws and decrees by
civil process, and, in an emergency, bv its mil
itary and naval power. The government owes
protection to the people, and they, in turn, owe
it their allegiance. Its laws cannot be viola
ted by its citizens, without accountability to
tie tribunals created to enforce its decreps and
to punish offenders. Organized resistance to
it, is rebellion. If successful, it may be purged
ot crime by revolution. It unsuccessful, the
persons engaged in the rebellion, may be exe
cuted as traitors. The government of the Uni
ted States, within the lim:s assigned to it, is as
potential in sovereignty, as anv other govern
ment in the civilized world. The Constitution
and laws made in pursuance thereof, are ex
prissly declared to be the supreme law of the
land. Coder the Constitution, the general
government has the power to raise and support
armies, to create and maintain a navy, and to
provide for calling forth the militia to execute
its laws, suppress insurrection and repel inva
sion. Appiopriate statutes have been enacted
by Congress, to aid in the execution of these
important governmental powers.
The creation of the Federal Government,
with the powers enumerated in the Constitu
tion, was the 1 act of the people of the United
States, and ■' is perfectly immaterial that the
people of the several States separately
within the territorial limits of each State. The
form of their action is of no consequence, in
view of the tact that they created a Federal
Government, to which they surrendered cer
tain powers ot sovereignty, and declared those
powers, thus surrendered, to besupierne, with
out reserving to the States, or to the people, the
right of secession, nullification or other resis
tance. It is, therefore, clear that there is no
constitutional right of secession. Secession is
only another form of nullification. Either,
when attempted to he carried out by force, is
rebellion, and should be treated cs such, by
those whose sworn duty it is to maintain the
supremacy of the Constitution and laws of the
United States.
It is certainly true, that in cases of great ex
tremity, when the oppression of government
has become so intolerable that civil war is pre
ferable to longer submission, there remains the
revolutionary right of resistance : but where the
authority of the government is limited by a
written Constitution, and each department is
held in check by the other departments, it will
rarely, if ever, happen that the citizen not
be adequately protected, without resorting to
the sicred and inalienable right to resist and
destroy a government which has been perverted
to a tyranny.
Cut, while denying the right of a Stale to
absolve its citizens from the allegiance which
they owe to the Federal Government, it is nev
ertheless highly proper that we should care
fully and candidly examine the reasons which
are advanced by those who have evinced a de
termination *o destroy the Union of these A
merican States, and if it shall appear that any
of the causes of complaint are well bounded,
they should be unhesitatingly removed, and, as
whom: ftr.fißEft, soso.
far as possible, reparation made for the past,
and security given for the future; for it is not
to be tolerated, that a government created by
the people, and maintained lor their benefit,
-.houid do injustice to any portion of its citi
zen*.
After asserting her right to withdraw from
the Union, South Carolina, through her con
vention, among other reasons, declares that she
is justified in exercising, at this time, that right
because several of the States have for years not
only refused to fulfil their constitutional obli
gations, but have enacted laws either nullifying
the Constitution, or rendering useless the "acts
of Congress relative to the surrender of fugitive
slaves—that they have permitted the open es
tablishment of societies, to disturb the peace of
other States : that the people of the non-slave
holding States have aided in the escape of
slaves from their masters, and have incited to
| servile insurrection those that remain—and
have announced their determination to exclude
the South from the common Territory of the
Union. As the Representatives of the people
of Pennsylvania, it becomes your solemn duty
to examine these serious charges, made by the
authority of a sovereign State.
Pennsylvania is included in the list of States
that are charged with having refused compli
ance with that mandate of the Constitution of
the United Slates, which declares "that no per
son held to service or labor in one State, under
the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall,
in consequence of any law or regulation therein
be discharged from such service or labor, but
shall be delivered up. on claim of the party to
whom such service or labor may be due."—So
far from admitting tiie truth of"thi3 charge, I
unhesitatingly aver, that, niwn a careful exam
ination, it will be found that the legislative and
judicial action of Pennsylvania, whether as a
colony, as a member of the old confederation, *
or under the existing Constitution of the United
States, has been almost invariably influenced
by a proper appreciation of tier own obligations,'
and bv a high regard for the rights, the feel
iugs and the interests of her sister States.
As early as 1705, the provincial authorities
of Pennsylvania, after reciting a the preamble,
that "the importation of Indian siaves from
Carolina, or other places, hath been observed to
| give the Indians of this province soi;,-= mbrcge
i tor suspicion and dissatisfaction," passed an act
against the importation of Indian slaves from
any other province, or colony, in America, but
at the same time declared, "that no such Indi
an slave, as deserting his master's service else
-1 where, shall fl* into this province, shall be un
deistood or construed be comprehended with
in this act." And when, in 1780, more than
eight years before the Constitution of the Uni
ted States went into operation, Pennsylvania
passed her law for the gradual abolition of sla
very, mindful of the rights of her confederates,
she declared that, "this act, or anything in it
contained, shall not give any relief or shelter to
any absconding or runaway negro or mulatto
slave, or servant, who has absented himself, or
shall absent himself, from his or her owner,
master or mistress, residing in any other Slate
or country, but such owner, master or mistress,
shall have like right and aid to demand, ciaim
and take away his slave, or servant, as he might
have had in case this act had not been made."
A provision much more unequivocal in its
phraseology, and direct in its commands, than
those found, on the same subject, in the Consti
tution of the Union. The act, by its terms, wat
J made inapplicable to domestic slaves attending
i upon delegates in Congress from the other A
rnerican States, and those held by persons while
passing through this State, or sojourning there
in for a period not longer than six months.
In 17S8 it was made a high penal offence
for any person, by force, violence or fraud, to
take out of this State, any negro or mulatto,
with the intention of keeping or Selling the
said neoro or mulatto as a a term of
years. Soon after the passage of this act, the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania decided that it
did not apply to the forcible removal of a slavp,
by the owner or his agent, but that its object
was to punish the forcible or fraudulent abduc
tion from the State of free negroes, with the in
tention of keeping or selling them as slaves.—
Thus, at that early day, giving judicial sanction
to the doctrine, that a master had the right to
take his slaves wherever he could find them.
The first act of Congress providing for the
rendition of fugitives from justice or labor, was
passed in 1793, and originated from the refusal
of the Uovernor of Virginia to surrender and de
liver up, on the requisition of the Governor of
Pennsylvania, three persons who had been in
dicted in Pennsylvania, for kidnapping a negro,
and carrying him into Virginia. And when
it was found that this Congressional statute did
not afford a simple, speedy and efficient remedy
for the recovery of fugitives from labor, the
Legislature of P-nnsylvania, at the request of
the adjoining State of Maryland, in 1526. pass
ed her act "to give effect to the provisions of
the Constitution of the United States relative to
fugitives from labor, lor the protection of free
people of color, and to prevent kidnapping."
This excellent and well considered law met alt
the existing emergencies. It required the jud
ges, justices of the peace and aldermen, o< the
State, upen the oath of the claimant, to issue
their warrant for the arrest of any lugitive from
labor escaping into this State ■ directing, how
ever, that such warrants should be made retur
nable, by whomsoever issued, before a ju ige of
the proper county. It required sheriffs and
constables to execute such warrants. It author
ized the commitment of the fugitive to the
county jail, and ot .erwise made provisions to
secure.its elfecli ve execution, and at the same
time to prevent its abuse.
This law continued quietly in operation un
til the decision of the Suprenj" Court of the
United States, made in 18-12 in the caseofPrigg
vs. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The
history of this case may be briefly stated :
Edward Prigg wa3 indicted in tne court of oyer
and terminer of York county, tor kidnapping a
VOL. 4. NO. 22.