TERMS OF THE GLOBE.
Per annum in advance
Six months
Three months
A failure to notify a discontinuance at the expiration of
the term subscribed for will be considered a now engage
ment.
TERMS OF ADVERTISING.
1 insertion. 2 do. 3 do.
Pour lines or loss, $ .25 $ 37 1 4 , t, 50
One square, (12 lines,) 50 75 1 00
Two squares, 1 00 1 50 2 00
Three. squares, 1 50 2 25 3 00
Over three week and less than three months, 25 cents
per square for each insertion.
3 months. 6inonths. 12 months.
Six lines or less,. $1 50 $3 00 $5 00
One square, 3 00 5 00 - 7 00
Two squares, 5 00 8 00 10 00
Three squares, 7 00 10 00 15 00
Four squares, 9 00 13 00 9 0 00
Half a column, 12 00 16 00 ...... ....24 00
One column 20 00 30 00.... ......50 00
Professional and Business Cards not exceeding four lines,
one year, $3 od
Administrators' and Execntors' Notices, ' $1 75
Advertisements not marked with the number of inser
tions desired, will be continued till forbid and charged ac
cording to these terms.
GOVERNOR' S MESSAGE.
To the Honorable the Senators and Members
of the louse of Representatives of the Cont
monwealth of Pennsylvania :
GENTLEMEN complying with that pro
vision of the Jonstitution of Pennsylvania,
which makes it the duty of the Governor,
from time to time, to give the General As
sembly information of the state of the Com
monwealth, I am most happy, on this occa
sion, again to congratulate the representatives
of the people upon the highly favorable condi
tion of the finances of the State.
The receipts at the State Treasury, from all
sources, for the fiscal year ending on the 30th
of November, 1859, were $3,826,350 14, to
which add balance in Treasury, December 1,
1858, $892,027 76, and it will be seen that
the whole sum available for the year, was
$4,718,377 90. The expenditures, for all
purposes, during the same period, were $3,-
879,054 81. Leaving an available balance
in the Treasury, on the Ist day of Decem
ber, 1859, of $839,323 09. Included in the
expenditures for the fiscal year, are the fol
lowing sums, viz :
Loans redeemed,
Relief notes cancelled,
Interest certificates paid,
Making of the public debt actu
ally paid, during the year,
the sum of
The funded and unfunded debt of the Com
monwealth, on the Ist day of December,
1858, was as follows:
PL' Din DEBT
6 per cent. loans,
5 Do.,
44. Do.,
4 Do.,
Total funded debt,
UNFUNDED DEBT
Relief notes outstanding,
Interest certificates,
Do. do. unclaimed,
Domestic creditors,
Total unfunded debt,
Making the entire debt of the Common
wealth, at the period named, $39,488,243 67.
The Minded and unfunded debt of the State
at the close of the last fiscal year. December
1, 1859, stood as follows :
6 per cent, loans,
5 do.,
4 do.,
4 do.,
Total funded debt,
UNFUNDED DEBT
Relief notes in circulation,
Interest certificates outstanding,
Do., unclaimed,
Domestic creditors,
Total unfunded debt,
Making the public debt on the first day of
December last, $38,638,061 07.
Since the close of the fiscal year, the Com
missioners of the Sinking Fund have re
deemed, of the five per cent. loans._ the sum
of $160,000, leaving the real debt of the Com
monwealth, at this time, funded and unfun
ded, 538,4-78,061 07. If we deduct from this
sum the amount of the bonds received by the
State, from the sale of her public works, and
now held by her, as follows
Bonds of Pennsylvania railroad en.
Bonds of Sunbury and Erie railroad co.,
Bonds of Wyoming canal co.,
Total,
w•e have i 427,397,901 07, the remaining debt
of the Commonwealth, the principal and in
terest to be provided for, from the ordinary
sources of the revenue.
It will be observed, that from the first day
of December, 1858, to the 31st day of De
cember, 1859, a period of thirteen months,
besides meeting all the ordinary demands
upon the Treasury, there has been actually
paid, on the principal of the public debt, $l,-
009,282 GO:
When it is remembered, that during this
period, the law reducing the State tax upon
real and personal estate, from three to two
and a half mills, has been in full force, and
that nothing for the last year has been re
ceived from the Pennsylvania railroad com
pany, on account of tax on tonnage, making
the receipts, from those two sources of reve
nue, less by four hundred thousand dollars,
than they were for the proceeding year, it is
a source of congratulation that, under such
circumstances, a result so favorable has been
produced by the ordinary operations of the
Treasury.
For nearly tw3 years past, the State has
been entirely free from the ownership or
management of canals and railroads, and
the gratifying result, thus far, is, that her
public debt is now less than it has been since
the year 1842,.and is decreasing at the rate
of nearly one million of dollars per annum.
It is now morally certain, that nothing but
the gros.sG'Wnisma - na - keinent of the financial
!..`;;rests of the State, can prevent its sure and
speedy extinguishment. Why should not
Pennsylvania press onward until she is •en
tirely free from debt ? She is no longer en
gaged in the construction of great works of
internal improvement, nor is she the propri
etor of railroads or canals. Relieved of
these, governmental action is greatly simpli
fied, and is now happily limited to subjects
of a purely governmental character. Hav
ing ceased to be interested in ordinary busi
ness pursuits, it is her plain duty to devote
her best energies to relieving her people from
the burden of an onerous debt. When this
great result shall have been accomplished,
the necessary expenditures of an economical
administration of the government, can bo
readily met without the imposition of a State
tax on real or personal estate—the remaining
Si 50
75
50
WILLIAM LEWIS,
VOL. XV.
sources of revenue being more than sufficient
for all legitimate purposes. Until that end,
so anxiously looked to, is secured, true wis
dom, as well as sound policy, dictates, that
our resources should be carefully husbanded
—that none of our present sources of reve
nue should be cut off, or diminished—that all
departments of government should consult a
proper economy—that_ all extravagant and
unnecessary appropriations should be avoided
—and that every new scheme for embarras
sing the Treasury should meet with marked
condemnation.
Encouraging, as are the results of the past
two years, it must not be forgotten, that we
have but just commenced the payment of the
principal of our debt; and that to prevent a
misapplication of the public finances, and
thereby insure a continuance of its reduction,
from year to year, is manifestly the first duty
of those placed by the Constitution in charge
of the Public Treasury, and to whom belongs
the exclusive right of raising, economizing
and appropriating the public revenue. I
earnestly commend this whole subject to the
careful attention of the Legislature—entirely
satisfied, that, as it is the most vital of all
the interests committed to the charge of the
General Assembly, it will receive that con
sideration which its importance so eminently
demands.
$840,302 30
4,137 00
4,843 30
In my last annual message, I communica
ted to the General Assembly all that, up to
that period, had been done under the act, en
titled " An Act for the sale of the State ca
nals," approved April 21, 1858. Since the
adjournment of the last Legislature, satisfac
tory evidence having been given to me, of the
compliance of the Sunbury and Erie railroad
company, with the conditions mentioned in
the third section of the act referred to, the
the State Treasurer, under my direction, has
delivered to the company the canal bonds for
t ; wo millions of dollars, deposited in the Treas
ury under the provisions of the said act.
The railroad company has also become en
titled to, and has received, one million of dol
lars, of the mortgage bonds referred to in the
sixth section of the same act ; leaving mort
gage bonds amounting to two and a half mil
lions of dollars, still remaining in the Treas
ury of the Commonwealth, to be delivered to
the company, " from time to time, pari passu,
with the progress of the work, as ascertained
by the returns and estimates of the chief en
gineer of the said company." "When the
bonds, last mentioned, shall have been sur
rendered to the company, as directed by law,
the State will still hold, as absolute owner,
three and a half millions of dollars of the
mortgage bonds of the company, payable in
the year 1872, and in the six succeeding years,
as mentioned in the act of Assembly, with
interest, at the rate of five per centum, per
annum, payable semi-annually, on the thir
ty-first days of January and July of each
Fear. Interested, as the Commonwealth is,
in the early cpmpletion of this important thor
oughlhre, it affords me great pleasure to be
able to inform the General Assembly, that
the progress of the work, for the past year,
has been highly satisfactory.
The Eastern division of the road, extending
from Sunbury, in the county of Northumber
land, to Whetham, in the county of Clinton,
a distance of eighty-one miles, is finished ;
passenger and freight trains passing over it
daily. The Western division, extending from
the city of Erie, to the borough of Warren,
in Warren county, a distance of sixty-six
miles, is, also, completed, with regular pas
senger and freight trains now running over
it daily. Making one hundred and forty-sev
en miles of railway, along the line of the
route, that have been already brought into
practical operation—one hundred and seven
miles of which, exclusive of sidings, were fin
ished during the past year. On the interme
diate portion of the line, between the borough
of Warren and Whetham station, a distance
of one hundred and forty miles, ninety-five
and a half miles are graded, leaving but for
ty-four and a half miles yet to be graded, to
place the whole of the unfinished portion of
the road in a position to receive the super
structure. If no untoward event shall delay
its vigorous prosecution, another year will
not pass before the entire line of the road
will he finished and in use; thus affording a •';
direct and continuous communication, by ;
railroad, from the city of Philadelphia to the
harbor of Erie.
849,282 60
$445,180 00
38,420,905 GT
388,200 00
100,000 00
39,354,285 67
$105,350 00
23,357 12
4,448 38
802 50
133,958 00
$400,630 00
37,625,153 37
388,200 00
100,000 00
38,513,983 37
$101,213 00
18,513 82
4,448 38
802 50
124,977 70
$7,300,000 00
3,500.000 00
'281,000 00
1.1,051,000 00
By the twenty-second section of the act ap
proved the 13th day of April, 184 G, entitled
"An Act to incorporate the Pennsylvania
railroad company," it is provided, "that all
tonnage, of whatsoever kind or description,
except the ordinary baggage of passengers,
loaded or received at Harrisburg, or Pitts
burg, or at any intermediate point, and car
ried or conveyed on or over the said railroad,
more than twenty miles, between the 10th
day of March and the Ist day of December,
in each and every year, shall be subject to a
toll or duty, for the use of the Commonwealth,
at the rate of five mills, per mile, for each ton
of two thousand pounds ; and it shall he the
duty of said company, between the 20th and
30th days of July, and between the Ist and
10th days of December, in each and every
year, after thirty miles or more of said rail
road shall have been completed, and in use,
to cause to be made out, and filed with the
Auditor General, a true and correct statement,
exhibiting the amount of said tonnage, so
loaded or received, and the distance so car
ried and conveyed, during the respective pe
riods intervening between the said 10th day
of March, and the 20th day of July, and the
Ist day of December, in each and every year;
which said statement shall be verified by the
oath or affirmation of the receiving or for
warding agent or agents, or other proper offi
cer or officers, of said company, having knowl
edge of the premises ; and at the time of fil
ing said statement, or on or before the said
30th day of July, and the 10th day of Decem
ber, in each and every year, the said compa
ny shall pay to the State Treasurer, the
amount of said toll or duty, so accruing for
the use of the Commonwealth, during the
respective intervening periods before men
tioned." And, in a supplement to the act
just referred to, passed on the same day, it is
further provided, " that in case the said com
pany shall, at any time, fail to pay the toll
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or charge on tonnage, which may accrue, or
become due to the Commonwealth, under the
provision of said act, the same shall be and
remain a lien on the property of the said
company, and shall have precedence over all
other liens or incumbrances thereon until
paid." But the act of the 27th of March,
1848, the tax on tonnage of five mills per ton,
per mile, from the 10th of March to the Ist
of December, was commuted to a tax, of three
mills per ton, per mile, during the whole
year. Subsequently, by the act of the 7th of
may, 1855, lumber and coal, were made ex
empt from the tonnage tax.
In pursuance of the provisions of the sev
ere! acts referred to, the Pennsylvania rail
road company has paid into the Treasury of
the Commonwealth the following sums, viz
For the fiscal' year ending Nov. 30, 1851, $7,521 93
Do do do 1852, 16,680 49
Do do do 1853, 65,228 59
Do do do 1854, 112.880 50
Do do do 1855, 129,230 56
Do do do 1856, 220,018 51
Do do do 1857, 179,933 75
Do do do ISSB, 222,303 02
Since July, 1858, the railroad company has
refused to pay this tax, and consequently
there is now due from said company, on that
account, exclusive of interest, the sum of
$350,405 00.
On the 21st of February, 1859, an account
was settled, by the Auditor General, against
the company, for the tax on tonnage, from
the 21st day of July, to the 30th day of No
vember, 1858, inclusive, amounting to the
sum of $87,375 22. From this settlement,
the company, on the 19th day of April, took
an appeal to the court of common pleas of
Dauphin county ; and, in the specifications
of objections which were filed, it was averred
that the tax was unconstitutional, and an
opinion to that effect, signed by eminent coun
sel, was filed in the office of the Auditor Gen
eral, at the time the appeal was entered. In
August last, the cause was tried, and after a
full investigation, and argument, the consti
tutionality of the law imposing the tax was
affirmed by the court, and a verdict and judg
ment rendered in favor of the Commonwealth,
for the amount claimed, with interest. The
case has since bg,en removed, by a writ of er
ror, to the Supreme Court of the State, and
will, probably, be heard and determined, by
that tribunal, in the course of the present
winter.
On the 25th day of August last, another
account was settled against the company, for
the tax on tonnage, from the 30th day of No
vember, 1858, to the 20th day of July, 1859,
amounting to the sum of $159,308 58, from
which an appeal has also been taken by the
railroad company, and which will probably
be tried during the present month.
As this question largely affects the reve
nues of the Commonwealth, and as the prin
ciple involved is one of the first importance,
I have deemed it a duty to lay before the
General Assembly, somewhat in detail, the
history of this tax, and the present condition
of the legal controversy growing out of its
imposition and enforcement. It will be ob
served, that the power of the State to grant
chartered rights and corporate privileges, to
a railroad company, upon the condition that
it shall pay to the Commonwealth a portion
of. its earnings, in the shape of a fixed tax
upon the freight carried over the road, is
questioned by the company, and that, too,
after the grant has taken effect, and while
the corporation is in the full enjoyment of all
the benefits conferred upon it by its charter.
The question, it is true, is a legal one, and
its decision, therefore, rests with the judicial
department of the government; but, I have
not the slightest doubt, that the decision,
when had, will 'entirely vindicate the right
of the government to impose the tax, and to
compel corporations of its own creation to
obey the law from which they derive their
existence. When it is remembered that the
tax was originally imposed, in order to in
demnify the State, to some extent, for losses
which she was sure to sustain from a compe
tition, which was inevitable, between the rail
road authorized, and her main line of public
works ; and that this competition did, not
only seriously affect the revenues of the Com
monwealth, derived from her public improve
ments, but ultimately induced the sale of the
main line to the railroad company itself, at a
price many millions of dollars below what it
would have produced, in the absence of such
competition, it is certainly not to be presumed
that the Commonwealth will willingly yield
her demand for revenue from this source, un
til she is, at least,- fully indemnified for the
pecuniary injury sustained in the deprecia
tion of her own property, by her liberality
extended to the company which now denies
her power to enforce a contract, voluntarily
entered into, upon a consideration entirely
adequate.
The annual Report of the Superintendent
of Common Schools, with the tables and doc
uments accompanying it, will exhibit the
condition of the vast engine of social im
provement to which it relates. The number
of pupils, in all the public schools of the
State, is 634,651—0 f schools, 11,485—and of
teachers, 14,071. The schools have been in
operation, on an average over the whole State,
five months and nine days. The average sal
ary of male teachers, is $24 36, and of fe
male teachers, $l7 79, and the cost of in
struction, per pupil, fifty-three cents per
month. The average tax for tuition, &c., is
about five and a half mills, and fur building
purposes, about three and one-sixth mills on
the dollar. Including the city of Philadel
phia, the entire cost of tuition, &c., was $2,-
047,661 92; the building expenses, $531,-
413 85 ; and the whole expense of the sys
tem, in the State, for the year, $2,579,075 77.
Though the school year ending on the first
Monday of June last, was one of unusual
difficulty in money affairs, yet the system
manifests an encouraging activity in all its
departments, while the rate of taxation, both
for tuition and buildings, would appear, from
the official report, to have somewhatdecreased.
Rut, it is by a contrast of the present condi
tion of the system, with that of 1854, when
the agencies now operating so beneficially,
were created, that results are most plainly
seen. Within that period, the whole num
ber of pupils has been increased nearly one
seventh—of teachers, one-thirteenth—and the
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HUNTINGDON, PA., JANUARY 11, 1860,
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-PERSEVERE.-
salary of teachors, the best index of improve
ment, of one-sixth the males, and one-fourth
for females. These results, with the others
which the official report will exhibit, uner
ringly point to the duty, as well as necessity,
of the utmost care and attention, on the part
of all public agents, to this primary social
institution—primary in importance, no less
than in the career of each citizen. To strength
en; to retain pure, and to properly direct, this
fountain-head of social influence is, it seems
to me, the great duty of the law maker, in
his highest and most responsible capacity, as
the framer of the future State.
The attention of the General Assembly was
called, somewhat at length, to the existing
condition and further requirements of our
school system, in the annual message of last
year. It is not, therefore, necessary to re
peat the suggestions and conclusions then
presented. They are again, however, com
mended to your favorable consideration ; the
events and experience of the intervening pe
riod, having increased the, conviction of their
propriety. This is especially the case in re
gard to the plan devised by the act of 20th
of May, 1857, for the due training of teach
ers for the common schools of the State. A
full supply of competent teachers, is admit
ted by all, to be the great need of the system,
and the first want to be provided for. Uner
ring indications, in every quarter, not only
establish this fact, but point to the general
adoption of the proposed means, at no dis
tant day. The efforts of the teachers, them
selves, for professional improvement, encour
aged and sustained by all who duly estimate
the value and influence of the teacher's of
fice, not only foretell this, but the strong pub
lic sentiment in favor' of institutions for the
purpose in question, confirms the probability
of this result. In every quarter, indications
of this kind are perceived—more or less strong
in proportion to the force of local circum
stances. In the Second Normal district, com
posed of the counties of Lancaster, York and
Lebanon, an institution, up to the full re
quirements of the law of 1857, has been es
tablished and officially recognized, and is now
in successful operation, as a State Normal
school. For its details the Legislature is
respectfully referred to the annual report of
the Superintendent of Common Schools; but,
I should do injustice to the intelligent enter
prise which moulded, and the enlarged phil
anthropy which produced, this noble institu
tion, as well as to my own feelings, were I
to forbear congratulating you upon the result.
It is the first fruit of a law which 3eerns to
be as much in accordance with the cautious,
yeegeqerous, character of our people, as it is
admirably adapted to effect the great end in
view.
All that seems requisite to give full effect
I and general success to the plan, is, at this
Juncture, to guard it from mutilation, or rad
ical change. If the intelligent and liberal
minds that are now weighing the project, and
contemplating its extension to other parts of
the State, be assured that this is the settled
policy, their efforts will be concentrated, their
activity increased, and final success be has
tened. Whereas, radical or important chan
ges, will destroy this growing confidence,
crush the hopeful efforts now being made,
and postpone for years, if not totally destroy
all hopes of success in this essential depart
ment of public instruction. The true course
will be to cherish the law, and bring it into
general operation, by holding out the certain
ty of State aid to each institution established
under it, as soon as a certain number, to be
fixed by law, shall have been legally recog
nized, and are in full operation. The money
of the State, appropriated in this manner,
will effect more benefit, in proportion to the
outlay, than in any other of the operations
of the system. The instruction of the child
is a duty ; but the instruction of the teacher
is economy as well as duty. It will probably
be advisable to make such appropriations,
payable only when the schools are legally
recognized and in full operation. This course
will have the double effect of guarding against
loss by the State, and of stimulating into
early existence, a sufficient number of insti
tutions to supply the existing want in every
quarter of the State.
The period for the third election of County
Superintendents is rapidly approaching, and
the public mind will naturally he turned to
the results of the office. My own observation,
as well as information from various and reli
able sources, leads to the opinion, that this
office, when filled by the proper person, and
its duties discharged in full compliance with
the design and spirit of the law creating it,
has been of great advantage to the schools.—
Indeed, no candid person can deny the fact,
apparent to even slight observation, that more
improvement has been effected in the work
ings and results of the system, since the cre
ation of the office of County Superintendent,
than in any previous period of even double
duration. It is true, that when exercised by
incompetent officers, or crippled by insuffi
cient compensation, little, if any, advantage
has accrued. But this is no argument against
the office itself; and it is to be hoped that the
directors of counties thus heretofore deprived
of the benefits of this agency, will, at the
next election, acting under the teachings of I
experience at home, and the light of success
from other parts, correct this evil and realize
the full benefits of this provision of the law.
The increasing ease and soundness of our
financial condition, will, at no remote period,
justify an addition to the common school ap
propriation. The general policy of the State
has been that each district shall raise within
itself the main support of its own schools
but an annual donation, distributable amongst
them all, in proportion to population, has al
so been a part of that policy. The object of
this State grant seems to be two-fold : First
—lt is the means of securing regularity in
the proceedings and reports of the several
districts, so that the Department of Common
Schools shall have the requisite information
for the due discharge of its functions : And
second—lt lightens, in some degree, the bur
den of local taxation, to the relief of the poor
er and more sparsely peopled districts. An
increase of the annual appropriation would
enhance both these objects, and whenever the
finances of the government will justify it,
Editor and Proprietor
commends itself to the favorable considera
tion of the Legislature.
The aid which the Legislature has hither
to extended to the establishment of the Farm
ers' High School of Pennsylvania, strongly
evinces their high appreciation of the advan
tages which it is anticipated will grow out of
that institution. While it must be admitted
that knowledge is as essential to the art of
farming, as it is to all the other employments
oflife,we cannot but feel deeply interested, that
a community so peculiarly agricultural as we
are, should have all the advantages of an ed
ucation which combines in itself, as well the
knowledge of the practical art of agriculture,
as scientific acquirements is all those branch
es of learning which are especially applica
ble to its profitable pursuit. A school where
agriculture is practically taught, is a new
field to which our attention has been called ;
and one which, because of its great impor
tance, well deserves our attention. It em
braces the principle, that while youth are
taught habits of industry, they are impressed
with the proud consideration, that the labor
of their own hands contributes to their acqui
sition of knowledge. And thus, too, educa
tion is brought within the reach of many a
bright genius, who would otherwise struggle
and languish for the want of the means of ac
quiring it. Our school, within its limited
means, has been in successful operation du
ring the past year ; having under its charge
one hundred boys, who, while they are care
fully instructed in all those branches of sci
ence which pertain to a high order of educa
tion, are daily engaged in practical operations
of the farm—fitting them to return to rural
life, and to infuse throughout the State an
amount and kind of knowledge which must
ultimately produce a most beneficial influ
ence upon this most cherished branch of in
dustry. The practical workings of the school,
for the past year, have impressed the trustees,
who have it in charge, with the highest hopes
of its complete success. The great interest
which is everywhere felt throughout the Com
monwealth, in the further extension and pro
gress of the institution, commends it to our
care and protection.
The State Librarian will report to you the
completion of the descriptive and classified
catalogue of the books in the State Library,
authorized by the act of the 16th of April,
185 S—a work, from the details it embraces,
of much labor, but which will greatly facili
tate the use of the Library. It will be seen,
from his report, that the origin of the Libra
ry dates far back in the history of the Pro
vincial government, and that it received the
fostering care of the Commonwealth during
the period of the Revolution. It is gratify
ing, that, notwithstanding the waste to which
it has been subject in past years, owing to the
want of proper attention—under the careful
supervision of the present Librarian, it has,
since he has had the charge of it, nearly
doubled its number of volumes, and now con
tains in all 22,000 volumes—the largest State
Library in the Union, with the single excep
tion of that of the State of New York. The
collection of law books especially law reports,
is considered by those competent to judge,
among the best in the country. The Libra
ry, from its intrinsic value and importance,
and its historic relations, deserves, and I trust
it will receive, the continued liberality of the
Legislature.
In my inaugural address as well as in my
last annual message, I expressed the opinion
that our present banking system was ex
tremely defective, and that, unless it were
radically changed, I should consider it an
imperitive duty to withhold the Executive
approval from all bills creating new banks.
Without again giving in detail the reasons
which influenced my action on this question,
or repeating the suggestions and recommen
dations heretofore made to the Legislature, it
is proper to remark, at this time, that my
convictions have been confirmed, by time and
reflection—that my opinions remain unchang
ed, and that I cannot approve of any increase
of banking corporations under existing laws.
If corporate privileges, fer banking purposes,
are needed, to accommodate the business wants
of any portion of the State, justice requires,
that such institution should be compelled to
protect the community receiving its circula
tion, by requiring that ample security shall
be given for the prompt redemption of its
notes, the sufficiency of which no act of the
corporation could impair. All experience in
this State, and elsewhere, has demonstrated,
that the present system affords little or no
protection to note-holders, beyond the per
sonal integrity of the officers controlling the
management of the several banks. For a full
exposition of my views - on this question, I
respectfully call the attention of the General
Assembly to my last annual message.
The reports of the Auditor General, the
State Treasurer, the Surveyor General, the
Adjutant General, and the Attorney General,
will be laid before you, and will show, in de
tail, the operations of their respective de
partments for the past year.
Deeply impressed with the belief that the
present mode of receiving, keeping and dis
bursing the public revenue, is entirely un
safe, and inadequate to the complete protec
tion of the interests of the Commonwealth
involved, I again respectfully, though earn
estly, invoke legislative action on this highly
important subject. The receipts and dis
bursements of the Treasury are each, annu
ally, from three to four millions of dollars.—
At times there is on hand a balance exceed
ing ono million of dollars. The State Treas
urer gives security to the Commonwealth in
the sum of only eighty thousand dollars.—
Hc deposits the money of the State when and
where he pleases, and it is paid out upon his
check exclusively. His accounts are settled
by the Auditor General, once a month, and
this is, apparently the only safeguard provi
ded by law to prevent the illegal use of the
public funds while under the control of the
State Treasurer. That the Treasury of the
Commonwealth has hitherto escaped from
dssastrous defalcation, is owing to the integ
rity of the officer, and not to the efficiency of
the laws ; and while our main reliance, in
the future, must be on the honesty of the offi
cers to whom the department is entrusted, it
is, nevertheless, the plain duty of the gov
ernment, by proper legislative enactments,
to prevent, as far as possible, the illegal, im
proper or fraudulent use of the funds of the
State by a faithless or dishonest public
agent. I respectfully recommend that pro
vision be made by law that no money shall
be deposited in any bank, or elsewhere by
the State Treasurer, without first requiring
security to be given to the Commonwealth
for the prompt re-payment of the sums de
posited ;—that all checks, issued by the State
Treasurer, shall be countersigned by the Au
ditor General, before they are used;—and
that daily accounts of the moneys received,.
deposited and disbursed, shall he kept in the
office of the Auditor General as well as in
the Treasury department; and that weekly
statements of the balances in the Treasury,
and the places and amounts of deposits,. shall
be kept in a book to be provided for that pur
pose in each department.
Thh Commissioners appointed in pursu
ance of the resolutions of the 10th of April,
1858, to revise the Penal Code of this Com
monwealth, have presented to me their final
report, which is herewith transmitted to the
General Assembly. Its importance to our
whole community, and the great labor devo
ted to its preparation, commend it to your
early and earnest attention. The• man
ner in which the duties of the Commission
have been performed, cannot fail, in my opin
ion, to receive your approbation.
I commend to your fostering care the State
Lunatic Asylum, at Harrisburg—the West
ern Pennsylvania Hospital for the insane, at
Pittsburgh—the Asylum for the Blind, at
Philadelphia—the Asylum for the Deaf and
Dumb, at Philadelphia—the Pennsylvania
Training School for idiotic and feeble minded
children, at Media—the House of Refuge, at
Philadelphia, and the Western House of Ref
uge, at Pittsburgh. These excellent, charita
ble and reformatory State institutions have
done, and are doing, almost incalculable
good, in the relief of suffering humanity,. and
in the reclamation and reform of the erring
young. They have strong claims upon the
continued bounty of the Commonwealth.—
The annual report of these noble charities
will be laid before you, and will exhibit
•in detail, their operations during the past
year.
I refrain from recommending, as proper ob
jects for the bounty of the State, a number
of benevolent and charitable associations,
equally humane and beneficient in their op
erations; because they are entirely local in
their character, and however meritorious their
claims may be, and unquestionably are, upon
the respective communities for- whose partic
i ular use they are founded and conducted, in
• my opinion, they have no claims upon the
' Treasury of the State, which can be recog
nized with a just regard to the interests
and rights of other sections of the Common
weal th.
The editor of the Colonial Records and
Pennsylvania Archives has prepared a copi
ous index to the whole work, which will be
laid before the Legislature, at an early day
of the session. This publication is now com
pleted, and it is a satisfaction to know, that
the records of the colony, as well as those of
the State, preceding the adoption of the Con
stitution of 1700, are now of easy access to
the public, and in a condition which renders
their entire destruction impossible. I recent,
mend that a suitable sum be paid, by the
Commonwealth, to the editor of the Records,
and Archives, for the work performed by him
since the discontinuance of his salary.
I have so repeatedly presented my, views
to the Legislature, of the evils arising from
local and class legislation, that it is not ne
cessary again to repeat them. I desire, how
ever to call the attention of the General As
sembly to the fact that we have, on our stet
ute books, general laws providing for the in
corporation of railroad•, turnpike, bridge,
plank road, gas, water, insurance and other
similar companies, and that all corporate
powers granted by the Legislature, to such
companies should be under these general
laws, so that they may be a uniformity in the
provisions of similar associations, and that
the time of the General Assembly may not
be occupied in passing bills of great length,
when a simple reference to the details of the
laws would answer every purpose.
The practice of sending to the Executive a
large number of bills immediately preceding
the final adjournment of the Legislature, is
highly objectionable, and ought, as far as
practicable, to be discontinued. Its necessa
ry consequence is, either to compel the Exec
utive to approve bills which he has not fully
examined, to sign them after the final ad,
journment, or, if he disapprove them, to re
turn them to the next General Assembly
with his objections. Thus imposing upon a
succeeding Legislature the final disposition of
bills, with the origin and passage of which
it had no connection. To illustrate the evils
resulting from this practice, it is only neces
sary to inform you, that, of the large number=
of bills presented for my approval, within a
day or two of the adjournment of the last
Legislature, I am constrained by a sense of
duty, to return, with my objections twenty
three to the present Legislature, for re-con.,
sideration.
NO, 29,
It is apparent from the exhibit of the finan
cial condition of the General Government, re
cently made public, that the wants of the
Federal Treasury will demand a revision of
the existing tariff laws of the United States,
with a view to an increase of the revenue de
rivable from imports. When this revision
shall take place, it is greatly to be desired,
that a proper regard for the industrial inter
ests of the country will prompt the Congress
of the United States, to place her revenue laws
upon such a basis, as to afford to our great
mining and manufacturing intert•sts the lar
gest incidental protection. To substitute
specific for ad valorem duties, on a certain
class of articles which from their nature are
of equal, or nearly equal value—or to change
the foreign to a home valuation,—with a
moderate increase of the rates now imposed,
would I am satisfied, infuse new life and vig
or into all the various departments of indus ,
try, and, at the same time, without imposing
burdens upon the people, afford to the Gen
eral Government a revenue amply sufficient
for all its wants.
The early admission of the Territory of
Kansas as one of the sovereign States of the
Union, under a constitution legally enacted,
and fully and fairly ratified by the direct
votes of a large majority of the people of the
Territory, will remove from the National
Legislature a subject which has hitherto, in
no inconsiderable degree, attracted the atten,
tion of the Nation, and which, from the na
ture and extent of the discussions in Congress,
has been productive of much orimination and
recrimination between the various sections of
our common country. Popular Sovereignty
having finally prevailed, in the full, free and
fair adoption of the fundamental law of the
Territory, according to the wishes of the peo,
ple, this vexed and dangerous question, in
that Territory, may now be considered as
satisfactorily and perpetually settled.
Copies of the correspondence between the
Governor of Virginia and the Governor of
Pennsylvania, on the subject of the recent