VOL. 43. The Huntingdon Journal, oXce in new JOURNAL Building, Fifth Street TILE HUNTINGDON JOURNAL is published every Friday by J. A. NASH, at 12,00 per annum IN ADVANCE, or s2.bo if cot paid for in six months from date of sub scription, and 13 if not paid within the year. No paper discontinued, unless at the option of the pub lisher, until all arrearagea are paid. No paper, however, will be sent out of the State unless absolutely paid fur in advance. Transient advertisemunts will be inserted at TWELVE AND A-HALT CENTS per line for the first insertion, SEVEN AND A-HALF CENTS for the second and FIVE CENTS per line fur all subsequent insertions. Regular quarterly and yearly business advertisements will be inserted at the following rates : ---- I 1 . I lam 6m 1 901 ILyr 1 I3mlGm , 9m lyr __ 11,. -$3 so 4 50, 5 501 S 001l4col 900 18 001¢27 1 5i6 2" 1 5 0‘); S 0,1110 00 1 12 001%col 18 00 36 001 50 65 8 " 1 7 00 1 10 00114 00118 001%col 34 00,50 001 65 80 4 " S 00,14 00120 00,18 0011 col ,36 00160 001 801 100 - - _ 311 Resolutions of Associations, Communications: of limited or individual interest, all party announcements, and notices of Marriages and Deaths, exceeding rive lines, will be charged TEN CENTS per line. Legal and other notices will be charged to the party Laving them inserted. Advertising Agents must find their commission outside of these figures. All advertising accounts are due and collectable when the adrertisement is once inserted. JOB PRINTING of every kind, Plain and Fancy Colors, done with neatness and dispatch. Hand-bills, Blanks. Cards, Pamphlets, &c., of every variety and style, printed at the shortest notice, and everything in the Printing line will he executed in the most artistic manner and at the lowest rates. Professional Cards• flit. G. B. EIOTCHKIN, 204 Mifflin Street. Office cor ner Fifth and Washington Sts., opposite the Post Of fice. Huntingdon. [ junel4-1878 DCALDWELL, Attorney-at-Law, No. 111, 3rd street. . Office formerly occupied by Messrs. Woods & Wil liamson. [apl2,ll D. A.B. BRUMBAUGH, offers his professional services to thecommanity. Office, No 523 Washington street, one door east of the Catholic Parsonage. jan4,7l Dlkm permanently located in A:exandria to practice his profession. Dan. 4 `7B-Iy. C STOCKTON. Surgeon Dentist. Office in Leicter's . building. in the room formerly occupied by Dr. E. J Greene, Huntingdon, Pa. [apl2B, '76. GBO. B. ORIADY, Attorney-at-Law, 405 Penn Street, Huutiogdon, Pa. [u0v17,'75 L. ROBB, Dentist, office in S. T. Brown's new buibling, . Nu. 620, Penn Street, lluntingdon, Pa. [apl2.'7l I ' .C. MADDEN, Attorney-at-Law. Office, No. —, Penn Street, Huntingdon, Pa. L.P19,'71 TSYLTANITS BLAIR, Attorney-at-Law, Huntingdon, . Pa. Office, Penu Street, three doora west of 3rd Street. [jan4,'7l IW. BIATTERN, Attorney-at-Law and General Claim el • Agent, Huntingdon, Pa. Soldiers' claims against the Government for back-pay, bounty, **WOW and invalid pensions attended to with great care and promptness. Of fice on Penn Street. Ljan4,7l TS. GEISSINGER, Attorney-at-Law and Notary Public, 1.1. Huntingdon, Pa Office, No. ZIO Penn Street, oppo site Court House. [febs,'7l 4,;:i E. FLEMING, Attorney-at-Law, Huntingdon, Pa., 0. office in Monitor building, Penn Street. Prompt and careful attention given to all legal business. [augs,'74-6mos NEW STOCK OF CLOTHING WOLF'S. S. WOLF has just received a large stock of CLOTHING, from the east, which he offers very cheap to suit these panicky times. Below are a few prices: Men's good black suits $l2 50 cassimere suits 8 50 diagonal (best) 14 00 Warranted all wool suits 10 00 up Youth's black suits 10 00 up Cassitnere suite 6 50 Diagonal (best) 11 50 Boys' suits 4 50 up Brown and black overalls 50 Colored shirts 35 up Fine white shirts 1 00 up Good suspenders 18 up Best paper collars per box 15 A large assortment of hats 75 up Men's shoes 1 50 up Large Assortment of TRUNKS, VALI LISES and SATCHELS at PANIC PRICES. Trunks from $2 00 up Umbrellas from 60 up Ties and Bows very low. (i;ars and Tobacco very cheap. Be sure to call at S WOLF'S store No. 420 Penn Street, south East corner of the Diamond. sepl'76] SAMUEL MARCH Agt. Patents obtained for Inventors, in the United States, Cana da, and Europe at rednced rates. With our prin cipal office located in Washington, directly opposite the United States Patent Office, we are able to at tend to all Patent Business with greater promptness and despatch and less cost, than other patent attor neys, who are at a distance from Washington, and who huve, therefore, to employ"associate attorneys:. We make preliminary examinations and furnish opinions an to patentability, fr;e of charge, and all who are interested in new inventions and Patentsare invited to send for a copy of our "guide for obtain ing Patents," which is sent free to any address, and contains complete instructions how to obtain Pat - ents, and other valuable matter. We refer to the German-American National Bank, Washington, D. C. ; the Royal Sweedish, Norwegian, and Danish Legations, at Washington; Hun. Joseph Casey, late Chief Justice U. S. Court of Claims; to the Officials of the U. S. Patent Office, a n dto Senators and Members of Congress from every State. Address: LOUIS BAGGER & CO., Solicitors of Patents and Attorneys at Law, Le Droit Washington, D. C. [apr26 '764f NT B. CORBIN, • WITH GECIRGE FGELKERr Wholesale Dealer in Carpets, Oil Cloths, Yarns, Twines, Wicks, Batts, Wooden and Willow Ware, 249 Market and 236 Church Streets, 0ct.4.) PHILADELPHIA. WASHINGTON, D. C., HAS THE BEST HOTEL IN THE COUNTRY, At $2.50 Per Day. TREMONT HOUSE. NO LIQUORS SOLD. [febls—y CHILDREN TO INDENTURE. A number of children are in the Alms House who will be Indentured to suitable parties upon application to the Directors. There are boys and girls from two to eleven years of age. Call upon or address, The Directors of the Poor of Hunting don county, at Shirleysburg. [oct4, '7B-tf R SALE.—Stock of first-class old VO -A-" ' established Clothing Store. Store room for rent. Owner retiring from business. Sept 27-3m] H. RC MAN. Ucan make money faster at work for nu than at any thing else. Capital not required ; we •vill start you $l2 per day at home made by the industrious. Men women. boys and girls wanted everywhere to work for us. Now is the time. Costly outfit and terms free. Address Taut & Co., Augusta, Maine. [aprs '7B-17 WM. P. & R. A. ORBISON, A TTORNEYS-AT-LAW, No. 321 Penn Street, lIUNTINGDON, PA. pi:IF - All kinds of legal business promptly at tended to. Sept.l3,'7B. 33 business you can engage in. $5 to $2O per day 0 S made 1111 y worker te i ronl lities. t rticul L s,da t le. worth $5 free. Improve your spare time at this business. Address STINSON & Co., Portland, Maine. aprs 78-ly WILLIAM W. DORRIS, Attorney-at-Law, 402 Penn Street, March 16, 1877-y BUY YOUR SCHOOL BOOKS at the Journal Store. The Huntingdon Journal, EVERY FRIDAY MOUNING THE NEW JOURNAL BUILDING, HUNTINGDON, PENNSYLVANIA, $2.00 per annum. in advance; $2.50 within six months. and $3.00 if ggHigUl TO ADVERTISERS: Circula.tion 100. ADVERTISING MEDIUM The JOURNAL h 3 one of the best printed papers in the Juniata Valley, and is read by the best citizens in the county. It finds its way into 1800 homes weekly, and is read by at least 5000 persons, thus waking it the BEST advertising medium in Central Pennsyl- vania. Those who patronize its columns are sure of getting a rich return for their investment. Advertisements, both local and foreign, solicited, and inserted at reasonable rates. Give us an order guggggg . JOB D - COLO. HUNTINGDON, PA g All letters should be addressed to J. A. NASH, Huntingdon, Pa. i 4 Fr -. 2.4. v..-- 1 ....,*. r- - -ir: ate. ... ar. 3 / 4 , -,•-- ~......,_l l 5 - :".c -4' 0 ---74.: .....r , • .41 f ) ,-„,„, z ' 474: _ • ._... N A:.:. 4, :4, • 'A ' , - .... Ulliti . i 1 e , ~.. . . 1. 4,,.. , .1 o k t. i r... 4 '''' .• N...j / ' " • ; .. r..0 Printing PUBLISHED -I N No. 212, FIFTH STREET. TERMS : not paid within the year 0 0 0 0 o 0 1400 0 00000000 A 00000000 0 00 0 0 o PROGRESSIVE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 REPUBLICAN PAPER. 0 o 0 00000000 SUBSCRIBE. 00000000 o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 FIRST-CLASS 5000 RENDERS WEEKLY PARTMENT P , P Cr . 3 ‘ 7 l - 0- p-; • Eg r .. IP = ~.4 P . " 0 0 • co CD 0 CD 1.-. .1.1 e+ ria THE GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. AN INTERESTING STATE PRPER. Grittlemen °idle ;_.;( Gad ILJUSt: (if ROp scnta tires As the first Legislature holding a Bien nial session, you will have many difficult and delicate matters to adjust. As all the existing legislation has been passed in view of annual sessions, it will be necessary to make a careful examination of the various laws regulating the departments, and par ticularly those csincerning the management of financial affairs. Without attempting a specification of all the changes rendered necessary by the new system, it will be sufficient, as an indication of the import ance of' the woik, to point out, that, unless an amendment of the law requiring. the votes for State Treasurer to be counted as the votes for Governor are now counted is passed. an extra session of' the Legislature must be called in 1880 for that purpose alone, at a very considerable expense. Many reports that are now annually required can probably be dispensed with, and many changes made which will lessen the ex pense and simplify the operations cf the pep:laments. The new Constitution has hithe:to, in its transition state, added largely to the expenses of the government. but the period has now arrived when the people should begin to profit by the re duced cost of its regular operation. Ido not doubt that your work will be done with conscientious fidelity, and your con stituents realize, for the next two years, under wise and judicious laws, the full benefits of the new order of things. During the year the peace of the State has been unbroken ; no epidemics have im paired the usual health of the people, and the earth has yielded her harvests without decrease. We arc still in the gray of hard times, and the giant industries of coal and iron arc yet slumbering restlessly; but, everywhere, the stir of awakening confi deuce betokens the beg.inning of a more prosperous day. Under these circum stances it is gratifying to be able to in form you that, while it may be necessary to reduce the payments on the debt to nearly the constitutional limit for a year or two, the sources of revenue need not be extended or. increased. The revenues of the sinking fund have been sufficient to pay all interest due du ring the past year, to redeem over a million of the public debt, and to leave a fair bal ance to meet the February interest of' this year. The revenues of the general fund, being very much less than was anticipated, and as there was no power to apply the large amount in the sinking fund used to redeem the debt in excess of the constitu tional amount to the general fund, the State Treasurer was unable to meet, promptly, all the demands made upon him. The following tables will show, however, that with proper econ6rny in appropria tions and the diversion of surplus revenues from the sinking fund to the general fund, both the appropriations ,if last year un paid, and the expenses of the next two years can be met without resort to addi tional taxation. TOTAL RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS DURING FISCAL YEAR ENDING NOVEM BER 30, 1878. 13Vaneo in Treasury, November 1577 (leneral Fund ......... 3,957,881 83 Sinking fund 1,555.5.".6 14 DibturNeuunts. Ordinary expenses $4,362,170 93 Loans redeemed 1,168,193 45 Interest on loans 1,222,408 52 Premium on gold 1,057 70 Turnpike and railroad stock lO2 96 -- 6,653,933 58 Balance in Treasury, November 30, 1878 PUBLIC DEBT. Over-due loans, upon which interest has been stopped and not pre sented for payment 513,843 28 Redeemable loans of five and six per cent., upon which irtevest has been stopped and not presented for payment 131,750 00 Six per cent payable in 1879 400,000 00 Five per cent., payable in 1882 395,000 00 Four and one-half per cent., payable in 18S 9 87,000 00 Six per cent., redeemable in 1877, and payable in 188 9 Five per cent., redeemable iu 1877, and payable in 1882 Six per cent., redeemable in 1882, and payable in 1892 9,271,850 00 Five per cent., redeemable in 1882, and payable in 1892. 723,950 00 Five per cent., redeemable in 1892, and payable in 1902. 8,000,000 00 Six per cent., agricultural, payable in 1922 Relief notes in circulation.s96,l67 00 Interest certificates out standing Interest certificates un claimed Domestic creditors certifi cates 25 00 Chambersburg certificates unclaimed l4B 66 Total debt, December 1, 1878 $ 9 1.875,620 86 Pennsylvania railroad bonds, represent ing an indebted ness January 31, 1879, of $4,446,268 98 Allegheny Valley rail road bonds. 3,100,000 00 Balance in Sink ing Fund, November 30, 1878. 958,630 88 -- 8,504,899 86 C- Indebtedness unprovided for $13,370,721 00 SINKING FUND. Receipts and payments for fiscal year ending November 30, 1878: Balance in fund, November 30, 1877. $1,705,014 87 Corporation stock tax 829,543 75 Allegheny Valley railroad company (interest on bonds) 160,030 00 Allegheny Valley railroad company (bonds redeemed) lOO,OOO 00 Pennsylvania railroad company (commutation tax) 460,000 00 Turnpike and plank road stocks (sold under act, January 12, 1878).. PAYMENTS. Fire per cent. bonds redeemed 5365,638 30 Six per cent. bonds re deemed Relief notes 7 00 Total amount of debt redeemed $1,068,193 45 Premiums on gold for payment of interest. 1,058 70 Interest paid on pub lic debt. 1,195,255 10 Interest paid on debt redeemed 7,301 32 Interest paid Agricul tural College 30,000 00 Expenses, sale of turn pike stock. lO2 96 Interest paid on Chambersburg cer- Cficates 9 GO $2,301,920 13 ICIAL' Balance in Sinking Fund November 30,157 S FINANCES, Receiptß $7,675,464 84 113,827 58 Rcceipte. $3,260,551 01 HUNTINGDON, PA:, FR: ESTIMATED RECEIPTS FOR TIIF: YEAR ENDING NO VENDER, 1879. Balance November 30, 1873 Tax on corporation tax 1,200,000 00 Pennsylvania railroad commutation ~ „,, tax 40.000 00 Alle,gbf ny Valley railroad 1 0 0, 000 0 0 Allegheny Valley rniiroa l intereet.. 193 000 00 Total receipts EstituateO payments, interest ......... GO Inclined Plane loan, due April 10, 1879 400,000 00 Over-due and eafled loans Surplus Nov. 30, Is;9 GENERAL FUND, RF.CEIPTS DerING FISCAL YEAR ENDING NOrEMBER 30, is; S. Balance in fund, "N,v . 30, I 577 $ .151,775 .50 llercuue Total receipts Payments Balance Now. :lA, 1878. ESTIMATED RECEIPTS FOR YEAR ENDING NEVEMBER. IsilV Raln•lcr, Neventher IS7` , if.50,185 Est ite:ltod revenue 1'79, itatc TrP.it,:arer Total available fund 53,445,180 38 I.:stiinated expenses for 1879. inciud in unpaid uppropriatior.s, ('-zt“e Treasurer,) 5,615,517 35 EstiniAted deficit in (leneral Fund, N"v:ail. , cr 30, 1879 2,173,0fi0 It will be seen, by an exitinio:tion of the sinkine• fund, that after the redemption of the $400,000 loan due next April, and payment of the overdue and call loans, and the payment of the interest on the public debt, there will be a surplus of over one million of dollars at the close of the year 1879. The Constitution requires an annual reduction of the public debt of not less than $250,000. The payment of the inclined plane loan would be $150,000 in excess of the constitutional requirement There is, therefore, no good rea , on why the Legislature should not permit the Sink ing Fund Commissioners to divert all that they may find necessary to the general fund, after thus fulfilling the provision of the Constitution. And, indeed, there does not seem to be any serious objection to pas sing a general law giving the sinking fund Commissioners authority, after paying the interest on the public debt, and redeeming the principal required by the constitution, to divert the balance of the revenue which would otherwise go into the sinking fund by legislation, to the payment of the debt or to general expenses, as the exigencies of the State's finances may require. The present rigid method is very iuconvenient, especially in times when the revenues naturally decrease, obliging the Commis sinners to redeem the loans 'of' the Com: monwealtir, when legitimate claims pre sented at the counter of the general Treas ury have to be put off. The estimated deficiency in the general fund at the close of the present fiscal year, including the unpaid appropriations, will be Z 42.173.060.- -97 The revenues of the ge,neiell fan I for 1878 have fdleu below the revenues of 1877 souse $600,000, and the estimated revenues 0f 1879 are t,A900,000 below the same standard, making altogether for the two years, in which the deficiencies will have principally accumulated, a falliag off of the revenues of 1,500,000 As this extraordinary decrease could scarcely have been anticipated, but $673,000 of the deficit can be laid to the extraordinary appropriations required on account cf the Insane Ilospita!s tbr the Southeastern dis trict, and at Warren, the building of the new Western and Eastern Penitentiaries, the Jefferson Medical College, the State Agricultural College, and the expenses and claims for the riots of 1877, awounting altogether to $1.9:.5.000. It must also be considered that this deficit is estimated upon the gross amounts appropriated, and that considerable sums will be covered back into the treasury. As for instance, the appropriations to pay for suppressing the riots of 1877 were $710,000, and the "mount paid, with almost all claims now 'settled and paid, is $584,811.63. So that it is safe to assume that $lOO,OOO of this appropriation will not be required. But it is satisfactory to the taxpayers that this deficit can be made up in the next two years without additional taxation. In the two years of 1879 and 1880, there can be diverted from the sinking fund revs nues the sum of $1,500,000-1,000.009 in 1870 and $500,000 in 1880—and still leave enough in the fund to pay the inter est and redeem $500.000 of the public loans each year, which is double the amount required by the Constitution. In 1880, as there will be no session of the Legislature, the Treasury will have, at least, $500,000 which is usually appropria ted to that expense, to apply to the payment of the balance of the deficit. But the revenues for the two years have been esti mated much below the amounts that may reasonably be expected. By a vigorous enforcement of the tax laws, the revenues for this year ought to be largely increased over those of last year, and thus still further relieve the Treasury; and I - do not see why we may not reasonably expect a moderate improvement, from year to year, in the revenues of the State. If' we count the tax on corparations only at what it was last year, which was very low, the reven ues will be increased for the two years by about $400,000 or more than enough to cover the remainder of the deficiency. To do this, however, it will be necessary to extend the payment of most of the appro priations over the two years, and rigidly keep the appropriations for 1879 and 1880 within the limits of the estimates. Taking the two years together, (and hereafter the estimates and appropriations must be made for two years), it is believed the revenues will be sufficient to meet all expenses and redeem, by the end of 1880, about one million of the public debt, and the State will then be able to commence 1881 v.ith out a deficit The change in the law, recommended in the message of 1877, by which the tax on railroads was changed from all tax on divi dends to part on dividends and pars on gross receipts, has proved very beneficial in the present- depression. Without this change the State would have received from two to three hundred thousand dollars less by reason of these companies declaring small dividends. The four leading corpo rations, the Pennsylvania, the Lehigh Valley, the Phßadelphia and Reading, and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroads have paid the State under the act of 1877, $609,525.69, while under the old law they would have paid only $444.625.52, showing an increase of $164,800.17 in favor of the law of 1877. Many corpora tions have declared dividends just under six per cent. and make appraisments which have been accepted, much below the mark. et value of stock, as measured by the divi dends declared. If they could be apprais ed at the value indicated by the dividends declared, the receipts under the law, would be still further increased. DAY JANUARY 17. 1879. SAVINGS BANKS AND TRUST COMPANIES illy views upon the subject of savings banks having been fully laid before you, in forper tIiCESIg•I'S, I slrtil merely renew the rei t torumendation fOr such legislation as will adequately prote , t, the depositors of such institutions, by drn.7. - ing n i maintainiruz ilia lire betwe e e bosir,ei-s ent.::tprises and reialions. Last, y e:ir, in connec tion he: - ewith. I took occasion to rec‘.nn mend the eronti. - m of a bank department, and the, appointment of a bank exAniner. A bill to that effect was introduced at the last session and pa,,sed the Senate, but failed in the House lam still convinced of the advisability of such a department. The total number of banks reporting to tho Auditor General. in 1873, was , :ac and seventeen, with $23,400,000 on de pigt. Of these seventy-:-even are repre s;ented as savings banks •and trust eJnitiAn ics, with $16,790,000 of deposits. Since that year, the official records show the fail• ure or suspension of thirty one iostitut: a hose deposits aggregated $5,200,000 Eighteen of these suspLudca bauks were so-ealied sl.vings banks, with ticpco4it.s amounting to $6650,000 It is cant fact that about Gti per centum, or 4,500,000 of the depmit3 of the eiglitecm broke n s a vings {mks, was invested in dis counts upon ordinary business paper. These fig - ,..res will convince yc,u, I think, of the importance of drawing the line between the two classes of institutions, and creating an officer to enforce the law, and close up all failing institutions, 13 , :!f,re the ruinous consequences of concealment of insolvency and desperate efforts to retrieve los , ,es have involved depositors in an almost total ex tinction of securities. $955.6:31) SS 1,725,593 28 SLISS,O37 AO $4,412,1157 33 4,31;2,170 95 ~50.45 C, 3S MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. The report of the municipal commission made to the last Legislature remains un acted upon. The general agitation of the subject of municipal reform in 1875 and 1876 had a tendency to somewhat check the-reckless extravagance of the preceding ded*de, but it is apparent to all, that, un detthe 'present system. the bankruptcy of oufllarger cities is only a question of time. ThO financial condition of the larger cities has improved but little, if' any, since 1876. AS it is evident, therefore, that the system is j ii fault, the only hope of the citizens of thoae municipalities is in the action of the Leaslature. • The commission appointed under the act of May 5,- 1876, has well and conscien• tioasly performed its duties. The result of its deliberations and labors are before you - in a well digested code, which, while it may be open to objection in some of its details, is yet undoubtedly f:unded upon tb&only principles from which a perman enerefortn in municipal government can be expected. These principles, as set forth by ,the commission, may be briefly stated as follows: First, Increased powers of appoint meht and removal and supervision by the mayor over the executive departments and the complete separation of the executive Id g iNla.tive functions. Secondly, The necessity of providing for an annual tax rate t:t cover all annual appr..priatians, and the prohibition of any expenditure for any purpose over the amounts speeitically ap prepriated Thirdly, The absolute denial or limitation of the powers tocreate debts The New York commission, appointed in 1875, to devise a plan fbr the govern ment of cities. arrived at, substantially, the same conclusions, which a; e thus stated in their report. "A: chief' exeetvive officer, clothed with the authority geueral supervision, and with the unfettered power to appoint the other principal executive ofti.!er, except those two (the chief financial and chief law officer), whose duties immediately affect ;.he matter of the pun is expe,ndi tures, and with the power of removal sub Ject, hewever, to the approval of the GOV ernor " "The determination in each year of' the sum of money requisite to be expended for all objects and purplses, and what part thereof is to be raised by taxation and the levying of the latter sum. The appropria tion, at the same time, of the whole sum to be expended to the several objects and purposes. The prohibition of any expendi ture beyond the sums appropriated, by making all contracts or engagements in excess thereof void." `•A further enforcement of the maxim `pay as you go,' by a prohibition against borrowing or incurring debt, except under certain specified conditions, not likely to arise often." These fundamental principles thus ar rived at by the independent labors of two eminent commissions, are essentially in dorsed by the leading citizens of all classes and parties, and may, I think, be confi dently accepted as the correct basis of a plan or municipal government. There will of course, be differences of opinion as to the means and nrichincry by which these acknowledged principles of municipal government are most effectively to be put into operation, but it is evident that if we wait upon the expectation of harmonizing all differences and debating endless theories the calamities we seek to avert will be upon us in the midst of discussion. As the commission justly observe : "If time and experience should develop defects, they can easily be supplied by future legislation, and we feel assured that the benefits re suiting from the adoption of the system we propose, will amply compensate for any miErake or omission in mere matters of detail, which are of minor importance." Admitting fully all that the commission say as to the difficulty and delicacy of re pealing all the legislation upon the statute books referring to municipalities, I am still of the opinion that no permanent re form can be justly expected, while these loop holes of escape from the provisions of a general plan exist, and I deem it of pri wary importance, at any risk, that this accumulation of special legislation should be swept away, and the rights vested there under be put, if possible, %ithout manifest and lasting injustice, in the way of merg ing into the general system. There is much force in the objection of the minori ty report, that "Th e bill proposed does not specifically repeal any law," and that "It is but one more added to the numerous acts governing our cities," and it is very doubtful whether section twenty seven of the schedule of the bill, which provides that "The councils of existing cities shall, within one year from the approval of this act, designate by ordinance, such of the special acts of Assembly, or parts thereof in force, and not inconsistent herewith, as severally desire to retain in their respect ive cities, and all acts not so designated, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed from and after the approval of such ordi nance," will lead to any practical results. It is barely possible that what the earn mission hesitated to undertake will be satisfactorily p3rforme.l by the cities' councils. But even this objection, of whatever force it may be, ought not to deter you from the passage of the act. If in the practical operation of the act, obnoxious special iegisi:ltion should still survive or he revitred, is something which experiene , t alone, perhaps, c,in prow, and it will ha still in the power of the Leislature. when its peruieious icifluenee hare been eleArly demonstrated, to reral it, or bring it into harmony wall the improved system. re,.!ret, also, the supposed necessity of retaini ,, g and extending, the classification of cities ; the , easons in support thereof sein to me rather specious than sound. From an examination of the provisions of the hill, I think but little difficulty or in convince will he found in adapting its machinery uniformly to all classes of cities. The creation of sevaral classes, containing bat a single city each, subjects the system and the taxpayers to the dngt , rs of most injurious special legislation. To avoid the evils of such leLlislation, tile commission propose an antorichuatit to the Constitution that tha Gem.rai Assembly sh a ll p ass no laws relating to the affairs of ally class which enabraces but oce city, "unless upon application made by joint resolution of the councils the. p,issed by the votes of two thirds of all the members elected to each branch, recorded by yeas and nays, approved by the in•tyor " But if it be thought nec...ssary to make a distinction betwen large and sdiail cities, the trouble of pas.ong such an amendmant will be obviated, and every practical requirement filled, and the evils of special legislation, in a great measure, avoided, by dividing th e cities of the State into two classes— those containing ono hundred thousand inhabitants or over to constitute one class; and all with a population of less than one hundred thousand, the other. In conclusion, I. hope the bill will be early brought forward for discussion and finally passed substantially as it is; if not for the government of all the cities oF the Commonwealth, at least for all cities • con taining one hundred thousand inhabitants or over, or those which now constitute the first and second classes. As applied to those cities, I think the leading principles of the bill, before referred to, will meet the general and unqualified indorsement of the citizens and taxpayers, and its ma chinery and operation be greatly better than the present organintiou. The management of the smaller cities is generally more economical and judicious than the administration of the larger ones, and, perhaps. the only change needed in the code of 1874, to adapt it perfectly to their government, is the absolute pruhibi tion of the potter to borrow maney for any purpose whatever, in order that council men may not ba tempted to get a cheap reputation for economy, at the expense of posterity, by willfully levying a tax rate manifestly too small to cover the necessary expenditures then apropriated, without reference thereto, leaving every year a large descit in the shape of a floating debt, to be finally added to the b mded indebt edness. The evila is..i.4tenda to correct cannot long continne without the most deplorable consequence, and the tail lion and a quarter citizens of the cities of the Commonwealth are looking anxiertsly to the Legislature for relief from the abuses and dangers which they are unable them selves to reform or escape under the pre3 ent system of municipal government. EDUCATION, On the subject of general education, I shall merely repeat toy concurrence with :he views of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and iudorse his request for a revision and digest of the aehool laws, the passage of an act for the compulsory edu cation . of vagrant ;rid friendless children, a nd the adopt inn of a s y slem of iodooxial Lraioifi g . Tie act pr.-pared by the Supf-rintendent of Pub;ic li , s!ruction for the education and support of vagrant and friendless children, is in accordance with the recom mendation of that officer iu his :port. of 1877, and with the views expressed, from time to time, by the present Administra tion. Although it has been published and discussed as "A Pennsylvania plan of com pulsory education," an examination of its provisions will show that it is best defined by its title as "An act to provide educa. Lion and maintenance for destitute and ne• glected children," its main object being to compel the local authorities to provide shelter, food and clothing for and to edu cafe, employ and apprentice children with out parents or friends, and those whom parents or guardians, either through pov erty or crime, habitually neglect. In the latter case, if the parents or guardians are pecuniarly able, they may be fined and compelled to give reasonable security for the future support and education of the child, or to pay a part, or all, as able, of the expense of its public maintenance. I cannot see any valid objection to the pas sage of such a bill Most of those whom the plan includes will be homeless and parentless children, and, surely, no one will deny their claim to the home the bill provides. The few others who come with in its scope will be found, for the most part, of vicious and criminal parentage. I shall not debate the natural rights of in dividuals in the parental relations, since I am, for my own part, firmly persuaded that the social rights of adults end with the right to illimitably propagate beggars and criminals, and stop short of the to educate them. On the subject of industrial and techni cal training, I wish only to call your at tention to its relation to the larger labor question. As the frontiers of civilization recede, the difficulty of transferring the surplus population of our labor centres is yearly increasing. Our mining and man ufacturiog districts are consequently crowd ed with capital and labor, which the present diversities of industries cannot absorb. The natural spread of population tends, in a measura, to restore the equilibrium, but the period of growth is probably reached, when it is neussary to find employment for an increasing population. Nothing, it seems to me, will so much extend the sphere of activity as a system of industrial education. Such a system would be costly, and the return to the State, in the extension and elevation of its industries, and the diffusion of greater comfort and content among the people, cannot be accurately measured in dollars and cents. That the material gain in the increase of the value of manufactures. and the decrease in the cost of maintain ing order, would balance the original out lay, and the annual appropriations neces sary to establish and support the system, is probably too mach to assert or expect. But when we consider, that in the last eight years the State has expended $832,- 905 30 over and above the ordinary ex penses. in the suppression of riots, which are not to be considered as the results of an unusually lawless disposition, but rather as the desperate struggles of ignorant men to cut the Gordian knot of a difficulty that only the utmost skill awl patience will ever enable society to untie, it will be acknowl edged that the gain, in that ene item alone, would go a considerable way toward the support of the system. Confining the problem to Pennsylvania, it does not seem possible to adopt any quicker or better measure than to increase the value and variety of production, and improve the bread winning powers of the laborer. In other words, to diffuse the technical and artistic knowledge which in creases the rapidity and beauty, and there by decreases the cost and widens the mar ket of the manufactured article, and to foster the intelligent co operation of labor ers, among themselves and with capital, so as to utilize to the best advantage the class wages. For there is a skill in living quite as important as a skill in earning. And probably there is nothing the American people arc more in need of learning. Such appears to me to be the paramount reason for a system of industrial and tech nical training I shall not again present the system which was outlined last year, but I hope the subject will receive at your hands the considers , it merits. In this connectin ...paration for die work, it would be well to f!ontinue your patronage to the PennsylvaniA Museum n I School of InduArial Art, and make some provision for the exhibition and pres ervation of the valuable scientific library and collections of the Second Geological Survey. ARBITRATION The great question of the day, is the so called conflict of capital and labor. While we need not indulge in gloomy forebodings concerning its outcome, it is certainly a matter that statesmen and legislators can not safely ignore. All the labor commu nities of the old world have passed through precisely the same turbulent career of strikes, riots, outrages and murders, which have excited so much alarm in Pennsyl vania. Occurring in every industrial community and under every firm of gov ernment, they cannot be regarded as men acing particularly republican institutions, nor is the cause to be looked for in our political organization. But the direct and indirect losses and miseries they entail upon the community, demand a patient investigation of the causes and an honest attempt at re-adjustment. As mentioned above, the State has paid for the supprea sion of labor troubles an average of over $104,000 annually for the past eight years. and even a casual examination of the an nals will show that there - has been a grow ing frequency and breadth of trouble and violence;, and, consequently, a correspond ing increase in the expenses of their sup pression. The direct loss to capital, in the destruction of property, has been very great, while the loss from enforced inac tion has been enormous. The loss of wages to the working class has amounted to nia.ny millions of dollars, and habits of individual independence and thrift have given way to a demoralizing dependence upon orrtntzations The antagonism of ciaas has been a fruitful source of crime. The large sums expendel in the detection and conviction of the perpetrators of these outrages, must therefore be placed to the same account. The Mollie Maguire murders, like the agrarian murders in Ireland, and the trades union outrages, arsons and ma chine breakings in England, were not the work of the so called criminal classes. They did not originate in the depravity which deliberately selects criminality as a mode of life, or result from the sudden temptations of passion or avarice. They were essentially class murders; and as is always the case in the bitterness engen dered by such contsaition, their criminality was ignored by many of the class and na tionality outside of the guilty circle of the order. If some of the leading spirits of the class had been incmbers of a board of arbitration as representatives of labor, with some of the employers or their agents es reprenntatit eel of capita', it is not unrea sonable to suppose that most of the disa greements that have kept the coal regions in a state of turmoil, might have been amicably adjusted, and. many of those who were assassinated and of those who' have been hanged, living to day, if spared in the ordinary course of nature, the life of the average citize a with all its unde veloped possibilities of good and evil. Under these circumstances it becomes a highly important question whether the policy of repression is the best remedy that the wisdom and humanity of the age can devise. It must eventually prove a failure in the United States. Under our political institutions the best way to pro mote the spread of communistic ideas is to hedge property with bayonets. In the long run, the policy of the elevation is safer and cheaper than the policy of re pression. Probably no social movements are governed so little by considerations of interest or more by mere sentiment and I passion than strikes and their attendant agitations. Strikes are precipitated with out rthrenee to conditions or prospects of trade or market, and obstinately prolonged after all hope of success has vanished. Indeed the chief obstacle to any re-adjust went of the relations of capital and labor is a sentimental antagonism and unreason ing jealousy. It is this which prevents a mutual understanding and knowledge of interests and motives. how much the action of the Legislature can do to establish better relations is something that can best be learned from past and future experience. It is certain, however, that to be wholly effective arbitration of disputed points must be voluntary, and possibly all that the Legislature can do is to prepare the way for such a system by disseminating infor mation of its formation, operation, and ad vantages, and enacting a simple code as a model for voluntary arbitration. In England, the system of arbitration and conciliation originated with the man ufacturers and operators, and has changed, wherever fairly tried, the old feeling of bitter hostility between the employers and employed, into one of mutual respect and confidence. With the same class in Penn sylvania, lies the responsibility of the ini tiative ; with the Legislature, the respon sibility of education. Deeply impressed with the importance of bringing about, if possible, a mutual understanding of tha two classes, and creating an arrangement fbr the amicable and rational settlement of all disputes and controversies, I gladly availed myself, in the early part of the year, of the services of a gentleman, a student of industrial questions, who visited England to investi gate the form, practical workings and re sults of the various systems of arbitration in operation there, and commissioned him a special agent, under the seal of the State, to examine and report the some on behalf of the Commonwealth. His report, which is the fullest, clearest and most satisfactory presentation of the subject I have ever seen, I have the honor to transmit here. with, and I would respectfully suggest that I its wide publication, and especially among the laboring classes, will do mach to pro duce the accurate knowledge, and the un prejudiced and rational viewi of the rob. jeet, out of which arbitration MA ; evest ually, grow._ I have refrained from any discussion of the system, which is elaborately prebented in the report, and confined myself to urg ing its necessity. I shall cloee.simply by summing its results. Wherever established, an iatellinut co-oparagon_between em ploycrs and employed has been effected and steady employment secured at those rates of wages, which the industrial conditions of a competitive market enabled capital to pay, and maintain a steady prodtetion. Strikes, riots, outrages and trades union murders have become things of the past. In prosperous times labor has shared in the increased profits of capital, I►pd in periods of depression each has mutually supported the othar...witlitha_minimum of loss and suffering. PENAL, REFORMATORY AND zunuitotor- NARY INSTITUTIONS The' reports of the Board of Piibffe Charitiee and of the inspectors and super inteudeots, wilt - present to you the gener ally satisfactory condition of the various penal, reformatory and eleemosynary in stitutions of the State. Since the forma tion of tlp , Board. in 1869, great reforms have been introduced in the public tions coming under its supervision, and the wisdom of its creation has - been shown by a more effective and economical use of public moneys, and a marked improvement in the care of the defective and criminal classes. During the year the Board met with a loss of two of its members. In 1875. upon the resignation of Mr. Harri son, the Hon. G. Dawion Celetnan became a member of the Board, and up to the time of his death, on the ninth day ofSep tember, 1878, gave to its work the valua ble assistance . of' his broad and liberal views, wide experience, and mature judg ment. On the first day ofJanuary, 1879, the Honorable Francis Wells served his connection with the Board— Per over five years Mr. Wells has labored in the cause of public charity, with a zeal and intelli gence which have a partial reward in the satisfaction for great improvements he has assisted to make, and a knowledge of the confidence and support which the disinter ested labors of the Board have won from the people and their representatives, The over-crowded condition of the East ern and Western Penitentiaries will con tinue until the completion of the new Western and Middle Penitentiaries. The old institutions have found some local re lief in the measures recommended and adopted last year. The inspectors of the Western Penitentiary have taken posses sion of the Reform School property, and have already removed, one hundred and fifty prisoners to the neat premises, thus relieving the old prifion, and setting the convicts at wholesome and remunerative out door work. The let,* Urthe dent of the board, Ideaftith Aranamitted, will explaio fully the.mtma needediosels sive of the annual appropriation, to com plete the removal of the old and the build ing of the new penitentiary, with, capaci ty of one thousand cells, which, in the opinion of the inspectors, will be sufficient fur the prison population of the Western district, for many piers to come. The inspectors of the Eastern Peniten tiary have completed two new oorridors, in creasing the cell ca,paoity of the prison to six hundred and eighty, and before the summer, eighty five more °ells Will be ready for use. Even this increase will give them very inadequate accommodations for eleven hundred and eighty 'convicts. The report of the inspectors will be trans mitted early in February, together with the valuable statistreal tables, which Ave prepared with so much taro and judgment by the gentlemen of the board Tee commissioners appointed under the act to provide for the erection of the Mid dle Penitentiary have located the same at Huntingdon, and are now negotiating fora tract or ground of about twenty acres, agreeably to the provisions of the act. — As it will be some time before the con victs of the Middle distr.*, sow confined in the Eastern and Western Penitentiaries, can be removed, I respectfully renew the recommendation to modify the law so that only those criminals who are sentenced to not less than two years imprisonment, at separate and solitary confinement, may be sent to the penitentiaries. The reasons for such change, were given at length in the message of 1877, and the necessity of providing as ample relief as possible to the old institutions, pending the building of the new prisons, will acquire additional force fr,pm year to year, and even when all the prison extensions now in progress are completed, such a modification of the law will still be necessary to secure all the benefits of the increased capacity of our penitentiaries. The repirta of the superintendents of the various State asylums for the insane, and of the commissioners of the State hos pitals at Warren and Norristown, will ac-. company the report of the Board of Public Charities. I need not remind the Legisla ture of the necessity of early and full ap propriations for their support and comple tion. By a wel: timed liberality, parts of the hospital at Warren can be ready kir the reception of patients towards the close of 1879, and the hospital at Norristown in like eindition some time next year. The care of the criminal insane was the subject of a memorial of a committee of the Medical Society of Pennsylvania in 1874, and of the report of the commission. ers designated by the Legislature in 1875, both of which were referred`to in the mes sages of the respective years. "Insanity but seldom renders its victims better than before in any respect; more generally, in deed, it adds darker and more repulsive features to the character— .The insane criminals are much "sore prone than the rest of the insane to commit dangerous and violent acts; to be concocting plans of escape, rebellion, or mutiny; to torment the feeble and irascible about them ; to teach new lessons in depravity"—ie the testimony of an experienced and discrimi nating writer. It seems to be the day of the State, therefore, to provide Ow their separate confinement. The clam is smolt and, perhaps, some modification in one of the hospitals or penitentiaries now building would answer all purposes. THE NATIONAL GUARD. Pennsylvania now has a well organised, armed, and disciplined force of militia. Although still perhaps somewhat larger than absolutely necessary. the policy of the administration to make a small, compact, and efficient body of troops has been stead ily pursued. When compared with the or ganization and numbers in 1872, the sol dier-like results of the different consolida tions and our progress toward a perfect military system are clearly apparent. In 1872 there were twenty-one divisions, with three hundred and twenty-three companies, (Continued on fourth page.) NO. 3.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers