of this character will be returned with- These applications were invariably pres out rho executive sanction. sod on the plea of promoting public con- At the date of my last annual mess- yenience and the geueral prosperity, and gee s proceedings were pending in the a Dumber of laws of this character were 'adopted. So far as these apply to cities S7iprenie Court of Pennsylvania, to test the right of the Franklin canal company and boroughs. their operation has been to construct a railroad from the city of rather successful ; but when applied to Erie to the Ohio State line. The decis- •• counties it has certainly been much less ion of the court teas against the corium- so ; failing, entirely in some instunces, nv on the iyaie point, and the opinion ' and in others lsading to violent contro of Chief Justice LliOick :Lows most clear- veraies amongst the people, destructive ie ly that the construction of their road waS to the value of the municipal 'bond thus without' authority of law, but the prelim- created. Viewed in every respect, as inary injunction prayed for by the cem- a mere question of ex iediency, Cie ex plainaut o refused on the ground that perimetes 'already ma would seem to the Commenwealth could not, under the weigh heavily against the pol . icy of law, give security for costs. The effect such subscriptions; indeed, I have no of this decision wee to place the privi- hesitation in saying that the aversion I loges claimed by •the company within have always entertained towards this the control of the Legislature. In antic- principle, and. especially its extension to ipation of this result, I had suggests d counties, has been greatly strengthened to the General Assembly the propriety by this experience ; and we should now; of taking charge of these valuable rights, I it seems to me, as a prudeht people, and so far as might be practicableovith- ptofit by this lesson and avoid the prac out the exercise of an illiberal principle, lice in future. Always doubting the render this important link of commuui- policy of such subscriptions, and de cation, .between the seaboard and the daring my views freely against them, 1 great test subservient to• the interests have not felt required to interpose the of the' ii r eople of Pennsylvania. The Executive prerogatilie against the judge subject was considered, but was - not meat of tne people direetly interested in finally disposed of. the question ; or, in other words, to In May last I received a communica- jhdge for citizens of a particular locality tion from the president of the company, on a subject relating merely to their Pe-, covering the proceedings of a meeting of interests, or to resist the wishes of the - board of directors, in which after their immediate representativee e allusion to the action of the Supreme • In a communication addressed to the - Courtianfl the Legislature, a number of General Assemblyin March, .1852, on propositions were submitted, indicating I this subject. I remarked, "that tne pow the willingness of the "company to pay' er to subscribe should never 'be exercis certain rates of taxation for the unre- ed by municipal corporations, unleSs the strained use of the road until after the inierests of the people repfesented by coming session of the Legislature or.un- such authority are directly and certainly til that branc!i of government should t-ct identified With the project on whiCh the on the subject. 13-']loving that I had eo money is to be expended. The opera right to make conditions with the coin- I ereunn of the principle may be quite 'patty or even to receive ,the money ble, When applied to the people of a which they were willing, to pay, 1 de- city oa town, whose interests are identi dined to entertain the proposition. The cat. hut when npplieJ to the people of a relations of the company toward the county, it may not be so. On the con- State, theta I re, have undergone no trary, it. ma y prove most unjust and op change since the adjournment of the pressive—subjecting the people to bur-• last Legislature, except that the Attor- I thens in the shape of taxes for the con ney Generid has recently taken mean j etrnetioniof public .improvements, from ures to obtam a final decree in the plea which they may never reulize benefit, for an injenction and by writ or q uo direct or remote.. The people in one warranty to revoke the franchise claim- section of a county may. derive Valuable ed by "the company. • i advantages froin the construction of a Recent ea-curer - ice at the City of Eric I public work. whilst those of another sec evince an intensity of feeling among the !lion, equally taxed. for the payment of people, seldom equaled on a question i the 'interest and principal of the debt, of this I:ind, indicating not only the pro- so contracted,- May possibly realiZe no priety, but necessity, for prompt lef.osla- benefit at all. It is to these effects that tive action as IQ the rights of this comps- mat' be attributed the violent conteani that have grown up itt certain counties to which the principle has been extended. In the Suite of Ohio, where this dan gerous practice also prevailed, a consti onal propibition has been deemed neces• I sary by the people, and munincipal sub scriptions cannot note be made, even with the ascent of those affected by the pleasure. The experience of that State, as I have It anted was alike against the practice of making imProvelimnts iu ails way, and hit in the end, it became . netiiae ne 'through the disposition of capitali,is and oth,rs to rely alone upon municip d cog:or:via:is fur the means of constructimr public Troproveimens. I 1, 11 d' cidediv of the:opinion, that a shni bar decision would and should be made ly the_ people of this State, when the propper opporteni.y is presented. In the 'mean time this insidious and dangerous mode of contracfin,g debts should be _ guarded against With the ut most vieilance. I shall indulge the hope, that ail fnufre applications fur legielauen of ibis character, may be rejected by the Generil 1 have long been of opinion that in reference to all the subordinates of the canal Commissioners, chanees should not. be periodical and, prefixed, but should be made as demanded by the ex igencies of the publei service. The de linquent in any of thel obligations of duty should be dismissel at once, and the ly guaranty of continued employ ment s cold be found in the superiority of the, services rendered the State. All other riles for appointment and dismiss al should be speedily - obliterates' front the system. The . present practice de- - Fives the State, to . a great extent, of the benefit of that incentive to excel 'which actuates all men where character, position and emo:tonteits are at stake. 01 course, nay. suggestions in reference ; to the importance of experience will not -e be under-too as apylying, to a-I the agents on the works ; - for instance, it requires but little experience to make a collector, but it has and always will require this to render an agent efficient I an the construction and repair of rail roads and canals, to foresee exigencies and -give harmonious direction to the current operations of this complicate"' I branch of public service. In short, the management wants the applicetion of business organizatiOn and principles. A system of toeka should supplant the use of check rolls, and the operations he so systemized that the receipts and expenditures of each mooth, as the sea son passes by, could be announced to the public. Confusion, obscurity and redundancy in our annual valuing of laws, vexatious inroads upon pi - joule' debts, attempts at the usurpationk4power, and consequent strivings ;and litigation, are in-myopin - - ion, the . legitimate fruits of oar system of speciul and omnibus legislation. In deed.- .the truth of these propositions is too palpable to admit of argument. It is manifested in every yehr's experience' and in some instances; the gOeerilmenl, its a consequence has been forced into the humiliating position of becoming litigant against her own creatures. lis demoralizing-influrne is Marked anld admitted on all hands, t.nd imperioustlsy demands eiliment remedy. That -disa It must be cliar to the impartial oh remit., that the Legislature never in tended, by any previous act, to author ize the consiruction o' railroLd between the Cit‘'o Eric and the Ohio line. In deed the hiphest tribunal in the State has express... d time opinion that no such au thority can La found in the charter of the Frank,i'n C a,al Company ; and, in my Ebould hereafter be ide on such conditions only, as wo, protect ard advance the inter, st• of the people of l'e,,h,vlvania, so far as they may be iiiiroired in the subject. It to Implicit., that Pennsylvania holds the key to :his important link of connection between the East and• the West, and I tiros: sitat..igly say, that where no principh. or amity or commerce is to be violated, it is the right and the duty of the State to turn her natural advantage, to the pr.:motion cif the views and we; fire of ho r own people. It mat b.• aid th..t a restliction that would reTlire a break of railroad gauge at the liar.y)r of Erie, would be the use of an ilaberal principle. 'l' he-answer o, that the lit.cessity hir a break of gauge better en the Ohio line and the seaboard exists, its a constquence of a difference of width of 4i the New York and .Ohio Roads. Th.: only question to settle, therefore, relates lodie point at tvhich at PhOtild ccur. I have been able to dis cover no reasons, fouridrd in public pol icy, why the break should be fixtd at Buffalo, that do nut appjy with equal force in -favor of Erie.. Tonnage and passengers Can be- as well transhipped at the latter, as at the former city. ,So far as crincerris the benefits to eith er city, •incident to a transhipment, the Idea is unwolthy of notice. But the .1 fects of a break of guag,e, and one quent transhipment east of Erie, upon the busirp sis of that harbor. must be par • alyzing, if not fatal. It would virtually require shipments to be made' either at Cleveland or 13nflaio. Scarcely less em barrassing would this arrangement be upon the interests of the Sunbury and Erie road, or any other avenue that may hereafter connect the lakes with the city cf Philadelphia. • It may ba that neio . .horing States, possespl^ similar natural advantages, would• give them away for our benefit, but I have not been able to discover any' fact in their former policy, to justify such a conclusion. I shall await your action with anxit The sub•cripti3ns of the edits of Philadt Iphia anal Pitttburg to the stock of the Perinsvivan;n railroad, nod the prompt payment of the interest on tho same, together with the flwerini -, pros pects of -that ireprevetnen., had the feet of extroiling - th liidief that monici pal aubscriptions could he safely made to any simi'ar enterpri-e—th a t such aubscriptioni were, in truth, what had been alleged by some, a mere- loan of the _credit of 111- respective municipal corporatiens, and that neither principal nor interest would erg r he demand,-d. The consequences of this plausible and sednctire doctrine were promptly manifested in the form of numerous ap plications fur legislative authority to municipal to sub•crihe to raihoad cocks in var . , u. pntts of the State.. present General Assembly may be dis I can see no reason why the'power tinguished and blessed for applying the totlesigitate election houses should not axe to the root of the evil, and marking be confided to the commissioners of the the, era of its final termination is my several 'counties, These officers 'are sincere hope A prolific source of mischief consists in the practice of passing a number_ of ; laws, entirely dissimilar in their charac teristics, iii the same bill, or what is fa tniliarly known as the 'Omnibus Sys tem."l'he inevitable, and indecd, the frequently lamented effect of this mode of legislation, has been to facilitate the passage of bills through the -General As sembly; and to secure the sanction of the Executive without that- critical ex amination so indispensable to a clear comprehensiou of their true import. In illuwatioa of the diffkulties which the _practice imposes upon this'bßnch of the government, it is only n e ee t Ls).ry__ to state, that within two days preceding the final adjournment of . the hist Legis lature, no less than one hundred and six bills were presented for Executive con sideration, containing three hundred and thirty-four different subjects. Some of these bills contained as many as twenty dissimilar items of legislation ; and, of the-Se. sonic were not even indicated by the transcribed title. - 'ln addition to the difficulty of ermine- heading the 'impert of such a heteroge neous mass of Matter, the Executive . Ire - quently' finds himself forced into the di lemma' of signing a law Winch his judgement rejects, or-returning:another which he really approves; .ISeither al ternative, you will agree with me, is in strict accordance with the mandates Of the Constitution.. Great' inconven ience also results to the people, under this system, in ;the payment of the en rollment tax upon private laws. In bills, such ifs- I have already described; may be found a number of items ; 13oine taxable, and others not, and the bill must be enrolled under its proper num ber and title, 'and the tax be first paid. Ono patty inter, steel in this legislation may pay his shire, another will rel;.,se to do so, and a third on seeing- the amount of the tax, concludes that' he can livC without the law ; and thus it has,h;.en no uncommon thing for persons to be forced to pay tax on lan's in Which they have no into in order 'o avail themselves of what the Legislature had expressly granted. Such a stare of.al lairs'isscarcely consistent with dig nity oft great .State, .and ceitainly de mandS an eflicitnt remedy. Some of my predecessor.i . luve urged the. General Assein - bly to change this system. and in several previous commu nications, I suggested the propri , ely and juslice of passing each proposi tion separately, at -least so far as the ob jects were dissimilar. But the evil atiil exist-, and 1 am deeply sensible of the d tit u:ty c't L'te apithcatMii of a prompt un.l ellectual remedy must al-. ways present to the General Assembly. After Innen reflection -on the dagintude Of this evil, its vexations inro i:s-upon pity tie ri,;:ifs, and its demorailzing ten dency upon the interest of the people, and the more elevated purpose:. • lation, 1 have iiterinined to co-epelote wkli the General Assembly in the appli cation of Most etii,:ient Means Which their wisdom may devise for it - slew°. val ; but in the mean time, ns.a restrain ing part 'of the law making, power, I must beg to be indulg •d in clatining the privilege of considering each sabjecr-of legislation separtte'y, and on its own . •inerrs, ai contemplated by the spirit of the Constitution: Henceforth, there fore.; bilk containing zi variet'y of subjects of b:gislation dissimilar in their charac ter rs,r) purpose, cannot receive the same tion of the present Executive, Another :branch of the evil, and it possib:e a still greater' one, consists of special and local legislation. It is to this practice that we are mainly indebt ed foran annual volume of lAws of most unseemly dimensions, and lira s.eparale code for nearly every Ideality in the 'Suite. The remedy for this must be found in the adoption of few inure gcn; .eral. laws, and the rigid administroion of those already in existence. Special acts, you will agree with me, should in no instance be passed where the object can be reached under general laws. The law'M 1791 and its several sup; plements make provision for the creation arid amendment -of corporations fir lite rary 'charitable and religious purposes, and to . create-beneliciary soCletleS and tire engine and hose ciunpanies, through the instrumentality of the Attorney Gen eral and the Supreme t_ourt, The act• of the thirteenth' of October, IS2i, ex tended this power to the courts of the several counties. The acts of ltn36 and P.33§ make provision for time association of indtviduals, through the inArUmental ity of the Attorney General and the Governor, for the,purpose of manufactu ring iron from mineral coal. In addi 7 tion to these acts, the law to encourage manufactui ing, passed in I`dl9, and Its supplements, provide for associations 4 kEor the purpose of manufacturing woolen, cotton, flax and silk goods, or for making iron, glass, sail, paper, lumber, oil from rosin, mineral paints,•artificial slate, and for printing and publishing' ; and the supplement of 1553 extends its provis• ions, In a modified form, to the business of mining of almost every description. (J the subject of erecting new town ships and .incorporating, boroughs, the courts have unlimited power ; and in the trotter of selling real estate, the property of minors, by guardians, .exec utors or others, acting in a liducirry ca pacity, the act of .iast session on this subject will, in .ny opinion, rich every imaginable case. Its provisions should not be infringed. for the subject belongs most legitimately to the courts, usually fittniliar with the localities, and can readily determine what arrangement . would hest Suberve the,convenience of the electors. In addition to 'the fact, which will not be disputed, • i l that this business receives but partial cOnsidera : lion in the Legislature, it is objection able, because of the great space. it annu ally occupies in the journals and laws. lam aware; however, that it has been suggested that the laws of the United States provide: that the places ,for hold ing the elections for •Mentbcrsl of Con gress shall be fixed by Abe . Legislature of the several States, and that, therefore, the end in view cannot be attained. In answer to this objection, it may be re marked, that the Legislature. having in outer instances delegated doubtful pow ers, such as the right to make paper money, it is scarcely necessartY to raise the question of the right to delegate a function so expressly conferetL A large number of the laWs of the last session consist of - special acts to in- - - corporate companies to construct plunk roads. The object, right and proper in itself,,Might it ,seems to me, be reached by a general law, authorizing the asso ciation of nay number of citizens to con struct three highways on proper condi tions. • • In former communications I have held the doctrine, that but fittle•legislation of any kind was essential to the ends of mere busiOss' enterprise—to promote objects understood by •all and within the' reach' o - moderate means ; and thati most certainly, whatever in:ght be deemed expedient should be ireneral in its char-. acter. That the Legislature had no. moral! right to grant special advantages to one citizen and deny them to another; and I have declined to approve any act on this subject, where the •cerporaters were not made liable in their indiVidual estates for the - debtsfof the corporation. . It is my duty.to inform you that EA:Y.2B.- 311:o( 'the reli-f issues of May, b-11, are still in existence, and continue to pollute the channels of circulation. Un der the provision of the act of April last -5121,S 12 of these *notes of a less de nlsininationtham five dollars, have been •cancehed, and the whole.,:unnunt can. under this law, be til ifnately extinguish ed. ' Prat the process - has not been so rai_id as was anticipated; nor is it suf-. ficieiftly so to meet the• demands of the pubic weal. I respectfully suggest , . therefore that the law be so amended as to make it the duty of the State Treas urer to retain 'from time to time, as near as practicable. t le amount of relief notes. access try to m( -t the entire demands of the sinking fund. I also rt commend the repeal of the act of April hq, 1611), authorizing the re issue of thiS currency. ' .. The f ccurrences of •the Vast :year greatly strengthen the views I. expressed n my. last annual message, "on the sub ject of the. cut ruilcy. The' dangers of an hill ited paper ystein.have been ino,t strikingly inainfiestel in ;he experience of a number of the surroundin.l States. and nothing, in my- opirinn, saved our inetropoli4, and po-zzikity uther parts of ' the :tares, from the Zow,etinenced ar, severe contraction of the currency, but our rest agricul ural and mineral pro. dictions, and , the unusual high prices which these commanded is foreign mar lit t!. . I have always held the doctrine, that our country, like all other. nitist'l have a system of currency ; and - whilst, there fore, I letve resisted the excessive . in crease of banking capital, I have sotiolit to uproot, entirely, the system we have. Twit it•is the best that the wit ° of man 'could devise, is not bel,eved, our is iit probable that the authors of this. palier system., enjoying the exeefumcc, tvotild have entailed this evil upon: us. But we have it,•nnd the best we can do islto mitigate ltd consequences whilst it en dures, and throw it ofl by degrees. I t) el ieve that the Penns y lvania . system of paper - money,'resting on a specie baqs, and small as it is, Mid the individual lia bility pf the stockholders, as s 1 fe as ally . 1 oiher. l I prefer it vastly to the lose plan'existing in some of the neighbiring . States; or the 'scheme of free .banking adopted in other sections of the Union. That the system of banking that ar thorizes the emission of • small paper as a medium of circulation, must entail etil consequences upon the country, has been too ch•arly demonstrated by our own cx-. perienc e to need - elucidation.by argument. It is believed, therefore, that it is the true policy of this and all the St ates, i to -re strict the paper circulation to note: , . of a large denomm:ition. Those oC a small demorninin inn should be gradually with drawn from circufathm, in order to make room for the vast a:!ce;sions of the pre-. cious metals from' California and. Au stralia. In vain shall we seek to dissem inate coins throughout the country, and induce their circulation at points remote from the Atlantic cities so long as small paper is permitted to exist. if notes of the denomination of live dollars were withdraw n from the•channels of circula tion, the vacuum thus created would be rapidly filled with gold and silver and so also those of a greater nominil value.— put so long as this paper medium is per mitted to circulate, it .will be iMpractica ble to induce the general di - flitsion" of coin. The . people enquire why it is, that with the vast inereaieof gold . so little is seen,- . The answer is., that bank notes always intervene. ..The trader, merchant and others retain the coin and pay out the paper; and the only remedy is to be found in the removal of the latter: I There is, perhaps, no principle applicrt••• le to this question better ,settled, than that rabid' proves that two kinds of cur rency, differing in value will not circu late together. The least valuable will constantly be obtruded, whilst the more precious will be displaced. The grad ual withdrawal of the °smaller denomi nations of paper, presents to the mind. - the greatest -practical . reform that can be applied to our system of currency. The exchange of one paper system for another, and The incorporation .of restrictions on thiz or that point of • the one we have, although often right and necessary, can never eradicate the evil. I would not, however, be understood as favoring a very sudden alteration in our system of currency, regarding, as I do, all violent changes in the policy of government as unjust and oppressive. All . the business arrangements of the country are based upon our present plan, and it is so interwoven with the general affairS of life asfo forbid its withdrawal. But the beginning should be made, and . we should. prepare :o throw off a system which will in the future, to a greater extent, perhaps, than in the past, render: 'our country tributary to her rivals, and. make our people hewers of wood and drawers 'of water" to other nations. No other reform in the political-policy of this nation, 1 sincerely belie ve„ wou:d have such a direct tendency to promote all the great interests of the American peo ple.; A practical, safe, and. efficient mode of carrying out this work, is to be Mond in the gradual extinguishment of bank notes of a small 41enominati.on. 'Phis . reform, how - ever, to be cor u pic.te, and to give the people the full benefit of its salutary effects upon our commercial operations With other mations, must be common to the whole c‘amtry. 'The efforts of a single- member of the Con federacy, however tholough and well directed, can achieve but partial success . . Even in a local point of view they can scarcely exercise a controlling influence. rod instance, vacuums in the, channels of Paper circulation in one State are too liable to be . supplied by the issue: others, interdicted•thongh the circulation of the latter may be, by pftzitive laiv. These considerations have suggested the. importance of a simultaneous action by the' Stai , s on the stibj-ct, and it .has occurred to my mind, that a convention of delegates from eacb, appoill c . c: by the respective legislatures, might be a good mode of directing public attention to tie subject, and securing efficient action. In the .ineantithe our Sta:e can take the:lend inikis work, as she can also carefully restrict the evil terplewies of . the, present system, by .requiring the institutions now in exist , nce to niake more frequent settlermws, and render MOT 3 efficient her present sys!ein, by confining the amount of banking capital. as a basis of paper i;'sues, to the hoovest poibt consivent with ,the demands of legitimate business.' I believe th,• a•nounl we [law li ire comAs nil to this standard. and that the best ikeres•s of the people reqolre that it shou na: be- exiensire, ener4i tic. an I hi2h ly a. e beirg iii all pa li of.the country 10 advance the inter ests of agriculture, by the thi,se.nin :nun of •correct information coneerninir great pursuit, and in this vedy I;estilw upon the fanner theldessings of a scion.. tisc, as well as a greatly refitted practi cal:unders:anding of the noble *orl: in whieh)te is eni.:ng.ed. l'eniNylvania, so eminently an af - rri cultural Siaie. and therefore so cleeplV, interested, cannot be indifferent to the tm.Uits of this cnterpriza. Iler best rn• ergies may . wisely be exercised to secure. -its: success. Already 'much has bee n accomplished iii the. way of removing prejudices hi.retofore extensively cli r 'shed against anv•system of attrrieultural education. and by the extinguishment of doubts as to the utility, or.even the prac ticability, cf applying the principles of science to the business of fanning. The belief that thes'e principles can be so applied, I art gratified to perceive is rapidly gaining popular favor. In- deed, the experiments which have been made in this country and in Earcipe, clearly establish the utility of scientific farming, and in both the necessity fur such a system is.manifest. is • A proper understanding of the con- • stiment elements of the suiltlie in (luence of these in the- produCtion of vegetable matter—the means of main tattling these elttinents in their original strength—the nature of stinnibints for the soil, and their proper use—the 5u , 111- ity of seeds, rind the breed of animals, italic up the main features of this sys tem. These Subjects will constitute an. agreeable, rind I have no doubt, a highly advantageous study fur the farming civil. munity. • In my last annual message I suggested the propriety of appointing an Agricul tural Chemist, to be_ paid •a moderate-, salary ; and whose labors should be given to the State and county societies. I still entertain the opinion -that such ah officer, surrounded. by proper opportunities, could render great service to the cause of agriculture. • The utility of establishing an agricul tural college, with a inoeld farm attached,. wherein the principles of .a scientific cultivation of the sod and manual 1 ibar in that pursuit 'would be joined to the usual academical studies; has been strongly urged upon my attention. Such an institution and system of education, it is believed,' would at the same improve the physical and moral condi- . tion of the professional and mercantile classes, and promote the social and tellectual sentiments of the agriculturist, mechanic, and laborer, in addhion to thee, .vast benefit it would confer upon "hell pursuit of the. farmer. These considera tions, and, others which will doubblyss he presented by the advocates of the. proposed institution, will command the subject to, your favorable. consideration, It-is believed that such an institution can be successfully ttvnized under the auspices of the State and county societies. , A highly-useful institution has recent ly been organized at Philadelphia. under thesauSpices. of lib,•ral and patriotic citi zens of that city and vicinity, in pur 'suance of an act of - last session, named The Polytechnic College of Pennsyl vania;' in whiCh the education of youth in a practical knowledge of mining, man ufacturing, and mechanic arts, is united with the ordinary literary studies.— Surely as much can be done to impart a practical understanding of the puruit.of the farmer. Within a .few years past the general government ha& expended a large surri of monOn the construction of a dry dock at, the Philadelphia navy yard, With a railroad nttached, to facilitate the' operation of raising and repairing ves sels. A survey of the. Delaware-river has also been made, which justifies the opinion that there is a sufficient depth_ of water in its channel to admit Vessels of a large cliiss with tntire safety. The • location of this yard, on the bank of the • Delatvare. in the southern _part of: the county of Philadelphia, acct.issable frorri all points, surrounded by a vigorous ft ,d flourishing population, and t r essed with a healthy cliinait, gives to it adiantages . : not surpasst'd t•,: .) , those surrounding the ! navy yards of any other section of the '•Union. There is, then. no reason why it should nut receive a full share of patronage from tee g'overnment. Why it has not been so favored, I shallnut at this 'rime attempt- to learn, but that the fact has 13,•en the cause of regret and complaint among the people of Philadel phia and other pails of--the Suite, is A circumstance which cannot h.. disguised.. - No considerations of public.. interests, •w kich I have been la. to discDver, would seem to demand this policy. .. Nothing. in Inv opinion, is (rained by it in economy. efficiency, or skill in - the ; construction of vesse . 's. The materials can'fie as conveniently and cheaply pro -cured at Philadelphia ai":fit any other point in the country, and her . rrwchanics. stand ;IS high asjin_-;;_ot.kers. ire point of skill and efficiency i._ tn — ill — tfie branch.es of 02,i.: - , lousiness.-and pre eminent in the construction o f sieam machinery. I feel justified. therefore, in entertaining the hope that a more equal distrikution of patronage shall hereafter distinguish the . action of the department at Washington. The: consolidation of the city. and county of Philapelphia into one muni cipal ,-rovericine it. is a sulj-ct that will be p'essed uf on, your consideration duriteg. the p esent session. Without desiring to express an opinion on the pohcy of the iii-astrri.', I may say, that I r-gird it as iova;cin.,; vat considerations connected with the .e‘eltare odour m -rJ- P.):.:z, Unii COI1S.4p10111.:y to the State at I Irae, and as such it should, as I have tio doubt it will, cumin end proinjit and anxirris coosideration.- ' 11) :Ye long. I):•iieved Cult tit.: loins of the' ; 4 0..ite blionid be cont.ololitied into three or four iclasses. and be under the direct con rol'Of the treasury department at 11;1141S141r2". T4e books are now kept at the Ranh of Where alie loins are transferred, reissued, end CUL up into any ;shape to suit the - wishes (11 Lll. , holder; for which service that ,inst'itu 4 dlai 'is clainiin,a very beavy• 'yeariy Compensation. There e.oold he n whatever, I am co .fi len', in ex 11 inging now coupon bonds lor the cer iticates of loin now ouistancEng, without any average exteesion of- the maturity of the lost=, at the cost of a lei); thousand dollars. Indeed, on this point I am entirely certain - that the ex change cdn be made a source of profit to the State above all expenses. This accomphsh , d, and the interest can be paid at the Treasury..and the whole btisiness of that department rendered the more-simple and safo. The • financial year ico umences arid' closes on the last day/If Ndvember, and the appropriation and; school year on the first of June. The effect of this arrange ment beget confusion' in the - bus:- ness of Itite several departments of goy-, eiennent. Indeed, so completely is this the case, that it is (rite impossiole for a person not familiar with the subject to comprehend their .operation. 1 suggest the propriety of commending, the fiscal year for all put poSes on . the first of De cember. This wand bring the, Canal, School, and Auditing Depart merit, into harmonious action, and ren-i der their actions concurrent and simple./ I have never felt willing to see our fundamental law change fur light -or diitibtful reasons, but i sincerely beli e v e tliat•w hen the•proper time arrives it will. be. wise so to amend the Constitution as to require that each latV shall be passed in a separate- bid, and receive nut less' than a majority of votes of each House on a call of yeas and nay§; to provide that all laws of a public nature shall .be general in their character and apply to the entire State ; that municipal corpo rations, vested with all the power the Legislature could confer, should not hare the right to become subscriber to or holders of .the stuck of other cot - - Torations ; to' intrrdict the creation debt for any purpose except war; to unite some other functionary with the ( ;oyernor in the exorcise of the pardoning poWt T. e, In compliance wit to provisions of the 55th section of the last general ap. propriation law, .d rectify-lite Governor to soil and conyt' to trie State arsenal property' in Juniper street, Philadek phia,7 conditioned that the. sum of thirty ' thousand dollars should be obtained Iv' 11
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