of DOLLAR PER ANNUM, INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOWA-NDA.:
G.itnriKin flbruinn, 3titmarn 12. 185 U.
GOVERNOR'S MEBBABE.
Read January 2, 1856.
V the If norable the. Senators and Members of
the Jit use of lie preventatives of the General
Assembly:
(it NTi.KMUX : —A kind Providence has great
v blessed our Common wealth during the past
u.ir. No foreigu war, no internal strife have
it. rriipted or destroyed the peaceful quiet of
ur homes. All the great iuterests of the peo
ie lmve been eminently prosperous. The earth,
|,i r i r h abundance, has yielded her increase to
Mip|lv o,ir wants, and reward with her boun
ti... tiic lalior of the husbandman. Labor, iu
~v erv ilejmrtinent of manufacturing and me
, l.aiiicstl industry, has beeu stimulated and en
,oumged. The ravages of disease and the
horrors of the jtestilencc have been averted
froui us; and whilst the cry of human suffer- i
from other States, has been heard invok
,jr our sympathy and aid, wc have beenbless
. J with health aud permitted to enjoy tlieeom
• rt? and happiness of social life. To ilim who
; nth licstowed these blessings u|>on us, and tip
.whose care we are constantly dependent,
-iiould he ever paid the willing homage of our :
_:atcful hearts.
The report of the State Treasurer will exhi
bit to you, in detail, the operations of his de
irtiuent. The results are more satisfactory
a i eneoiiraging than were anticipated.
The receipts at the Treasury for the fiscal
m>r ending November 30, 1855, iucludingthc
aiatiec in the Treasury on the Ist day of De
adlier, lso4, ($1,240,028 72) amounted to
$0,031,402 83. The total payments for the
-.. me period were $5,385,705 52; leaving a
uianee in the Treasury on the 30th Novem
ber. ls.'io, of $1,245,007 31. No loans, teni
p.Rtry or otherwise, were negotiated during the
,i>t fiscal year, as they were not required by
i:ic wants of the Treasury.
The receipts during the past year, from all
-mrce-. (including the balance in the Treasure
a the first day of December, 1854,) were
>'.:i!U1,474 11. The ordinary expenditures
r the same period, including the interest on
•he public debt, were $4,130,512 28, showing
; ,n rve-s of receipts over ordiuary expendi
tures of $1,250,001 83.
The extraordinary payments for the year
were $2,24 (>,103 24, as follows, viz: To the
vmpletion of the new Portage railroad over
e Allegheny mountains, $44(5,752 12: to the
V.rth Hruneh canal, $87,502 07 ; to the Co
iiubia railroad, to re-lay south track, $133,-
I |! U 00 :to the payment of domestic creditors,
jl.fi'2o 85; to the redemption of loans, $300,-
5u ii(), and to relief notes cancelled, $200.-
jss On.
Tlie balance in the Treasury will be requir
•■•! fir the payment of the interest on the State
ulit falling due in February next, and for un
"id appropriations. The interest on the fuud-
I debt of the Commonwealth, which became ;
;e in February and August last, was prompt- j
paid ; and it i- gratifying to state that the
interest due in February next will l-ejmid with
[•mini promptness. The credit of the State
may be regarded as /irmly established, and with
•rper economy and a careful arid holiest inan
tgeiuent of her finances, an annual reduction
flier debt, to a considerable extent, may be
'•nnfidently expected.
There b due by the Treasury to the Sinking
Find the sum of $335,011 39 to be applied to
i" redemption of the relief notes now in cir
nhrion. ami to the funded debt of the Coiu
i nltli. The greater part of the funded
•I bears interest at the rate of five per cent.
:>er aniitim ; the balance bears a still less rate
' interest. But as the temporary loans,which
y law are to be first paid out of the available
means of the Treasury, bear interest at the rate
"f six per cent., it has been deemed advisable,
a matter of economy, to apply the surplus
>femii-s to the payment of those loans. When
><enre liquidated, the amount due and pro
lyl}' applicable to the Sinking Fund will be
aid, and its operation continued as directed
by law.
Notwithstanding the revenues for the last
"ir or live years have largely exceeded the
m;tiarv ex|x-iiditurcs of the government, yet
'i'"nsc<|uenro of the large and insatiable de
mands u|>oii the Treasury for the completion
'tie North Branch canal, the l'ortage rail
*'l aud other kindred improvements, the pub
••v debt, instead of being reduced, lias been iu
" This increase, with the amount and
edition of the debt at different periods, will
* "tu in the following statements :—-
■'"" i/ "J the funded and unfunded debt of
irf/illh on the first day of Derer/i
--k'. 1 *•> 1 , per report of the Auditor Gen■
. rut. viz :
1 ■f' 195,200 00
i0 l mtidH debt, -$39,21fi,707 54
■ Jelled debt. Viz;
V irmlatixn 650.103 00
y *<' -a - ..iitstaiuliiig, 150,231 S2
" unclaimed..... 4.448 38
' <nit*Uiuling and un
isw rtl wl cn funded,... 9.752 91
""'•b.-crHimra, 82,932 74
T., . , , 89S ,>2B 85
widebt, Dceemlier 1, 1851, 40,114,2:!<; 39
' thoirivp (he indebtedness of the Com
* „n the Ist day of December, 1854,
(' tn traTs report :
Kr f ". l - $532,101 93
) 39,08i.<109 97
I T' 3*8,206 00
. 100,IKK) IK)
I S^£SS. d Sfc —540,081,9H 90
• irculatirm,... 494,381 00
jwtinrates ■uiixtiind'g 21,857 21
. "n.-foimed, 4,448 38
U^^txudincandun
-1 a..,, "s *hen funded,. 1,870 97
te,,,,.' |' l, 'T * ''Ttilieates 2,007 01
M>ril 19. 1*53, 500.000 (Ml
■ i,i„ ~ > 450,438 07
"i"l 'l' lit. Ac. . „ 1.538,080 pi
? 11.023,595 74
Brought forward, s4l ,623 ,535 74
To these should he added the following re
lief notes, not included in the " relief notes
in circulation," viz ;
Relief notes made l>y the Lancaster
Rauk, not charged on State Treas
urer's hooks, $25 ,000
Relief notes put in circulation Sept.
1, 1854, and not redeemed l>ei em
ber 1,1854, 50,000 75,000 00
Total public debt, December 1,1854,.,. .41,008.595 74
:. .do do 1851 40.114.236 39
Increase of debt in three years, 1,584,359 35
The funded and unfunded debt, including
unpaid temporary loans, on the Ist day of De
cember, 1855, the close of the last fiscal year,
as per report of the Auditor General and State
Treasurer, was as follows, to wit :
Funded debt, viz :
6 per cent, loan, $516,154 92
5 do 39,903.445 54
! 4 J do 3.55,200 00
4J do 100.000 00
Total funded debt, $39,907,800 47
Unfunded debt, viz :
Relief notes in circulation,... 258,773 00
Jut. certificates outstanding,.. 29,157 25
Domestic creditors, 1.264 oo
Ral. temp, loan April 19, 1853, 525,000 00
do May 9, 1854,. 364.000 00
Total uufuuded debt ■ 1,160,194 25
Total debt. Decemlier 1. 1855 41.067.904 72
Total debt, its above stated, Dec. 1, 1851,.. 41,098,">95 74
Decrease during the fiscal year, 630,601 02
This statement exhibits the gratifying fact
that during the fiscal year ending November
30, 1855, the indebtedness of the Common
wealth has beeu reduced $030,('01 02. Du
ring the same period large appropriations and
payments were made for the completion of the
new Portage railroad, relaying the track of
the Columbia railroad, and for other purposes.
These demands upon the Treasury were, with
out the aid of loans, promptly paid.
Refusing to undertake any new schemes of
internal improvement, limiting all appropri
ations to the actual demands of the occa
sion, practising strict economy in all depart
ments of the government, and holding the re
ceiving and disbursing agents of the Common
wealth to a rigid accountability, will greatly
reduce the expenditures, and, under ordinary
circumstances, leave an annual surplus of the
revenues to be applied to the redumption of the
public debt.
The estimated receipts and expenditures for
the current fiscal year will be presented to you
in the report of the State Treasurer. The re
ceipts from the usual sources of reveuue,above
the ordinary expenditures, may exceed
of one million and a half of dollars. These
estimates may approximate the true result, but
cannot be relied upon with certainty.
Ry the thirty-eighth section of the act of
the itith of April, 1845, entitled ' An Act to
provide for the ordinary expenses of govern
ment, the repair of the canals and railroads of
the State, and other claims upon the Common
wealth," the (tovernor was authorized to cause
certificates of State stock to be issued to all
persons or bodies corporate holding certificates
for the payment of interest on the funded debt
of the State, which fell due on the Ist day of
Angu.it, 1842, the Ist days of February and
August, 1843, and the Ist days of February
and August 1844, in an amount equal to the!
amount of certificates so held, upou their rie- j
livering up said certificates to the Auditor (e
--neral. In pursuance of the authority thus giv
en, certificates of State stock to the amount of
four millions one hundred and five thousand one j
hundred and fifty dollars and twenty cents,
bearing interest at the rate of live per cent,
per annum, payable semi-annually, on the Ist
days of February and August in each year, and
redeemable on or after the Ist day of August,
1855, were issued. The minimum period fixed
by law. for the redemption of these certificates,'
expired on the Ist day of August last. No pro
vision has been made for their renewal or re
demption.
Although by the terms of the act authoriz
ing these certificates of State .stock, as also by
the conditions of the certificates issued in pur
suance thereof, the time of payment, after the I
expiration of the minimum period, is optional j
with the debtor—t lie Commonwealth—yet a
due regard to the credit of the State requires
that provision should be made for their renew
al or redemption. To redeem these certificates
a loan would become necessary, and as a loan
cannot be effected, in the present financial con
dition of the country, on terms mure favorable
to the State, than those on which these certi
ficates were issued, I would recommend that
authority be given to issue the bonds of the
Commonwealth in renewal of said certificates,
bearing interest at the rate of five per cent,
per annum, payable semi annually, and redeema
ble on or after the expiration of twenty years;
and that the bonds be issued with coupons or
certificates of interest attached, in sums equal
in amount to the semi-annual interest thereon,
payable on the first days of Fedruary and Au
gust in each and every year, at such place as
may be designated. This change in the form
and character of the certificates, it is believed,
will be so advantageous to the holders, with
out increasing the liabilities of the Common
wealth, as to induce a willing and prompt ex
change, at a premium, for the bonds proposed
to be issued.
The condition of the public works, their
general operation, and the receipts and expen
ditures for the past fiscal yeur, will be present
ed to you in the report of the Canal Commis
sioners.
The aggregate receipts at the Treasury from
the public works, for the year ending Novem
ber 30, 1855, were $1,942,370 71. The ag
gregate expenditures, including ordinary and
extraordinary payments, for the same period,
amounted to $1,838,791, 18, showing an ex
cess of receipts, over all expenditures, of $lO3,
585 53.
The extraordinary payments for the same
year, (excluding $133,100 00 paid for re-lay
ing the south tvaek of the Columbia railroad,
and $28,000 00 for re-bnilding the Freeport
aqueduct) were $090,427 78. The ordinary
expenditures were $1,148,303 40.
Aggregate receipts, as at>ove stated, ,$1,942,370 71
Ordinary expenditure*, 1,1 H,.{.> !0
Net revenges for this 11-.cal year 791,013 31
This balance exhibits a -mail increase in the
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH.
net revenues, as compared with the net reve
nues of 1854; and notwithstanding the with
drawal of the transportation lines from the
main line of the canal, the aggregate revenues
for the last year have exceeded the revenues of
1854 by more than $23,000. From the abun
dant crops of the past year, the improved con
dition of the monetary affairs of the country
and the general revival of business, a large in
crease in the revenues of the current year mnv
be confidently expected.
The sum of $101,125 25, has been paid into
the Treasury by the Pennsylvania railroad
company, as the tax on tonnage passing over
their roads. This amount largely exceeds the
sum paid by the same companies in 1854.
The Delaware division exhibits a satisfacto
ry result. The total receipts were $202,0*13
42 ; expenditures, $00,007 80; showing a net
revenue of $332,575 50. If all our lines of
improvement exhibited a similar balance sheet,
the people would have less cause of complaint
and inore confidence in the general operation
of the system.
There has been a large increase in the busi
ness and tonnage of the Columbia railroad,
and a corresponding increase in the receipts
therefrom. The oj>erations of that part of
the main line from the .Junction to Pittsburg,
including the Portage railroad, do not present
so favorable a result. The receipts have great
ly diminished, and were not sufficient to meet
the ordinary expenditures. The revenues from
the main line do not equal the receipts of the
previous years. The causes of this reduction
are apparent, and some of them have been
referred to and enumerated. It is but just to
add that the expenditures on this line have
been much diminished by the avoidance of
some of the inclined planes on the Portage
railroad.
I regret to inform you that the railroad to
avoid the inclined planes on the Allegheny
mountain has not been completed as was con
fidently anticipated. The delay in the com
pletion of this work has occasioned much in
convenience to the business of the main line
and a loss to the revenues of the Common
wealth. The expenditures have largely ex
ceeded the original estimates for its construc
tion ; and although the sum of $277,730 00
was appropriated at the last session of the
Legislature for the completion of this work—
a sum covering tlie estimate of the engineer—
yet after the expenditure of the whole amount
thus appropriated, the road is unfinished ; and
to complete it, and pay the debts contracted,
the further sum of $177,573 06, as now esti
mated by the engineer, will be required. Ei
ther tlie estimates have been very carelessly
made or large sums of money uselessly and ex
travagantly expended in the prosecution of this
improvement. As aiding the business of the
main line, reducing still further its expendi
tures and relieving the Treasury from these
constant demands, the announcement of its
early completion will be hailed with pleasure
bv everv citizen.
Although the completion of tlie North
Hrauch canal, liefore the close of navigation,
was certainly expected, yet this expectation
lias not been realized. The efforts of the
present Superintendent, Mr. Maflit, during 1 the
past year, to complete and put in successful
operation this can*!, deserve the highest com
mendation. Everything that skill, energy and
industry could accomplish has been done. The
labor to be performed was great, and render
ed more difficnlt and perplexing by the imper
fect and fraudulent construction of the old work
and some portion of the new. The largo quan
tity of rooks, trees, stumps and roots placed in
the bottom of the canal, and the defective ma
terial used in ti[e embankments, suffered the
water to escape almost as rapidly as admitted,
and rendered a rc-construet.ion of the work, in
many places, indispensably necessary. Its
successful completion, it is hoped, will soon be
announced.
It will appear by the report of the Com
mittee of Ways and Means marie to the llousc
of Representatives in 1849, that the entire
amount necessary to complete and put in ojiera
tion the unfinished {tortious of this canal was
estimated at the sum of $1,100,087 00. The
amount actually expended on the work since
that period, as appears from the reports of the
Superintendent, Engineer and Canal Commis
sioners, is $1,857,377 22, being un excess of
expenditures over the original estimates of
$751,340 52 ; and the canal not yet in opera
tion. With such facts before us—such evi
dence of mismanagement and reckless expen
diture as the history of this canal shows, it is
not matter of surprise that the Commonwealth
and people arc burdened with debt and taxa
tion.
In pursuance of the act of the St-li of May
last, providing for tiie sale of the main line of
the public works, after giving the notice recjuir
ecl by law, I caused the same to be exposed to
public sale, at the Merchants' Exchange, in
the citj' of Philadelphia. No offers were made
and consequently the works remain unsold.
Sealed proposals for the "sale or lease of the
main line," were subsequently invited, as di
rected by the seventeenth section of the said
act, and the proposals received are herewith
submitted to the Legislature for their action
and final disposition.
Having on a former occasion presented my
views of the propriety and policy of a sale of
this branch of ourpublic improvements, a repe
tition of the sentiments then expressed beeomes
unnecessary, in relation to this subject my
opinion has not changed. On the contrary
the experience of the past, and a careful exami
nation of the question in its economical and po
litical relations, have strengthened and con
firmed it. That the State should, long since,
have been separated from the management and
control of these works, the history of their
construction and management clearly demon
strates. Public policy and public sentiment
demand this separation ; and every considera
tion of present and future interests requires
their sale. The late financial embarrassments
of the country —the imperfect character of
sonic of the provisions of this bill authorizing
the sale, together with the adverse inlluenee
of rival interests, defeated the recent attempt
Ito sell. These diftieullicc have been, or an
" REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
be, removed ; and a sale yet effected on terms
amply protective of the rights and interests of
the people, and at the same time just and libe
ral to the purchasers.
To reduce the State debt and relieve the
people from taxation, are objects worthy the
earnest and anxious consideration of the Leg
islature. To accomplish these objects speedily
and certainly, a sale of the whole or part of
our public improvements becomes important
and necessary. The revenues of the State,
under the present system of management of
the public works, are but little more than suffi
cient to pay the interest of her debt, and the
ordinary expenses of the government. A sale
of these works, for a fair consideration, and
npon terms just and liberal, would constitute
a beginning in the process of liquidation that
would free our Commonwealth from debt and
her people from consequent taxation. In eve
ry '"ensure calculated to produce these desira
ble results, I will cheerfully co-operate with
Legislature.
The currency of the State, in relation tobank
ing institutions, and their increase, is a subject
that demands careful and intelligent considera
tion. From the notice given of numerous in
tended applications to the Legislature for new
banks and an increase of banking capital, this
subject will doubtless lie presented to, and
strongly urged upon your attention. Shall
the number of banks and the amount of bank
ing capital be increased ? and if so, to what
extent and in what localities ? are questions
of absorbing public interest.
Without desiring to assume a general and
uncompromising hostility to all banks, or to an ]
increase of banking capital, I cannot discover
the necessity that may lie demanded from the
Legislature. The incorporation of new, or
the reehartcr of old and solvent banks, when '
indispensably necessary and clearly demanded
by the actual business wants of the communi
ty in wliich they tinv be located, should not
be refused ; under no other circumstances
should their incorporation be permitted.
The necessity for increasing the number of
banks should be determined more by the ac
tual wants of legitimate trade, than by the
number of applications and the wild fancies of
stockjobbers and speculators. Tiie sudden and
unnecessary expansion of the currency should
lie avoided, aud whatever tends to produce
such a result ought to be discountenanced and
prevented. In the creation of banks the true
interests of the State and people should be
consulted ; and a just and honest discrimina
tion, as to number, locality and the demands
of trade, be exercised by their representatives.
Public sentiment does not demand, nor do
public or private interests require, the crea
tion of numerous banks.
In the present condition of the finances, and
in aid of the revenues of the State, (iu addition
to tlie taxes now imposed by law) a reasona
ble premium should lie required to be paid by
all banks or saving institutions that may here
after be chartered or re-cliartcred by the Leg
islature.
As appropriate to this subject, and intimate
ly connected with it, I cannot forbear to ex
press my disapprobation of a practice, that
has heretofore obtained to some extent, of us
ing the names of members of the Legislature
as corporators in bills pending before them
for the incorporation of hanks and other com
panies. Such a practice is pernicious, and can
not be too strongly condemned. It perils the
independence of the Legislator—exposes him
to unjust suspicions, and stamps with selfish
ness, at least, his legislative action in the
premises. Legislation should be free, even
from the appearance of improper motive ; and
every undue and corrupting influence, inside
or outside the Legislative J lulls, should be re
sisted and condemned.
It is a cause of more tliau ordinary con
gratulation, that agriculture, the first, as it is
the noblest pursuit of man, has, in its progrns?
of development, vindicated its own importance
and assumed, in public esteem, the honorable
position to which it is so justly entitled.
Constituting, as it does, the substratum of our
great mechanical, manufacturing and commer
cial interests, it should cv *r be regarded as
the chief sonrce of State and National pros
perity. First in necessity, it is the highest
in usefulness of all the departments of labor,
sustaining and promoting, in their varied and
multiplied relations, all the other industrial
interests of the country. Our financial and
commercial prosperity is largely dependent
upon the success of agricultural industry.
An interest i o important should receive the
encouragement of ail classes of society. No
longer a m< re art—an exertion of physical
strength, it has reached the dignity of a science;
and to its progress and improvement the poo
pic and their representatives should cheerfully
contribute. State and County agricultural so
cieties have done much to promote this cause,
and through their agency mnch valuable in
formation has been eolleeted and diffused.-
Much yet remains to lie done. More informa
tion is demanded. More efficiency in the col
lection and diffusion of useful knowledge is re
quired. To secure this result, the establish
ment of an agricultural bureau, in connection
with some of the departments of State, would
largely c ontribute. The importance of such
a bureau, properly organized, as an aid to the
advancement of agricultural knowledge and
the success of agricultural industry, cannot
easily be over-estimated. The subject is earn
estly commended to your attention.
By an act of the last session, an institution
designated as the " Farmers' High School of
I'enusylvaiiia" was incorporated. The charter
was accepted by the trustees, and the institu
tion duly organized. An eligible site for the
college has been secured in Centre county, and
two hundred acres of valuable and highly cul
tivated laud donated to the trustees, for the
use of the institution, hv lien. James Irvin.of
that county. The citizens of the county, with
a liberality highly commendable, have pledged
and secured to the trustees, for the use of the
college, ten thousand dollars in addition to the
land donated. This liberality shows that the
farmers of Pennsylvania fully appreciate the
importance of such an institution, and will
support und u.-iam t! Tlu > uutse of instruc
tion will be thorough and practical. Scientific
and practical agriculture, with the usual
branches of academic education, will be taught,
and the effort will be to make good fanners,
good scholars, and good citizens.
Whilst individual liberality and energy have
done much and will do more for this institution,
an appropriation by the State, iu such sum us
the legislature may deem proper, would not
only aid and encourage this laudable enterprise,
lint would be an honorable and just recognition
of the important interests involved.
The laws now in operation, regulating manu
facturing and other improvement companies,
are in some of their provisions too severely
restrictive, and should be modified. Legisla
tion on these subjects has heretofore tended to
restrain the investment of capital—check in
dustry, and curl) the energy of the people in
the prosecution of those enterprises that aid
the development of our immense resources, and
contribute so largely to the wealth and pros
perity of the State. Liberal and judicious
legislation—encouraging individual enterprise
—inviting the investment of capital and stimu
lating the various departments of manufactur
ing and mechanical industry, would greatly
promote the interests of the people—increase
our revenues, and give to the Commonwealth
that prominence and position, in the sisterhood
of States, to which the character of her citi
zens and her illimitable natural resources just
ly entitle her. To this subject your attention
is invited.
The report of the Superintendent of Com
mon Schools will exhibit to you their condition
aud the general operation of the system
throughout the Commonwealth, during the
past year. To the valuable and useful sugges
tions of the report, I would earnestly ask the
attention of the Legislature.
The operation and results of the system as
detailed arc highly interesting. Our educa
tional system rs slowly, but surely, conquering
the prejudices and gaining the confidence of
the people. Under the fostering care of libe
ral and enlightened legislation its ultimate tri
umph is certain. When the system was first
introduced, it was supposed that it could be
perfected and forced into general and vigorous
operation by the mere will of (lie Legislature.
Kxperience has proven, that in this, as in every
other great social and moral reform, time and
that consent which arises from a radical change
in the popular mind, were required. This slow
process of the acclimation of the new system
to our social and moral atmosphere, lias been
in operation for nearly twenty years; and it
is now evident that the period for another ef
fective interposition of legislative aid and au
thority in favor of our noble system of Com
mon schools, has arrived. In whatever form
this obviously proper and necessary interposi
tion may present itself, if calculated to pro
mote flic great purpose in view, it shall receive
my cheerful support.
After a careful examination of the subject,
it is my clear conviction that the system is now
prepared for and requires increased efficiencx
in its general supervision—increased qualifica
tion in its teachers, and increased means of
support.
The experiment of the County Snpcrititen
dency wherever faithfully carried out, has not
disappointed the expectations of the advocates
of that measure. The improved condition of
the schools, and the greater efficiency of the
system, clearly establish the propriety and utili
ty of such supervision. The official visits of
an officer of the school department to some of
the counties of the State, in connection with
the County Snpcrintendcncy, have demonstra
ted that the voice of public authority to sus
tain, and the presence of an official agent to
encourage, have largely contributed to excite
and maintain the deep interest now felt by the
public in our educational progress and improve
ment.
The most marked improvement recently ef
fected in the system, has been in its cor;is of
teachers. With almost unparalleled disinte
restedness and devotion to the noble cause in
which they are engaged, the common school
teachers of the State, have in almost cverv
county been using all the means and appliances
in their power, for self-improvement. These
efforts, so creditable to them, have been high
ly beneficial in their results ; and clearly prove
the necessity, and point with unerring certainty
to tlie establishment of State Normal Schools
Teachers' meetings for a day have given place
to institutes for a week ; and these again to
numerous Normal meetings continuing from one
to three months. At every step in this pro
gression, it has become more apparent that per
manent institutions, with their proper profes
sors and appliances, which nothing but the
power of the State can provide, are demanded
bv, and would meet the wants of the system
and the occasion.
lii conceding: this boon to our children,
through their teachers, we are encouraged I>v
tlie example of other countries, and the expe
rience of the past. It is a remarkable fact
that no State of onr Union, nor nation of the
old world, has perfected its system of public
instruction, without schools for the professional
training of teachers, established and support
ed bv the public authority and menus ; and it
is no less remarkable, and still more encourag
ing, that 110 such institution has ever yet been
abandoned. From Prussia, whose experience
in this regard, is that of a century and a (|iiar
ter, to that of our young sister Michigan, whose
existence is as of yesterday, the Normal school
has been tried throughout Christendom with
unvarying success.
The result is in full harmony with the laws
of mind and of human society. Teaching is a
high and honorable profession; and no profes
sion lias more arduous and complex duties to
perform—llo one greater responsibilities to
meet—and'no one operates 0:1, or with such
valuable and interesting material. The most
thorough preparation is, therefore, requisite :
and as the duties to be jtcrfortneti are not only
responsible, but delicate, and may effect the
social, political, moral or religious feelings and
rights of the citizen, no source is so safe, no
authority for their discharge so free from sus
picion or bias, sir the L-tate. Tea. hers truiuM
by the blute, and representing the vitality of
VOL.. XVI. —NO. 31.
its republicanism, will be the firm support and
sure guarantee of its republican equality.
ft is time also that the teaching mind should
resume its true place in the schools. In tho
communication of knowledge, to l>e effective,
mind, in sympathetic contact, must act UJXUI
mind, and with living, speaking energy, leave
its impress there. The Great Master " himself
thus trained the school which was to reform
a world. But now the bod: has too much in
traded itself between the teacher and tlm
taught. The teacher ha too much become
the mere exponent of the printed page, and
the mind of the learner the impressed copy of
the text. In thus saying, the value un<i im
portance of books as a means of knowledge,
arc not intended to be overlooked or decried ;
but the uses of our best agencies have their
limits ; and when we find the book usurping
the place of the teacher, to the injury of the
mind of our vonth, we should restore each to
its proper position—require from each the per
formance of its appropriate functions, and thus
confer upon both the full measure of their use
fulness.
As an expedient to supply tlie place of regu
lar Normal schools till established, and us u
valuable auxiliary to them when in operation,
the Teachers' Institute would be of unquestion
able value. It would bring together the teach
ers of a county under the best influences, for
consultation and improvement, and exhibit
them before theirfellow citizens in their proper
professional character. A portion of the means
of the State, or of the respective counties,
apjdieable to educational improvement, could
not be more profitably applied, than to the
encouragement of the meeting of at least one
snch institute, annually, in each county. An
experiment of this kind recently made in the
comity of Chester, is said to have been emi
nently successful, and strongly indicative of
the wisdom of the mensue.
If, in addition to these, or similar measures,
the Legislature should feel warranted—and
the measure has all the sanction this executive
document can give it—to make a large addition
to the annual State appropriation to common
schools, T believe that all will be done which
the patriotism of the people's representative*
can now effect ; arid I do not hesitate to ex
press the opinion that the time has come for
this prompt, full and decisive action. Let tha
integrity of the system, in its great purposes
and objects be maintained ; and if changed,
changed to render it more efficient, and to" in
crease its power for greater usefulness. What
ever else may distinguish your present session,
it is hazarding little to predict, that more honor
and benefit will result from the perfection of
the common school system of education, than
from any other exercise of your legislative
powers.
The public schools of Philadelphia are de
serving of sjKcial notice and approval. In
their various gradations, from the primnrv
up to the high school, they are models worthy
of imitation ; and their management and ef
ficiency reflect great credit upon those to whom
have been 'committed their supervision and
control. It is to be regretted that those
schoo!<. so creditable to our great commercial
and literary emporium, and so honorable to our
Commonwealth, should find 110 place in the
annual report of the Superintendent of Com
mon Schools. As at present organized, these
schools arc independent of the State Supcrin
teudeney, and do no! report to the school de
partment of th ■ Commonwealth. As every
thing that relates to the operation of the
common school system, and the condition of
the public schools in the State, is imj>ortant
and interesting, the statistics of those schools
should be furnished to the State Superinten
dent, that the same might be embodied in the
annual report of the department. A mollifi
cation of existing laws on this subject, so far
as to require tlie controllers of the public
schools of Philadelphia, to report to the school
department, the number, grade, ami condition
of their schoo's—the numlter of pupils, and
generally such information in relation to their
government as may be deemed useful to tbo
cause of cducation.is respectfully recommended.
To improve the social, intellectual and
moral condition of the people—reclaim tho
erring, and ameliorate human suffering, are
objects that commend themselves to the con
sideration of the philanthropist and the states
man. f)ur educational, charitable ami reforma
tory institutions arc iustfy the pride of the
State, honorable alike to the wisdom that de
vised and the liberality that founded and sus
tains them. They have strong claims upon
the bounty of the people, and I cordially re
commend them to your care and the liberality
of the Commonwealth.
The State Lunatic Hospital, at Ilarrisbnrg,
in its objects anil results, merits our highest
approbation. The just expectations of its pro
jectors and found as have not been disappoint
d. Kindness and love, with their softening
and subduing influence, constitute tlie rule of
its government. Many of its former unfor
tunate inmates have been restored to reason,
to friends and home, and the enjoyments of
social life. Those that remain require our
sympathy and aid. They should not be with
h Id. The report of the directors will exhibit
in detail the op rations of the institution.
The nerc sty aid importance of providing
additii nil accommodation for the insane of
Western Peensylw.uin, have l>eon atronglv
pressed npou iny attention. The present ae
e unniodatiuns are eleariv insufficient. and tlieso
have tieen provided principally bv the contri
butions of lienovoleiit citizens. Jt is urged
that the rapid advance of our population—the
gloomy increase of the insane—and the inade
quacy of the present asylumns for their care
and ma inurement, render if imperatively ne
e vssarv that eifeetive aid should lie given to
that portion of the State, for the establish
ment of a new and entirely distinct Western
Insane Hospital, as a home to thoso of our
fellow-citizens, whose only alleviation is to bo
found in their ignorance of the frightful mala
dy with which they are burdened. The sub
ject is worthy of cuitn and dispassionate in
quiry. 1 will cheerfully co-operate with the
I .eg-ht are, iu all p. oper efforts toaciomel.sh
tllia (. 1) 'N't.