(HE 03LLAR PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOWANDA:
Thursday Morning, January 12,1860.
Governor's Message.
To the Honorable, the Senators and Members of
the House of Representatives of the Common
wealth of Pennsylvania :
GENTLEMEN : —ln complying with that pro
vision of the Constitution of Pennsylvania,
which makes it the duty of the Governor,from
time to time, to give the General Assembly in
formation of the stale of the Commonwealth,
I am most happy, on this occasion, again to
congratulate the representatives of the people
upon the highly favorable coudition of the fi
nances of the State.
The receipts at the State Treasury, from all
sources, for the fiscal year ending on the 30th
of November, 1859, were $3,826,350 14, to
which add balance in Treasury, December 1,
1858, $892,027 76, and it will be seen that
the whole sura available for the year, was $4,- ;
718,377 90. The expenditures, for all pur
poses, during the same period, were $3,879,-
054 81. Leaving an available balance in the
Treasury, on the Ist day of December, 1859,
of $839,323 09. Included in the expenditures
for the fiscal year, are the following suras, viz:
I.oans redeemed $840,302 50
Relief notes cancelled 4.137 00
iuterest certificates paid 4,843 30
Making of the putdic debt actually paid
during the year, the sum of 849,282 60
The funded and unfunded debt of the Com
monwealth, on the Ist day of December, 1859,
was as follows :
FUN'DED r>KBT.
6 per cent, inang $ 445,1*0 00
5 do. 38,450,905 67
44 do. 338,200 00
4 do. loo.ono oo
Total funded debt 33,354,285 67
UNFI'SDED DEBT.
Relief not soutstanding $105,350 00
Interest certificates 23,357 12
do. d>. unclaimed. 4,448 38
Domestic creditors 802 50 I
Total unfunded debt 133,95s 00
Making the entire debt of the Commonwealth
at the period named, $39,488,243 67.
The funded and unfunded debt of the State,
at the close of the last fiscal year, December
I, 1859, stood as follows :
rCNDED DEBT.
6 percent, loans ..$ 400.630 00
5 do. 38,625,153 37
H do. 388.200 4XI
i do. 100,000 00
Total funded debt 38,513,983 37
I*SKI'S TED DEBT.
Relief notes in circulation $101,313 00
luterest certificates outstanding .... 18,513 82
do. unclaimed 802 50
Total unfunded debt 124,977 70
Making the public debt on the first day of
D -comber last, $38,628,961 07.
Since tbe close of the fiscal year, the Com
missioners of the Sinking Fund have redeerri'-d,
of the five per cent, loans, the sum <>f $160,-
000, leaving the real debt of the Common
wealth, at this time, funded and unfunded,
$38,478,861 07. If we deduct from thissniu
the amount of the bonds received bv the State,
from the sale of her public works, and now
held by her, as follows :
flunds of Pennsylvania R.R. Company.s7,3oo,ooo 00
Hand-* of Snnbury A Krie K R. Co 3,500,000 00
llouds of Wyoming Canal Company... 2sl .000 00
Total 11,081,000 00
we have $27,397,961 07, the remaining debt
of the Commonwealth, the principal and in
terest to be provided for, from the ordinary
sources of revenue.
It will be observed, that from the Ist day
of December, 1858, to the 31st day of Decem
ber, 1859, a period of thirteen months, besides
meeting all the ordinary demands upon the
Treasury, there has been aetually'paid, on the
principal of the public debt, $1,009,382 60.
When it is remembered, that during this
period, the law reducing the State tax on real
and personal estate, from three to two and a
half mills, has been in fu 1 force, and that
nothing for the last year has been received
from the Pennsylvania railroad company, on
account ot tax on tonnage,making the receipts
from those two sources of revenue, less by
four hundred thousand dollars, than they were
for the preceding year, it is a source of con
gratulation that, under such circumstances, a
result so favorable has been produced by the
ordinary operations of the Treasury.
For nearly two years past, the State has
been entirely free from the ownership or man
agement of canals and railroads, and the grati
fying result, thus far, is, that her public debt
is uow less than it has been since the year
1842, and is decreasing at the rate o f nearly
one million of dollars per annum. It is now
morally certain, that nothing but the grossest
mismanagement of the financial interests of
the State, can prevent its sure and speedy ex
tinguishment. Why should not Pennsylvania
press onward until she is entirely free from
debt ? She is no longer engaged in the con
struction of great works of internal improve
ment, nor is she the proprietor of railroads, or
cauals. Relieved of these, governmental ac
tion is greatly simplified, and is now happily
limited to the subjects of a purely govern
mental character. Having ceased to be in
terested in ordinary business pursuits, it is her
plain duty to devote her best energies to re
lieving her people from the burden of an ouer
ous debt. When this great result shall have
been accomplished, the necessary expenditures
of an economical administration of the govern
ment, can be readily met without the imposi
tion of a State tax on real or personal estate
—the remaining sources of revenue being more
than sufficient for all legitimate purposes. Un
til that end, so anxiously looked to, is secured,
true wisdom, as well as sound policy, dictates,
that our resources should be carefully husband
ed—that none of our present sources of rev
enue should be cut off, or diminished—that
that all departments of government should
consult a proper economy—that all extrava
gant and unnecessary appropriations should b$
THE BRADFORD REPORTER.
avoided—and that every new scheme for em
barrassing the Treasury should meet with mark
ed condemnation.
Encouraging, as are the results of the past
two years, it must not be forgotten, that we
have but just commenced the payment of the
principal of our debt; and that to prevent a
misapplication of the public finances, and there
by insure a continuance of its reduction, from
year to year, is manifestly the first duty of
those placed by the Constitution in charge of
the Public Treasury, and to whom belongs the
exclusive right of raising, econ< mising and ap
propriating the public revenue. I earnestly
commend this whole subject to the careful at
tention of the Legislature—entirely satisfied,
that, as it is the most vital of all the interests
committed to the charge of the General As
sembly, it will receive that consideration which
its importance so eminently demands.
In my last annual message, I communicated
to the General Assembly all that, np to that
period, had beeu done uudcr the act, entitled
" An Act for the sale of the State canals,"
approved April 21, 1858. Since the adjourn
ment of the last Legislature, satisfactory evi
dence having been given to me, of the com
pliance of the Sunbury aud Erie railroad com
pany, with the conditions mentioned .in the
third section of the act referred to, the State
Treasurer, under my direction, has delivered
to the company the canal bonds for two mil
lions of dollars, deposited in the Treasury un
der the provisions of the said act.
The railroad company has also become en
titled to, and has received, one million of dol
lars, of the mortgage bonds referred to iu the
sixth section of the same act ; leaving mort
gage bonds to two and a half millions of dol
lars, still remaiuing in the Treasury of the
Commonwealth, to be delivered to the compa
ny, " from time to time, pari passu, with the
progress of the work, as ascertained by the
returns and estimates of the chief engineer of
the said company." When the bonds, last
meutioued, shall have been surrendered to the
compuny, as directed by law, the State will
still hold, as absolute owner, three and a half
millions of dollars of the mortgage bonds of;
the company, payable in the year 1872, and in
the six succeeding years, as mentioned iu the j
act of Assembly, with interest, at the rate of
five per centum, per annum, payable semi-an- ;
nually, on the thirty-first days of January and j
July of each year. Interested, as the Com
monwealth is, in the early completion of this j
important thoroughfare, it affords me great
pleasure to be able to inform the General As- !
serably, that the progress of the work, for the |
past year, has been highly satisfactory
The Eastern division of the road, extending
from Sunbury, iu the county of Northumber- I
land, to Wbetham, ia the county of Clinton, a
distance of eighty one miles, is finished ; pas !
Senger and freight trains passing over it daily. (
The Western division, extending froiu the city
of Erie, to the borough of Warren, in War- j
ren county, a distance of sixty-six miles, is,
also, completed, with regular passenger and
freight trains now running over it daily. Mak- i
ing one hundred and forty-seven miles of rail- j
way, along the line of the route, that have !
been already brought into practical operation
—one hundred and seven miles of which, ex- |
elusive of sidings, were finished during the
past year. On the intermediate portion of the
line, between the borough of Warren and
Whethara station, a distance of one hundred
and forty miles, ninety-five and a half miles are
graded, leaving but forty four and a half miles
yet to be graded, to place the whole of the
unfinished por.ion of the roal in a position to
receive the superstructure. If uo untoward
event shall delay its vigorous prosecution,
another year will not pass before the entire
line of the road will be fiaished and in use ;
thus affording a direct and continuous commun
ication, by railroad, from the city of Philadel
phia to the harbor of Erie.
15y the twenty-second section of the act ap
proved the 13th day of April, 1846, entitled
" An Act to incorporate the Pennsylvania
railroad company," it is provided, " tnat all
tonnage, of whatsoever kind or description,
except the ordinary baggage of passengers,
loaded or received at Harrisburg, or Pittsburg,
or at any intermediate point, and carried or
conveyed on or over said railroad, more than
twenty miles, between the 10th day of March
and the Ist day of December, in each and'
every year, shall be subject to a toll or duty,
for the use of the Commonwealth, at the
rate of five mills, per mile, for each tou of
two thousand pounds ; and it shall be the
duty of said company, between the 10th
and 30th days of July, and between the Ist
and 10th days of December, in each and every
year, after thirty miles or more of said railroad
shall have been completed, audio use, to cause
to be made out, and filed with the Auditor
General, a true and correct statement, exhibit
ing the amount of said tonnage, so loaded or
received, and the distance so carried and con
veyed, during the respective periods, interven
ing between the said 10th day of March, and
the 20th day of July, and between the said
20th day of July and the Ist day of Decem
ber, in each and every year ; which said state
ment shall be verified by the oath or affirma
tion of the receiving or forwarding agent or
acents, or other proper officer or officers, of
said company, having knowledge of the prem
ises; and at the time of filiugsaid stateuieut,
or dn or before the said 30tb day of July, and
the 10th day of December, iu each and every
year, the said company shall pay to the State
Treasurer, the amount of said toll or duty, so
accruing for the use of the Commonwealth,
during the respective intervening periods be
fore mentioned." And, in a supplement to
the act just referred to, passed on the same
day, it is further provided, " that in case the
said company shall, at any time, fail to pay
the toll or charge on tonnage, which may ac
crue, or become due to the Commonwealth,
under the provisions of said act, the same shall
be and remain a lien on the property of the
said company, and shall have precedence over
all other liens or incumbrances thereon until
paid." By the act of the 27th of March, 1848,
the tax oo tonnage of five milla per too, per
Bile, trotn the 10th of March to the Ist of
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH.
" BEARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANT QUARTER."
December, was commuted to a tax of three
mills per ton, per mile, during the whole year.
Subsequently, by the act of the 7th of May,
1855, lumber and coal, were made exempt from
the tonnage tax.
In pursuance of the provisions of the sev
eral acts referred to, the Pennsylvania railroad
company has paid into the Treasury of the
Commonwealth the following suras, viz :
For the fiscal year ending Nov. 30,1852, $7,521 93
do do 1852, 16,680 49
do do 1853, 65,228 59
do do 1954, 112,880 50
do do 1855, 129,230 56
do do 1856 , 226,018 61
do do 1857, 179,233 75
do do 1858 , 222,363 02
Since July, 1858, the railroad company has
refused to pay this tax, and consequently there
is now due from said company, on that account,
exclusive of interest, the sura of $350,405 00.
On the 21st of February, 1858, an aceonnt
was settled, by the Auditor General, against
the company, for the tax on tonnage, from the
21st day of July, to the 30th day of Novem
ber, 1858, inclusive, amounting to the sum of
$87,275 22. From this settlement, the com
pany, on the 19th day of April, took an ap
peal to the court of common pleas of Dauphin
county ; and, in the specifications of objec
tions which were filed, it was averred that the
tax was unconstitutional, and an opinion to
that effect, signed by eminent counsel, was
filed in the office of the Auditor General, at
the time the appeal was entered. In August
last, the cause was tried, and after a full in
vestigation, aud argument, the constitution
ality of the law imposing the tax was affirmed
by the court, and a verdict and judgment ren
dered in favor of the Commonwealth, for the
amount claimed, with interest. The case has
since been removed, by a writ of error, to the
Supreme Court of the State, aud will, prob
ably, be heard and determined, by that tri
bunal, in the course of the present winter.
On the 25th day of August last, another
account was settled against the company, for
the tax on tonage, from the 30th day of No
vember, 1858, to the 20lb day of July, 1859,
amounting to the sum of $159,368 58, from
which an appeal has also been taken by the
railroad company, and which will probably be
tried during the present month.
As this question largely affects the revenues
of the Commonwealth, and as the principle
involved is one of the first importance, I have
deemed it a duty to lay before the General-
Assembly, somewhat iu detail, the history of
this tax, and the present condition of the legal
controversy growing out of its imposition and
enforcement. It will be observed, that the
power of the State to grant chartered rights,
and corporate privileges, to a railroad com
pany, upon the condition that it shall pay to
the Commonwealth a portion of its earnings,
in the shape of a fixed tax upon the freight
carried over the load, is questioned by the
company, and that, too, after the grant hes
taken effect, and while the corporation is in
the full enjoyment of all the benefits conferred
upon it by its charter. The question, it is
true, is a It-gal one, and its decision, therefore,
res's with the judicial department of the
Government ; but, I have not the slightest
doubt, '.hat the de< fsiou, when had, will en
tirely vindicate the right of the government
to impose the tax, and to compel corporations
of its own creation to obey the laws from
which they derive their existence. When it
is remembered, that the tax was originally im
posed, in order to indemify the State, to some
extent, for losses which she was sure to -us
tain from a competition, which was inevitable,
between tlfe railroad authorities, and her main
line of public works ; and that this competi
tion did, not only seriously affect the revenues
of the Commonwealth, derived from her public
improvements, but ultimately induced the sale
of the main liue to the railroad company it
self, at a price many millions of dollars below
what it would have produced, in the absence
of such competition, it is certainly not to be
presumed that the Commonwealth will willingly
yield her demand for revenue from this source,
until she is, at least, fully indemnified for the
pecuniary injury sustained in the depreciation
of her own property, by ber liberality exten
ded to the company which now detiies her
power to enforce a contract, voluntarily entered
into, upon a consideration entirely adequate.
The annual report of the Superintendent of
Common Schools, with the tables and docu
ments accompanyingpt, will exhibit the con
dition of the vast engine of social improve
ment to which it relates. The number of pa
pils, in all the public schools of the i: .ate is
643,651—0f schools, 11,485—and of teachers
14,071. The schools have been in operation,
on an average over the whole state, five months
and nine days. The average salary of male
teachers, is $24 36, aud o( female teachers,
$l7 79, and the cost of instruction, per pupil,
fifty-three cents per month. The average tax
for tuition, Ac., is about five and a half mills,
and for building purposes, about three and
one sixth mills, on the dollar. Including the
city of Philadelphia, the eutire cost of tui
tion, Ac., was $2,047,661 92 ; the building
expenses $531,313 85 ; and the whole expense
of the system, in the State, for the year, $2,-
l 579.075 77.
Though the school year ending on the first
Monday of June last,.was one of unusual dif
ficulty in money affairs, yet the system mani
fests an encouraging activity in all its depart
ments, while tho rate of taxation, both for
tuition and buildings, would appear, from the
official report, to have somewhat decreased.
But, it is by a contrast of the present condi
tion of the system, with that of 1854, when
the agencies now operating so beneficially,
were created, that results are most plainly
seen. Within that period, the whole number
of pupils has beeu increased nearly one-seventh
—of teachers, one-thirteenth —aud the salary
of teachers, the best index of improvement,
one-sixth for males, and one-fourth for females.
These results, with the others which the of
ficial report will exhibit, unerringly point to
the duty, as well as necessity, of the utmost
care and attention, on the part of all public
agents, to tbis primary social institution—pri
mary in importance, no leas than iu.tbe career
of each citizen. To strengthen, to retain pare,
and to properly direct, this fouutaiu-head of
social influeuce, is, it seems to me, the great
duty of the law maker, in his highest and
most responsible capacity, as the framer of the
future of the State.
The attention of the General Assembly was
called, somewhat at length, to the existing
condition and future requirements of our school
system, in the annual message of last year.
It is not, therefore, necessary to repeat the
suggestion and conclusions then presented.
They are again, however, commended to your
favorable consideration ; the exents and ex
perience of the intervening period, having in
creased the conviction of their propriety. This
is especially the case, in regard to the plan !
devised by the act of 20th of May, 1857, for
the due training of teachers for the common
schools of the State. A full supply of com
petent teachers, is admitted by all, to be the
great need of the system, and the first want
to be provided for. Unerring indications, in
every quarter, not only establish this fact, but
point to the general adoption of the proposed
means, at no distant day. The efforts of the
teachers, themselves, for professional improve
ment, encouraged and sustained by all .who <
duly estimate the value and influence of the
teacher's office, not only foretell this, but the
strong public sentiment in favor of institutions ;
for the purpose in question, confirms the prob
ability of this result. In every quarter, indi- ,
cations of this kind are perceived —more or
less strong in proportion to the force of local
circumstances. In the Second Normal dis- !
trict, composed of the counties of Lancaster, :
York and Lebanon, an institution, up to the |
full requirements of the law of 1847, has been j
established and officially recognized, and is now ,
in successful operation, as a State Normal
school. For its details the Legislature is re
spectfully referred to the annual report of the
Superintendent of Common Schools ; but, I
should do injustice to the intelligent enterprise
which moulded, and the large philanthrophv
which produced, this noble institution, as well
as to my own feelings, were I to forbear con
gratulating you upon the result. It is the
first fruit of a law which seems to be as much
in accordance with the cautious, yet generous,
character of our people, as it is., admirably
adapted to effect the great end in -view.
All that seems requisite to give full effect
and general success to the plan, is, at this
juncture, to guard it from mutilation, or rad
ical change. If the intelligent and liberal
minds that are now weighing the project, and
couteinplating its extension to other parts of
the State, be assured that this is the settled
policy, their efforts will be concentrated, their
activity increased, and final success be hastened.
Whereas, radical or important charges, will
destroy this growing confidence, crush the
hopeful efforts now being made, and postpone
for years, if not destroy, all hope of' success
in this essential department of public instruc
tion. The true course will be to cherish the
law, and bring it into general operation, by
holding ont the certainty of State aid to each
institution established under it, as soon as a
certain number, to be fixed by law, shall have
been legally recognized, and are in full opera
tion. The money of the State, appropriated
in this manner, will effect more benefit, iu pro
portion to the outlay, than in any other of the
operations of the system. Tho instruction of
a child, is a duty ; but the instruction of a
teacher, is economy as well as duty. It will
probably be advisable to make such appropria
tions, payable only when the schools are legally
recognized and in full operation. This course
will have the double effect of guarding against
loss by the State, and of stimulating, into
early existence, a sufficient number of institu
tions to supply the existing want iu every
quarter of the State.
The period for the third election of County
Superintendents is rapidly approaching, and
the public mind will naturally be turned to the
results of the office. My own observation, as
well as information from various aud reliable
sources, leads to the opinion, that this office,
when filled by the proper person, aud its du
ties discharged in full compliance with the de
sign ud spirit of the law creating it, has bten
of great advantage to the schools. Indeed,
uo caudid person can deny the fact, apparent
to even slight observations, that more improve- j
inent has been effected in the workings and
results of the system, since the creation of the
office of County Superintendent, than in anv
previous period of even double 'duration. It
is true, that when exercised by incompetent
officers, or crippled by insufficient compensa
tions, little, if any, advantage has accrued.
But this is no argument against the office it
self ; aud it is to be hoped that the directors
of counties thus heretofore deprived of the
benefits of this agency, will, at the next elec
tion, acting under the teachings of experience
at home, and the light of success from other
parts, correct this evil and realize the full
benefits of this provision of the law.
The increasing ease and soundness of our
financial condition, will, at no remote period,
'justify an addition to the. common school ap
( propriation. The general policy of the State
lias been that each district shall raise within
itself the main support of its own schools;
but, an annual donation, distributable amongst
them all, in proportion to population, has also
been a part of that policy. The object of
this State grant seems to be two-fold : First
—lt is a means of securing regularity in the
proceedings and reports of the several dis
tricts, so that the Department of Common
Schools shall have the requisite information
for the due discharge of its functions : And
second—lt lightens, in some degree, the bur
den of local taxations, to the relief of the
poorer and more sparsely peopled districts.
An increase of the annual appropriation would
enhance both these objects, aud, whenever the
finances of the government will justify it, com
meuds itself to the favorable consideration of
the establishment.
The aid which the Legislature has hitherto
extended to the establishment of the Farmers'
High Sehool of Pennsylvania, 9trongly evinces
their high appreciation of the udvautuges which
it is anticipated will grow out of that inatitu
taion. While it mast be admitted that know-
ledge is as essential to the art of farming, as
it is to all the other employments of life, we
cannot but feel deeply interested,that a commu
nity so pecuniarily agricultural as we are,should
hare all the advantages of an education which
combines iu itself, as well the knowledge of
the practical art of agriculture, as scientific
acquirements in all those branches of learning
which are especially applicable to its profita
ble pursuit. A school where agriculture is
practically taught, is a new field to which our
attention has been called ; and one which, be
cause of its great importance, well deserves our
attention. It embraces the principle, that
while youth are taught habits of industry,they
are impressed with the prond consideration,
that the labor of their own hands contributes
to their acquisition of knowledge. And tbos,
too, education is brought within the reach of
many a bright genius, who would otherwise
struggle and languish for the want of the
means of acquiring it. Our School, within its
limited means, has been in successful operation
during the past year ; having under its charge
one hundred boys, who, while they arc care
fully instructed in all those branches of science
which pertain to a high order of education,are
daily engaged in all the practical operations
of the farm—fitting them to return to rural
life, and to infuse throughout the State an
amount and kind of knowledge which must
ultimately produce a most beneficial influence
upon this most cherished branch of industry.—
The practical workings of the school, for the
past year, have impressed the trustees, who
have it in charge, with the highest hopes of its
complete success. The great interest which is
everywhere felt throughout the Commonwealth
in the further extension and progress of the
institution, commeuds it to our care and pro
tection.
The State Librarian will report to you the
completion of the descriptive and classified cat
aluoge of the books in the State Library, au
thorized by the act of the 16th of April, 1858,
—a work, from the details it embraces, of
much labor, but which will greatly facilitate
the use of the Library. It will be seen, from
his report, that the origin of the Library dates
far back in the history of the Provincial Gov
ernment, and that it received the fostering care
of the Commonwealth during the period of
the Revolution. It is gratifying, that, not
withstanding the waste to which it has been
subject in past years, owing to the waut of
proper attention, —under the careful supervision
of the present Librarian, it has, since he has
had the charge of it, nearly doubled its num
ber of volumes, and now contaius in all 22,000
volumes—the largest State Library in the
Union, with the single exception of that of
the State of New York. The collection of
law bookes, and especially law reports, is con
sidered by those competent to judge, among
the best in the country. The Library, from its
iutrinsic value and importance, and its historic
relations, deserves, and I trust it will receive,
the continued liberality of the Legislature.
Iu my inaugural address, as well as in my
last annual message, I expressed the opinion
that ourpresent banking system was extremely
defective, and that, uuless it were radically
changed, I should consider it an imperative
duty to withhold the Executive approval Irom
all bills creating new banks. Without again
giving in detail the reasons which influenced
my action on this question, or repeating the
suggestions and recommendations heretofore
made to the Legislature, it is proper to re
mark, at this time, that my convictions have
beeu eoufirtned, by time and reflection—that
uty opinions remain unchanged, and that I
cannot approve of any iucreascof banking cor
porations under existing laws. If corporate
privileges, for banking purposes, are needed,
to accommodate the business wants of any
portion of the State, justice requires, that such
institution should be contpfled to protect the
community receiving its circulation, by requir
ing that ample security shall be given for the
prompt redemption of its notes, the sufficiency
of which no act of the corporation could im
pair. All experience in this State, and else
where, has demonstrated, that the present sys
tem affords little or no protection to notehold
ers, beyond the personal iutegrity of the officers
controlling the management of the several
banks. For a full exposition of ray views ou
this question, I respectfully call the attention
of the General Assembly to my last annual
message.
The reports of the Auditor General, the
State Treasurer, the Surveyor General, the
Adjutant General, and the Attorney General
will be laid before you, and will show,in detail,
the operations of their respective departments
for the past year.
Deeply impressed with the belief that the
present mode of receiving, keeping and disburs
ing the public revenue, is entirely unsafe, aud
inadequate to the complete protection of the
interests of the Commonwealth iuvolved, I
:ita in respectfully, though earnestly, invoke
legislative action on this highly important sub
ject. The receipts and disbursements of the
Treasury are each, anuually, from three to
four millions of dollars. At times there is on
haud a balance exceeding one million of dol
lars. The State Treasurer gives security to
the Commonwealth in the sum of ouly eighty
thousand dollars. lie deposits the mouey of
the State when and where he pleases, and it
is paid out upon his own check exclusively.—
Ilis accounts are settled by the Auditor Geu
eral, once a month, and this is, apparently.the
only safeguard provided by law to prevent the
illegal use of the public fuuds while under the
control of the State Treasurer. That the Trea
sury ot the Commonwealth has hitherto esca
ped from disastrous defalcation,is owing to the
integrity of the officer, and not to the efficien
cy of the laws ; and while our main reliance,in
the future, must be on the honesty of the offi
cers to whom the department is entrusted.it is
nevertheless, the plain duty of the government
by proper legislative enactments, to prevent,
as far as possible, the illegal, improper or
fraudulent use of the funds of the State by a
faithless or dishonest pnblic agent. I respec
tfully recommend, that provision be made by
law that no money shall be deposited in any
bank, or elsewhere, by the State Treasnrer,
VOL. XX. —XTO. 32.
without first requiring security to be given to
the Commonwealth for the prompt re-paymeat
of the sums deposited that all checks, is*
sued by the State Treasurer, shall be counter
signed by the Auditor General, before they
are used ; —and that daily accounts of the
moneys received, deposited and disbursed,shall
be kept in the office of the Auditor General
as well as in the Treasury Department; and
that weekly statements of the balances iu the
Treasury, and places and amounts of deposits,
shall be kept iu a book to be provided for that
purpose in each department.
The Commissioners appointed in pursuance
of the resolutions of the 19th of April, 1858,
to revise the Penal of Code of this Common
wealth, have presented to me their final report
which is herewith transmitted to the General
Assembly. Its importance to our whole com
munity, and the great labor devoted to its pre
paration, commend it to your early and earnest
attention. The maimer iu which the duties of
the commission have been performed cannot
fail, iu my opinion, to receive your approba
tion.
I commend to your fostering care the State
Lunatic Asylum, at Harrisburg—the Western
Pennsylvania Hospital for the insane, at Pitts
burg—the Asylum for the Blind, at Philadel
phia—the Asylum for the Deaf aud Dumb, at
Philadelphia—the Pennsylvania Training
School for idiotic and feeble minded children,
at Media—the House of Refuge, at Philadel
phia—and the Western House of Refuge, at
Pittsburg. These excellent, charitable and
reformatory State institutions have done, and
are doing, almost incalculable good, in the re
lief of suffering humanity, and the reclama
tion and reform of the erring yonng. They
have strong claims upon the continued bounty
of the Commonwealth. The annual report of
these noble charities will be laid before you,
and will exhibit, in detail, their operations dur
ing the past year.
I refrain from recommending, as proper ob
jects for the bounty of the State, a number of
beuevolent and charitable associations, equally
humane and beneficent in their operations ; be
cause they are entirely local in their character,
and however meritorious their claims may be,
and unquestionably are, upon the respective
communities for whose particular use they are
founded and conducted, in my opinion they
have no claims upon the Treasury of the State
which can be recognized with a just regard to
the interests and rights of other sections of
the Commonwealth.
The editor of the Colonial Records and
Pennsylvania Archives has prepared a copiona
index to the w hole work, which will be laid
before the Legislature, at an early day of the
session. This publication is now completed,
and it is a satisfaction to know, that the re
cords of the colony, as well as those of the
State, preceding the adoption of the Constitu
tion of 1690, are now of easy access to the
public, and in a condition which renders their
entire destruction impossible. I recommend
that a suitable sum be paid, by the Common
wealth, to the editor of the Records and
Archives, for the work performed by him since
the discontinuance of his salary.
I have so repeatedly presented my views to
the Legislature, of the evils arising from local
and class legislation, that it is not necessary
again to repeat them. I desire, however, to
call the attention of the General Assembly to
the fact that we have, on our statute books,
general laws providing for the incoqioration of
railroad, turnpike, 1 iilge, plank road,gas, wat
er, insurance aud other similar companies, and
that all corporate powers granted by the Leg
islature, to such companies, should be under
these general laws, so that there may be uni
formity in the provisions of similar associations,
and that the time of the General Assembly
may uot be occupied in passing bills of great
length, when a simple reference to the details
of the General laws would answer every pur
pose.
The practice of sending to the Executive a
large number of bills immediately preceding
the final adjournment of the Legislature, is
highly objectionable, and ought, as far as prac
ticable, to be discontinued. Its necessary con
sequence is, either to compel the Executive to
approve bills which he has not fully examined
to sign them after the final adjournment, or,if
he disapprove them, to return them to the
next General Assembly, with his objections
Thus imposing upon a succeeding Legislature
the final disposition of bills, with the origin
and passage of which it had no connection.—
To illustrate the evils resulting from this prac
tice, it is only necessary to inform yon, that.of
the large number of bills presented for my ap
proval, within a day or two of the adjourn
ment of the last Legislature, I am constrained
by a sense of duty, to return, with my objec-
I tions, twenty-three to the present Legislature,
; for re-consideratios.
It is apparent from the exhibit of the finan
cial condition of the General Government.re
cently made pnblb, that the wants of the
Federal Treasury will demand a revision of the
existing tariff laws of the United States, with
a view to an increase ofr the revenue derivable
from imports. When this revision shall take
place, it is greatly to be desired, that a pro
per regard for the industrial interests of the
country will prompt the Congress of the Uni
ted States, to place her revenue laws upon
such a basis, as to afford to our great mining
and manufacturing interests the largest inci
dental protection. The substitute specific for
ad valorem duties, on a certain class of articles
which from their nature are of equal or near
ly equal value, —or to change the foreign to a
home valuation, —with a moderate increase of
the rates now imposed, would, I am satisfied,
infuse new life and vigor into all the various
departments of industry, and, at the same
time, without imposing burdens upon the peo
ple, afford to the General Government a reve
nue amply sufficient for all its wants.
The early admission of the Territory of Kan
sas as one of the sovereign States of the Un
ion, under a constitution legally enacted, and
fully and fairly ratified by the direct votes of
a large majority of the people of the Territory,
j will remove from the National Legislature a
SEE ronrrH PSGE