0 t JJLLAR PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. TOWANDA : Thursday morning, January 10,1861. MESSAGE. To the Honorable the Senators and Members „t the House of Representatives of the Com vimueeallh f Transylvania : sti.kmes In submitting to the Gener- Y-sembly niv last annual communication, it s the source of unfeigned gratification to be able to announce to the people, and to their Uppresentatives, that notwithstanding the ..resent unfavorable crisis in the monetary af j ,jrs of this country, and the general prostra te',n of business and credit, the financial con dit.on of Pennsylvania is highly satisfactory. The receipts at the State Treasury, from all sources, for the fiscal year ending ou the 30th of November, 1800, were $3,470,257 31, to which add the available buluuoe in the iieas urv on the Ist day of December, 1859, $839,- L 'o 09, and the whole sum available lor the vear will be found to be $4,318,580 40. iiie expenditures, for all purpo>es, tor the same '£d, were $3,037,147 32. Leaving an available balance in the Treasury, on the Ist dav of December, 1860, of 631,433 08. Ine following items are embraced iu the expendi tures for the fiscal year, v.z : i. gewaoai naig Ke'.tvl • .-sPfpLvA •> ui "" Interest a-rtiti .a.j s---- -• • '- Pome-tie creditor'scn-tibc t. - ...... Damages ou public work-. \ e.J claims —h-14 .1. Making, of the public debt actually paid during thenar, the oi ShJl.tj, SJ The muded and unfunded debt ol" the Com ttiouwealth ou the firat day of December, 1359, wu- us to.lows : KI ND .0 IIEBT. f, nor cent loan- $ 10(1 /."JO 00 37,(i2.>,ir>a at 4 ; di< a-xs.Aoo oo ' a.j we,Ooo oo T funded debt Js.jlU.U.-U 07 LNFCNDLO DEBT. : notes in circulation |101.213u0 lull-rest certificates outstanding 18,51A S3 OJ uucUiuiuii 4.44s US Domestic creditors -02 do total unfunded debt .. 131,077 7u Making the entire debt of the Common wealth, at the period named, $38,648,901 07. The funded and iitduudeii uebl ot the fituie, ut the close of the lu;t lineal year, Dec. 1, '6O, stood as foliow s: I IMJED i>:;cr. fi per cent Joans #IOO 13!) 00 4c d<, ;?Sl,2tW (HJ 4 (lu 100,000 00 Total funded debt ... 37,549,125 72 lmtndkd nr.nr. i Itt-i.uf note-i in circulation 90.402 00 l ...u-re-t certilkaU -, outstanding If>.u74 110 I fW I lls Its I Dwestic creditors' certificates 797 10 Total undiluted debt 120.72176 Making the entire public debt of Pennsyl niiia, on the first day of December, Inst, $37,- .'>'.*,B47 50. to pay the principal and interest of this debt, besides the ordinary sources of-revenue, the Commonweath holds the following mort gage bonds, derived from the sale of her pub !v improvements, viz • ..Is of Penasvlvauia railroad company $7,200,00 • *u i! a.U nf Siinb rv and line raili.<;nl C'u. 3/>oo,l>oii 00 Bands of WyotntitJ caul corj;>ar.\ 2*1,00' 00 T :i. .. 10,061.000 00 A; '.i.t . -c of the it-cat year, on the tirst dav i i Dt-, ember, I- '7. the public debt i.i -. ii> Co u uiinwcaltii, funded and uu tuuded was $39,381,733 22 It i- u. a, at the clo.-c of the fiscal year bSO #37,909,647 50 Having been reduced during the last 3 y'rs 1 yqi 72 D-iv lable balance in the Treasury on w hr-t day ot Dec. 1657, was $.<26,101; 47 vii ■ .; -t day uf Dec. 1-00. it was ... t>si,4A3 06 ''rr?C'Y-.j{ -' .rmer balance in ttie sum of 153,325 01 J i to tltis the sum j.aid at the Treasury ■iirnu- the past thiee years, tor debts #a. I.i i- against the Commonwealth i... ng out of the construction aud iintainance of t!ie pub!i<- improve wats, and which was substantially of the uutuuued debt of the t'orn aomviallh, amouutiug to 171,004 82 And we have the sum of 324,991 42 I>y adding this sum to the aruouut paid on ac public debt from December 1, 1857, to DwMiber 1, 1S'0, io wit: $1,911,890 72, it V:il be lound that during the past three ars the State has not only met all her ordi- Mrv liabilities, including the expenses ot go verotnpnt, and the interest on Iter public debt, but h is diminished hrr actual indebtedness the earn of $2,236,882 15. Cheilitis remembered that for the last '-..roe years the tax on real and persoual estate been Let two und a half mills on the dol -w, while from 1844 to 1857 it was three wills—that for the past two years aud six •Girths the State has received no part of the •ax ijq tonnage due from the Pennsylvania railroad company—and that since July, 1859, •ue interest on the bonds held by the Slate •7mutt the Sunbury and Erie railroad compa :.v has remained due and unpaid, it is certainly ft '° r ' iea: t >' cougratrtldtion, that without U!! r rom these important sources ot revenue, so tgeat u reduction of the public debt has been omphslied in comparatively so short a pe f" lb* s fufldt-d debt of the State is now > Ul -' l ' liiS s ' Doe and unfunded 3 • lating debt, which at that time amount n almost entirely redeemed. It is now re- Jwd to $129,721" 78-and of this sum over "ifcly oue tLou?aud dollars consists of relief f', n J ost which are undoubtedly either j-. ui <ie.>troytd, and will, therefore, never be .or payment. The claims against r ,..-.j, dte ' accru '"g f r °ia the construction aud j, 0w u ' fcr canals aud railroads, are Ue Z. ' < to a tnere "° iai!lal SUi 5 aa <-l, i.i ntare, after providing for the ordinary ex- Pcusc of government, her revenues and'her Sof T eXc!l,Bive| y PP*<l to the pay- Sin 11?' ntc^V,? n,! the k l al u * her public debt. /tofthudl w tmrtstfO at niial .I • ■. ~ V." "■ -*:{ *">'■ if, - t ' t*" "j a . f f T *' {< *} )U nteil • ij.noj; -, #ii iin fctl a! I *J( * 4 fe i 4 ##|Jk Vk Tfl ff 4 f Tho people of this Commonwealth have hitherto met, with promptness, the demands made upou them, from time to time, for the ways and means of replenishing the public Treasury ; and now, that they see that the onerous debt with which they have beeu so long burdened, is each year certainly and ra pily disappearing—that the amount required to meet the interest is annually being dimin ished—that consequently a still greater sum can each year be devoted to the reduction of the principal of the debt, without resorting to additional sources of revenue—and that, with a proper husbanding of the resources of the State, the day is riot far distant when direct taxation in Pennsylvania will cease altogether —the payment of such taxes as may for the time be required to meet the public necessities, will continue to be met with cheerfulness and alacrity. But they will unquestionably hold those to whose care they bavo entrusted the financial interests of the State to a ri:;id ac countability. That there should, at this par ticular juncture, when the business and mone tary affairs of the country are so greatly de pressed, lie the strictest economy in public ex penditures, is so manifest, that it can scarcely tie necessary to call attention to so plain a du ty. It is equally clear that any legislation which would tend greatly to lessen the reven ues of the Commonwealth, would, at this time," be peculiarly unwise and inexpedient. The exigencies of the future no tnau can foretell— the prospect before us is beclouded with doubt and uncertainty—it is therefore, no more than the part of wisdom to guard, with unceasing vigiiance, all our present sources of revenue, and to thus be prepared for every possible con tingency. Since July, 1858, the Pennsylvania railroad company has refused to pa/ the tax ou ton nage required to be paid by the act incorpor ating the company, and its various supple ments ; and there is now due to the State, on that account, exclusive of interest, the sum of $674,296 22. lucluding the interest, the sum now due is about $700,000. Before my last annual message was communicated to the Legislature, a case had been tried in the court of common plea-of Dauphin county, betweeu the Commonwealth and the railroad company, involving the question of the constitutionality of this tax, which was decided in favor of the State, and the imposition of the tax pronoun ced constitutional. In January last, another suit was tried between the same parties, in the same court, involving the same question, with a like result, in December last, a judgment was obtained in the district court of Philadel phia, upon one of the semi-animal settlements, for $1 li>,ooo. So that judgment has been obtained for $365,000 of the debt, being the whole amount which became due prior to 1960. Tim tax which accrued during the past year, amounts to £303,829 03. The first set tlement for the year is before the Dauphin County court, on an appeal taken by the com pany ; and the second, or last, settlement was made but a few days since, by the accountant department of the Commonwealth. After the recovery, in the common pleas of Dauphiu county, the cases were removed by writs of error, taken on behalf of the defend ' ants, to the Supreme Court of this St ,te, ' where they were argued in June last, and in : October that tribanal sustained the decision of . riie court of corution pica®, utid held tlie tax j to he t-ieurly constitutional : thus uniting with 1 the law making power in affirming the right of the State to tax a corporation under a law to which it owes its existence. But, notwith standing this concurrence of opinion and ac tion on behalf of the constituted authorities or Pennsylvania, the litigation is not yet at an end ; for the railroad company has recent ly removed the cases, bv writs of error, to the Supreme Court of the United States, w uere they are now pending. Tuat the decision of that court will, when made, fullv sustain the right of a sovereign State to enforce a con tract between the State and a corporation, and entirely vindicate the power of a State to im pose such taxes upen corporations, as in her sovereign will she may deem proper, I cannot for a moment doubt. To complete the history of this important litigation, and to show that every effort has been, thus far, made to compel the payment of this Inrtre sum of money into the Treasury of the State, it is proper to add, that the law officer of the Commonwealth, being of opinion that the writs of error were not i-sued from the Supreme conrt of the United States in time to prevent the collection of the judg ments rendered in the State courts, executions were issued to the Sheriff of the County of Dauphin, and proeediugs are now pending in the Supreme Court of this State, to determine whether the Commonwealth can compel the payment of the judgments already recovered, before the final rfK-ision by the Supreme Court of the United States. The Scnbury and Erie railroad compauy having failed to negotiate its mortgage bonds iu their present condition, the expectations confidently entertained of an early completion of that most irnj>ortant improvement, have not been realized. The work daring the past year, however, akhongh greatly retarded, has been continually progressing; upwards of one mil lion of dollars having beeu expended ou the lute froui November, itio'J, to November, ISGO. The whole length ot the road, from the boro' of Suubury to the harbor ou the lake, ut the city of Erie, is -'tis mile* ; of which 1-18 miles ate now finished and iu operatiou, unJ 115 utiles of the remaining portion of the line are graded ; leaving but twenty-five miles yet to grade. Pennsylvania is largely interested iu the early completion and success of this great thoroughfare, not ouly because she is the cred itor of the coutpauy to the amount of three and a half millions of dollars, but for the ad ditional, and more cogent reason, that the im provement, w hen completed, v ill opeu one of the most important channels of trade between the city of Philadelphia aud the great lakes of the west, at the best harbor on Lake Erie, entirely within the limits of our own State, which lias ever been contemplated, it will, moreover, develop the resources of a 'urge PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY R W. STURROCK. portion of north western Pennsylvania, abound ing with the richest minerals, and a lumber region of unsurpassed excellence, which the munificent hand of the State has hitherto to tally neglected. By disposing of her branch canals to that company, in exchange for its mortgage bonds, the State has already large ly aided in the construction of this great work ; and it may be necessary, to insure its completion, that further legislation should be had in order to render the means of the com pany available. It is evident that a libera! policy, on the part of the government, wiil promote alike the interests of the Common wealth and the railroad company ; neverthe less, great eare should bo taken to protect, as far as possible, the debt now due from the company to the State. If all propositions which may be made for a change in the secu rities now held by the Commonwealth, be carefully considered by tlie Legislature, and no more yielded than sound economy demands, with proper provision for the due application of whatever means may be realized, it is be lieved, that sutlicicnt relief can be granted to the company, to enable it promptly to finish the road, while the security remaining will be fully adequate to insure the ultimate payment of the principal and interest of the bonds of the railroad company now held by the Com monwealth. I recommend this subject to the Legislature, a- one entitled to its most careful consideration, as well on account of its vast importance to that portion of the State through which the railroad passes—to the cities of Philadelphia and Erie—and to the railroad compauy—as to the Commonwealth herself. Premising that whatever policy it may be thought expedient to pursue, should be adopted solely with ref erence to the protectiou uud furtherance of the public interests. The attention of the Legislature is again invited to the subject of general education.— At the preseut juncture it presents peculiar claims. The experience of a quarter oi' a eeu turv has sa tilled the proverbially cautious peo ple uf Pennsylvania, of the adapleduess ot the common school .yateiu to tleir wants und con dition. Mo le<s has the severe ordeal of the past three years shown its capability to endure those sudden reverses which occasionally pros trate the other interests of the community.— Involving greater expenditure than the rest of the departments of government, and that, too, mainly drawn from direct taxation, it i 3 a p:oud tact, that, while most of the enterprises of society have beeu seriously embarrassed, and some of them suspended, by the pecuniary crisis of 1857, our educational system has not been returned in any appreciable degree. On tiie contrary, its operations have been maintained, to an extent which plainly indicates that our citizens fully appreciate its value. Contrasting its main results during the past year, with those of 1857, we find that the whole number of pupils now in the schools, is 647,414, being an increase af 44,422; these were taught iu 1 1,577 schools, 621 more than iu 1857, dur ing an average term of five mouths and five aud one-half days, at a cost of fifty-six cents per pupil, per month, by 14,065 teachers, being 529 more than iu 1 bO7. The entire ex penditure of the system, for the past year in cluding thai of the School Department, is $2-, 638,550 90. These figures afford some idea of the magnitude of the operations of the svs tem; but neither words nor figures eau adequ ately express the importance of its influence up on the present, or its re'atioas to the fuutre. In- contemplating the details of a plan for the due training of the youth of a commit ui y, iu large proportions and imposing array of statistics do not display the points of its great est importance. Pupils may be enrolled by hundreds of tiiou.-aiuls; school houses of the best structure and moat complete arrangement may lie dotted at convenient distances over the whole face of the land; the most perfect order of studies may be adopted, and the best possible selection of books made; but what are all these, without the learned and skillful, the faithful, moral aud devoted teacher ? Without this animating spirit, all is barren and unfruit ful. In tins vital department, lam happy to announce that the improvement of the common school teachers of the State shows more solid advancement, within the past three years, than any other branch of the system. This there fore, I eing the point whence all real progress in learning and culture must originate, is also the one to which the fostering attention and eare ot the public authorities should be mainly directed. Our peculiar mode of training teachers un der the normal act of 1857, has now stood the test of practical experience; and, against the most adverse circumstances, has produced results decisive of its success. Already it has placed one institution iu full operation in the south-eastern part of the State, equal in stand ing aud extent to any in the Union. Another with all the requirements of the law, has just applied for Statu recognition in the extreme north-west. I commend these noble, aud peculiarly Pennsylvania schools, to your favor. Aid to them will be the best investment that can be made for the rising generation. Good instruction for our children, is the strongest earthly guarautee, that, whatever else we be queath them, tlieir inheritance will be a bless ing and not a curse; and if nothing more is left, iu the well cultured tninds, the willing hands, and the trust in God, of freemen, they will have ail that is essential. Nearly eleven thousand of our fellow citi zens are now devoting their efforts to the im provement of the eoiumoti school, as directors. Thau this there is no more meritorious body of nifu. An iucrease of the annual State appro priation would not only be a material reliei to the districts, at this time, but would, to some cxtcut disembarrass directors in their local operations. It is not, however, the common school sys tem, vast and honorable to the State as it is, that claims your entire attention, iu reference to education. Pennsylvania also boasts her collegiate, academical, scientific, professional, and philanthropic institutions, and numerous private schools of even grade. Iu this rc " REiiAIIDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QDATITER." spect, she is second lo no member of the con federacy; but, from mere wunt of attention to the proper statistics, she has thus far been ranked far below her just standard. The pres ent is not the proper time to renew grants to institutions of these classes which heretofore received State aid. If it were, the public au thorities do not possess the requisite data for a safe and just extension of liberality. The period will arrive when all public educational agencies be included in one great system for the elevation of mind and morals; aud when the Stale will no doubt, patronize every proper effort in the good work. For the details of the system, during the last school year, the attention of the Legisla ture is respectfully referred to the annual re port of the Common School Department, herewith submitted. 1 detire again, specially, to cull the attention of the General Assembly to the Farmer's High School of Pennsylvania as an institution which proposes to accomplish an object which has never been attained in this country—the supply of a waut which has ever been felt by the agricultural community: the education of their sons, at once, to scientific knowledge, habitual industry, and practical skill, to fit them for the associations of rural life, and the occupation chosen for thorn by their fathers. The gains of the farmer, however ccrtaiu, are small. The education of his sous should there fore, be measured by the nature of hisbusiuess. There seemes to be no practical mode of cheap ening education, hut by combining an amount of expenditure, within the ability of a farmer, with the daily labor of the student, so as to make the institution so ueariy self sustaining ns to bring it within the reach of that class who constitute so important a branch of the industry of our people. The oriirinnl design of the school embraced the accommodation of four hundred students, a number essential to the economical working of the system; and although the applications for admission are numberless, the utmost efforts of the trustees have cot enabled them to coinpletu more than one-third of the liuildiusr, or to accommodate more than a corresponding number of students. Many individuals throught the State convinced of the merit of an institution which promises so "much irood, have contributed liberally to what has already been done; aud the board of trus tees have labored with a zeal which cauuot fail to commend itself to the kind feeling of all our citizens. Scientific education lias ad vanced the interests of every. avocation of iife—agriculture far less than any other—and (or tho manifest reason that it has not reach ed it to the same extent, aud never will reach it, unless the body be educated to the plow,as well ns the mind to the philosophical principles which the plow's work deveiopes. I have always looked upon the Farmer's liigh School with peculiar favor, as well be cause of my own convictions of its promised usefulness, as the favor which has hitherto been shown to it by the Representatives of the people, its charter requires uu annual exhibitiou of its receipts, expenditures and operations generally, aud these will doubtless be laid before you. By the act passed by the last Legislature, establishing a system of free banking in Penn sylvania, an ! securing tiie public against from insolvent banks, radical changes were made in the banking laws of this btate. In stead of corporations created by special laws, voluntary associations are authorized to tansact the business of banking, without further legis- latiou, and a an indispensable prerequisite to the iisuing of batik notes for circulation as money, amp's security muA be deposited with the Auditor General for their prompt redemp tion. The law makes provision, not, only for the incorporation of new banking associations, but enables those banking institutions tuat are already in existence, to continue tlieir business fur twenty years after the expiration of their present charters, upon complying with its pro visions, by withdrawing their old circulation, aud giving the securities required for tiie re demption of their new issues. The public, I am sure will rejoice that no further necessity exists for legislative action, cither on tho sub ject of creating new, or re-chartering aid banks; and that the time aud attention of tlieir Representatives wiil now, happilly, bo no longer monopolized iu the consideration of a subject hitherto productive of so much strife and contention, if uot positive evil. The rapid increase of private banks,through out the State, makes it euiiueutiv right that they should bo placed under proper legislative restrictions, aud that the large amount ot capital, thus employed, should he made to con-' tribute its fair proportion to the revenues of the Commonwealth. Their business, iu the aggregate, is now blieved to amount to a sum uitnost, if not quite, equal to the whole busi ness of the regularly chartered banks; aud yet it is entirely unrestricted, and with the excep tion of a merely nominal license tax, is free from taxation. This is unjust to every other class of our tax paying citizens, and especially so the banking institutions holding charters from the Commonwealth, for which they have each paid a liberal bonus, und are, in addition subject to a very large tax on their dividends. I respectfully commend this subject to the at tention of the Legislature. A high sense of duty impels me again to call the attention of the Legislature lo the in adequacy of existing laws, regulating the re ceiving, keeping and disbursement of the rtv nues of the State. The public moneys are now paid directly to the State Treasurer, who deposits them out iu sums, either small or great upon his own unattested check exclusively.— the amount thus received, kept and disbursed is annually between three and four millions of dollars, with balances on hand at times exceed ing one million of dollars; while the bond of the State Treasurer is tor only eighty thousand dollars. His accounts are settled monthly by the Auditor General, by whom the receipts for tnouey paid into the Treasury are counter signed, and these are the only safeguards pro vided by law to prevent the illegal and impro per use of the money of the State, by the btale Treasurer 1 Happily the revenues of the Commonwealth have hitherto beeu safely kept, properly dis bursed, and promptly accounted for, by those in charge of the Public Treasury; but in view of the serious defalcations which have occurred j elsewhere, aud in other States, this fact should ! furnish no reason why we ought not to guard against loss in the future Referring to my former anuual message, I respectfully, but most earnestly, recommend that provision be | made by law: | First —That no money shall be deposited | by the State Treasurer in any bank, or else where, without first requiring ample security to be given to the Commonwealth for the i prompt repayment of such sum as may be deposited: aud that such securities shall be I deposited in tne office of the Auditor General. J Second —That all checks Psnod by the State ' Treasurer, shall be countersigned by the Auditor General, before they are ueed, and that daily accounts shall be kept of the moneys ; received, deposited and disbursed, in the i Auditor General's office, as well as in the Treasury Department. Third —That condensed monthly statements verified by the signatures of the Auditor Gen-' eral and State Treasurer, shall be published in one newspaper in Philadelphia and one in ILirrisbnrg, showing the balances in the Treasury, and where deposited, with the par* ticular amount ot each deposit; and Fourth —Tuat the bond of the State Trea surer be increased to the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Our various charitable and reformatory in stitutions—the State Lunatic Hospital at Harrisburg—the Western Pennsylvania Hos pital for tiie insane, at Pittsburg—the asylums for the blind, and deaf and dumb, at Philadel phia—the House of Refuge at Philadelphia and Pittsburg, and the Pennsylvania Training School for idiotic and feeble minded children, at Media, will present their usual claims .upon the bounty of the State. These excellent charities are continually dispensing benefits and blessings upon suffering and erring human ity which can scarcely be overrated. They are heartily commended to the discriminating liberality of the Legislature. I refrain, as I have heretofore done, from recommending, as proper objects for appropriations from the State Treasury, other charitable and benevo lent institutions, not because they are undeserv ing the confidence aad patronage of the public but beeausc they are local in their character, and in my judgment have no claims upon the common fund which can he admitted, in jus tice to the rights and interests of other por tions of the Commonwealth. The inspectors of the State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in their annual reports for the years 1858 and 1859, called the attention of the Legisleture to the insecurity of such parts of the penitentiary building as were exposed to their own fires and those of the neighborhood, and recommended that roofs of such of the corridors as were cov ered with shingles, aud needed renewal,should be replaced with slate or metal. Ou visiting the institution, my attention was called to the subject by the inspectors. Tho necessity for the change was so apparent and urgent, that I advised them not to hesitate i;i having the old, dilapidated and dangerous woodeu roofs of such portions of the building as required re newal, replaced with some substantial fire proof material. This has accordingly been done, and 1 respectfully recomtneued that a small appropriation be granted to defray the expense incurred. I commend to your com .deration tlm report of the State Librarian, whose attention to the intere.-ls of the Library under his care, deserves the warmest comioeudarion. The system of exchanges, with the different States of the Union, and with foreign governments, com menced and prosecuted under his auspices, has resulted in great advantages to the Library, and deserves the continued countenance of the Legislature The increase of the Library, at a comparatively small expense to the State, has been such, that it now needs enlarged ac commodations for the safe-keeping of the vol umes, and, if the increase coutiuues, will soon require a separate building for its exclusive use. The reports of the State Treasurer, the Au ditor General, the Surveyor General, the Ad jutant General, and the Attorney General, will inform you in detail, of the operations of the government, as presented by those several departments, tor the last fiscal year. They are entitled to the attentive consideration of the Legislature. Soon after my inauguration, upon the tec omuieudatiou of iny predecessor in office, a dwelling house was purchased in this city for the residence of the Governor of the Com monwealth. The purchase included several articles of heavy furniture, then in the build ing, and a suiall appropriation would complete the necessary furnishing of the house, so as to make it a fit and convenient residence for the incoming Executive, i cheerfully recommend the immediate passage of a bill makiug a suit able appropriation for this purpose. The extraordinary and alarming condition of national f.ffsirs demands your immediate at tention. On the twentieth day of December last, the Convention of South Carolina, or ganized under the authority of the Legislature of that State, by a unanimous vote, declared "that the uuioa now subsisting between South Carolina and the other States, uuder the name of the L nitcd States of America, is hereby dissolved and the action already taken in several other southern States indicates most clearly, their intention to follow this example. On behalf of the advocates of secession, it is claimed, that this Uuiou is merely a compact between the several States composing it, and that any one of the States, which may feel aggrieved, may at its pleasure, declare that it will no louger be a party to the compact This doctrine is clearly erroneous. The cou stiluliou of the United Stales is something more thau a mere compact, or agreement be twecu the several States. As applied to na tions, a compact is but a treaty, which may be abrogated at the will of either pn#.y ; r&pou- V OL. XXI. —NO. 32 sible to the other party lor its bad faith in re fusing to keep its eugageineutf>, but entirely ir responsible to any superior tribunal. A gov ernment, on the other hand, whether created by consent, or by conquest, when clothed with legislative, judicial and executive powers, is necessarily in its nature sovereigu ; and from this sovereignty flows its right to enforce its laws and decrees by civil process, and, in an emergency, by its military and naval power.— The government owes protection to the people, and they, in torn, owe it their allegiance. Its laws cannot be violated by its citizens, without accountability to the tribunals created to en force its decrees and to punish offenders. Or ganized resistance to it is rebellion. If suc cessful, it may be purged of crime by revolu tion. If unsuccessful, the persons engaged iu the rebellion, may be executed as traitors.—. The government ol the United States, withia the limits assigned to it, is as potential in sov ereignty, as any other government in the civi lized world. The Constitution, aud laws made in pursuance thereof, are expressly declared to be the supreme law of the land. Under the Constitution, the general government has the power to raise and support armies, to create and maintain a navy, and to provide for calling forth the militia to execute its laws, suppress insurrection and repel invasion. Appropriate statutes have been enacted by Congress, to aid in the execution of these important govern mental powers. The creation of the Federal Government, with the powers enumerated in the Constitu tion, was the act of the people of the United States, aud it is perfectly immaterial that the people of the several States acted separately within the territorial limits of each State.— The form of their action is of no coosequence, in view of the fact that they created a Fede ral Government, to which l they surrendered certaiu powers of sovereignty, aud declared those powers, thus surrendered, to be supreme, without reserving to the States, or to the peo ple, the right of secession, nuliiflcatiou or oth er resistance. It is, therefore, clear that there is no constitutional right of secession. Seces sion is only another form of nullification. Ei ther, when attempted to be carried out by force, is rebellion, and should be treated as such, by those whose sworn duty it is to maintaiu the supremacy of the Constitution aud laws of the United Slates It is certainly true, that iu cases of great extremity, "when the oppression of government has lieeome so intolerable that civil war is preferable to longer submission, there remains the revolutionary right of resistance; but where the authority of the government is lim ited by a written Constitution, and each de partment is held in check by the other depart ments, it will rarely, if ever, happen that the citizen may not lie adequately protected, with out resorting to the sacred and inalienable right to resist and destroy a government which has been perverted to a tyranny. But, while denying the right of a State to absolve its citizens from the allegiance which they owe tj the Federal Government, it is nevertheless highly proper that we should care fully and candidly examine the reasons which are advanced by those who Lave evinced a de termination to destroy the Union of these Ameiicau States, and if it shall appear thai any uf the causes of complaint are well found ed, they should be unhesitatingly removed, and as far as pos.-i hie, reparatiou made for the past, and security given for tae future ; for it is .iot to te tolerated, that a government created by the people, and maintained for their benefit, should do injustice to any portion of its citizens. After asserting her right to withdraw from the Uuion, South Carolina, through her con vention, among other reason?, declares that she is justified iu exercising, at this time, that right, because several of the States have for years not only refused tofuffil their constitution obligations, but have enacted laws either nul lifying the Constitution, or rendering useless the acts of Congress relative to the surrender of fugitive slaves—that they have permitted the open establishment of societies, to disturb the peace of other States ; that the people of the uou-slaveholding States have aided in the escape of slaves from their masters, and have incited to servile insurrection those that re main—and have announced their determina tion to exclude the South from the common territory of the Union. As the Representa tives of the people of Pennsylvania, it be comes your solemn duty to examine these se rious charges, made by the authority of a so?- ereigu State. Pennsylvania is included in the list of States that are charged with having refused compli ance with that uiaudate of the Constitution of the United States, which declares " that no person held to service or labor in one State, under the regulations therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be deliv ered up, on claim of tho party to whom such service or labor may be due." So far from admitting the truth of this charge, I unhesi tatingly aver, that, upon a careful examina tion, it will be found that the legislative and judicial action of Pennsylvania, whether as a colony, as a member of the old confedera tion, or under the existing Constitution of the Uuited Stales, has been almost invariably in fluenced by a proper appreciation of ber owu obligations, aud by a high regard tor the rights, the feelings aud the interests of her sister States. As early as 17OA, the provincial authorities of Pennsylvania, after reeitiog in the pream ble, that '* the importation of lodiau slaves from Carolina, or other places, hath been ob served to give the Indians of this province some umbrage for suspicion and dissatisfac tion,'' passed an act agaiust the importation of ludiau slaves lrom any other province, or col ouy, in Atner.ea, but at the same time declar ed, "that so such ludiau slave, as deserting his master's service elsewhere, ?hall fly into this province, shall be understood or constru ed to be comprehended within this act." And wheu, in 187U, more than eight years bcfoio the Constitution of the United States went koXCLLDED O.N iOl'Rrfl. rAsfc 1
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