Of MU.AR PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOAV\AiSrDA.:
Thursday Morning, January 24,1861.
Remarks of Hon. Geo. Landon,
, n Serste Hill '"• 1, entitled "Joint Resolutions rel
ative" to the maintenance of the Constitution aud the
Union.
It is very agreeable for a man to sneak
w hen surrounded by those who wish to hear
him : but not quite so agreeable, however,
FFBEN a man's sentiments LO not meet with a
frank and eordial response from the palpitating
hearts of his hearers, as we, perhaps, have all
experienced. Vet, Mr. Speaker, I shall avow
u)V opinions on tbe subject matter of debate,
though no person mav be interested in what I
sa v except myself ; and I do it the more free
lv from this consideration. You will bear me
witness to the fact that I never have encroach
ed upon the time of the Senate in any of the
sessions of this body. 1 think that thirty
minutes would cover all the time 1 have occu
pied iu -peech-raaking ; and I think that thir
ty minutes will cover all the time 1 shall now
occupy. What 1 say now, 1 intend to say
tximnptclort , (from the soul,) meaning what 1
sav The points raised in the question before
us have occupied the greatest mind* of the
nation. 1 shall not bring to their considera
tion more intellectual strength titan they ; but
all that a man is accountable tor is the light
of exercise of what he lias I am in favor,
tirt of defining the position of Pennsylvania
upou these matters. We are the representa
tive body ol this great State. The eyes of
the people are upon us ; and I, for one, am in
favor of defining "hat I consider to be the
calm and deliberate position of ihe people of
this great Commonwealth which we .represent.
Pennsylvania certainly is a ureat State, oc
[cupyiog, as she does, a sort of breakwater po
le,mm, holding on the one side the North, on
I other the South ; containing within her
I almost as many people as the whole
Imibernf the population of the colonies in
I ilie (li'VS of the Revolution ; sending out her
f.arrcuts of influence from the centre to the
, rcutnfen nce of this great country. Being
the Keystone of the Federal Arch, it is emi
rently proper that Pennsylvania should define
her position on tiie question before the whole
country 1 would, moreover, have her affirm
her convictions, for this reason ; that I think
her true position is misunderstood iu certain
sections of the Confederacy. Had you, Mr.
Speaker, taken up a newspaper, last evening,
von might have read in the speech of a distin
guished man lately delivered 011 the floor of
i Congress, the assertion that "if the worst
Come to tiie worst, there was a large party in
llVnn-yrvaiiia and other Nonhern States,which
■ would side with him." It is a fact of which
believe we are nil cognizant that a portion
■;e country holds a fal.-e impression in re
■ . o our position ; and we should endeavor
W; vet that misconception. If the idea is
IrVrtairipd in Georgia, Mississippi or else
j* '<*, that in the event of certain action on
1 r part, a like course of proceeding will lie
■.Hen by our own State, which never will be
■ vn, and was never intended to lie taken, 1
ft :ik we are in dutv bound to correct that
ft -apprehension. Then, there is ; no!her eon-
I ..ration. Within a few months i
liuo'.il to say wot ks—great principles are to
li t settled in this country. Pause and reflect
[; a moment. See our country trembling in
I• e i.a'r.nee, unsettled and undetermined whiih
Uuvit shall go—to the North or to the South
—whether in favor of Freedom or Slavery, of
a fixed and settled government or of universal
Luarchy. Thus we stand, at present. In a
try short time the die vviii be cast and the
I uitrr launched upon a course of prosperity
lit adversity. We should do our part towards
letting our country right by throwing the
livc Mt of our great influence in the balance
mtoii :he right side. These being the facts, 1
ilv that it is legitimately proper that we
t.. ual, a- the representatives of Pentisylva
1, Calmly and deliberately lock over the mat
ay wh it we believe and what we wish
f we done.
1 ere art three setts of resolutions before
t—tbe firs', coining from the Senator from
'• ulelpliia (Mr.Smith), the second from the
"aide Senator from Huntingdon (Mr.
Bbarton , and the third from tbe Senator
torn York. Tbe question now arises, how
e vote ? Before defining iny position
i: i any of the resolutions, I would give expres
ou to our friendly feelings entertained to
talis every section of this Union—to our
clings of friendship towards every portion
1 this confederacy. 1 wish that principle
"Atinctly and plainly declared in any sett of
fciOiotioiis for which I vote. We are to hold
■lst as grvoi and kindly feelings towards South
-aro.ina a-; towards Massachusetts, notwith
lading that South Carolina has certain tilings
' thin her domain which we would not fellow
,'Psowell as we would the institutions of
vsachasetts 5 yet we acknowledge the ties
4 political consanguinity. It is ia that case
that it would be if a member of our
" y were to be afflicted with a fever-sore
e *on!d not fellowship the fever sore, but
* never hesitate to acknowledge the
we sustain to that afflicted niem
• South Carolina may, as a sister State,
Gpori her body politic a loathsome ulcer-
We claim no relationship with the
■ "-•enc of her disease, but we acknowledge
to her. We hold that the
j"T..v of South Carolina is our prosperity.
a t.ie prosperity of anyone of the fif
-1 States is the prosperity of the
a! 1 °' ( l adage that if any one
r ot u body is honored and exalted, the
if n an . ' l0 " or one is the glory and honor
P..,, * ll0 ' e nhe happiness of the whole ; and
1 ma an.J sorrows baptize the one there
J. quiver running through the whole body,
nd V '.' 111 l 11 aatter of sound philosophy
JterwaS Blates,Da " slli P tha t we should feel
• ain the extended influence, the greut
' the ?'°<7 of every member of this
* ' ncc > when we look to South
> we rau ouly express our affecliou
THE BRADFORD REPORTER.
for her, 1 would have resolutions embodying
this principle, that to every State we guaran
tee the enjoyment of its constitutional rights.
We would wrong no one, nor ruffle a single
hair upon the head of any State. What the
Constitution guarantees to each State, we
guarantee. 1 would have Pennsylvania affirm
the riirht of any southern Slate to regulate
her own constitutional institutions—her light
to act as a sovereign State. It the people of
South Carolina, for instance, affirm that two
hundred and seventy five thousand vvhitts may
and shall hold as goods and chattels, three
hundred thousand human beings—buying, sell
ing, mortgaging and crushing them—and if
this political right be guaranteed by the Con
stitution —then they may hold them account
able alone, us they must be to the eternal prin
ciples of Truth, Justice and Equity and to the
Great God. If there is to be any shame, any
disgrace, any ignominy in connection with that
institution, they must have it all on their owu
shoulders—l share none of it ; and if there
comes down upon them an avalanche of ac
countability l>efore Christendom, before the
universe and before eternity, that avalanche
must settle 011 their heads and not on mine. I
am understood, am I sir ? If the Constitu
tion gives them the right to hold human be
ings as chattels, 1 say, gentlemen, they have
the disgrace of it, and I would like them to
have the expeuse of it, too, if that could be.
Von ".nay have the shame of it—the profit of
it—ail to yourselves. Then there is another
principal germane in relation to this question.
While 1 eoucede that they shall have their
Constitutional rights, I wish the resolutions
for which I vote, to claim for me my Consti
tutional rights. Why, sir, it has come to pass
that white men are lost sight of in the con
templation of the sable countenance of Afri
cans—and 1 think as much of them as of white
men—but it lias come to pas, that a negro in
Virginia or in Dauphin county, is confessedly
of more importance, than either jou or I
would be in South Carolina. A great bulla
baloo is raised if we do not turn out posse com
ltd!us to catch fugitive slaves from South Car
olina, but it is considered all the same if you
or I are tarred and feathered in that State. Vet
I would stop here, byway of episode.
We would say to the South, gentlemen,
when a few months ago there was a con t ere nee
of clergymen in the State of Texas, you went
into that church, walked up to the pulpit, and
commanded Bishop Ames to stop in the re
marks being made by thai reverened gentle
man, it was for no other reason under Heaven
but that they did not subscribe to tiie opiniou
of the South. I would sav to them in such
language as our constitutional right would
warrant, you shall not kick me out of Char
leston. I would say to them that if a citizen
of Pennsylvania wishes to travel in \ irginia
he shall be allowed to travel there.
Here is an article of the Constitution which
1 will read, tlioueii the readiug of it be super
fluous. siuce we have become familiar with it,
by having it so often thrown in our teeth :
"Xi> person UelJ to service or lalsir in owe Stat* under
the 1* s thereoi. e.-i ti|)ing into another. *-.i!l in inn~e
ipicuce t.f ar.j law or then iii !><■ (liMi irtftf
tmiii -noli ser\ ice or laHor. I ait shall he delivered tip on
the claim of the party to whom such !-*yvicc or lahor
way uc vine."*
All weil, sir, but in close proximity to this
tirticie is another, of yet greater .-iuniiieeuce
and force, one that every man should read.one
thai should be em:raved in golden capita!.- and
hung in our national halls. Hear it, ami let
the country read it :
••The citizen- of each State -hall l>o entitled to all the
privileges and immunities of citizens |u the several
Slate-."
While the citizens of one State shall be al
lowed all the privileged and immunities of a
citizen in all States, I demand that after 1
have given them their Constitutional lights
they shall give me mine. I want a resolution
that embodies the priuciple claiming our Con
stitutioual rights.
Again, I want the resolutions to contain
this principle ; that we affirm the unity, the
indivisibility and the perpetuity of this Union.
1 should blush if 1 attempted to explain to
you, Mr. Speaker, or to this body, a Constitu
tional question, for do wo not nil know that
when this government was formed, the people,
by their representative convention, ceded to
the hands of Congress certain of their rights?
vou tnay call it a compact, or a confederacy.
I would rather call it a coalescence, a conglo
meration, a running together, in certain re
spects ; for the people conceded to Congress
certain of their rights. And what were those
rights ? The right to issue letters of marque
to suppress iusurrection, etc. For how long a
time ? They were surrendered into the hands
of the Government of this Confederacy for all
coming time. The Fathers who laid the cor
ner stone there, contemplated that the great
building of which that was the foundation,
would rise up from age to age. I would have
no declaration go out from this Senate that it
is our belief that those principles arc surren
dered only during the pleasure of any State.
We have fallen upon troublous times. Seas
are stirred ; the storms and whirlwinds of po
litical fury are rushing by us and dashing over
us, and the great question is, how are we to
get out of them ? I see but three ways in
which we can. The first is not by taking the
position that if ail of the slaveholding States
want to go out of the Union, to let them go,
in the language of a Senator on this floor, the
amount of which was this : that lie hail such
a christian feeling for his Southern brethern
that " if they wanted to go out of the Union
they might go out, and go clear to h—l." If
we take that position, what is the result The
momeut we adopt it we acknowledge that we
never had any government, and that for
seventy-five years the people have been follow
ing an illusion ; supposing they were governed
by a Constitution, whereas it was uothing but
a rope of sand. The sooner we have a com
pany of traitors out of the Union the better,
for themselves and us. You concede this
principle to day to the Slave-holding States, a
proposition will soon come from the Pacific
States asserting their right to a st'peratc con
federacy. The north-eastern States will then
swing off, and instead of having oue grand
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY R W. STI'RROCK.
colossal government that should be the way
mark of the future and the glory of the past,
we would have a company of little petty
Kingdoms, continually warring upon each
other's interests. Fixed as are our fraternal
feelings to our Southern brothers, we mu*t ac
knowledge as dangerous that principle which
would lead us to destruction ; and 1 do not
think we can get out of it by saving that the
great remedy is to compromise. Tiie Senator
from Huntingdon proposes to compromise;
the committee of thirty-three in Congress, the
United States Senate committee on Resoln
tions, are all bending over the seething vat
endeavoring to cook up something in the way
of compromise which will be satisfactory to
all parties. I want to be upright always, and
I ask the Senate to whom do we propose to
compromise—to States ?—to rabbles ?—to
Governors?—who have taken possesssion of
our forts and arsenals, who have defied the
authority of the government, pulled down our
flag and stand to-day outside of the pale of
government, planted upon the shores of rebel
lion. Aud we, the great North, with the ed
m-ation and the wealth, the industry and the
free labor, the character, the bone, muscle and
sinew and throbbing heart of the country—
we are to come cringing like whipped spaniels
at the feet of a lion. We arc to propose com
promises ; is that the idea? Wheu a robber
couies tc rob your hou-o and proceeds to bat
ter down your front door, ere you goiug to cry
compromise ? If any propositious of com
promise are to be entertained they must come
from the oilier quarter. It is the rebel who
is to be forgiven.
Another question is, what do von propose
to compromise ? I have claimed here the
right to free speech ; the South lias filed a
demurrer, objected to that right, and avowed
that I shall speak in measured terms from the
rostrum or the pulpit everywhere Do you
propose to prcveut the use of free speech, the
foster mother of science and the nurse of gen
ius, the living river o! joy that gladdens the
homes of men and bears upon its bosom the
rich treasures of thought. The traveler
standing on the dreary desert may behold in
the distance the loug-looked for stream. He
may not see the waters of that stream, but he
may map down on his memorandum its course
which lie is able to perceive by means of the
luxuriant foliage growing upon its bunks. —
Wherever this stream ot free speech flows
there grows the beauty aud thought and ail
that is green aud beautiful in human existence
—and are we to concede it or compromise it
awnv ? You call upon me to compromise on
a sett of resolutions which will put a padlock
on my mouth and prevent the expression of
my sentiments. 1 say no, sir. The great
God who gave me a throbbing heart and
grieving brain, gave me a tongue to utter the
pulsations of the one and the throbbing of the
other. No compromise I .
It is said iu the account of a innrder which
I once read, that the blood stains were in the
floor, and never could be washed out; and Mr.
Speaker, the blood stains of that man who
was beaten to the earth in the L'nited Slates
Senate will never be washed awav. No com
promise here to please anybody ! We have
a certain way of interpreting scripture, of con
struing the Constitution ; that way gives of
fence to our Southern brethern, and they claim
that we shall change our opinion in reference
to those matters. In regard to these matters,
do you propose to change your firm convic
tion-, to strangle your moral sensibilities, in
obedience to the Uictuiu of vour Southern di
rectors '( 1 cannot construe these matters in
any other way than that iu which! always
have ; and 1 will tell you, further, the people
will say the same. It is asked, further, that
we shall amend our statute books. 1 lately
took up the message of Governor Letcher, of
Virginia, and, if 1 remember accurately, he
set- forth some eight or ten counts ; that we
must erase from our statute Looks, all that is
offensive is one count. And men here are
found to re-echo it iu this chamber. My po
sition is this—while I am willing tiiat men in
Mississippi and the Southern States should build
up slavery, if such is the wish of the people
tp t re—they must bear all the damnation of it
themselves ; but I shall throw mv influence in
the scales tor freedom. I suppose that we
have on our statutes uothing that is uncon
stitutional. We have sections there which
were al! looked over and passed upon by this
body only a twelve-month ago. Certain of
those sections are against kidnapping and
riotons apprehensions of fugitive slaves. Let
them stand where they are.
It is proposed to yield up a portion of our
territory in order to quiet or mitigate the wrath
of our southern bretheru. It has been elo
quently said here that the normal condition of
the land where the water flows untrainmeied,
where the dews are inhaled without restraint,
where Heaven's skies are free and the suu
shine free—it lias been eloqueutly said that
the uoruial state of God's earth is free and in
favor of freedom. When the proposition is
made to extend the dark liue clear through to
the Pacific, and with a grudging look at the
North giving a small part of the territory to
the cause of freedom, and with a feeling of
demonical satisfaction, all south of that line
to the unmitigated woes and terrors of slavery,
1 hope, under Heaven, that we shall not have
many men iu the North to approve of such a
proposal.
It is proposed by the resolutions of the Sena
tor from Huntingdon, to open the territories
to the introduction of slavery. In my simpli
city, I thought that the American people had
decided that point. I thonght that we went
to the American people with that proposition
—"more slavery or not"—"extension or non
extension of slavery' I —that, sir, was my text
and I supposed it wns yours ; and I now think
that the man who will be inaugurated Presi
dent of these thirty-three States, on the Fourth
day of March next, is the embodied verdict of
the American people on this point. If he is
put by there a minority vote; thank God.it is a
constitutional minority. And I will say as a
certain gentleman said, on the floor of the
H OU ,c of Parliament, when, on the vote be
ing taken, he found hiuiscll iu the minority. -
" REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
"May it please your Honor, if you weigh the
votes and not count them, we carry the point."
It is demanded that we shall eoucede the right
of transit and sojourn of slaves with their
masters in Pennsylvania. But concede that
point 011 this floor, iu this year of our Lord,
1801, and what a paralyzing quiver will go
through the body politic of this State, at least
through the better part of it ? Only concede
that poiut, and you will hear aery of condem
nation come up from the tens of thousands of
Pennsylvania's intelligent sons,who inhabit the
valleys and hills of the State, as loud as
Heaven's thunders. I know that petitions
have come front Philadelphia. 1 could get pe
titions signed by 10,000 persons, that the
honorable Senator from Huntingdon, whom I
appreciate highly, should be hung. We know
well how to appreciate petitions presented from
certaiu sections. If Pennsylvania was to take
the step proposed by that Senaior, there would
be a constant influx of slaves here; men could
then buy and sell hitman beings, while 011 our
soil. We ueed not make any such proposition
as that, for 1 tell you that it cau never be car.
tied out. Should the Republican party endorse
that, its epitaph is written, coffin made and
burial service performed. It is demanded
further that the subject of slavery should be
taken from our legislative halls. But there is
a power behind the throne. The people can
not concede this poiut. It is claimed that we
shall execute the fugitive slave law. Have we
not stood by and pressed down our uervous
system and upheaving syspathies? Have we
not stood by and seen the Uuited States
Marshal size his captive by tbe throat and
take him away into bondage? Have we not
seen it, and is that uot enough? lteisstanec
may have been made to the execution of the
law in certain cases; but never so often as lias
resistance been made iu the South to the exe
cution of the United States laws. 1 think it
enough to be compelled to stand bv and see
the deed done, without being myself made a
mi serai le poltroon to execute it. I wouid say
to the South, do not expect the 1* ugitiveslave
law to be executed any more faithfully in the
future. 1 believe this to be the voice of Penn
sylvania, thrilling up from each valley, fluug
down from each height, our Country and
Liberty—God for the right. If we cannot
meet the difficulties which beset us except by
conceding these fundamental principles of out
organic nature, what are wc to do? There is
the Constitution, which reads; "It shall be the
duty of Congress to suppress iusurreetion, to
repel invasion. Suppose that England had
made war upon us, what would theu be done?
It is not England but part of ourselves—the
Southern States. What is to be done? Let
your Constitution defend the law of the realm
protect the right and cru>h out rebellion. I
know that the picture is a datk one, but the
path of duty is always the same. I remarked
that I could not see out of our difficulties but
in three ways. We must concede the right
of secession and allow the South to go when
and where they please; or, in the second place
we mot conciliate their wrath by surrendering
every principle of diginity and truth; or,in the
third place--and this is Hie manly and patriotic
course—we must maintain the Government by
all the resources that Providence and Nature
have put within onr reach—trusting to the
God of empires—clinging to the Constitution
—lashing ourselves to that sacred instrument
as Ulysses did to the mast o.' his vessel, re
solved to sink or swim with this, the ark of
our National hopes.
One other principle I would direct attention
to: the duty of 3ur State government to assist
iu maintaining this Union; that Pennsylvania
with her three millions of people, her vast re
sources of wealth and her profound patriotism
pledges to Congress ail the resources and
power of this great State for the maintenance
of the government handed down to us by our
fathers. 1 look over these resolutions and 1
am frank enough ti say that every one of the
principles named and advocated by myself are
contained in the resolutions of the Senaior
from Philadelphia. They are contained in full
or in a germ state, and I shall therefore vote
for them. We have fallen sir upon troublous
times. Storms and tempests are abont us.—
The pillars of our country seem collapsing.—
But iet there be no fear, let uo man's heart
fail him. Stand for the truth, for the gov
ernmental principles of our fathers. The clouds
shall yet clear away, aud the good old ship
Constitution, bound for the port of universal
freedom, shall emerge from the misty tempest,
the stars aud stripes at her mast-head, a glori
ous history behind and an undimmed future
before her.
THE SCHOOLMASTER ABOUT NEW YORK.—J.
W. Gerard known as the Adonis of the New
York bur, talked to some school children the
other day. Speaking of the ease with which
crowds were collected in this country, he said
he doubted whether the Prince had evet
seen such a crowd before as the one which wel
comed him in New York, even upon the occasion
of the coronation of his mother. (This event
took place a year or two before the Prince
was born.)
IN the early parts of the American war,
Franklin went to Paris, in hopes of obtaining
pecuniary resources of France. For some time
he was unsuccessful; and being present at a
large party, a gentleman observed: "It must be
owned, sir, that America now exhibits to us a
very grand and magnificent spectacle!"
"True," replied the doctor, drily, " but the
spectators don't pay!"
LITTLE SUSIE D., poring over a book in
which angels were represented as winged beings
suddenly remarked with much vehemence —
"Mamma, I don't want to bean angel—and I
needn't need I?" "Why, Susan?" questioned
her mother. "Hump! leave off all my pretty
clothes, and wear fedders like a hen!"
AN EDITOR in Maine has never been known
to drink any water. He says he never herd
water was used as a general remedy but once—-
at the time of Noab,-whcn it killed more than it
cured
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
OF
COV. ANDREW C. CURTIN,
DELIVERED AT IIAKKISBCRO JAN". 15, 18G1.
FELLOW CITIZENS :
Having been entrusted by the people of
Pennsylvania, with the administration of the
Executive department of the government for
the next three years, and having taken a
solemn oath of fidelity to the Constitution of
the United States, and to the Constitution of
Pennsylvania, I avail myself of your presence
to express to you, and through yon to the peo
ple of the State, my gratitude for the distin
guished honor they have, iu tlieir partiality,
conferred upon me.
Deeply impressed with its responsibilities
aud duties, I enter upon the office of Governor
of Pennsylvania, with a determination to ful
fil them "all faithfully to the utmost of my
ability. Questions of great moment iutimate
ly connected with the feelings and interests of
the people of all parts of the Nation, now agi
tate the public inind; and some of them, from
their novelty and importance, are left for set
tlement in the uncertainty of the future. A
sclfih caution might indicate silence as the
safest course to be pursued as to these ques
tions, by one just entering upon the responsi
bilities of high official position; but fidelity to
the high trust reposed in me demand,especially
at this juncture, that 1 yield to an honored
custom which requires a frank declaration of
the principles to be adopted, and the policy to
be pursued during my official terra.
We have assumed, as the great fundamental
truth of our political theory, that man is cap
able of self government, and that all power
emanates from the people. An experience of
seventy-one years, under the Constitution of
the United States, has demonstrated to all
mankind tuat the people can be entrusted
with their own political destinies; and the de
liberate expression of their will should furnish
the rule of conduct to their representatives in
official station. Thus appreciating their
liberal capacity for self-government, aud alive
to the importance of preserving pure and un
sullied as it came from the hands of the Apostles
of Liberty, this vital principle, I pledge my
self to stand between it and encroachment?,
whether instigated by hatred or ambition, by
fanaticism or folly.
The policy that should regulate the admin
istration of the government of our State, was
declared by its founders, and is fully establish
ed by experience. It is just and fraternal iri
its aims, liberal in its spirit, nnd patriotic in
its progress. The freedom of speech and of
the press, the right of conscience and private
judgment in civil and religious faith, are the
high prerogatives to which the American citi
zeu is born. In our social organization the
rich and the poor, the high and the low, enjoy
these equally, and the Constitution and the
laws iu harmony therewith, protect the rights
of all. The intelligence of the people is one
of the main pillars of the fabric of our gevern
tncr.t, and the highest hopes of the patriot for
its safety rest on enlightened public morality
and virtue. Our system of Common Schools
\\;i!l ever enlist my earnest solicitude. For
its growing wants the most ample provision
should te made by the Legislature. I fee!
that 1 need uot urge this duty. The system
has been gaining in strength and usefulness for
a quarter of a century, until it has silenced op
pos'tion by its beneficent fruits. It has at
times languished for want of just appropria
tion-. from changes and amendments of the
law, and perhaps from inefficiency iu its admin
istration; but it has surmounted every difficul
ty and L now regarded by the enlightened and
patriotic of every political faith as the great
bulwark of safety for our free institutions.—
The manner in which this subject is presented
to the Legislature,by my immediate predecessor
in his annual message, fully harmonizes with
public sentiment: and his recommendation for
aid to the Farmers' High School of Pennsyl
vania meet* ray most cordial approbation
Invited to the rich p-airie lands of the West
where the labor of the husbandman is simple
uniform, when population has tilled our valleys
it passes away from our highland soils where
scientific culture is required to reward labor
by bringing fruitfulness and plenty out of com
parative sterilitv. While individual liberality
has done much for an institution that is de
signed to educate the farmer of the State, the
School languishes for want of public aid. An
experience of ten years has fnliy demonstrated
that the institution can be made self sustaining
and it requires no aid from the State except
for the completion of the buildings in accord
ance with tiie original design. A liberal ap
propriation for that purpose would be honor
able to the Legislature aud a just recognition
of a system of public instruction that is of the
highest importance to the State In the devolp
ment of our wealth, the growth of our popula
tion and the prosperity of onr great agricultu
ral interests.
The State having been wisely relieved of
the management of tbe public improvements
by their sale, the administration of the govern
ment is greatly simplified, its resources are
certain and well understood, and the amount
of the public debt is definitely ascertained. A
rigid economy iu ali its various departments
and a strict accountability from all public offi
cers, are expected by our people,and they shall
not be disappointed. Now that the debt of
the Stato is in the course of steady liquidation
by the ordinary means of the treasury, all un
necessary expenditures of the public money
must be firmly resisted, so that the gradual
diminution of the indebtedness shall not be in
terrupted.
To promote the prosperity of tbe people and
the power of the Commonwealth, by increas
ing her financial resources,by a liberal recogni
tion of the vast interests of our commerce, by
husbanding our means and diminishing the
burdens of taxation and of debt, will be the
highest objects of my ambitioo, and all the en
ergy of my administration will be directed to
the accomplishment of these results.
The pardoning power is otic of the most im
portant and delicate powers conferred upon
the Chief Magistrate by the Constitution and
VOL. XX 1.-KO. 34
it should always be exercised with great cau
tion, aud never except on the most conclusira
evidence that it is due to the condemeud, and
that the public security will not be prejudiced
by the act. When such applications are pre
sented to the Executive it is due to society, to
the administration of justice, and to all interest
ed, that public notice should be given. By the
adoption of such a regulation imposition will
be prevented and just efforts will be strength
ened.
The association of cupital and labor, under
acts of incorporation, where the purposes to
be accomplished are beyoud the reach of indivi
dual enterprise, has long been the policy of
the Siate, aud has done much to advance the
prosperity of the people. Where the means
of the citizens are moderate, as they generally
are in a new and growing country, and where
the concentration of the capital of many is
necessary to development and progress, such
associations, when judiciously restricted, con
fer large benefits on the State. The vast re
sources of Pennsylvania, and the variety of
her mechanical and other industrial pursuits,
invite capital aud enterprise from abroad,
which, on every sound principle of political
economy, should be encouraged. Mucn of the
time of the Legislature is consumed by ap
plications for special chartered privileges which
might be saved by the enactmeut of general
laws and by such amendment to our general
mining and manufacturing law as will remove
needless time afford ample protection to capi
tal and labor, and to the community at large.
Our statute books are full of acts of incorpor
ations conferring special privileges, various aa
they are numerous, dissimilar in their grants
ot power, and unequal iu their liabilities and
restrictions. Well considered and judicious
general laws to meet all classes of corpora
lions would remedy the evil, economise time
and monev, relieve the Legislature from the
constant pressure for undue privileges, and bo
just aud equal to uii in their administration.
The veto power conferred upon the Execu
tive was giveu with much hesitation, and not
without serious apprehensions as to its abuse,
by the frainers of our organic law. It is, in
my judgment, to be used with the greatest cau
tion, and only when legislation is manifestly in
considerate. or of more than doubtful constitu
tionality. The legislators, chosen as they are
directly by the people, in such a manner that
a fair expression of their views of the true
policy of '.lie government can always be had,
give to all well considered measures of legisla
tion the solemn sanction of the highest power
of the State, and it should not be arbitrarily
interfered with. While I shall shrink from no
duty involved by the sacred trust reposed in
me "by the people of the Comrnonwea'tb, I
v.ould have all other departments of the gov
ernment appreciate the full measure of respon
sibility that devolves upon them.
The position of mutual estrangement in
which the different sections of our country
have been placed by the precipitate action
and violent denunciation of heated patizans,
the apprehension of still more serious compli
cations of our political affairs, and the fearful
uucertainity of the tutnrc, have had the effect
of weakening commercial credit aud partially
interrupting trade; and, as a natural consequ
ence, deranging our exchanges and the cur
rency. Vet the elements of general prosperity
are everywhere diffused amongst us, and noth
ing i< wanting but a return of confidence to
enable us to reap the rich rewards of our div
ersified industry and enterprize. Should the
restitution of confidence in business and com
mercial circles be long delayed, the Legisla
ture, in its wisdom, will, I doubt not, meet
the necessities of the crisis iu a generous and
patriotic .-pirit.
Thus far our system of Government has ful
ly answered the expectations of its fonnders,
and has demonstrated the capacity of the peo
ple for self-government. The country has ad
vanced in wealth, knowledge aud power, and
secured to all classes of its citizens the blessings
of peace, prosperity and happiness. The work
ings of our simple and natural political organ
zations have giveu direction and energy to
individual aud associated enterprise, maintain
ed public order, and promoted the welfare of
all parts of our vast expanding country. Xo
one who knows the history of Pennsylvania
and understands ;he opinions and feelings of
her people can justly charge us with hostility
to our brethren of other States. We regard
them as friends and fellow countrymen, iu
whose welfare we feel a kindred interest, and
we recognize, in their broadest extent, all our
constitutional obligations to them. These wo
are ready aud willing to observe generonsly
and fraternally in their letter and spirit, with
unswerving fidelity.
The election of a President of the United
States, according to the forms of the Consti
tution, has recently been made a pretext for
disturbing the peace of the country by a deliber
ate attempt to wrest from the Federal Govern
ment the powers which the people conferred
on it when they adopted the Constitution.—
By this movement the question whether the
government of the United States embodies the
prerogatives, rights aud powers and sovereig
nty, or merely represents, for specific purposes
a multitude of independent communities, con
federated in a league which any on* of them
may dissolve at will, is now placed directly be
fore the people. Unhappily this question
is not presented in the simple form of political
discussion, but complicated with the passions
and jealousies of impending or actual conflict.
There is nothing in the life of Mr. Lincoln,
nor in any of his acts or declarations before
or since his election, to justify the apprehen
sion that his Administration will be unfriend
ly to the local institutions of uny of the States
Xo sentiments but those of kindness and con
ciliation have been expressed or entertained
by the constitutional majority which elected
him; and nothing has occurred to justify the
excitement which seems to have blinded the
judgment of a part of the people, and is pre
cipitating them into revolution.
The supremacy of the Xational Government
has been so folly admitted and solong eherish-
I ed by the people of Pennsylvania, aDd so com
pletely has the conviction of its nationality