Bradford Reporter. Towanda, Thursday, January 12, 1865. MR. WARD'S ADDRESS. If that part of Mr. WARD'S Address which we noticed in our last, is objectionable,that portion of it which we propose to review now, is doubly so ; and if we regretted the awkward position which our examination of his charge against the republicans of fraud ulent voting, places him in, we can truly say that we are pained at being obliged to follow up the more reprehensible part of this extravagant folly ; and it would be less grievous to him, if Mr. WARD had not " traveled out of the sphere of his appoint ment "to earn condemnation. But to our subject. Mr. WARD substantially declares, that! forty-lour innocent, and reputable, citizens of j Luzerne and Columbia counties, were im- j prisoned by military authority, and tried j before a tribunal unknown to the constitution —called a Court Martial. An abundance of expletives are called into requisition to j give this act of the administration a horrify ing aspect. The truth of the matter is,that these forty-four citizens combined to resist the draft, and the government was obTiged j to send a militaiy force to arrest the law-1 breakers. Mr. WARD says three of them were sentenced to heavy fines, and impris onment ; so that these conspirators were guilty of the charges preferred against them; and it is these criminals before the law, over which our neighbor makes his piteous ; lamentation. We doubt not but that every criminal in the penitentiary could give an ! equally distressing account of his suffer ings, if he had Mr. WARD'S power of deliue-, ation. But who is to blame for this suffer-i ing ? Mr. WARD says the government. We 1 say tlie traitors themselves. For if they had not resisted the law, they would not! have been punished. This is clear. Why i are not peaceable citizens punished? Be-j cause they are peaceable. Mr. \\ ARI> pleads I f..r these violators of the law, and tries to cover up their heinous offense, for the rea son that they are democrats, and it they | were cut-throats, and belonged to his party, it would be the same thing. Such is the perverse tendency of blind partizan zea'. 1 What is it to the loyal citizen that there ! are no stoves, benches, beds, knives, forks, j j dates, or any other conveniences, in the j cells of Fort Mifflin? What is it to them that this is a damp Island fort, constructed : more with a view of resisting a bombard-' lnent, than anything else ? What is it to I them that the government is obliged to des ecrate it by the incarceration of Copper head rebels ? Loyal men respect the laws, and have no fears of Bastiles, and because they respect the laws, they see no modern tyranny. It is only traitors who feel the damps of noisome cells, and see the tyran n>" The Chairman id the State Democratic Committee says, these Columbia rioters "are ' being' drawn out, one by one, to be tried before a tribunal unknown to the con stitution—called a Court Martial —in which they are denied the privilege—priceless in a freeman's estimate—of a trial by a jury of their peers, and of the vicinage." Mr. WARD is a lawyer, and asserts that a Court Martial is unknown to the constitu tion. That instrument says, "Congress shall have power to raise and support ar mies. 'l'o make rules for the government, and regulation,of the laud anil naval forces." Ami pray, who ever heard of armies with out Court Martials ? So the power to cre ate Court Martials, comes directly from the constitution : and we have had them under the government,over since its organization. Every bright school boy knows these facts; and yet, our legal neighbor says, these courts are unknown to the constitution.— Wise, and learned man ! What a luminous production it would be, how suddenly all that has ever been written on the sacred right of trial by jury, would fall into the shade, if we had an "elaborate discussion" on (his subject, from this writer ! The question, however, of the legality of the trial of the Columbia county rioters, lias been clearly settled, in the case of Vallan dighnir.. The Supreme Court of the United Slates, under its old regime, after a full ar gument, decided thai the art est of Yalian iligham, by military authority, was legal, that the military commission which tried him for a military offense, was constitution ally constituted, and that there was no leg al authority in our civil courts to reverse, or to revise its judgment. Yet Mr. WARD pronounces these courts unconstitutional, monstrous and unbearable. But the de nial of a trial bv jury in the vicinage, to to these Columbia lqw-breakers,is the point over which we have the full burst of lachry mose winnings of a surcharged partizan prejudice. A trial by jury in the vicinage, to these rioters, would have been a mock ery. No witnesses could have been found,no matter what the criminality of the party tried, to testify against them; and the jury men, like the witnesses, would have syi t pathiseil with the rioters, and therefore, it would only have been a farce, to trv them in this manner. After the army that went out to suppress the Mormon rebellion, had taken possession of Salt Lake city, and courts of law had been established, an at tempt was made to bring to punishment the ) leaders of the rebellion ; but the witnesses and jurymen, were all Mormons, and they thought that Mormons in rebellion against ( the government, was a religous, and a po- j litical duty, and the sequence was. that the ! trials were a farce, and had to be abandon-! ed. It would be just so with trials in the! disaffected districts of Columbia county.— ! Democrats turned rioters, and democrats j over the State, as Mr. WARD'S sympathies prove, as well as democrats of the vicinage, believe it is right to rebel against the abo lition government, as they choose to call it, uud how wortU a trial in the vicinage, un der such circumstances, result? It would have been a muckerj, truly. We have shown tiiat'Lhft trial of the (Jul-! umbia county conspirators, was lawful, be-! yond all cavil, and proper ; and in view of this, how does Mr. W ARK'S appeal to the two hundred and seventy-six thousand dem ocrats to revolt against the government, appear? For such in reality it is. The; spleen consequent upon political defeat,has so distorted the vision of our neighbor, that i he can no longer see the plain outlines of! the Constitution, and under his hallu- j cination, the necessary, and the proper' acts of the administration, are pro- j nounced " alarming violations of great | principles of freeman's rights, which even no monarch on the throne of our English ancestors, since the days of Magna eharta, . ever yet invaded with impunity ; and no administration of our government, ever be fore dared to infringe," declaring the acts of the government to be *' monsdrou* and unbearable." The plain English of this is, that if Mr. WARD'S democratic cohorts are not poltroons, they will revolt, en manse, ! against these imagined wrongs. It is tell-1 ing them that if they do not resist these ! supposed infringements of their rights,that they are not freemen—that no freemen ever did put up with such things. So that we understand this to be a call on the demo crats to resist the acts of the government ; and if they do not resist them, it will not be the fault of this appeal. In its spirit, and intended effect, this language is simi lar to that used by Henry 11, when exasper ated at the recusant conduct of Thomas Beeket. In the presence of his courtiers, this king exclaimed, " What an unhappy prince am I, who, have not about me one man of spirit enough to rid me of a single insolent prelate and forthwith the Bishop of Canterbury was murdered before the al tar by four of the king's partisans ; and if there is not an immediate up-rising of the democrats to resist the acts of the govern- j meut, Mr. W AIUI'S words are less potent fur evil, than were those of an English King. That is all the difference. We have already said that we are sorry our neighbor perpetrated the folly of issu ing this address. It will be a badge of dis grace to him for the rest of his days, and it is a little singular he did not see this. In every war in which this country has been engaged, there have been among us those who opposed the government In the revolution we had the tories, and in his letters written against the efforts of the United States to secure their freedom, Ben edict Arnold used language similar to that now used by Mr. WARD. The tories have ever been a by-word of reproach. In our sec ond war with England, the federalists op posed the govei nment; and its leaders were ever afterwards in disgrace. And even in the Mexican war, which was pro jected for the acquisition of slave territo ries, and on this ground was opposed bo wlegs, and this opposition resulted in the ruin of that party. Can Mr. WARD not see the fate of his party, and of himself, in this past experience of the country? THE MILITARY SITUATION'. Since our last issue, the most notable military occurrence has been the failure of the immense cxp dition undertaken against Wilmington, under the command of Gen. BUTI.F.R and Commodore PORTER. The fleet bombarded Fort Fisher for some days with out any perceptible result, and finally with drew. The operations of the army, ai>- pear to have been confined to landing a few troops and re-embarking them. Want of co-operation between the two arms of the service seems to have been the cause of this disgraceful failure. From Thomas' army the news is, that Hood has escaped with the fragment of his routed army, so cut up and disorganized that he is impotent for mischief. There are indications that Thomas has concentrated his army, and is preparing to move in some direction for the purpose of striking an ef fective blow. The latest from Sherman are Charleston dispatches dated last Thursday, published in the Richmond newspapers, represent Gen. Sherman.'# forces are still concentra ting in South Carolina, between the Savan nah River and tlardeeville. Gen. Kilpat | rick was reported to be still in South Car olina. The Union troops were said to be building a new pontoon bridge across the Savannah, and steamers were removing the obstructions placed in the stream by the Rebels. Gen. Sherman had, it is stated, given notice to the citizens of Savannah to settle up their bank and other accounts within fifteen days. Gen. Grierson's raid on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad lias been successful, so far as heard from, without the loss of a man.— j He started from Memphis on the 21st of! December, and struck the road just below Corinth, Mississippi, and on the 27th had completely destroyed it to beyond Okaloua, a distance of over seventy miles, together with twenty-nine brigdes, a great deal of trestle work, a number of ears, three hundred army wagons, four thousand Rebel carbines, and much other property. He j had dispersed Forrest's dismounted camp, and was pushing on with the intention of rendering the line utterly useless as far as Meridian, one hundred miles further, and, if, possible, releasing the Union prisoners at Catawba, Miss. The ijuiet continues before Richmond and Petersburg. Considerable damage was done to buildings in the latter town on Tuesday by the opening of our artillery i upon it. Rut a feeble reply was made by the Rebel guns. Operations on the Dutch Gap Canal have been suspended for the present, and the Rebels have ceased firing j upon it. Gen. Sheridan has recently sent portions ! of his cavalry and artillery into Loudon and Fairfax counties, Virginia, who are j making all that region a very uneomforta- i ble place for Rebel guerrillas and sympa thizing secession residents. A number of i the latter have beep arrested, and their I ! ] property, which was made to subserve the ; purposes of Moseby's and White's outlaws, i , lias been seized. Secretary Stanton is conferring with Gen, j Sherman as to future movements. FROM IIARRISBURG. HAKRIHBUBG, Jan. 6, 1860. MR. EDITOR :—ln accordance with the constitu tional provision, the Legislature convened at the capitol on the first Tuesday of January, and organ ized. Hon. A. G. Olinsteftd, of Potter, was elected Speaker of the house, and Hon. W. J. Turrell, of Susquehanna, of the Senate. Mr. Benedict, of Huntingdon, was elected clerk of the house, and Mr. Humniersley, of Philadelphia, of the Senate.— Messrs. Turrell and Olinstead are both from the northern tier of counties, and both of their talants, industry, moral rectitude and unremitting attention to their duties as legislators eminently deserved, and fairly secured the honorable positions which they now occupy. They are both emphatically self-made men, having l>een reared in the counties which they now represent, when advantages afford ed to young men were not as favorable as the}' now are. The northern counties should feel honored hv the election of both speakers from their section of the State. Immediately after the organization and the read- j ing of the message, both branches adjourned over | till Tuesday the Oth, in order to ennble the Speak- | ers to appoint the Standing Committees. There j are to be several contested seats. Two sets of mem- I hers are on hand from the district composed of; Somerset, Fulton and Bedford counties. The re publicans are Ross and Armstrong, and the demo- 1 crats are'Myers and Findley. There is one of the | Lycoming members who is not yet safely in his seat. I observe among the members of the house many j familiar countanees. Still many of the members are new men, and several quite young men. Among ! thehuissiug are Bigham, of Allegheny, who is trans- j ferred to the Senate, Smith of Chester, McMurtrie of Blair, Lilley of Bradford, Watson of Philndel- : phis, and Johnson, the former Sjienker, of Craw- ; ford. 111 the Senate there are fewer changes, Ken sey of Bucks, Johnson, of Lycoming, and Penney of 1 Allegheny are not in their accustomed seats, they : will lie much missed. The workmen have commenced excavating upon I the east side of the capitol preparatory to the erect- ! ion of a wing to the building. This addition is | needed for the use of the library aud for commit- | tee rooms. The following is a full list of officers of the Leg islature : (fficers of ihe House. —Speaker—A. G. Olnistead, ! of Potter. Clerk—A. W. Benedict, of Huntingdon. Assistant Clerk—Wm. H. Denniston, of Alle- j gbeny. Transcribing Clerks—Caleb Walker, of Philadel phia ; A. D. Harlan, of Chester ; Jos. Willison, of Allegheny ; Thomas J. Kerr, of Washington. Postmaster—Alex. Adair, of Philadelphia. Sergeant-at-Arms—Charles E. Idell, of Philadel- : phia. Doorkeeper—Jas. T. MeJunkin, of Butler. Messenger-—Asa Nichols, of Bradford. In addition to the above are four Assistant Ser- j geant-at-Arms. four Assistant Doorkeepers, four i Messengers, and one Assistant Postmaster. Officers of the (senate. —Speaker—Wm. J. Turrell, j of Susquehanna. Clerk—Geo. W. Hauimersley. . Assistant Clerk—Lucius Rogers. Transcribing Clerks—Ebeuezer Williams, Mar- j tin Orladay, E. K. Haines, Henry Catlin, E. De ! Wolf. Sergeant-at-Arms—John G. Martin. Assistants—James S. Johnson and (diaries Wil- | liams. Doorkeeper—Joseph Itiblet. Assistants—J. B. Hinds, M. L. Novinger, Frank H. Acutf, Jacob H. Kline, Joseph T. Thompson, ! John A. Arnold. Messenger—Wm. Duffey. Assistant —Wm. Shields. PERSONAL. —Hon. Reuben E. Fen ton, Governor elect of tile State of New York, was inaugurated on Monday, '2d inst. His inaugural is published in the New York papers. —Thomas 0. Fletcher, the newlv-eleeted radical Governor of Missouri, was inaugurated in Jefferson City on Monday, and his inaugural mes sage was read. He takes hold ground for ridding the State of the curse of Slavery at the earliest mo ment. --Ex-Gov. Richard Yates, Union, of Illi nois, was 011 Thursday chosen United States Sen ator to succeed William A. Richardson, Democrat, whose term expires with this Congress. Mr Yates I was a member of the House of Representatives from 1851 to 1855, elected by the Whig party. For : the past four years he has been Governor of the ■ State. —.Secretary Fessenden has been nom inated for re-election to the Senate, by the caucus of Union members of the Maine Legislature. Gf course this foreshadows his resignation of the See j retaryship of the Treasury. He will, without dont 1 he elected. —Hon. Jacob M. Howard lias been re elected by the Legislature of Michigan to the U. S. Senate. He has faithfully and ahlv represented that State in the Senate. —The prominent candidates for the va cant Mission to France are John C. Fremont, Hen ry Winter Davis, Charles Sumner, Montgomery Blair, John P. Hale and W. P. Fessenden. —Hon. J. 8. Haldemen has been elected unanimously, President of the Harrishurg National Bank, in place of Wm. M. Kerr, Esq., deceased. —Gen. \Y ayne, who commands one of the bodies of rebels in Georgia, is said to be the son ! of Judge Wayne, of the United States Supreme Court. —The College of New Jersey has con ferred the degree of L. L. D. upon Mr. Lincoln.— This from a New Jersey institution may he consid ered rather generous. —Hon. F. P. Blair, accompanied by his son, Montgomery, recently visited the army, with the purpose of procuring permission to go to Rich mond. Gen. Grant refused to pass them, and they : returned. Considerable speculation has been in dulged in, as to the probable motive of their pro jected visit to the rebel capitol, and much undue importance attached to it. The most reasonable solution is, that it was upon private business, and wholly unauthorized by the President. —Hon. George Mifllin Dallas died at his residence in Philadelphia, on Saturday, Dec. Hist, in the 72d year of his age. Mr. D. has filled many important public stations, displaying much ability, and commanding the respect of the nation. —O. X. Worden, for seventeen years publisher of the Lnn.il/nrj f'hronirlr, has retired from that paper, which is now under the charge of J. It. CORN EI.II"s. Mr. W. formerly published a newspaper at Athens, in this county, removing thence to Lewisburg. He ha* been an able and in dustrious. journalist, and has done good service in the Union ranks. We wish him abundant success in life. —William Curtis Xoyes, a distinguished lawyer ; James William Wallack, the actor and manager, and Col. Charles A. May who made his name famous by his exploits during the Mexican war, particularly at Resaca de hi Palma and Mon terey, died in New York during the past week. —Hon, D. S. Dickinson has arrived in New York city, and entered upon the active dis charge of his duties as President of the New York and Liverpool Petroleum Company. —James W. Xye and William Stewart I have been elected United States Senators from the j new state of Navada. Nye is the well-known New York politician, who has lately been governor of the j territory. Stewart is a son-in-law of " Hangman " i Poots. of the rebel Congress. —Hon. G. A. Grow will address his fel-; low citizens at the Court House in Montrose, on Monday evening, January 16th 1865, on questions relative to a Restored Union. —The funeral of Hon. WM. L. DAYTON took place at Trenton on Tuesday last, and wag an iai- j [losing display. GOVERNORS MESSAGE. ! To the Senate and Ho use of Representative*. During the past year the people of this j Commonwealth have had reason to be grate ful to Almighty G<si for many blessings. : The earth has been fruitful, industry has i thriven, and, with the exception of the in- ) jury suffered by the citizens of some of our ; border counties, through the disgraceful j barbarity of the rebel forces which ravaged j parts of them, and burned the town of*j Chambersburg, we have no public uiisfor- ■ tune to lament. The year closes with a j train of brilliant successes obtained by the j armies of the United States, inspiring hope I in every loyal mind that the accursed re- j bell ion will soon be crushed, and peace be { restored to our country. THE HNACIAL CONDITION OF THE STATE. The balance in the Treasury, Nov. 30 1863, was $2,147,331 70 Receipts during the fiscal year ending Nov. 30, 1864 4,733,313 0-2 Totalin Treasury for fiscal year ending Nov. 30, 1864 6,880,644 72 Tint payments for the same period have been 4,938,441 (ft) Balance in Treasury, Nov. 'JO, 1864.. 1,042,203 63 The operations of the Sinking Fund dur ing tlfe last year have* been shown by my proclamation of the 27th day of September last, as follows : „ Amount of debt of Com monwealth reduced $268,569 50 As follows, viz : Five per cent, loan of the Commonwealth $268,308 03 Interest certificates re deemed 561 47 The fiscal year accounted for in the state-, inent of the Treasury Department embraces ; the time from the Ist of December, 1863, to the 30th of November, 1864. The sinking- j fund year commenced the first Monday in September, 1863, and ended the first Tues- i day in September, 1864. This will explain ; the discrepancy between the statement of I the Treasury Department as to the reduc-; tion of the public debt of the State, and the statement embodied in the proclamation relative to the sinking fund. Amount of public; debt of Pennsylvania, as it stood on the Ist day of December $39,496,596 78 Deduct amount redeemed at the State Treasury during the fiscal year eliding with November 30, 1864, viz ; Five per cent, stocks... .$104,722 73 Four and a half per ct. stocks 1,000 00 Interest certificates 2,270 116,992 84 . Public debt Dee 1,1864 $39,379,603 94 j Funded debt, viz •_.... Six per cent, leans, ordi nary $400,630 00 Five per cent, loans, ordi nary 35,605,2651 72 Four ami a half per cent loans, ordinary 258,200 00 36,264,094 72 j Unfunded debt, viz : Relief notes in circulation 97,251 00 Interest certificates out standing 13,086 52 Interest certificates un claimed 4,448 28 Domestic creditors' cer tificates 724 32 115,510 22 36,379,393 94 Military loan, per act 15th May, 1801 .8,000,000 in) Total public debt December 1,1864. $39,379,393 1)4 I The Commonwealth holds bonds received from the sale of Public Works amounting to ten million three hundred thousand dol- i lars($10,300,000), as follows : Pennsylvania Itailroud Company Ixinds $6,800,000 I'hiladelphia and Erie Railroad Coiu panv bonds 3,500,000 $10,300,000 These bonds are in the sinking fund, and reduce the public debt to $29,079,003 94. The tax on tonnage imposed by the acts of 30th April and 25th August, 1804, has yielded something less than $200,000 —a i much less sum than was anticipated. I ; recommend a revision of these uots, for the purpose of rendering this source of revenue j more productive, and amending other de j fects in these bills. The revenue derived from the tax on } banks during the year amounts to $539,600 j 07, but under the enabling act of the State j I so many of our banks have become national | banks under the act of Congress, that this j source of revenue may be considered as i substantially extinguished, and it will be i necessary in some way to make up the de : ficiency from other sources. The act of ! Congress authorizes the taxation by the I State of the stock in the national banks in , the hands of the holders, not exceeding the ! rate of taxation imposed on other similar i property, and part of the deficiency may be | thus provided for. The amount of debt extinguished by the ; Sinking fund during the year is unusually small, which is to be accounted for by the ! extraordinary expenses which have been in ! curred. Seven hundred and thirteen thous and dollars ($713,000) have been paid to j refund to the banks the money advanced , by them to pay the volunteers in service during the invasion of the State in 1863. | One hundred thousand dollars (100,000) | have been distributed among the iuhabi | tants of Chambersburg suffering by the | rebel destruction of their town. About two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) have I j been expended under the acts providing for | the payment of extra military cla ms, and, I in addition to these extraordinary outlays, ! the amount appropriated to charities was last year larger than usual. SO UNDIE APPROPRIATIONS RECOMMENDED. Tho national taxation is heavy and must > probably be made heavier, and the local tax | authorized by unwise legislation and paid !by our people are excessive. In view of these circumstances, we should endeavor to | avoid increasing their burdens by making undue appropriations for any purpose. DONATION TO I.OCAL CHARITIES. In rny opinion this matter of donations to charities is fast running into a great abuse. Houses of refuge, and insane, blind, and deaf and dumb asylums appear to bo : ; proper subjects of State bounty, because ; their objects are of public importance ; and to be useful, as well as economically man-, aged, it seems to be necessary that they should be more extensive than would be required for the wants of a particular coun ty. But in our system ordinary local char- i ities are left to the care of the respective ; j localities, and to give the public money for their support is really to tax the inhabi- j tants of all the counties for the benefit of j one. RAILROAD MATTERS. i It being alleged that the Atlantic and i Great Western Railroad Company has not, ; in various particulars, obeyed the law by < j which it was incorporated, the Attorney General, on the suggestion of parties claim ing to be thereby injured, lias filed aq in? formation in equity against that company, seeking an injunction to prevent a contin uance of its past and the persistence of its intended illegal course. Since my last annual message, on the re- j port of John A. Wright, Esq., that the Sun bury and Erie Railroad was finished, I or dered the bcfpds remaining in the treasury to be delivered to t)ie cojnpany, It is a subject of just pride to the people of this Commonwealth that this great work i§ com pleted, whilst it opens a large and wealthy 1 part of the State.' t<> the commerce of the seaboard, and unites capital and enterprise within our horde s, it secures to the Com monwealth the payment of sums due her from the company. THE PAYMENT OK THE MILITIA. In my special message of 510 th April last, to which I refer, I communicated to the Legislature, in some detail, the circumstan ces connected with the advance by banks and other corporations of the funds to pay ! the volunteer militia of 18651. It is not necessary here to recapitulate them at length. The case was peculiar, and it is believed none quite like it has oc curred. The call for volunteers was made by the authorities of the United States, but it being found that men c mid not be got | under that call, the form of a call by the i State authorities for the defence of the State was, with the assent of the President, substituted. The United States agreed to furnish the arms, subsistence, and supplies, but it was alleged that Congress had made no appropriation covering the pay. In this state of things, the emergency being great the Secretary of War telegraphed to me thus : Wrshinoton, July 22, 1863. To ITis Excellency Gov. A'. G. Curtin: Your telegrams respecting the pay of militia called out under your proclamation of the the 27tli of June, have been referred to the President for in structions, and have been under his consideration. He directs me to say, that while no law or appro priation authorizes the payment, by the General Government, of troops that have not been mustered into the service of the United States, he will rec ommend to Congress to make an appropriation for the payment of troops called into State service to repel an actual invasion, including those of the State of Pennsylvania. If, in the meantime, you can raise the necessary amount, as has been done in other States, the ap propriation will be applied to refund the advance to those who made it. Measures have been taken for the payment of troops mustered into the United States service as soon as the muster and pay rolls are made out. The answer of this Department, to you as Governor of the State, will be given directly to yourself, whenever the Department is prepared to make answer. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. The banks and other corporations refused to advance the money unless I would pledged myself to ask an appropriation from the Legislature to refund it. It will be noticed that the pledge of die President is clear and distinct, but, notwithstanding tho money was paid and the accounts settled and placed in the hands of the President before the meeting of Congress, no such recommendation as promised me was made, and for that reason the bill introduced for that purpose failed. The men were raised and placed under the command of Major General Couch and the United .States nffi ; cers in this Department. The troops were held in service longer than the emergency for which they called out required. Several | of the regiments were marched immediately I into distant parts of the State, by order of the officers of the army stationed in Penn : sylvania, against my repeated remonstran ces. They were retained, as was alleged, : to preserve the peace and enforce the draft. Nearly, if not quite, one-half the iyoney ; was paid to troops thus held, and after the | emergency had expired. Finding that the appropriation was likely to fail in Congress, I laid the matter before the Legislature, just prior to their adjournment, in May last, and an act of Assembly was immediately passed to refund the money out of the State treasury, which, as above stated, has been done. I ought to say that the appropriation by Congress was vigorously supported by all the members from this State in both branches. Having done everything in my ! power to procure the payment of this just ! claim of the State, I now recommend that the Legislature take the subject into con ■ sideration, with a view to induce proper ac tion by the President and Congress. THF. ENROLMENT OF THE MILITIA. By the act of 22d of August, 1864, 1 was authorized to cause an immediate enrol ment of the militia to be made, unless that recently made by the United States should be found sufficient, and to raise by volun teering or draft a corps of fifteen thousand men for the defence of our Southern border. The United States enrolment being found very defective, I directed an enrollment to be made, which is now in progress under the charge of Colonel Lemuel Todd, whom I appointed inspector general. A draft by ! the United States was then in progress, ! and it was not thought advisable to harass J our people by a contemporaneous State draft, even if a draft had been practicable under the present law. Volunteers could ; not be obtained, there being no bounties, and the men not being exempted by their ! enlistment in that corps from draft by the United States. Fortunately the United States placed an army, under General Sher idan, between us and the enemy, and thus provided effectually for our defence. With ; such adequate protection, as proved by the i brilliant campaign of that army, I did not think it right to incur the expense to the State of an independent army, and the : withdravvl of so many of our people from their homes and pursuits. Meanwhile ar ] rangements have been made with the au j thorities at Washington for arming,clothing, subsisting, and supplying the corps at the expencc of the United States, and an order : has been given by the authorities of the ; United States to furlough such volunteers in the corps as may be drafted by the Uui- I ted States, the corps so privileged not to | exceed 5,000 men. It is my intention to I raise 5,000 men during the winter, and 1 i have already adopted measures to that end. I There may occur irruptions of irregular bodies of the rebels, and it is well to be provided against them. The number pro posed to be so raised and put into actual | service will, in my judgement,be sufficient, and a regard t® due economy requires that no more than are sufficient should be placed on pay. The remaining 10,000 will be or ganized and ready for service in case of necessity. I invite your immediate atten i tion to the very able report of the Inspec tor General, which sets forth the defects in the law which he has discovered tn his pre | paration for carrying it into practical effect. OCR STATE AGENCIES The State agencies at .Washington and in the Southwest are in active aud success ful operation. I communicate herewith the reports of Colonel Jordan, at Washington, and Colonel Chainberlin, Agent for the Southwest. The provisions of th* law re quiring the agents.to collect nu.nc/s due by the United States to soldiers have been beneficient. A reference to their reports . will show the magnitude and usefulnes of this branch of their service. I desire to I | invite the attention of all our volunteers, ' officers, soldiers, and their families to the fact that the State agents will collect all their claims on the Government gratuitous-. ly, as 1 have reason to believe that many i are still ignorant of that fact,and are great ly imposed upon by the exorbitant com missions charged by private claim agents. EDUCATION OV SOLDIERS ORPHAN'S. Under the. aet of the tth of May, 18<U. I appointed Hon. Thomas 11. Burrowes to take charge of the arrangements for the education of the orphans of soldiers. I communicate herewith a copy of this re port on the subject. He has discharged his duties with commendable zeal, fidelity, and efficiency. I earnestly recommend that a perrpjnent apt} liberal appropriation be made to support this ju§t and worthy scheme of benencience. PENSION'S FOR INJURED ASH DEAD MII.TTIMEN. I recomend that an appropriation he made for pensions to the volunteer militimen (or their families), who were killed or hurt in service in the years 186*2 and 18153. As soldiers sometimes arrive here who are in sane, and who should be protected anil cared for, 1 recommend that provision he made for their being placed in the State Asylum for the Insane, at this place, and kept Until notice can be given to the au thorities of their respective counties, who should be required to remove and care for them. IKRF.IifI.AR ACTS OF INCORPORATION. I feel it to be my duty to invite your serious attention to the evils growing out of the system of passing acts of incoopo ration for purpose which are provided for by general laws. We have passed acts authorizing charters to be obtained without special legislation. These aets have been generally prepared with some care, and contain the provisions which the Legisla ! ture thought necessary to protect the Com monwealth and her oi'izens If these gen i eral laws are not found to answer such i purposes, they should be amended and per ! fectcd. If any company desires to be in l.corporated with greater privleges than are | conferred, or to be relieved from any of the 1 conditions imposed by these acts, it appears to me that it should be required first to ; obtain a charter under the general laws, and then apply to the Legislature for an act making the changes which arc desired. The attention of the Legislature will thus be drawn to the specific object, and a judgment can be formed of its propriety. 1 would also observe that great evil results i from the habit of granting privileges to a ! corporation by a mere reference to some ! former private act relating to other corpo- I rations, sometimes without even giving the date of these acts, "til these practices are bad, and although they may sometimes be pursued by parties having no bad inten | tion, yet they certainly originated in the design of surprising the Commonwealth into grants of privileges which it was known could not be obta nod if their extent were understood, and they are often follow ! cd now for the same fraudulent purposes. REPEALS RECOMMENDED. 1 strongly recommend the repeal of the act passed the 18th day of July, A. D. , 1863, entitled "An act relating to corpora tions for mechanical, manufacturing, min ing, and quarrying purposes." Its provis ions are found to be practically so incon sistent with the due protection of the citizens and with the just policy of the ! Commonwealth, that it ought not to he al lowed to stand longer on our statute book. | 1 approved the act in question with great | reluctance, and subsequent reflection and ; observation have satisfied me of its mis ' chicvous character. I also recommend the repeal of an act passed the 22d day of July, A. 1). 1863, entitled " A further supplement to an act j to enable joint tenants and tenants in com mon, and adjoining owners of mineral lauds in this Commonwealth, to manage ! and develop the same. " This act allows foreign corporations to hold three hundred acres of land in this State for mining pur poses. It was passed, it is believed, for the purpose of enabling companies near j our border, engaged in the manufacture of ; iron, to hold land as ore banks. But under the idea that the sinking of an oil well is mining, it is believed that companies have ; already been organized under the laws of j other States, and that more will he, for the • purpose of holding lands and carrying on | the oil business in this State It would j he better to remove all doubt on this ques ! tion by repealing the act. The companies, I being foreign corporations, are not within the control of our laws to the Extent that they ought to be for the purposes of taxa i tion and regulation. DEVELOPMENT OF OL'R INTERNAL RESOURCES. The immense development of wealth in I some of our western counties by the dis j covery of oil has added vastly to the re ! sources of the commonwealth. I have : made efforts to ascertain the value of this i product during the last year,but have failed in procuring information sufficiently accu rate to justify me in estimating its amount. It is already vast, and is rapidly increas : '£• A COMMISSIONER OF STATISTICS. The productions and manufactures of the State have become so diversified and abun dant that some measures should be taken ■ for an accurate ascertainment of them, so that their extent may be generally known, and also that the necessary taxation may be intelligently imposed. 1 recommend for these purposes the creation of a bureau, of which the Auditor General and the State j Treasurer shall be members, and the head of which shall be a new officer, to be styled Commissioners of Statistics, or designated by any other appropriation title. REFORM IN THE METHOD OF SOI.DTERS VOTING. The act of 25th August, 1864, providing for the voting of soldiers, should be care fully examined, with a view to its amend ment, and, indeed, a revision of our wiiole election laws would seem to be desirable, with a view to the two essential objects of : 1. The admission of the legal and ex clusion of illegal votes at the polls ; and, . 2. Faithful and correct returns of the votes actually polled. I communicate herewith the opinion of the Attorney General on the conflicting returns for the Sixteenth Con gressional district, which will show some of the practical difficulties which arise un der the existing system. Without under taking to recommend the adoption of any particular plan, 1 submit the whole subject to your careful and earnest consideration, in the hope that in your wisdom you will | be able to devise some measure which will produce the result so essential to the exis tence of a free government: that votes shall be fairly taken in the first instance, and fairly counted and returned afterwards. . I have endeavored since I came into office i to exercise as cautiously as possible tht 1 powers confided to the Executive, and ; avoid unsurping any, 1 shall endeavor : to persist in this course to the end. DRAFT-CONDEMNATION OK LOCAL BOUNTIES. A new call has been made by the Pres ident for three hundred thousand men.— This renders it proper that I should invite your attention to the evils which have re sulted from abuses of tin' system of local : bounties which was begun in an emergency, by the voluntary and generous loyalty of ■ our citizens, before the passage by Con gress of the enrollment act, and has since ' been continued by sundry acts of Assembly. The result lias been to the last degree op pressive to our citizens' and unproductive of corresponding benefit to the Government. In some counties and townships, it is be lieved that the bounty tax during the last year exceeded the average income derived from the land, The large sums offered In ; some places in the competition for men have demoralized many of our people, and the most atrocious frauds connected with the Bystem(have become common. The men of some of the poorer counties have been nearly exhausted by their volunteers being credited to richer localities paying heavier bounties. The system, as practised, lowers ! the morale of the army itself, by putting into the ranks men actuated by merely lqereengry motives, apd who are tempted i to desert by the facilty of escaping detec-1 tion, and the prospect of new gains by r<- cnlistment-a process which they expect to repeat an indefinite number of times. Of the number of men for whom bounties haie been paid, it is believed that not one-fourth have been actually placed in the ranks of the army, aud even those who have joined it have probably not on an average received for their own use one-half of the bounty paid for them. Immense sums have thus been appropriated by cheats and swindlers, in many cases believed to be acting h, complicity with agents of the Government. An effort was made to prosecute some of the parts concerned in such frauds under the act of Assembly of 14th August last, and they were bound over by the Mayor of this city, but after the witnesses had come here, on the meeting of the court, they disappeared from the public eye. I recom mend the whole subject to your careful con sideration, that the system may he purged of these evils. OCR STATE QUOTA 66, I am officially informed that the quota of this State, under the recent call, is 66,999, ] but I am not informed of the principle on J whic.'i the draft is to be made. It appears ; from the President's proclamation that it is I made chiefly to supply an alleged deficiency in former calls. 1 am surprised at the amount j of this large deficiency, and can only ac j count for the difference between the num- I her of men furnished by the State and the j deficiency alleged to exist in the assign- I ment of the present quota by the assurnp | tion that the men never reached the army, | although enlisted and mustered after the : payment of bounties by the localities to j wl.ich they were supposed to be credited It is probable that there are very few coun ties in the State which have not paid large bounties for a number of men sufficient to fill their former quotas. Taking the local bounties at the low average of four bun bred dollars, it is believed that it can be de monstrated that the people of Pennsylvania have been thus robbed of more than twelve millions of dollars during the past year. THE BOUNTY SYSTEM NOT To ISK TOLERATED This estimate does not include the mon jey fraudulently taken from men who have I actually gone into the service. The eon ; tinuance of these monstrous and unpurul led abuses cannot be tolerated. Certainly more men are required to aid , our gallant soldiers in the field in crushing this rebellion, and every consideration of patriotism and of regard for our brothers who arc now in the face of the enemy, obli ges us to spare no effort to raise the neces sary force. VISITORS IN THE STATE PRISONS AMI THE FooR HOL'SES. In June last I gave letters to a commit tee of the Prison Society of Philadelphia, requesting that the members of the com mittee might be allowed to visit and exam j ine the prisons and poor-houses throughout ! the Cemmonwealth. I transmit with this i communication a copy of the report made I to me by the society of the results of their labors, and commend the same to your at tention, with a view to the adoption of pro per measures to reform the abuses which have been found to exist. PROVISIONS FOR RESPECTED PRISONERS. In connection with this subject, I again call your attention to the expediency of pro j viding for the reception in the penitentiar | ies of persons convicted of murder in the ' first degree, and who may be pardoned on J condition of serving a limited term therein. It has become the custom that an incoming Governor should not issue a warrant of ex ; ecution in cases left unacted on by his pre decessor, and it not unfrequently happens 1 that even in cases "which are recent, while some punishment should be inflicted, that of death may appear to the Executive to be I too severe. The result is that there are at this time, in the various prisons, some 18 ! or 20 persons under sentence of death, and I who may lie there for an indefinite period of time. ! CLERKS FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE COMMON WEALTH. The vast amount of additional labor which has been imposed upon the Secretary | of the Commonwealth by the existing state of affairs renders it absolutely necessary that the clerical force of his department should be increased. The making out of i commissions for our large army of volun teers in the field, and the preparation of election blanks required by law to be sent to the army ; the receipt, filing, and reeord | ing the returns of the soldiers' votes ; the ! enrollment of the yearly-increasing number of acts of Assembly,and of charters obtain ed under general laws and the letters-pat l ent for them—all these, together with the | previous heavy duties of the office, form an aggregate the weight of which must ulti mately break down his few subordinates, • diligent, faithful, and enduring as they are. 1 recommend, therefore, that provision be promptly made to meet the necessities of , this case. FLOURISHING CONDITION OK OCR SCHOOLS. It is a subject of just congratulation that notwithstanding the distracted condition of the country, our system of common schools continues to flourish. The report of the Superintendent, which I herewith transmit, shows that there has been an increase of scholars during the past year. It is im portant to secure as teachers a sufficient number of men of suitable education and ability, and with a view of this object, 1 | suggest for jour consideration the expedi ency of making out of the school fund it self some provision for the support of such teachers as shall, after a given term of ser vice, become superannuated or disabled while in the performance of tlmir duties. FUNDS FOR MILITARY CONTINGENCIES. Of the fund placed in my hands by the acts of the 16th May, 1861, and of the 4th of May, 1864, and to be appropriated in mv ! judgment in military service, I have ex pended in the last 'year $6,124 68 in sup port of the agency at Washington, up and until the 30th of May last, for my personal staff" and other military service, an account of which is settled in the office of the Au ditor General. No similar appropriation will be required at this session. DAMAGES BY THE REBEL RAID. A bill was intioduced and passed the House at the last session of the Legislature providing for the appointment of a com mission to ascertain tin; damages done in the counties of Bedford, Fulton, Franklin, Cumberland, York and Adams, by the rebel army in 1863, which failed in the Senate for want of time. I commend to your consideration the pro priety of the passage of such a bill during the present session. It is just to the people of these counties who have suffered,as well as to the Government, that these damages should he fairly ascertained, and the evi dence perpetuated, whatever may ho tin? view to bo taken, on future consideration, by the I'uited States or State Government, as to the propriety of paying such claims. HANCOCK'S NEW CORES Major Gen. Hancock has been authorized by the War Department to raise a corps o! veterans, to be called the Ist Corps. Due of the regulations is that on application by the (rovernor of any State recruiting officers will be designated for such State. 1 have been requested by Ganeral Hancock to make such application, but have hitherto declined to comply with the request. B appears to rue that the families of men iia*
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