RATES OF ADVERTISING.
/roar lines ar ISM eonstitate half a 'spare. Ten lines
or more than four, constitute a square.
lialfsq.,oneday— 80.25 One !R., one day.-------8 0 . 60
" cme tieek.— 1.00 " one weak.-- 1.23
" one month— . 2.00 " one month..- 3.06
c: three months. 3.00 " threemonths. 6.00
" eixmonths— 4.00 " six months. B.oe
" one year........ 0.00 cc one year...-..10. . 40
Er Business notices inserted in the Loom- anuma t . Or
WOES marriages and dearas, Flirt; OASTS PER tom for each
insertion. To merahantsand others advertisingby theyear
liberattm El will be offered.
H T The numberof insertions must be lesignatedon the
dvertisement.
y- Marriages and Deaths will be inserted at the same
aces as regular advertisements.
..
- _
t fitriot Rion+
THURSDAY MORNING, JAN. 8, 1861.
P_ENN'A. LEGISLATURE.
SENATE
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 2, 1861.
The Senate was called to order at 11 o'clock,
by the SPEAKER.
The reading of the Journal of yesterday was
dispensed with.
Mr. GREGG, from the committee appointed
to wait upon the Governor, informed the Sen
ate that the Governor -would communicate it
writing at five minutes past eleven o'clock.
PETITIONS, .W
Messrs. YARDLEY, GREGG and LAW
RENCE presented petitions._
Mr. SMITH presented twenty-eight petitions
from citizens of Philadelphia in relation to the
existing troubles in the country. A reading of
one of the petitiens was called for, pending
which, the Secretary of the Commonwealth
was announced, who delivered the annual mes
sage of the Governor; which was read.
At the conclusion of the message, one of
the memorials presented by Mr. SMITH was
rend. It approves of the resolutions passed at
the great Union meeting inPhiladelphia—prays
for the repeal of all laws interfering with the
rendition of fugitive slaves, and the passage of
conciliatory laws. Referred.
Mr. SMITH, from a select committee, re
ported the resolutions on the state of the coun
try, with amendments, which were read.
Mr. SMITH moved that when the Senate
adjourn it adjourn to meet at 3 o'clock this af
ternoon to take up the resolutions, which was
agreed to.
Mr. WELSH opposed hasty action. Action
on the resolutions was postponed until tomor
row.
BILLS IN PLACE
Mr. LAWRENCE read a bill in place an
',horning the school directors Of Bealsville,
Washington county, to borrow money, which,
under a suspension of the rules, was passed.
Mr. SMITH, a further supplement to the act
incorporating the city of Philadelphia.
Also, a. supplement to the law in relation to
landlord and tenant.
Also, a supplement to the act consolidating
the city of Philadelphia.
Mr. NICHOLS offered the following resolu
tion :
Resolved, That Kennedy M'Call be appointed
Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms.
This resolution gave rise to debate, partici
pated in by Messrs. PENNEY, WELSH, NICH
OLS, HALL and GREGG_
Mr. SMITH offered an amendment declaring
the office necessary.
On motion of Mr. PENNEY, the matter was
referred to a select committee, to report whether
any more officers were necessary.
The SPEAKER appointed Messrs. PENNEY,
NICHOLS and HALL said committee.
The SPEAKER presented the report of the
State Treasurer.
Mr. LAWRENCE moved that 1,000 copies
of the Report be printed for the use of the
Senate.
Mr. SCHINDEL moved to amend by adding
500 in German, which. was agreed to.
Mr. SMITH moved that 3,000 copies in En
glish, and 1,000 in German of the Governor's
message be printed for the use of the Senate.
Agreed to.
Mr. FINNEY moved that the Clerk appoint
six pages, at a salary not exceeding one dollar
per day.
The hour of one o'clock having arrived, the
Senate adjourned.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES .
WannEsnAY,
January 2, 1861.
The House met at 11 o'clock a. m., the
Speaker being in the Chair. A committee from
the Senate informed the House that the former
body was ready to proceed to business, and the
Rouse Committee which had been appointed to
wait on the Governor, reported that the annual
message of the Chief Executive would be pre
sented to the House at five minutes past 11
o'clock a. in.
The Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth
being introduced, presented the following mes
sage from the Governor :
To the Honorable the Senators and Members of the House
of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsyl
vania
OENTLIMIESI ;—ln submitting to the General
Assembly my last annual communication, it is
the source of unfeigned gratification to be able
to announce to the people, and to their Repre
sentatives, that notwithstanding the present
unfavorable crisis in the monetary affairs of
this country, and the general prostration of
business and credit, the financial condition of
Pennsylvania is highly satisfactory.
The receipts at the State Treasury, from all
sources, for the fiscal year ending on the 80th
of November, 1860, were $3,479,257 31, to
which add the available balance in the Trea
sury on the let day of December, 1859, $839,-
823 09, and the whole sum available for the
year will be found to be $4,318,580 40. The
expenditures, for all purposes, for the same
period, were $3,637,147 32. Leaving an availa
ble balance in the Treasury, on the lst day of
December, 1860, of $681,433 08. The follow
ing items are embraced in the expenditures for
the fiscal year, viz :
Loans redeemed
Belief notes cancelled
Interest certificates
Domestic creditors' certificates..-..
Damages on the public works, and old claims. 22,644 32
Making, of the public debt actually paid
during the year, the sum of.-- 891,757 89
The funded and unfunded debt of the Com
monwealth on the first day of December, 1859,
was as follows;
HIINDED DEBT
6 per cent. loans. $400,630 00
5 37,625,153 37
454 -.do 388,200 00
4 do 100,000 00
Total funded debt. _
UNFUNDED DEBT
Ilona notes in circulation..
Interest certificates outstanding
Do unclaimed
Domestic creditors
Total unfunded debt 124,977 70
Making the entire debt of the Commonwealth,
at the period named, $38,638,961 07.
• The funded and unfunded debt of thd State,
at the close of the last fiscal year, December 1,
1860, stood as follows :
FUNDED DEBT
6 per cont. loans.-
5. do
4X
—.d0....
Total funded debt 37,849-423 72
IBLVDNDID DNDT
Reiter notes in circulation—.—
Interest certificates outstanding 16,074 80
Do unclaimed. 4,448 38
Domestic creditors' certificates 797 to
Total unfunded debt /20,721 78
Making the entire public debt of Pennsylva
nia, on the first day of December last, $B7,
969,847 60.
•
To pay the principal and interest of these
the b esides the ordinary sources of revenue,
"'" 4l vgautionwealth "holds the following• mort-
gage bonds, derived from the sale of her public
improvements, viz :
Bonds of Pennsylvania railroad company..s7,2oo,ooo 00
Boods of Sunbury and Erie railroad coca.
3500000 00
,
Bonds of Wyoming canal company 281,000 00
10,981,000 00
At the close of the fiscal year, on the first
day of December, 1857, the public debt
of this Commonwealth, funded and un
funded, was.. 08,881,728 22
It is now, at the close of the fiscal year
\87,969,847 50
Having, been reduced, during the last three
1,911,890 72
The available balance in the Treasury on
the first day of December, 1857, was.... 4528,106 47
On the first day of December, 1860, it was. 681,433 08
Exceeding the former balance in the sum of 153,326 61
Add to this the sum paid at the Treasury
during the past three years, for debts and
claims against the Commonwealth ari
sing out of the construction and mainte
nance of the public improvements, and •
which was substantially a part of the
unfunded debt of the Commonwealth,
amounting to 171,664 82
And we have the sum of
By adding this sum to the amount paid on
the public debt from December 1, 1857, to
December 1, 1860, to wit: $1,911,890 72, it
will be found that during the past three years •
the State has not only met all her ordinary li
abilities, including the expenses of government,
and the interest on her public debt, but has
diminished her actual indebtedness the sum of
$2,236,882 15.
When it is remembered that for the last three
years the tax on real and personal estate has
been but two and a half mills on the dollar,
while from 1844 to 1857 it was three mills—
that for the past two years and six months the
State has received to part of the tax on ton
nage due from the Pennsylvania railroad com , -
pany—and that since July, 1859, the interest
on the bonds held by the State against the
Sunbury and Erie railroad company has re
mained due and unpaid, it is certainly cause
for hearty congratulation, that, without aid
from these important sources of revenue, so
great a reduction of the public debt has been
accomplished in comparatively so short a
period. The funded debt of the State is now
less than it has been since 1842, and the un
funded and floating debt, which at that time
amounted to upwards of two millions of dollars,
has been almost entirely redeemed. It is now
reduced to $120,72178—and of this sum over
ninety-nine thousand dollars consists of relief
notes, most of which are undoubtedly either
lost or destroyed, and will, therefore, never be
presented for payment. The claims against the
State, accruing • from the construction and
maintenance of her canals and railroads, are
now reduced to a mere nominal sum ; and, in
the future, after providing for the. ordinary
expenses of government, her-revenues and her
energies may be exclusively applied to the
payment of the interest, and the discharge of
the principal of her public debt.
The people of this Commonwealth have
hitherto met, with promptness, the demands
made upon 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 been so long
burdened, is each year certainly and rapidly
disappearing—that the amount required to meet
the interest is annually being diminished—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 not far distant when direct taxation in
Pennsylvania will cease altogether—the pay
ment of such taxes as may for the time be re
quired to meet the public necessities, will con
tinue to be met with cheerfulness and alacrity.
But they will unquestionably hold those to
whose care they have entrusted the financial
interests of the State to a rigid accountability.
That there should, at this particular juncture,
when the business and monetary affairs of the
country are so greatly depressed, be the strict
est economy in public expenditures, is so
manifest, that it can scarcely be necessary to
call attention to so plain a duty. It is equally
clear that any legislation which would tend
greatly to lessen the revenues of the Common
wealth, would, at this time, be peculiarly un
wise and inexpedient. The exigencies of the
future no man can foretell—the prospect before
US is beclouded with doubt and uncertainty—
it is, therefore, no more than the part of wis
dom to guard, with unceasing vigilance, all our
present sources of revenue, and to thus be pre
pared for every possible contingency.
Since July, 1858, the Pennsylvania railroad
company has refused to pay the tax on tonnage
required to be paid by the act incorporating the
company, and its various supplements ; and
there is now due to the State, on that account,
exclusive of interest, the sum of $674,296 22.
Including the interest,, the sum now due is
about $700,000. Before my last annual mes
sage was communicated to the Legislature, a
case had been tried in the court of common
pleas of Dauphin county, between the Common
wealth 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 pronounced con
stitutional. In January last, another suit was
tried between the same parties, in the same
court, invloving the same question, with a like
result. In December last, a judgment was ob
tained in the district court of Philadelphia,
upon one of the semi-annual settlements, for
$llO,OOO. So that judgment has been ob
tained for $365,000 of the debt, being the whole
amount which became due prior to 18611. The
tax, which accrued during the past year,
amounts to $308,829.03. The first settlement
for the year is before the Dauphin county
court, on an appeal taken by the company;
and the second, or last, settlement was made
but a few days since by the accountant de
partment of the Commonwealth.
After the recovery, in the common pleas of
Dauphin county, the cases were removed by
writs of orror, taken on behalf of the defend
ants, to the Supreme Court of this State, where
they were argued in June last, and in October
that tribunal sustained the decision of the court
of common pleas, and held the tax to be clearly
constitutional; thus uniting with the law ma
king power in affirming the right of the State
to tax a corporation under a law to which it
owes its existence. But, notwithstanding this
concurrence of opinion and action on behalf of
the constituted authorities of Pennsylvania,
the litigation is not yet at an end; for the
railroad company has recently removed the
cases, by writs of error, to the Supreme Court
of the United States, where the,i are now pend
ing. That the decision of that court will, when
made, fully sustain the right of a sovereign
State to enforce a contract between the State
and a corporation, and entirely vindicate the
power of a State to impose such taxes upon
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 large sum of money into. the Treasury of
the State, it is proper to. add, that the law offi
cer of the Commonwealth, being of opinion that
- the writs of error were not issued from the
• Supreme Court of the Unita. Staten in time to
prevent:the collection of the judgmentarendered
----$664,857 65
.... -. 1,811 00
....- 2,439 52
5 40
38,513,983 37
$101,213 00
18,513 82
4.448 38
802 50
$400,830 00
38,987,205 72
381.200 00
100,000 00
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VOL. 3.
HARRISBURG, PA., THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 1861.
in the State courts, executions were issued to
the sheriff of the county of Dauphin, and pro
ceedings are now pending in the Supreme Court
of this State, to determine whether the Com
monwealth can compel the payment of the
judgments already recovered, before the final
decision by the Supreme Court of the United
States.
The Sunbnry and Erie railroad company
having failed to negotiate its mortgage bonds
in their present condition, the expectations con-
ftdently entertained of an early completion of
that most important improvement, have not
been realized. The work during the past year,
however, although greatly retarded, has been
continually progressing; upwards of one mil
lion of dollars having been expended on the
line from November, 1859, to November, 1860.
The whole length of road, from the borough
of Sunbury to the harbor on the lake, at the
city of Erie, is 288 miles; of which 148 miles
are now finished and in operation, and 115
miles of the remaining portion of the line are
graded; leaving but twenty-five miles yet to
grade. Pennsylvania is largely interested in
the early completion and success of this great
thoroughfare, not only because she is the cred
itor of the company to the amount of three and
a half millions of dollars,: but for the aditional,
and more cogent reason, that the improvement,
when completed, *ill open one of the most
important channel,s...of.trade between the city
of Phildtbirp - his and the great lakes of the west,
at the best harbor on Lake Erie, entirely
within the limits of our own State, which has
ever been contemplated. It will, moreover,
develope the resources of a large portion of
North-Western Pennsylvania, abounding with
the richest minerals, and a lumber region of
unsurpassed excellence, which the munificent
hand of the State has hitherto totally neglected.
By disposing of her branch canals to that com
pany, in exchange for its mortgage bonds, the
State has already largely aided in the con
struction 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 company available. It is evident
that a liberal policy, on the part of the govern
ment, will"promote alike the interests of the
Commonwealth and the railroad company ;
nevertheless, great care should be taken to pro
tect, 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 care
fully considered by the Legislature, and no
more yielded than sound economy demands,
with proper.provisions for the due application
of whatever means may be realized, it is be
lieved, that sufficient 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 Common
wealth.
324,221 42
I commend this subject to the Legislature,
as one entitled to its most careful considera
tion, 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 company—as to
the Commonwealth herself. Premising that
whatever policy it may be thought expedient
to. pursue. should be adopted solely with refer
ence to the protection and furtherance of the
public interests.
The attention of the Legislature is again in
vited to the subject of general education. At
the present juncture it presents peculiar claims.
The experience of a quarter of a century has
satisfied the proverbially cautious people of
Pennsylvania, of the adaptedness of the com
mon school system to their wants and condition.
No less has the severe ordeal of the past three
years shown its capability to endure those
sudden reverses which occasionally prostrate
the other interests of the community. Invol
ving greater expenditure than the rest of the
departments of goverement, and that, too,
mainly drawn from direct taxation, it is a proud
fact, that, while most of the enterprises of so
ciety have been seriously , embarrassed, and
some of them suspended, by the pecuniary
crisis of 1857, our educational system has not
been retarded in any appreciable. degree. On
the contrary, its operations have been main
tained, to an extent which plainly indicates
that our citizens fully appreciate its value.—
Contrasting its main results during the past
year, with those of 1867, we find that the whole
number of pupils now in the schools, is 647,-
414, being an increase of 44,422; these were
taught in 11,577 schools, 621 more than in
1857, during an average term of five months
and five and-one half days, at a cost of fifty-six
cents per pupil, per month, by 14,005 teachers,
being 529 more than in 1857. The entire ex
penditure of the system, for the - past year, in
cluding that of the School Department, is
$2,638,550 80. These figures afford some idea
of the magnitude of the operations of the sys
tem ; but neither words nor figures can ade
quately express the importance of its influence
upon the present, or its relations to the future.
In contemplating the details of a plan for the
due training of the youth of a community, its
large proportions and imposing array of statis
tics do not display the points of its greatest
importance. Pupils may be enrolled by hun
dreds of thousands ; school-houses of the best
structure and most complete arrangement may
be 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 and devoted teacher ? Without
this animating spirit, all is barren and unfruit
ful. In this 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, thire
fore, being the point whence all real prog 4 ess
in learning and culture must originate, is ilso
the one to which the fostering attention nd
care of the public authorities should be mainly
directed.
Our peculiar mode of training teachers wider
the normal act of 1857, has now stood the test
of practical experience; and, against the most
adverse circumstances, has produced resits
atdecisive of its success. Already it has pl ed
one institution in full operation in the seCth
eastern part of the State, equal in standing tnd
extent to any in the Union. Another, withrill
the requirements of the law, has just apped
for State recognition in the extreme north-west.
I commend these noble, and peculiarly Penn
sylvania, schools to your favor. Aid to 4m
will be the best investment that can be mde
for the rising generation. Good instruction
for our children is the strongest earthly guar
antee, that, whatever else we bequeath them,
their inhiritance will be a blessing, and not a
curse ; and, if nothing more is left, in the *ell
cultured minds, the willing bands, and the teust
in God, of freemen, they will have all that is
essential. , I
Nearly eleven thousand of our fellow citizens,
are now devoting their efforts to the improve
ment of the common school, as directors.—
Than this there is no more meritorious. body
of men. An increase of the annual State ap
propriation would not only be a material relief
to the districts. at.thia time, but would, to some
extent, disembarrass dirootore iAR their local
operations. 1 - • , " 4 ' • . 4 • ' ' .
It is not, however, the common school sys
tem, vast and honorable to the State as it is,
that claims your entire attention, in reference
to education. Pennsylvania also boasts her
collegial 0,
academical, scientific, professional,
and philanthropic institutions, and numerous
private schools of every grade. In this re
spect she is second to no member of the con
federacy; but, from mere want of attention to
the proper statistics, she has thus far been
roiled far below her just standard. The pre
sent 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 posses the requisite data for
a safe and just extension of liberality. The
Period will arrive when all public educational
agencies must be included in one great system
for the elevation of mind and morals ; and
when the State 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 Legislature is
respectfully referred to the annual report of the
Common School Department, herewith submit
ted.
I desire again, specially, to call the attention
of the General Assembly to the Farmers' High
School of Pennsylvania, as an, institaitionswhich
proposes to accomplish an object which has
never been attained in this country—the sup
ply of a want 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 them by their fathers, The gains
of the farmer, however certain, are small.—
The education of his sons should, therefore,
be measured by the nature of his business.—
There seems to be no practical mode of cheap
ening education, but 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 nearly. self-sustaining
as to bring it within the reach of that class who
constitute so important a branch of the indus
try of our people. The original design of this
school embraced the accommodation of four
hundred students, a number essential to the
economical working of the system; 'and, al-.
though the applications for admission are num
berless, the utmost efforts of the trustees have
not enabled them to complete more than one
third of the building, or to accommodate more
than":a "eoiresponding number of students.
Many individuals throughout the State, con
vinced of the•.,merit of an institution which
promises so mrielt good, have contributed libe
rally to what has ahready been done ; and the
board of trust embavetabored with a zeal which
cannot fail to commend itself to the kind feel
ing of all our citizens. Scientific education
has adVanced the interests of every avocation
of life—agriculture far less than any other—
and for the manifest reason that it has not
reached it to the same extent, and never will
reach it, unless the body be educated to the
plow; as well as the mind to the philosophical
principles which the plow's work develops.
I have always looked upon the Farmers' High
School with peculiar favor, as well because 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 an annual exhibition of its
receipts, expenditures and operations generally,
and these will doubtless be laid before you.
By the act passed by the last Legislature,
establishing a system of free banking in Penn
sylvania, and securing the public against loss
from insolvent banks, radical changes were
made in the banking laws of this State. In
stead of corporations created blllspecial laws,
voluntary associations are authorized to trans
act the business of banking, without further
legislation, nudes an indispensable prerequisite
to the issuing of bank notes for circulation as
money, ample security must 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 banking institutions already in ex
istence, to continue their business for twenty
years after the expiration of their present
charters, upon complying with its provisions,
by withdrawing their old circulation, and giv
ing the securities required for the redemption
of their new issues. The public, I am sure,
will rejoice that no further necessity exists for
legislative action, either on the subject of crea
ting new, or re-chartering old banks ; and that
the time and attention of their Representatives
will now, happily, be no longer monopolized in
the consideration of a subject hitherto produc
tive of so much strife and contention, if not of
positive evil.
The rapid increase of private banks, through
out the State, makes it eminently right that
they should be placed under proper legislative
restrictions, and that the large amount of capi
tal, thus employed, should be made to contrib
ute its fair proportion to the revenues of the
Commonwealth. Their business, in the aggre
gate, is now believed to amount to a sum almost,
if not quite, equal to the whole business of the
regularly chartered banks ; and yet it is en
titkly unrestricted, and with the exception of
a merely nominal license tax, is`free from tax
ation. This is unjust to every other class of
our tax paying citizens, and especially so to
the banking institutions holding charters from
the Commonwealth, for which they have each
paid a liberal bonus, and are, in addition; sub
ject 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 to the inade
quacy of existing laws, regulating the recei
ving, keeping and disbursement of the revenues
of the State. The public moneys are now paid
directly to the State Treasurer, who deposits
them, at hss own discretion, whenever and
wherever he chooses, and pays them out in
sums, either small or great, upon his own un
attested check exclusively. The amount thus
received, kept and disbursed is annually be
tween three and four millions of dollars, with
balances on hand, at times, exceeding one mil
lion of dollars; while the bond of the State
Treasurer is for only eighty thousand dollars.
His accounts are settled monthly by the Audi
tor General, by whom the receipts for money
paid into the Treasury are countersigned, and
these are the only safeguards provided by law
to prevent the illegal and improper use of the
money of the State, by the State Treasurer.
Happily the revenues of the Commonwealth
have hitherto been 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
elsewhere, and in other States, thie fact should
furnish no reason why we ought not to guard
against loss in the future. Referring to my
former annual messages, 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 elsewhere,
without first requiring ample security to be
given to •the Commonwealth for the prompt
repayment of such sum as may be deposited ;
and that such securities shall be deposited in:
the office of die Auditor General.
Second—That all checks limed by the 'State
-Treasurer; shall be countersigned by the Audi , .
t0n:C440161; before the; are used, 101 that.daily
accounts shall be kept of the moneys received,
deposited and disbursed, in the Auditor Gener
al's office, as well as in the Treasury Depart
ment.
Third—That condensed monthly statements,
verified by the signatures of the Auditor Gene
ral and State Treasurer, shall be published in
one newspaper in Philadelphia and one in
Harrisburg, showing the balances in the Trea
sury, and where deposited, with the particular
amount of ouch deposit ; and
Fourth—That the bond of the State Treasu
rer be increased to the sum of two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars.
Our various charitable and reformatory
institutions—the State Lunatic hospital, at
Harrisburg—the Western Pennsylvania Hospi
tal for the insane, at Pittsburg—the asylums
for the blind, and deaf and dumb, at Philadel
phia—the Houses of Refuge at Philadelphia
and Pittsburg. and the Pennsylvania Training
School for idiotic and feeble minded children,
at Media, will present their usual annual 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 benevolent
institutions, not because they are undeserving
the confidence and patronage of the public,
but because they are local in their character,
and in my judgment have no claims upon the
common fund whiCh can be admitted, injustice
to the rights and interests of other portions of
the Commonwealth. .
The inspectors of the State Penitentiary for
the EaStern District of Pennsylvania, in their
annual reports for the years 180 and 1859,
called the attention of the Legislature 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, and needed renewal, should
be replaced with slate or metal. On visiting
the institution, my attention was called to the
subject by the inspvtors. The necessity for
the change was Elelpparent and urgent, that
I advised them not to hesitate in having the
old, dilapidated and dangerous wooden roofs
of such portions. of the building as required
renewal, replaced with some substantial fire
proof material. This has accordingly been
done, and I respectfully recommend that a
small appropriation be granted to defray the
expenses incurred.
- I commend to your consideration the report
of the State Librarian, whose attention to the
interests of the Library u*ler fiis care,. de-'
serves the warmest commendation. The sys-•
tern of exchanges, with the different States of
the Union, and with foreign governments, com
menced and prosecuted under his auspices, ha,s
resulted in great advantages to tile Library,
and deserves the continued couVenance of the
Legislature. The increase of Library, at
a comparatively small expense to thattate, has
been such, that it now needs enlarged accom
modations for the safe-keeping of the volumes,
and, if the increase continues, 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 de
partments, for the last fiscal year. They are
entitled to the attentive consideration of the
Legislature.
Soon after my inauguration, upon the recom
mendation of my predecessor in office, a dwell
ing house was purchased in this city for the
residence of the Governor of the Common
wealth. The purchase included several arti
cles of heavy furniture, then in the building,
and a small 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 making a suit
able appropriation for this purpose. '
The extraordinary and alarMing condition
of our national affairs demands your immediate
attention. On the twentieth of December last,
the convention of South Carolina, organized
under the authority of the Legislature of that
State, by a unanimous vote, declared "that the
union now subsisting betweeen South Carolina
and the other States, under the name of the
United 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 Union is merely a compact
between the several States composing it, and
that any one of the States, which may feel ag
grieved, may, at its pleasure, declare that it
will no longer be a party to the compact. This
doctrine is clearly erroneous. The Constitu
tion of the United States is something more
than a mere compact, or agreement, between
the several States. As applied to nations, a
compact is but a treaty, which may be abro
gated at the will of either party; responsible
to the other party for its bad faith in refusing
to keep its engagements, but entirely irrespon
sible to any superior tribunal. A government,
on the other hand, whether created by consent,
or by conquest, when clothed with legislative,
judicial and executive powers, is necessarily in
its nature sovereign ; 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 turn,
owe it their allegiance. Its laws cannot be vi
olated by its citizens, without accountability to
the tribunals created to enforce its decrees and
to punish offenders. Organized resistance to
it, is rebellion. If successful, it may be purged
of crime by revolution. If unsuccessful, the
persons engaged in the rebellion, may be exe
cuted as traitors. The government of the Uni
ted States, within the limits assigned to it, is
as potential in sovereignty, as any other gov
ernment in the civilized world. The Consti
tution, and laws made in pursuance thereof,
are expressly declared to be the supreme law
of the land. Under the Constitution, the gen
eral 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 re
pel invasion. Appropriate statutes have been
enacted by Congress, to aid in the execution of
these important governmental powers.
The creation of the Federal Government, with
the powers e numerated i n the Constitution, was
the act of the people of the United States, and
it is perfectly immaterial that the people of the
several States acted separately within the ter
ritorial limits of each State. The form of their
action is of no consequence, in view of the fact
that they ereated a Federal Government, to
which they surrenderedt certain powers of
sovereignty, and 'declared those powers, thus
surrendered, to be supreme, without reserving
to the States, or to the people, the right, of
secession, nullificaiion or other resistance. It
is, therefore, clear that there ism) constitutional
right of secession. •Secession is only another
form. of nullification. Either, when attempted
to. be parried .out ,by force, is rebellion, and
should be treated as i k uob, by those whose sworn
PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING.
EXTEDAT3 EXCEPTED,
BY O.I3ARRETT & CO.
?RR DAILY PATRIOT AND UNION Will be served to eab
scribers residin n the Borough tor six exit TS Pea WEIL(
mall* to the Carrier. Mail rabseribers, BOMA DOT.
LARK NCR ANNUM.
THE WEEKLY will be published as heretofore, send
weekly during the session of the Legislature, and once a
week the remainder of the year, for two dollars in ad
vance, or three dollars at the eapirationof the year.
Connected with this establishment is an extensive
JOB OFFICE, containing a variety of plain and fanew
type, unequalled by any establishment inthe interior of
the State, for which the patronage of the public I. Bo
[lofted.
NO 105.
duty it is to maintain the atipremsey of the
Constitution and laws of the United States.
It is certainly true, that in cases of great ex
tremity, when the oppression of government
has become so intolerable that civil war is pre
ferable to longer submission, there remains the
revolutionary right of resistance; but where
the authority of the government is limited by, a
written Constitution, and each department is
held in check by the other departments, it will
rarely, if ever, happen that the citizen may not
be adequately protected, without 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 to the Federal Government, it is
nevertheless highly proper that we should care
fully and candidly examine the reasons which
are advanced by those who have evinced. a
determination to destroy the Union of these
American States, and if it shall appear that any
of the causes of complaint are well founded, they
should be unhesitatingly removed, and, as far
as possible, reparation made for the past, and
security given for the future • for it is not to be
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 Union, South Carolina, through her conven
tion, among other reasons, declares that she is
justified in exercising, at this time, that right,
because several of the States have for years not
only refuied to fulfil their constitutional obli
gations, but have enacted laws either nullifying
the Constitution, or rendering useless the acts
of Congress relative to the surrender of fugitive
slaves—that they have permitted the open es
tablishment of societies, to disturb the peace
of other States; that the people of the non
slaveholdieg States have aided in the escape of
slaves from their masters, and have incited to
servile insurrection those that remain—and
have announced their determination to exclude
the South from the common Territory of the
Union. As the Representatives of the people
of Pennsylvania, it becomes your solemn duty
to examine these serious charges, made by the
authority of a sovereign State.
Pennsylvania is included in the list of States
that are charged with having refused ; compli
ance with that mandate . of the Constitution of
the United States, which declares "that no
person held to service or labor in one State,
under the laws thereof, escaping into another,
shall, in consequence of any law or regulation
therein, be discharged from such service or la
bor, but shall be delivered tip, on claim of
_the
party to whom such service or labor may be
due." So far from admitting the truth of this
charge, I unhesitatingly aver,
that, upon a
careful examination it will be found that the
legislative and judicial action of Pennsylvirda,
whether as a colony, as a member of the old
confederation, or under the existing Constitu
tion of the United States, has been almost in
variably influenced by a proper appreciation of
her own obligations, and by a high regard for
the rights, the feelings and the interests of her
sister States.
As early as 1705, the provincial authorities
of Pennsylvania, after reciting in the preamble,
that "the importation of Indian slaves from
Carolina, or other places, bath been observed
to give the Indians of this province some um
brage for suspicion and dissatisfaction," passed
an act against the importation of Indian slaves
from any other province, or colony, in America,
but at the same time declared, "that no such
Indian slave, as deserting his master's service
elsewhere, . hall fly into this province, shall be
understood or construed to be eomprohdrtded
within this act."' And when, in 1780, more
than eight years before the Constitution of the
United States went into operation,
Pennsylva
nia passed her law for the gradual abolition of
slavery, mindful of the rights of her confede
rates, she declared that "this act, or anything
in it contained, shall not give any relief or
shelter to any absconding or runaway negro or
mulatto slave, or servant, who has absented
himself, or shall absent himself, from his or her
owner, master or mistress, residing in any other
State or country, but such owner, master or
'
mistress shall have like right and aid to de
mand, claim and take away his slave, or servant,
as h&might have had in case this act had not
beeWtuade." A provision much more noequiv
' ()cal in its phraseology, and direct it its com
mands,
than those found, on the same subject,
in the Constitution of the Union. The act, by
its terms, was made inapplicable to domestic
slaves' attending upon delegates in Ccingress
from the other American States, and those held
by persons while passing through this State,
or sojourning therein for a period not longer
than six months.
In 1788 it was made a high penal offence for
any person, by force, violence or fraud, to take
out of this State, any negro or mulatto, with
the intention of keeping or selling the said
negro or mulatto as a slave, for a term of years.
Soon after the passage of this act, the Supreme
Court of Pennsylvania decided that it dill not
apply to the forcible removal of a slave, by the
owner or his agent, but that its objeCt was to
punish the forcible or fraudulent abduction
from the State of free negroes, with the inten
tion of keeping or selling them as slaves.—
Thus, at that early day, giving judicial sanction
to the doctrine, that a master had the right to
take his slaves wherever he could find them
The first act of Congress providing for the
rendition of fugitives from justice or labor, was
passed in 1793, and originated from the refusal
of the Governor of Virginia to surrender and
deliver up, on the requisition of the Governor
of Pennsylvania, three persons who had been
indicted in Pennsylvania, for kidnapping a
negro, and carrying him into Virginia. And
when it was found that this Coneressional sta
tute did not afford a simple, speedy and efficient
remedy for the recovery of fugitives from labor,
the Legislature of Pennsylvania, at the request
of the adjoining State of Maryland, in 1b26,
passed her act "to give effect to the provisions
of the Constitution of the United States rela
tive to fugitives from labor, for the protection
of free people of color, and to prevent kidnap
ping." This excellent and well considered law
met all the existing emergencies. It required
the judges, justices of the peace and aldermen,
of the State, upon the oath of the claimant, to
issue their warrant for the arrest of any fugi
tive from labor escaping into this State; di
recting, however, that such warrants should be
made returnable, by whomsoever issued, before
a judge of the proper country. It required
sheriffs and constables to execute such war
rants. It authorized the commitment of the
fugitive to the county jail, and otherwise made
provisions to secure Its effective executioivand
at the same time to prevent its abuse.
This law continued quietly in operation'un
til the decision of the Supreme Court of the
' United States, made in 1842, in' the wine of
Prigg vs. The Commonwealth f Pennsylvania.
The history of this case may be briefly stated:
Edward Prigg was indicted in' the court of Dyer
and terminer of York county, for kidnipping a
colored person, named Margaret Morgan.—
Upon the trial it appeared that she was held as
a slave in the State of Maryland; and that/she
escaped into the Stele of Pennsylvania' kith,
year 1882 that lit 1887, Edward Trigg was
Tappoiated; by the owner of the alsteiltfiseize
/and arrest her Its a fugitive frota . la*.# In
pugsuanee.of this authority, and Warder a ifar-
=I