8
TRUE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY GOVERNOR SPROUL'S AMBITION
New Governor Warns Against
"Social Wild Men" Who Would
Overthrow Republic—Clean
LawSy Good Administra
tion and Popular Educa
tion Antidote For the
Menace, He Says
[Continued from First Fage.]
My fallow Citizens: Having taken the obligation neces
sary for my induction into the great office to which you
have called me, pleaae permit me, before we enter upon a
discussion of the issues of the time, to return my grateful
acknowledgement of your confidence and trust and to ex
press the profound feeling of responsibility and the grave
sense of respect and devotion with which I accept the ser
vice. A long experience in the Senate of the Common
wealth has given me, I believe, a full realization of the
Importance of the duties of the Governorship and has not j
lessened my appreciation of the problems and difficulties ,
confronting the incumbent. With a pride, however, in
Pennsylvania, her history and her institutions, which is
reverential, with full dependence upon the sound judgment ;
and the patriotism of our citizenship, and an abiding faith j
in the Divine Power, which has so blessed us always, I
take up the administration of your affairs hopefully and
courageously.
These are wonderful times in which we are living.
Events of tremendous effect upon the political and social j
Btructufes of mankind that, in ordinary times, would be
appalling, are happening with such frequency that we ac- j
cept them almost without surprise. The great war came
to an end quickly and triumphantly for us, but it has left ;
in its stead new problems and new perils, more menacing :
to true Democracy and to civilization than anything that
history records. Here, in the peaceful capital of this
mightv State, with all in good taste und good order about
us, with our people attending quietly to their affaire and
their government changing hands according to their ex- j
pressed choice and as ordained by their laws, it is difficult j
for us to visualize the wave of disorder and destruction ;
which is sweeping over a large part of the civilized world, ;
engulfing races and nations and tumbling them about in :
confusion and chaos. Ambitions anarchists have seized j
the opportunity to exploit systems of social tyranny un- I
heard of in their brutal harshness, and malign adventurers
with terrorism as their weapon have usurped the chief
power in many lands and are defiling the sanctuaries of
the people and plundering and killing at will. Some of the
more ambitious of these international revolutionists, abso
lutely without conception of our governmental organiza
tion, our national ideals or our individual spirit, have even
undertaken to create unrest and to promote treason in this
country and in this State, through eunnning propaganda
and diabolical crimes.
No government which could be devised by sane men
would suit these anarchists. They are arrayed against all
government and all restraint. They are enemies of civili- |
zation and of the Church of God. They respect no law,
but insist upon license to do as they please without regard |
to the rights, the property, the religion or even the lives j
of other. Their leaders avow that they have no affection
for the land that gave them birth nor for the nation which j
sheltered them and gave them asylum from persecution
abroad. That such a doctrine should obtain a foothold in
the United States is unthinkable, and yet there are abund
ant evidences of its malevolent activities here. The "mis
sionary fund" gathered from the looted treasuries of Rus
sia is already having its effect in certain directions in stir
ring up the mercenaries of agitation and in inspiring
specious writings from some of the half-baked social phil
osophers who feed upon excitement and turmoil. Retained
to spread hatred of (N-erything that appears like tiilrft, or
contentment or love of country, these disturbers will make
some headway they will attempt to capitalize the indus
trial difficulties growing out of the readjustment, and they
may attract to their malicious cause some of the restless,
the ignorant, the unfit, the irresponsible and the criminal.
While the followers of this brutal cult will at no time be
numerous, as compared with the great body of sober, sensi
ble, sound-minded Americans, they will be insidious, and
will impress some of the timid and the unreasoning, even .
among our statesmen, with their strength.
PATRIOTIC EFFORT TO
OVERCOME BOLSHEVISM
This political distemper, called Bolshevism, has had its
origin in countries where ignorance and force prevailed and
Where there was entire lack of opportunity for the deserv
ing and lack of care for the unfortunate. There is no room
for it to grow in an enlightened State where the rights of
the humblest and of the strongest are alike guarded and
the door of opportunity opens to all who seek it. The anti
dote for this social infection, as we shall apply it in Penn
sylvania, is good public administration, the best of popular
education; generous, progressive humane laws, and thor
ough justice, backed by an alert, forceful and God-fearing
public sentiment. Pennsylvanians are resolutely patriotic;
they have a love of country and a faith in its institutions
that is proverbial; they have a just pride in their State and
a respect for their communities and their homes. Our peo
ple want no mongrel government, devised by fanatics for
eign to us in speech, in vision and in purpose, without tra
dition and without faith, envious of our national strength
and prosperity and anxious to disrupt us as a nation and
paralyze us as a people. We want to develop our own
Democracy, made in America, for America's needs and
America's great destiny. We will not give this splendid
Republic away to its enemies.
But confident as we are of our national safety, we must
not ignore the menace in our midst. After having made
rare that we have done those things which should be done
to ensure to our citizens those blessings that the govern
ment belonging to them should give them, we must not tol
erate the social wild-men who would overthrow our Re
public. The government at Washington must be alert in
protecting us against an invasion through our ports of those
who would seek to destroy this nation, and must assist hi
hunting out and returning to the lands from which they
came, those who are not satisfied to become Americans and
will not accept our guarantees of justice and liberty. Here
in Pennsylvania every power of the State must be used,
first by beneficient enactment and administration to
every man, woman and child who shall deserve it a stake
in the Commonwealth, and then to repress vigorously and
effectively those who would injure or destroy our institu
tions and our true freedom. Eternal vigilance is still the
price of liberty, and I earnestly call upon our people to be
vigilant and determined in meeting the issues which must
come up to us, to respect their own laws and to uphold
the administration of them. Peace, orderly government
and liberty, regulated by law, are prime pssentials for the
prosperity and happiness of all of us. '
MORE CO-OPERATION IN
GOVERNMENT NEEDED
Thus early in my executive career, I desire to say that
having submitted my candidacy for Governor to the people,
at the primary election, npon a declaration of purpose, or
a platform as we call it, and having reiterated this declara
tion before the general election, 1 feel that my course of
action in office should follow as nearly as may well be, the
principles upon which my candidacy was based. I desire
particularly to say now to those who will be my associates
in the government, that I am more than ever convinced
that a policy of co-opcratlon and not of coercion is the
proper basis for our relations. To the members of the two
houses of the Legislature, whom 1 meet here today in joint
gathering for the first time at this sessiou, may 1 say, that
after participating as a lmynber in thirteen sessions of the
General Assembly, I have not only thorough appreciation
but complete respect for the positions you occupy, the re
sponsibilities you assume and the rights you possess. It
is the duty of the Governor to recommend to the Legisla
ture such measuies us he may deem necessary or import
ant. This duty he may not disregard. 1 shull feel free
to address you upon public mntters whenever it seems de
sirable that I should do so, and I shall urge your consid
eration of and action upon matters which are essential to
the program of progress und efficiency to which we are
committed. But it wns never intended that the political
.power oX Biui'utiv* wlmmiW u-*
TUESDAY EVENING.
or to influence or dominate political action. The exercise
of such power in the State or nation is dangerous and the
growth of this practice gives concern to far-seeing patriots.
That it is in conflict with the underlying principles of our
form of government and is subversive of the constitution,
1 firmly believe. The absolute integrity and independence
of the three great divisions of our governmental organiza
tion is essential in the system of checks and balances
which preserve our rights and have made our constitutional
administration so successful and so permanent. We must
get back to first principles in many ways, but in none more
certainly than in this. I fervently desire and thoroughly
rely upon your broad-minded co-operation and assistance
in the important matters which we together must handle.
If I cannot deserve this co-operation upon your part I shall
not try to compel it by any threatening use of the power
temporarily placed in my hands. Let us work together in
entire confidence and real earnestness to perform our
solemn duties, with no masters to serve but the people
of Pennsylvania, who have trusted us so completely.
REVISION OF STATE
CONSTITUTION DISCUSSED
For many years there has been more or less demand for
a new constitution for the Commonwealth. On one or two
occasions this demand has become insistent and some move
ment was made toward a general overhauling of the State's
fundamental law. Meanwhile there have been amendments
by wholesale and the student who would really know what
Pennsylvania's Constitution contains must be alert and up
to the minute in his research. It is argued that the con
stitution is now forty-five years old and that It is obsolete.
Its age does not harm it and had it been a different sort
of a document it might well have Survived a century or
more. But the trouble with our constitution is that instead
of being a bill Of rights it is a list of limitations. Its prin
cipal features are its prohibitions. Many of these are most
wise, but a liberal attitude upon the part of the Courts has
stretched some of the provisions to the breaking point, and j
there is much confusion of judgment as to their interpreta- j
tiou. There should be real and determined authority for
doing many things In regard to our system of taxation, our
humanitarian plans nnd our municipal organizations which
seems impossible to secure without further extensive tink
ering with our constitution which will make it a maze of
dislocated and discordant elements. Insistent as is the
appeal for revision, however, it would seem best that we
should await the advantage of a better perspective of the
results of the great social changes which are now going on
in the world, and that we should not rush into the matter
of rewriting our constitution until we ure fully ready for
the task. It will not be an easy matter to handle in the
most serene of times, and the question of expense must also
be considered, especially as in several States recently the
people have failed to ratify the work of constitutional con
ventions which cost them heavily. In a neighboring Com
monwealth, where a convention was held without any ade
quate preparation or leadership, a year or more was occu
pied in parley and discussion, and the result is pronounced
by authorities to be one of the most unsatisfactory charters
in existence.
With all of these facts in view, but with the unquestioned
requirement that we approach definitely the task of revis
ing our constitution or completely rewriting it, my judgment
is that the present Legislature should authorize the appoint
ment of a commission of twenty-five citizens, representative
of the best thought in the various elements of our Com
monwealth's life, to study the whole subject of our constitu
tion and to report to the next Legislature its recommenda
tions as to the advisability of a revision; time, manner
and plan of the revision, if such shall be the recommenda
tion, with a complete study of the desirable changes. The
machinery for the new convention may then be provided by
the Legislature and little time will be lost while a great deal
of advantage may be gained by preparing the people for
this vitally important matter. Tills commission should be
selected with the greatest care as its work would be of such
extraordinary moment. It should be provided with funds
adequate for the exhaustive research and preparation which
will be required.
RETURNING SOLDIERS
MUST BE REMEMBERED
One of the very first things which should receive our
attention is a comprehensive plan for showing to the world
that I'ennsylvauia is grateful to, those who were called
into the service of the nation during the great war and
whose valor and devotion have added new glory to our
annals. Pennsylvania's Share in the greatest of our na
tional undertaking has been u large one, and, as has always
been the case, our duty to the Union was well and thor-.
oughly discharged. Many of our brave young men have
made the supreme sacrifice and will rest on foreign fields,
others have been wounded and must be cared for by this
nation and this State, but three hundred thousand are com
ing back to us. That we will welcome these champions of
Democracy suitably goes without saying, that we will
honor them and their deeds by chaste memorials is certain,
but we must show our regard for them and our concern for
their welfare in a more substantial way, by looking out for
them practically ns a State, as commuuities and as individ
uals. These brave youths will not ask for philanthropy,
but they must have especial consideration in our enactments
that they may, in a manner, make up for the time they have
given to the Republic. There will be many suggestions as
to legislation and many new things will be advanced along
this line. We must winnow these carefully and select the
practical and constructive. The several departments of the
State government may do much in their various benevolent
activities to help; other concrete plans must be put Into
operation as well, and our citizens, and especially those who
are employers, should see to it that the man who risked his
all for our country, is given a warm-hearted demonstration
of our grateful appreciation. The State, as a great em
ployer, should set an exnmple in this matter by preferring
i-iiMw. as tax as possible, in its service.
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Wm. C. Sproul
BAIUUSBURG TELEGRAPH
FINANCIAL PROBLEMS
OF PRIME IMPORTANCE
Before we are able to plan very effectively for our work
during the next four years, we must give direct attention to
the questions of revenue. We shall have to face demands
for increased appropriations due to the higher cost of
maintaining our public institutions, in providing for the
improvement of our schools and decent salaries for our
teachers, for public works to assist in meeting the problem
of unemployment, and for the extension of the State's aid
for those maimed in battle and in our industries. While
we may be able to prevent waste and extravagance by sim
plifying and co-ordinating the departments of our govern
ment, and may see to it that we shall receive full value for
the money which we expend, we cannot, in the present
aspect of things and in view of the necessity of progressive
development of the public enterprises, attempt much in the
way of retrenchment
The Federal tax gatherer is encroaching so deeply into
the fields hitherto reserved for State revenues that the
question of funds for State purposes is becoming a serious
one. Few people realize the stupendous charge which has
been imposed upon us by the plan of taxation which the
officials at Washington have devised. Pennsylvania is pay
ing about one-sixth of the entire cost of the administration
of the United States Government Last year this State
contributed in Federal taxes almost six hundred millions
of dollars. This year, if the bill now before Congress shall
become a law, as now seems probuble, the Federal levy
upon Pennsylvania w ill be approximately one billion dollars.
The vastness of this sum and the way in which it bears
upon us may be better realized by a contemplation of the
fact that the sum which the Federal Government proposes
to collect from the people of Pennsylvania in taxes in this
one year is almost equal to the aggregate amount raised by
this Commonwealth for State purposes in all the one hun
dred and twenty-eight years which have elapsed since tht
State government was organized. The State revenues for
this year will just about equal the interest at four and
one-half per cent, upon the amount which we must pay to
the United States. These figures are startling and they are
of value in showing how important Pennsylvania is in this
nation and how modest have been the demands of the Com
monwealth upon her own people.
Pennsylvania does not complain under the burdens which
she is bearing. She has cheerfully stood by with her men
and her money in the national emergency, and she is proud
to again have the disposition and the substance to render
such notable service to the Republic nnd to the world. But
with our share so large in our national undertakings, we
may be pardoned a care that our funds contributed without
stint to the Federal purse should not be wasted in lnconb
petent administration nor scattered over the world in chi
merical enterprises without practical purpose. Our people
are loyal, generous and progressive and have ever given
liberally of their means in real philanthropy. They are
possessed, too, of much of that very desirable quality known
as soundness of mind or hard sense. They realize that real
sacrifices must be made to pay the great debts we have in
curred in saving civilization and democracy, but they feel
that some plans must be devised for discharging these debts
and providing for our own reconstruction and readjustment
before we embark upon new international adventures in the
uncharted seas of idealism and which may bring down upon
our devoted ship of state the burdens of all mankind. Let
us put our own house In reasonably good order before ven
turing too far in regulating the rest of the world.
QUESTIONS OF INCOME
MUST BE CONSIDERED
Pennsylvania is almost alone among all of the States in
that it levies no tax for State purposes upon real estate,
but leaves that handiest source of public income intact for
the needs of its municipal sub-divisions. It is to be hoped
that this condition may never be disturbed, as realty, espe
cially as represented by our farms and homes, already bears
more tliun its share of the burdens of taxation. Probubly
the most equitable tax, considering all things, is the income
tax, and I should fuvor the imposition of a light levy upon
personal and corporate incomes as u means of piecing out
the revenues of the State, were it not for the limitations in
our present constitution which would prevent the grading
of such taxes or the exemption of smull incomes. This same
provision prevents the equitable operation of the present in
heritance tax. An amendment to the constitution is now
before the Legislature which will permit of the classifica
tion and grading of subjects of taxation, and, if it should
be favorably acted upon and then approved by the electors,
important changes may be made in our tax laws by the
I next Legislature.
It would seem that the most available source of revenue
now in sight is to be found In a change in the law which
would provide for a return to the State of a portion of the
personal property tax. Until a few years ago the State
directed the collection of this tax and a percentage of the
total sum received by the county treasurers was paid into
the State Treasury. Generous Legislatures, at various times
when there were ample balances in the State "Treasury,
gave increasing shares of this tax to the counties and finally
wiped out the State's share in it altogether, although it is
still billed as a State tax. In many of the counties little
effort is made to assess or collect this tax and carelessness
in filing returns and in making payments is tolerated. If
the State, through the Auditor General's office, should be
authorized to collect thia large item of revenue in the same
manner that corporation and other State taxes are collected,
with the provision that one-half of the amount realized
should belong to the State and the other half to the coun
ties, the State's income would be materially Increased.
Through the operation of a thorough system of collection
the counties should receive as much or almost us much as
they now gain from this direction. This plan, with the addi
tional revenues which should come to us this year from the
gross earnings tax upon certain of our corporations, from
Edward E. Beidleman
the inheritance taxes and trorn an increase in the automo
bile licenses, together with the particularly etl'yicnt man
agement of the Department of the Auditor General, should
provide the revenue that we shall be likely to need for the
present.
EDUCATION IS GREAT <
AND PRESSING PROBLEM
Pennsylvanians have ever been proud of their public
schools, and it is always more or less of a shock when we
are forced to contemplate the statistics which show that
Pennsylvania is not in the foremost rank among the States
in the general efficiency of its school system. While the
standards by which such tilings are measured are not always
practical and the authorities quoted are by no means in
fallible, it is nevertheless a fact that popular education in
Pennsylvania is not so highly developed as it is in some
other places. This is not as it should be, and the direct
practical remedy is expressed in the need of more money
for school purposes and a better, more up-to-date school
organization. The State of Pennsylvania appropriates more
to the support of its public schools than any other State, but
it does not give more per capita than any other State. While
the funds voted by the Legislature from the Stnte Treasury
are generous, tlio total sum raised in the State through
local taxation is materially lower than in several others
among the better organized States in the Union. \
The question of the compensation of teachers has become
a serious one and the general movement for better pay for
these deserving public servants has the support of everyone
who has given the matter any thought. One of the proposi
tions advanced demands a horizontal increase of twenty-five
per cent, in teachers' salaries at the sole expense of the
State, and would provide for a direct appropriation of the
required amount from the State Treasury. Of course, this
% ia not practicable for many reasons, the first and principal
one of which is that such a plan would take so large a pro
portion of the total revgenues of the State, available or ob
tainable, that there would be little left for any of the other
activities of the government. I do not believe, moreover,
that an arbitrary increase of a fixed percentage upon all
salaries is what is most needed. My opinion is firmly fixed
that in the case of the underpaid primary teacher and the
rural teacher, the increase should be upon n much.higher
percentage than that to be allowed the I Hitter paid Instruc
tors in the upper grades and hi the richer communities. Not
that there is not need of increase all along the line, but we
must give immediate relief where the need is greatest.
There are many hundreds of teachers working in Pennsyl
vania at the pittance of $315 a year, and there are between
eleven and twelve thousand teachers who receive unuually
SSOO or less. This is not a living wage for anyone and
especially not for a person who is expected to lead a digni
fied and refined life and to set an example in the com
munity.
Practically every improvement which lias been made in
our common school system bus been the result of mandutory
legislation, and it will take more enactments of this same
kind to establish a new scale of salaries, or at least mini
mum salaries, und such other conditions as rnuy be needed.
The State will help generously with an increased bounty to
the school districts but the State cannot do it all. lncreused
appropriations made this year must be accompanied with
provisions for the local application of the mouey in salary
Increases und some method should be worked out for the
particular' assistance of those districts which already have
a high tax rate for school purposes bused upon a fair
assessment. The child in the most remote township is just
as valuable to the State und should receive the same benefits
as the child in the most favored city.
There are many avenues for extension and improvement
in our educational system, to reach our adult illiterates, the
position of Pennsylvania in regard to this condition not
being flattering to our self-esteem; to provide vocational
education, a necessary corollary to our marvellous indus
trial development; to teuch our backward ones and the un
fortunate, to help in Americanizing our foreign-born, and to
help In giving our maimed heroes from our nution's buttles,
und industrial victims, a chance to learn to be self
sustaining and contented. Some of these matters might
best be handled by the Department of Lubor und Industry
and others, perhaps, by the reorganized Comudttee of Nu
tional Defense, but in all of them the Department of Public
Instruction should have a hearty, broad-visioned interest.
HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT
ON VERY GREAT SCALE
We are indeed fortunutc to have the means in sight to
begin a comprehensive road improvement program at a
time when there will be need of great public works to
steady industrial conditions. With the funds uvuilable
from the general income of the State und u gradual use
of substantial sums from the bond issue which has been
authorized by the people for this purpose, supplemented
by the assistance, now very muteriul und likely to be greater
of the federal Government for the post roads, we shull
bo able to undertake extensive road-building operations in
every county, in the coming few years we ought to accom
plish much toward providing a net-work of good high
ways, reuctling every important point, with through routes,
Lravellable at ud limes, from end to end of the State, und
connecting with the main highways in our neighboring
Commonwealths. Of course, the whole amount of the lifty
million-dollar loan, if it should all be used, would not im
prove the entire State highway system, nor can all of the
work planned be done at once, but it will be u wonderful
advantage to the people of Pennsylvania to have good inuin
roads and every mile of highway permanently improved
will carry its lesson of comfort and facility and locul pride
with the spirit of progress into our communities. The ques
tion of the selection of the rouds to be first improved will
be an important one, and the problems of the character
and plan of the new construction will requite much study.
My own thought is that the general policy should be the
bringifag of the greatest good to the greatest number of
JANUARY 21, 1919.
Issues Plea For Co-operation In
Conduct ng State Office—
Would Revise Constitution
To Meet Modern Needs—
Discusses Financial
Problems and Ques
tions of Income
people, and our notions will be based upon our judgment
with tills desire constantly In mind. Some changes in the
organization and methods of the Highway Department will
be necessary to ratable it to handle a greatly increased
amount of work, and legislation will be required to give
your executive and fiscal authorities the legal machinery
for issuing and marketing the securities representing the
loans which will be required. These are matters of detail
which will be dealt with in subsequent recommendations
to the General Assembly. We should also give attention
to some plans for improving the local road conditions
throughout the State. This is one of the most perplexing
situations which we have to deal with. The State High
way Department has done much to help the organization
and administration of our townships but much moro re
mains to be done.
In considering matters relnting to our highways it Is
necessary to give some attention to the regulation of auto
mobile traffic. The conditions growing out of tin* <vr made
the greatly extended use of motorUuck 'jansportation a
necessity, and with the development or the country this
great agent in handling passengers and materials must be
reckoned with more and more. We must extend every
facility for the business vehicle but we must also enforce
our reasonable regulations regarding its use. It was never
intended that vehicles as large and as heavy as railway
cars should travel the public roads at high speed, and the
law provides limits as to the weight and the size of such
trucks. No road which can be built, except it be con
structed of steel, can stand the stress and impact of such
trucks moving at from ten to thirty miles an hour and
weighing with their louds from fifteen to thirty tons. The
State cannot furnish especial highways for this kind of
traffic and it is unreasonable and unfair to the other users
of the roads, and to the public who puy for them, to permit
the laws to be violated, our roads to be destroyed and our
people's lives endangered by such selfish operations. Tqeth
must be put into the laws governing these conditions and
now that the war is over, and the only excuse for tolerating
these abuses has passed, we must put a stop to them.
Plans are under consideration for a revision and exten
sion of the automobile license laws. Increases in license
fees are warranted and especially so in the case of high
powered cars and trucks of heavy burden. It costs more
to build and maintain roads than it did and the income for
this purpose from those who use the roads should be in
creased, here should also be a distinctive license classifica
tion and a higher tax upon motor-cars used for business
purposes and upon regular passenger and freight routes.
The State receives a very large portion of its present reve
nue from the tax which is laid upon the securities and the
gross incomes of corporations engaged in the busiiless of
transportation and it should receive a very considerable
share of the income of others engaged in similar enter
prises in competition with these tax-pnying corporations
and using the highways maintained at public expense.
In view of the difficulties experienced by our municipali
ties in the upkeep of their streets it would seem that there
should be returned to these municipalities for highway
maintenance a portion of any increase in license fees upon
motor cars received by the State. This would be only fair'
in consideration of the fact that our cities receive no share
of the State highway funds.
SIMPLIFYING
GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM
The development of our public activities has been so rapid
since the construction of our present form of government,
that our administrative departments have been attached
to the general frame without much regard to symmetrical
structure or ellicient organization. Many of these depart
ments overlap one another in their supposed functions,
with the result thut there is a lack of system and co-ordina
tion and a duplication of effort which is extravagant and
inexcusable. There is a great deal of lost motion in the
operation of the State government and there is great op
portunity for saving money and getting better results by
consolidating and reorganizing some of the departments.
I have some plans in mind the details of which will be
communicated to the Legislature when a complete study
has been made. Among those departments which I have
particularly in mind is the Agricultural Department, which
should be made more direct in its administration and
brought closer to the people. Food production is going to
be a more important element in our public affairs for the
next few years than it has ever been, and Pennsylvania,
with the best markets in the world, is fortunately also one
of the most favored agricultural States and should meet
more coinletely its own requirements. There is a wonder
ful field for helpful co-operation with our farmers.
The Forestry, Game, Fisheries and Water Supply De
partments, with activities naturally co-related, should be
combined into one Department of Conservation, with each
of the bureaus representing the present departments co
ordinating and co-operating under direct control.
The Department of State Police should be a real crime
preventing and criminal detecting agency, with well-equip
ped hcudquurtcrs at the capital, which would have com
plete records of all felonies, and a force of experts who
could l>e culled to the assistance of the peace officers of
every county in the State. There is little co-operation be
tween the counties in police matters, and, with the incom
plete police orgunizution and changing officials in many of
the counties, there is no continuing authority charged with
the upprehension of criminals and the prevention of crime.
The Department of State Police should include the other
police or corrective agencies of the State which do not re
quire an especially technical force, and the Fire Marshal's
work might well be merged with it. 1 also believe that
the game and Ush protective force should be a part of the
State Constabulary and thut men should be selected for
this work who could qualify for service in the police in
time of necessity. ,
The Department of Health, although it is already a vegy
cumbersome organization und might be should
include the State Quarantine Service, if, indeed, **-
vice is necessary in view of the provisions of the
Government for the same purpose.
IMPORTANT WORK FOR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Perhaps in no department of the State government luua
there been u greater increase in work and expense tha*
in the Department of Labor and industry. There appears
to be much contusion, much duplication of effort and mud)
that is supcrliuous und unnecessary in this department
Not that i would minimize itfe iniportuuce, hut 1 feel
there is much thut can he dispensed with there which would
give uu opportunity for iucreusiug its work in lines c'
greater importance. For instance, 1 believe that the CortS
missiouer ot Labor and industry should have broader pow
ers iu relation to housing problems. Uur larger communi
ties can take cure of themselves in these matters, ixa
throughout the State there are piuces where people are
living iu lrighlfuiiy unsanitary homes, surroundeu by COM
unions which make for bad health and bad - citizenship
especially is this true in some industrial settlements where
famines are compelled, in order to be near their employ-,
meat, to live in pluees which are unlit for human habita
tion. We ought to huve the power to help in this vm£
important mailer.
This department should also be able to give attention
more completely to iielpiug our foreigu-born. Twenty pqfc
cent, of foreign immigration comes to i'enusylvanla. Wlieal
we entered the war, people who did not know them looked
on this great body of foreign-born people as a menaces
Their uusinkc is now apparent, for we have found in th 4
hearts or the foreign-born uu unexpected depth of patriot
ism, keen appreciation of the principles involved In tirff
war and a great eagerness to take this tirst opportunity
to prove tjheir devotion to their adopted country. Thei*
sons have gone In great numbers into the army and n&vjl
They have organized among themselves and bought Libeypf