BY S. J. KOW.
CLEARFIELD, PA., WEDNESDAY, JANUAEY 15, 1868.
VOL. 14 WO. 19.
' Annual Message of
GOV. JOHN W. GEARY ;
Delivered January 7, 1868.
Continued torn our issue of last iceclc
EDUCATION.
The report of the Superintendent of the
Common Schools exhibits a full view of our
excellent system of public; instruction, which
13 widely diffusing i blesiug3 by becuringa
sound and substantial education to all t tie'
children ot the State. A brief summary will
give an idea of the immense proportions it
has attnined and the vast amount of useiul
ness of which it is capable.
At the close of the year the number cf
itchool,district3 in the State 1,889 ; the num
ber of schools, 13,435; graded schools, 2,
147; school directors, 11,534; county, city
and borough superintendents, 68 ; teachers,
16,523 ; pupil.-, 789,389 ; the cost of tuition,
f 3,028,065;7U ; building, $ 1,262,798 68 ;
contingencies, $790,675, 33; tuition, build
ing and contingencies, $5,081,539 71 ; and
the amount expended for all purposes rela
ting to schools, $5,100,750 17.
lour attention is particularly invited to
the want of uniformity and constant change
ot books in the public schools. These are
matters of serious inconvenience and need
less expense to the poor, and might easily
be remedied by judicious legislation.
.The chief aim of our .system of common
schools is 10 place the advantages of an od
, ucation within the reach of all the children of
the Commonwealth; and when it is con
sidered that intelligence and virtue are the
principal safeguards of our free institutions,
this system earnestly claims the fostering
care and wise guidance of the Legislature.
The graded schools have largely increased
during the past year. The system estab
lished by the State was designed, not only
to furnish intsruction to oun-outh in the el
ements of knowledge, but wherever practi
cable, to impart to them an education in the
higher branches ot learning. Ihe multipli
cation of grammar and high schools should,
therefore, receive every encouragement, for
they are necessary to perfect the system and
nable.the State to avail itself of that talent
which is born in the cottages of the poor quite
as frequently as in the palaces of the rich.
Good schools c.'Unot exist without good
teachers, ar.d good teachers can o"ly be ob
tained by using the proper means to prepare
them. Recognizing these facts, the Legis
latue of 1867 passed a general Normal school
law, dividing the State into twelve districts,
and looking forward to the establishment,
in each cf them, of a Normal school. Ac
cording to the provisions of this law four of
thsse achoo s are now organized, the pros
perous condition of which is exemplified by
the fact that -two thousand one hundred and
eighty-five students attended them during
the past year, of whom forty-six graduated.
Fourteen colleges and thirty-two acade
mies have made reports to the School De
partment during the past year. Such insti
tutions supply a great public want, as the
common school system is not competent to
perform the whole work of popular educa
tion. A State requires men of generous cul
ture in all the walks of life, as well as in the
profession of teaching, and the perfection of
the system of public school instruction is
one of the wisest and noblest objects of
legislation. All of the different institutions of
learning would strengthened and their use
fulness increased ty bringing them together
in a closer union, which possibly can be best '
accomplished by the creation. of a general.
Department of Education. j
Serious complaints have been made con-1
cerning the neglect of the education of the !
children in the alms and poor houses of J
some of the counties of the State. They are
permitted to srrow up in idleness an I igno
rance, and when sent upon the world to earn
a living are better prepared to receive les
ions ol vice thau those of usefulness. The
directors of these institutions should be
compelled, by law, to send such children to
the common schools or provide proper
schools for them, and it should be made the
duty of common school superintendents to
mpervise and enforce the execution of the
law.
SOLDIERS ORPHANS SCHOOLS.
The last annual report of the Superinten
dent of tic Soldiers' Orphans' Schools was
toade up to include the 30th of November,
1M6. Ihe appropriation for that year, cx-
tending from January 1, 1866, to January
1, 1867, was insufficient to cover the tixpen-:
s of the whole year, and consequently ;
thow of December, J 866, were unpaid. The ;
next appropriation, under the present law,
extends from January 1, 1S67, to June 1,
J868. It was, therefore, determined that
there was no legal authority to apply any
part of it to the payment of expenses prior ;
to January, 1867; hence those incurred in '
December, 1866, amounting to $31,049 77, j
remain unpaid. I
Hon. Thomas II. Burrowes, who was ap- j
pointed Superintendent by my predecessor, '
continued in office until May 1, 1867, when, j
onderthe act of April 9, 1867, I appointed
Col. George P. M'Farland, Superintendent,
Rev. (J. Cornforth, Inspector and Examin
M, and Mrs. E. W. Hutter, Asssistant,wlio I
once entered upon the discharge of their
duties by visiting and re-organizing the j
chK)ls, correcting abuses which had crept ;
into the local management of some of them, i
'a in settling arrearages, wnicn was uuuc
'th zeal, fidelity, and commendable prom
titude. The present Superintendent reports the
xPendiiures for the eleven months ending
November 30. 1 867. as follows : Education
Qd maintenance $341,889 85 ; Partial re- j
",S210 00 ; Clothing furnished 1,898 ehil
jrn,in advanced schools, $37,187 83; Ma
and repairing clothing, freight, &c,-
18.35.0 71. anorwua 4fi 7l f,ft-
Jotal amount, from January 1, to December j
17, $394,420 02. : I
'M.expeoses for the six months Jrom De
cember 1, 1867, to June 1, 1868, are estima
ted by the Superintendent, as follows : Ed
ucation and maintenance of 1,850 children,
in advanced scholsat $140 per annum. $129,
500 09 ; Education and maintenance for 500
children in primary schools, at $125, per an
num, $31,250 00; Education and mainte
nance of 1.050 children in "Homes," at
$105 per annum, $55,125 00; Clothing 1,
850 children, at $25 per annum, $23.125 00
Tiansferring pupils. sahnies,&c.. $3,975 00;
Estimate for six months, ending Juue 1,
1868, $242,975 00.
Total actual and estimated expenses for
seventeen innnth-. from January 1, 1867, to
June 1. 1868, $637,395 02; Or. nt the rate
of $449,925 80 per annum. From which
deduct total amount appropriated lor seven
teen months, at $350,000 per annum. $495.
853 33; And a deficit for seventeen nionth
is shown, of $141. 561 69; Or, at the rate of
$J9.P25 80 per annum.
Add the amount due for Deember, 18C6,
$31,049 77 ; And it exhibits the total deficit
fro n December 1, 1866. to June 1, 1868, to
he provided for by special appropriation,
$172,611 46.
I do not deem it inappropriate here to
state that, if the bill which passed the
House at the last session had become a law.
making an appropriation of 8450,000 per an -numfor
the orphans' schools, it would have
been sufficient tol.ave paid the total ex
penses.
The estimates for the year ending June
1st, 1869, will be found fuiiy set forth in
the report of the Superintendent. From
that report it will also be seen that there
are in operation thirty-nine orphan schools
and homes, having in charge an average of
two thousand nine hundred and thirty one
pupils, for the year ending November 30.
1867, at an average cost of one hundred and
forty-eight dollars and forty-three cents per
annum.
These schools have doubtless reached
their maximum numbers. Sixteen years
being the age at which the orphans cease to
be chargeable to the State, and they will
henceforward decrease in the following ra
tio, viz: 374 will reach that age in 1868.
329 iu 1869, 343 in 1870. 4u3 in 1871, 479
in 1872, 460 in 1S73. 416 in 1874, and 344
in 1875, after which there probably will not
be more than 600 remaining in the schools.
Should the term be reduced to fifteen years,
as has been proposed by some, fully one
fifth of the number now in the schools would
enter upon trades or business within the
present year.
No calculation can furnish an estimate of
the benefit and blessings that are constant
ly flowing from these institutions. Thous
ands of orphan children are enjoying their
parental care, moral cultureTiud education
al training, who otherwise would have suf
fered poverty and want, and been left to
grow up in idleness and neglect. .Many a
widow's heart has been gladdened by the
protection, comfort and religious solicitude
extended to her fatherless offspring, and
thousands are the prayers devoutly uttered
for those who have not been unmindful of
them in the time of their affliction. In
making the generous disposition it hasdoue
for these destitute and helpless orphan,
the Legislature, deserves and receives the
heartiest thanks of every good citizen, all of
whom will cordially approve a continuance
of that beneficence. In shielding, protec
ting and educating the children of our dead
soldiers the Legislature is nobly performing
its duty. Those children are not the mere
object of our charity, or pensioners upon
our bounty ; but the wards of the Common
wealth, and have just claims, earned by the
blood of their fathers, upon its support and
guardianship, which can only be withheld
at the sacrifice of philanthrophv, honor, pa
triotism. State pride, and every principle of
humanity.
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
Theact of Congress of July 2. 1862, gran
ted land scrip to the several States, to be
appropriated to the maintenance ot col
leges, whose leading object it shall be to
give instruction in the sciences which minis
ter to agriculture and mechanic arts. By
the rule of apportionment, adopted i3r Con
gress, 7t.Kl.0l 0 acres fell to the share of this
iiomtnonwealih. The act of Assembly of
February 19. 167, appropriated the benefit
of the whole of that grant to the Agricultu
ral College of Pennsylvania, which has
thereby become subject to the supervision
and cuardian.-hin ot the State. I therefore
invite your attention to the organization and
condition ot that institution, as cxhibiteil
by the president of the board of trustees, iu
his report for the year 1867. which will be
laid before you. The commissioners ap
I ointcd by the Legislature to sell the land
scrip have completed the sales, which a
mount to $439,lf6 80. In accordance with
the act of Assembly, "the one-tenth of the
procei-drfhas been applied to the purchase ot
sites far "Model and experimental Farms,"
and the residue invested as follows: $126,
000 in the United States 5-20 bends; $20,
000 in Pennsylvania war loan, and $235,
000 in the Pennsylvania bonds of 1S67.
The college has been thoroughly re or
ganized in order to mat;e it fully respond to
the object and requirements of the act of
Congress and to the educational interests of
the industrial clas;s,and to meet these ends
it now gives courses of instruction in gener
al science, agriculture, mechanical and civil
engineering, metallurgy and mining; ancient
and modern languages, and military tac tics,
employing a faculty comprising, six profes
sors and two instructors in the college de
partment and three instructor- in the gram
mar school. This importanteducational en
terprise in the interests of agriculture and
the mechanical arts deserves favorable con
sideration. -
MILITARY.
An adequate preparation in time of peace
is a preservative against the probabilities
and contingencies of war. This ofc repeat
ed axiom was not sufficiently realized before
tho rebellion, for, when it broke out, it
I found the nation wholly unprepared. Had
it been otherwise, the war which continued
, through a period of fodr years, and cost the
I , . .:n: e , , ,
country minions 01 treasure, nunareus oi
thousands ot lives, and an incalculable a
niount of suffering and want, would have
been of comparatively short duration, it not
crushed in its ineipiency. That war, how
ever, has not been without its useful lessons.
It has taught the necessity of adhering to
principles in practice which we have here
tofore only acknowledged in theory. It has
trained many thousands of ourycung men
in the science .of arms aud infused among
them a spirit of military ardor which may
saferj be relied on in any future emergency,
and paved the way for the establishment of
military organizations that will prove a safe
guard and honor to the State. The Legis
lature, availing itself of these facts, should
adopt a liberal and effective system for in
creasing and regulating the volunteer mili
tia. The law of 1864, though excellent in
many respects, does not meet the require
ments of the times, and alterations and a
mendments are needed before it can accom
plish all the contemplated and desired ob
jects. The minimum of men necessarj' to
form a company is entirely too high, and in
many places where smaller companies would
be formed, it is impossible to raise thera in
accordance with the ratio established by the
act. From the report of the Adjutant Gen
eral, it will be seen that there are now but
thirty-eight uniformed companies in the
State, coin prising only about three thous
and men, whilst the suggested amendments,
which should be made as early as possible,
would increase these organizations to any de
sirable extent, and tend to renew and keep
alive in our soldiers the proud memoriesof
the service and to preserve the military ar
dor born of our recent struggles for national
existence.
NEW ARSENAL.
The necessity for a new arsenal, affording
a place of safe deposit for ordnance stores
and a magazine, is so obvious as to require
nothing more on my part than to call your
attention to the subject, and to ask that
authority be given and an appropriation
made for the purchase of a site and for the
erection of suitable buildings for the pur
pose indicated.
REYNOLDS MONUMENT.
Agreeably to the requirements of the act
of Assembly, entitled "An Act to authorize
the Governor to transfer to the Reynolds
Monument Committee unserviceable and
condemned ordnance," approved March 7,
1867, I caused the ordnance in the arsenal
to beinspected and turned overto the com
mittee for the purpose indicated five con
demned six-pounder brass cannon, weigh
ing in the aggregate three thousand seven
hundred and forty-eight pounds.
HISTORY.
In 1864 the Legislature made an appro
priation for the purpose of having prepar
ed and published a complete history of the
military operations of the State in reference
to the late war. My predecessor appointed
Samuel P. Bates, Esq., for the purpose of
con sum mating the provisions of the act,
who proceeded to collect the necessary ma
terials and to prosecute the work.
Although the country has again been res
tored to peace, the people continue to feel
a deep interest in all that relates to the
struggle which so recently convulsed the na
tion. In the prosecution of the wir Penn
sylvania, always among the first to answer
the country's call, gave additional eviden
ces of her devotion to liberty and to the na
tion's glory. Over three hundred and six
ty thousand of her sons stood in the ranks
of the Union army. Many have fallen. anil
nearly thirty thousand by wounds and dis
ease received in the field, repose in death.
To commemorate their heroism, to preserve
their names and perpetuate the record of
their deeds are among the objects of the
work iu progress. In its pages will be
found an account of each and every military
organization of the State ; the officers aud
men ot whom the,- were c m posed ; the
name of every individual, with his place of
re.-idence, time of muster, date of discharge,
and the special acts by which he was distin
guished, as well of the dead as those who
have survived.
TrtANSPORTATIOX DEPARTMENT.
The Department of Transportation, crea
ted during the war, has accomplished its
purpose, and ceased to exist by the deter
mination of the Legislature, expressed in
the appropriation bill, approved April 11,
1867. The report of the Superintendent
shows that for the year ending November
30, 1867, the whole number of claims settled
aud paid was eight hundred and eighty-two.
These were tor the disinterment ot the bod
ies of dceased Pennsylvania soldiers on dis
tant battle-fields and transportation to the
homes of their relatives, and the total ex
penditures were thirty-two thousand five
hundred and thirty-nine dollars and forty
cents. There remain unsettled one hun
dred and twenty-three claims, amounting to
about four thousand dollars, for the pay
ment of which and some unsettled transpor
tation, an appropriation of four thousand
five hundred dollars will be required.
All the papers and business of" the De
partment have been transferred to the of
fice of the Adjutant General.
STATE AGENCY.
During the war a State Agency, for the
examination, adjustment and collection, free
of expenses, of military claims, was estab
lished at Washington, for the maintenance
of which the Legislature, with commenda
ble liberality, has annually made the neces
sary appropriations.
In January last, Col. John II. Stewart,of
Allegheny county, was appointed Agent,
and Lieutenant Colonel Win; A. C.ok'
Assistant. After a faithful and efficient
performance of its duties until 31st of Octo
ber, Col. Stewart, resigned in consequence
of domestic afflictions, when Col. Cook was
promoted to fill the position, and Lieuten
ant Col. J. Copelan, appointed assistant.
V .. j: TV 1 tr
1867, one thousand seven hundred and
eighteen claims have been settled, aud three
hundred and twenty-one Treasury certifi
cates collected, amounting to $241,669 43.
Two thousand one hundred and twenty-nine
newcascs remain unsettled,the most of which
will probably be settled by the 30th of June
next, at which period the appropriation ter
minates. When this is exhausted, the De
partment will have doubtless fulfilled its mis
sion, and the documents and papers can be
transferred to the Adjutant General's office.
CEMETERIES.
The reports of the commissioners appoint
ed under the act of March 12, 1867, to in
vestigate the transactions relating to certain
cemeteries are herewith presented.
The work at the Gettysburg cemetery is
progressing, but with less expedition than
was contemplated, in consequence of the
difficulty of procuring such blocks ot marble
as were required for statuary.
The appropriation of three thousand dol
lars to the cemetery at Antietarn has been
withheld, as it appears from the act of in
corporation by the Legislature of Maryland
and the resolutions of the board of trustees.
that the rebel dead are to be interred within
the enclosure and to be honored with the
same memorials as the Union soldiers who
are there buried. ,
The custom ha ever prevailed to specially
honor those in death who won special honor
by meritorious lives. The monuments rear
ed to the memory of departed worth bear
ample testimony that our people have not
been unmindful of this custom. But where
were such memorials ever erected for men
whose actions were infamous, and who per
ished in an ignoble cause? Who would
giorify the treason of Benedict Arnold with
such monuments as have arisen to the mem
ory of Washington ? Who would dare to
insult the loyal heart of thi3 nation by pra-
posing to lay, side by side, in the same sep
ulchre, the body of the assassin Booth and
that of Abraham Lincoln ? No loyal man
would take the heartless Wirz and the other
demons that presided over the prison dens
of cruelty, starvation and death, aud the
executed conspirators against the nation's
illustrious chief, and deposit them in the
same tomb with the patriotic men who sac
rificed their lives in battling for "the right
against the wrong." Yet it is proposed that
the loyal States construct cemeteries for
their heroio dead, and then desecrate theui
ly t he burial therein of those who prosecuted
as ainst the country a warfare which for its
diabolical ferocity is without a parallel in the
history of civilization, and even to erect
monuments to their memory. Carry out this
purpose and what inducement can be here
after offered to the loyal citizen to fight
against treason, when he leels assured that
should he fall in battle the traitor's grave
will be honored equally with his own?
The cause of the Union was a holy one,
while that which opposed it must have been
its converse. To one side alone the glory
belongs. This was not a war of nations but
of treason against loyalty. It was a contest
of rebels who would have drained the iife's
blood of the government which had nurtured
and protected them, against its patriotic
sons who fought to save it from destruction.
It was a war carried on by the defenders and
promoters of oppression against the friends
and lovers of liberty and their country's in
tegrity. While there is no reasonable objection to
giving decent sepulture even to the rebel
dead, those who consider them deserving of
honorable testimonials may bestow them. It
is our duty to render honor only to whom
we believe honor is due.
SIOSCMEST TO DECEASED SOLDIERS.
The commissioners appointed under an
act of the Legislature, approved April 22,
1858, "to contract for, and superintend the
erection of a monument to the memory of
citizensof Pennsylvania who were slain or lost
their lives in the late war with 3Iexico," have
contracted for the t rectiou of a monument, in
a prominent portion of the Capitol grounds,
and the work is progressing as rapidly as
circumstances will permit. The appropria
tion of $6,000, to which the commissioners
are limited, is inadequate for the object con
templated. The lowest bid tor the contract
was $8,200. I joiil the commissioners, there
fore, in requesting an additional appropria
tion of three thousand, to be used, or so
much thereof as may be necessary, to com
plete the undertaking.
Your patriotism will doubtless give a fa
vorable response to this request, and the en
lightened people of the Commonwealth,
rising above selfish and partisan feeling,will
sanction such expenditure for the erection of
this honorable memento. A State that has
been prodigal of her millions in the employ
ment of her physical resources and in the
performance of every noble and disinterested
act which philanthropy could suggest, can
not forget her gallant sons whose sufferings
and sacrifices for their country have never
been fully appreciated, and whoso remains
lepose- among strangers, in a foreign land,
without a stone, however rude, to indicate
their last resting places, or distinguish their
graves from those of their fallen enemies.
BURIAL OP DECEA8EB SOLDIERS.
A communication trom the board ofman
agersof the Harrisburg cemetery is herewith
transmitted, to which your attention is invi
ted. The suliect of which it treats, relative
to the burial of deceased soldiers during the
latewar.isworthyoflegislativeccnsideration.
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
The Pennsylvania Institute for the Deaf
and Dumb, the Institution for the Instruc
tion of the Blind, the Training School for
Feeble-Minded Children, the Northern
nome for Friendless Children, the Houses
of Kefuge, several Solders' Homes, and
other similar charities, which have received
aid from the State, are, according to the re
ports of the principals and superintendents,
nil In ,i;ffVrent spheres, accomplishing
much good for the unfortunate classes ; for
whope benefit they were estapusnea.
Durinr
Detailed -accounts of the affairs of the
Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital, at
Harrisburg, and of the Western Pennsylva
nia Hospital, at Pittsburg, will be found in
the reports of the trustees aud superintend
ents. Both these institutions, as well as
others in the State for the care of the in
sane, are crowded. The infirmaries for the
hospital at Harrisburg, for which appropri
ation was made last year, with a large num
ber of additional wards, have been erected,
and will be ready for occupation during the
winter. A liberal appropriation for the
v estern Hospital was devoted to the erec
tion of building?, on the Ohio river, seven
.miles below Pittsburg, known as the Dix-
jaont ilosp tal tor the Insane. The great
increase of population renders necessarv the
establishment of other institutions ot this
kind. It is estimated that the ratio of the
insane is one to every thousand persons,aud
on assuming the population of the Slate to
be about three millions five hundred thous
and, we have about three thousand five hun
dred insane. The hospitals in the State af
ford accommodation for only two thousand.
Hence there are faf teen hundred for whom no
provision is maJe, and many of them are
languishing in the county prisons and alms
houses. .
REVISION OV THE CIVIL CODE.
Pursuant to the firot section of a joint res
olution of the Legislature, approved on the
10th of April last, lion David Derricksou,
W. Maclay Hail, Esq., and Wayne M'Veigh,
Esq., were appointed to "revise, collate and
digest all such public acts and statutes of the
civil code of this Sta.e, as are general and
permaacutin their nature." These gentle
men have commenced-the work as.-igued
them, and from which the following berefits
are hoped to be derived :
T. The correction of the redundancies.
omissions, repetitions and inconsistencies of
the existing .statutes. 2. The framiug of
general laws as substitutes for the innumer
able local statutes, which for many years
have comprised the bulk of the acts of As
sembly and occupied the attention of the
Legislature to the detriment of general leg
islation. 3. The conferring upon the courts
many powers now exercised by the Legisla
ture, and which, it is believed, will greatly
relieve that body by decreasing the demand
for special legislation and allowing ampler
opportunity tor the consideration of the
public interests.
The gentlemen comprising the commission
have prepared a large number of Lills.most
of which will be laid before you at an early
day. The mo t important of these, w hich
the commissioners, in harmony with my own
views, are of the opinion should receive ear
ly and favorable action of the Legislature,
are those relating to corporations, the poor,
public highways, railroads, evidence and in
terest. The others, with, perhaps, a few
exceptions, might be left unacted upon until
the entire work of revision is completed.
The enactment of the bill on corporations
iuto a law, at an early period of the session,
would, doubtless, serve to prevent much
legislation that might be called for on sub
jects which the bill itself contemplates and
lur which it makes ample provision. .The
bills relating to the pour and to public high
ways demand early attention, as the laws
now in force on these subjects are so numer
ous and diversified that scarcely any two
comities in the State are controlled by the j
same law, and it is earnestly to be desired j
that they receive the earliest practicable j
sanction ot the Legislature.
The commissioners desire to be alloved,so
far as possible, to complete the work and
present it as a symmetrical whole, rather
than in detached parts, and express their
opinion relative to the time requisite for its
satisfactory completion. They ask a repeal
of so much of the first section of the joint
resolution as excepts from their labors "those
statutes revised, codified and enacted under
the resolution approved .V arch 23, 1830,"
and an amendment ot the lourtii section, so
as to extend from "two" to thn.e years, the
time allowed for the completion of the work.
The proposed amendments will give them
control of the whole body of the statute Jaw,
and such allowance of time as .they deem
necessary for its satisfactory revision. The
accumulation of our public statutes, during
a period of nearly twj centuries, can hardly
fail to present a confusion which it is emi
nently desirable should be corrected ; and
the only practicable mode of accomplishing
this is the one indicated by the resolution
of the last Legislature,and havingconfidence
in the gentlemen selected for this work, it is
due to them, as well as to the public, that
they should not be restricted, either as to
time or by exceptions, which would prevent
a perfect and desirable embodiment of pub
lic statutes. '
The task is one of more than ordinary
magnitude, requiring deliberate considera
tion, critical acumen, and careful comparison
and arrangement, together with high order
of talent, literary attainments, legal research, i
and energetic industry, to bring it to that
perfection which its importance demands
and the Legislature intended and will doubt
less expect.
TAX LAW.
The Auditor General, Secretary of the
Commonwealth andStateTreasurer,appnint
ed by the Legislature at its last session to
revise and digest the tax laws of the State,
have discharged that duty. Their report
will be submitted at an early day. and 1 be
speak for it that careful examination which
the importance of the subject deserves.
PUBLIC SOTICB TO BE GIVEN OF CERTAIN BILLS.
- Your attention is also invited to the acts
of May 13, 1857, and April 2, 1860, (Digest,
page 43,) requiring public notice to be given
of the application for all private acts relating
to real estate and for acts of incorporation.
The wisdom and justice of these are mani
fest, and their enforcement cannot be other
wise than beneficial.
, LEGISLATION.
At the last session certain bills were pass
ed in which large numbers of citizens were
deeply interested, the responsibility for
which, after the adjournment, but few mem
bers could be found willing to assume, or
even to admit any knowledge of thpir pass-ae-
It is expected that every legislator
should bo acquaints with all that is tr a um
piring in the legislative halls. He is not
s:mply chosen to give his'support to certain
bills which have been called to his individu
al atUntion, but to be constantly on the alert
to frustrate every act that may have a ten
dency to jeopardize the public interests. To-,
plead ignorance after a real or imaginary
wrong has been done, is to acknowledge a
want of attention to the trust reposed by his
constituents. One bill, the authorship and
knowledge of which has been generally dis- ,
claimed, pjssed both branches ot the As- '
sembly, and was sent in due form, with the
signatures of the proper officers, for Execu
tive approval, and in several instances bills
were passed and sent for approval in dupli
cate. All such hasty and careless legislation
should be avoided, and the members of the
session now about to commence be enabled
at its close to give an account of their par
ticipation m every act, however unimpor
tant. The Legislature, coiu'ng as does, '
fresh from the ranks ot the people, should
set an example in economy, retrenchment
and reform. It is the custodian of the pub
lic interests, and any unnecessary extrava
ganee or prodigality in the expenditure of
public money is reprehensible.' It was a
matter of common notoriety at the last ses '
sion that a number of subordinate officers, ;
iu both branches of the Assembly, were ap-
pointed, to whom liberal salaries were paid, '
and who were never seenat their designated
posts, and rendered nu service to the State:
This practice has been emphatically con
demned by the press and the people, and
will not be continued by ar:y Legislature
which means to acquire a reputation fop- u
faithful performance of duty. Your .
attention is respectluily invited to the law
on this subject as contained in sections fifteen .
to eighteen of the act approved the 7th day .
of May, 1855.
ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS: '
Yo;ir attention is directed to the practice ,
of withholding the annual appropriation bill
until the latest moments of the session. In
tte public estimation great importance is
attached to this bill, and no action of tha
Legislature undergoes a closer or more care
ful scrunity. Its provisions concern the en- "
tire community, and in their enactment too
much cautiou cannot be observed.- Last
year the appropriation bill was not passed
until the last night of the session, when it
was hurried through both branches of the
Legislature, and on the following morning
presented for approval, without affording
time for the necessary investigation, and sub
jecting the Executive to the alternative of
signing it with all its imperfections, er sus
pending, for the ensuing year, the indispen
sable means for the operations of the State
Government. It is, therefore, earnestly de
sired that the appropriation bill be takeaup,
discussed, and passed at a sufficiently early
period during the session to enable it to re
ceive that thorough examination which its
importance demand'.
PERQUISITES OF OFFICE.
Very many serious complaints have been
made for uiany years past relative to the dis
position ot the debris which annually acca
mutated about the Capitol. This seems to
have beeu regarded as legitimate perquisicea
of certain attaches of the several legislative
and other depaitments, and has consequent
ly led to pra.tices which should be prevent
ed. It is alleged that valuable property has
thus been taken possession of aud applied to
personal uscs,or sold tor mere nominal sums,
and the amount obtained privately appropri
ated. A remedy for this evil is to allow no
perquisites w hatever to any eniployeesof the
government. S daries, sufficient in all cases
lor the t-ervices rendered, should be appro
priated, beyond which no other consideration
should 'be'aliowed. The adaption of this
principle would remove the temptation for
young men in the departments to resort to
improper practices. All the public proper
ty, of every description, as well as the build
ings and grounds, should he placed in charge
of the superintendent appointed for that
purpose, chosen for his known integrity and
general capability, and required to give suf
ficient bonds for the faithful performance of
his duties. All property aud material no&
heeded lor public use, the superintendent
should be required to sell at public sale, and
pay over the proceeds to the State Treasury.
INSURANCE DEPARTMENT.
My attentiou has beeu called to the sub
ject of insurance, and so important does it
appear, that I deem it worthy of legislative
consideration. Many millions of dollars are
now involved, iu the United States, in in
surance, and the amount is being rapidly in
creased. To guard the interests of insurers,
our laws are adequate, and therefore need a
thorough revision. Laws have been estab
lished in several of our sister States, and so
successful have been their operations that
the insurance companies acting under thera.
command a respect aud confidence which is
not extcuded to those of Pennsylvania.
Whilst a large portion of the insurance bu-
siness of New York is done in this State,
some of our companies have recently abol- .
ished their agencies in NewYork.because as
they say,no one there will insure in a Pennsyl
vania company, in consequence of the laxi
ty of our insurance laws. The policies of
many organizations, under our present laws,
are alleged to be worthless; and although
they are continually failing, others ol siini
las character are starting into existence.
Within a few months five fire insurance
companies have failed, one of which had is
sued policies to over one million of dollars,
and other serious defections are of frequent
occurrence. , ,
In view of these facts and the costly ex
perience of the people, I would recommend
the establishment of an Insurance Depart
roent. si jiilar to those in Xew .York and
WICIODIB OX T9WTB fit!. '. ,
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