lIUNTINGDO JOURNAL
- _ - -
71)tbottU to Central iitttelligettet, tibtrttotitg, Volitico,Etterature, Inoratttg, Ztrto, Attentro, ftgritttitttrc, cannot:mut,
s ~®no ~~~~cJ ~C~o c'-~C~o
PUBLISH. Br
THEODORE H. CREMER,
~` ®LP3fi7IIS~o
The "JOURNAL" will be published every Wed
nesday malting, at $2 00 a year, if paid in advance,
and if not paid within six months, $2 50.
No subsCription received for a shorter period than
six months, nor any paper discontinued till all ar
teatimes arc paid.
Advertisements not exceeding one square, will be
inserted three times for 31 00, and for every subse
quent insertion 25 cents. If no definite orders are
given as to the time an advertisement is to be continu
ed, it will be kept is till ordered out, and charged ac
cordingly.
"„ "_
.w .~' ~,
Froin the Christian Reflector.
When. is the time to Die.
I asked the iludund happy child,
Whose hands . were 11 . 1141 wit flowers,
Whose silvery laugh num free and wild
Among the vine-wreathed bowers;
I crossed her sunny path, mid cried,
"When is the time to die
, 4 1 Not yet ! not yet !" the child replied,
And swiftly bounded by.
I asked n maiden; beck she threw
The tresses of her hair ;
Grief's traces o'er her cheek I knew,
Like pearls they glistened there ;
A flush passed o'er her lily brow,
I heard her spirit sigh :
"Not now," she cried, " 0 no ! not now,
Youth is no time to die !"
I mired a mother, as she pressed
Her first born in her arms,
As gentle on her tender breast
Site hushed her babe's alarms ;
In quivering tones her answer came,—
Her eyes were dim with tears ;
"My boy his mother's life must claim
For many, many years."
I questioned one in manhood's prime, •
Of proud and fearless air;
His brow was furrowed nut by time,
Or dimmed by woe or care,
In angry accents he replied,
And flashed , with scorn his eye :
• Talk not to Ise of death," he cried.
• For only age should die."
I questioned age; for him the tomb
Had long been ull prepared ;
But death, who withers youth and bloom,
This man of years had spared.
Once more his nature's dying fire
Flashed high as thus he clod;
" Life ! only life is my desire !"
Then gasped, and groaned, and died.
I asked a Christian Answer thou
When in the hour of death !"
A holy calm was on his drow
And peaceful wits his breath ;
And sweetly o'er his features stole
A smile, a light divine:
He spake the language of his soul,-
4, My Master's time is mine !"
ICIEJOZZALAN3OI:7O.
Remarkable Magnetic Rocks,
The following facts arc detailed by the Vicksburg
(Mississippi) \ Vhig :
Near the iron mamitain in Missouri, there is a
ledge of stone, extending, for half a mile in length,
and several hundred yards in width. This stone is
very strongly impregnated with magnetic properties ;
so strongly, indeed, that it is impossible to ride a
well shod horse over it. A gentleman having his
horse newly shod, once attempted it, but before he
had made two „ revolutions," his horse " was brought
up all standing"—perfectly still. In vain our trav
eller urged his gallant steed forward ; persuasion and
force proved equally futile, until his patience became
exhausted, and ho sent for a blacksmith. The son of
Vulcan soon arrived, and found the horse standing
stock still, and to all appearance as immovable as
the rock of Gibralter. Various expedients were re
sorted to, to relieve the horse, but they all failed.—
There he stood, and to all appearance there he was
likely to stand, with his feet literally glued to the
Solid and impervious rock. At last the blacksmith's
eyes glistened; he had it sure. Ile sent oft to his
smithy for his shoeing tools, which were soon forth
coming, when ho proceeded with all possible des
patch to unclinch the nails which bound the horse's
sho:s to his hbols! One by one the nails were un
clinched, the whip was applied to the horse, and as
the last nail gave way, ho escaped with a bound,
but left his Moo wedded to the rock.
Air ANCIENT RECEII'E FOR TUE Cults OP THE
GoeT.—The ingredients for this remedie cannot be
had without a little thefte, but as no one's stock will
bee endangered, the sufferer will bee contents to run
a little Mike, in order to obtain greats relief:-Ist.
live must pick a handkerchief from the pocket of a
maide of 50 years, whenever had a wish to change
her condition. 2nd. Hee must wash it in an hon
est miller's pond. 3d. Hee must thy it on a par
son's hedge that was never covetous. 4th. Hee
must scent it in a doctor's shop who never kill'd a
patients. sth. Hee must mark it with a lawyer's
inke who never cheated a cliente. Applye it to the
part affected, and a cure will speedilie follow.
COMMODORE Pence.—"ln stature," says .I. Pen
nimore Cooper, <, Commodore Perry was slightly
above the middle height. His frame was compact,
muscular, and well formed, and his activity in due
proportion. His voice woe peculiarly clear and
agreeable, and, aided by its power, he was a brilliant
deck officer."
The eccentric Lorenzo Dow, in the year 1830,
prophecied that in the year 1843 there would be no
King in England, no President in the United States,
and that there would be snow in June. His pre
diction has been fulfilled to the very letter.
/ understand," said a deacon to his neighbor,
"that you are becoming a hard drinker." "That
is a slander," replied hia neighbor. "for no man can
conk‘easner."
Fnom TITS INDIANA REGISTER,
Messrs. Morehead:
GemllAmx have received a communication
from Judge Woodward upon the subject of the cue
of the Flanag,ns, at present confined in the Jail of
Cambria County ; accompanied by a suggestion that
as there had been much excitement in the public
mind about this case, it might be as well to give
publicity to his views in relation to the duty he was
called upon to perform.
I therefore furnish a copy for publication. It
needs, no comment on my part, as his sentiments
are fully disclosed, and I have neither the right or
the disposition to question the ground he has assu
med. Having certified the case, as authorized by
the Legislature, it has passed beyond my control.
Very respectfully
Your serv't.
THOMAS WHITE.
June 12, 1843.
In the Court of Oyer and Terminer
of Cambria County.
Commonwealth of
. Penneylvania
vs. Indictment for the murder of
Bernard Flanagan Elizabeth Holder.
Patrick Flanagan,
Honorable THOMAS WHITE improve my
earliest hour of leisure since returning from the
Courts of Clinton County, to answer your letter of
the 21st April, which came to me at this place by
way of Bellefonte, and which was a long time on
the road. To render intelligible the views lam
about to present to you, it is necessary that I should j
transcribe the first two sections of the Act of Assem
lily in reference to the above case ; and this seems
the more necessary as the law is not yet published,
and you intimate that you have no copy in your
possession. They are in these words:
„ Be it enacted by the senate and House of Rep
resentatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
in the General Assembly suet, and it is hereby enac
ted by the authority of the balUe, That the Court of
Oyer and Terminer of Cambria county are hereby
authorized and required to enter, if requested by the
defendants, in the case of the Commonwealth
against Bernard Flanagan and Patrick Flanagan,
indicted for the murder of Elizabeth Holder, a rule
to show cosine why the sentence of the Court and
the verdict of the Jury should not be set aside in
I said case, a new trial be granted, and, if said Court
should, on hearing, be satisfied that according to
the principles which ought to govern in ouch cases,
a new trial should be granted, the said Court are
hereby authorized to snake the said rule absolute, and
if a stew trial be thus granted, the case shall be pro
ceeded in by said Court, as soon as practicable, to
another trial and final judgment.
I _
Szerros '2, That in case the Picsl.ivin. Judge
of said Court should desire that said rule, the hear
ing thereof, and the new trial, if one be grunted,
should be had before sonio other Judge, then it shall
be the duty of the said President Judge to certify
these facts to the Presidelit Judge of the Fourth Ju
dicial District, who is hereby authorized and requi
red to preside in said Court of Oycr and Terminer,
and to do and perform, with ono or more of the As
sociate Judges of said county, all things specified in
the first section of this act touching the rule to show
cause and the final disposition of such case, with like
effect and force as if done before the proper Presi
dent of said Court, and no informality in process or
otherwise, shall vitiate tiny proceeding under this
act, and said Court shall have all the power neces
sary to carry the true intention thereof into full
effect, and may adjourn from time to time until said
case is fully determined."
You have availed yourself of the license contained
in the second section of this law, and have certified to
me that it is your desire that the rule to show cause
why the sentence of the Court and the verdict of the
Jury in the above stated ease, should be set aside
and a new• trial be granted, &c., should be entered
and heard before the President Judge of the Fourth
Judicial District, and if a new trial should be gran
ted, you certify that it is also your desire that the new
trial should bo had before the said President Judge
of the Fourth Judicial District.
I do not complain that you certified me of a desire
which I have no doubt you feel very sincerely. I
can readily imagine that after a long and patient
trial of the prisoners for murder, resulting in a con
viction, andafter overruling a motion for a new trial,
and sentencing them to death, you should desire . '
that the proceedings prescribed by this extraordinary
act of legislation, should be had before me. But it
becomes a serious question with ine whether I have
constitutional power under the act of Assembly to
perform the duty whirls your certificate has laid on
me, and I propose to state as briefly as may be, the
grounds on which the constitutional doubt rests, and
which will prevent me from entering on the duties
required.
The prisoners committed the offence, if at all, in
Cambria county. They were tried and convicted
in thc Court of Oycr and Terminer in that county,
and the act of Assembly under consideration pro
vides that the proceedings in their cases shall be had
in that Court. In the event that has happened the
act authorizes and requires me to preside in that
Court, with the same effect that you might do. The
question is: Can the Legislature make.= the Presi
dent Judge of the Court of Oycr and Terminer of
Cambria county, whilst that county remains in your
Judicial District, and you remain in commission I
The Constitution, in the 5111 article, establishes a
Supreme Court for the whole State, and Courts of
Oyer and Terminer and General Goal Delivery,
Courts of Common Pleas, an Orphans' Court, a
Register's Court, and a Court of Quarter Sessions
of the Peace for each county. The sth section of
this article provides that "The Judges of the Courts
of Conunon Pleas, in each county, shall by virtue of
their offices, be Justices of Oyer and Terminer, and
General Goal Delivery, for the trial of Capital and
other oftimders therein:—Any two of the said Judges,
the president being one, shall be a quorum; but
th-7 -;14 hoN Tcan cf 0;c: end 11-c:mincr
a-s.SI.X.tI;UU2' cErW'Lla`U'' ie) i) UUEI4II:IBES
or Goal Delivery in any county when the * Judges
of the Supreme Court, or any of them shall be
sitting in the same county. The party accused,
as well as the Commonwealth, may under such
regulation as shall be prescribed by law, remove the
indictment and proceedings, or a transcript thereof
into the Supreme Court." Two of the Judges of the
Court of Common Pleas af Cambria county, the
President being one, are thus made the Constitu
tional "Justices of the tourt - of Oyer and Termi
miner and General Gdal Delivery for the trial of
capital and other offenders- therein."
Who, then, are the Judges of the Court of Com
mon Pleas of Cambria county I The third section
of the amended constitution adopts the then existing
system of Courts of Common Pleas, and provides
that " until otherwise directed - by law, the Courts of
Common Pleas shall continue as at present estab
lished." You and your associates in Cambria
county were a part of that system, and you became ,
ipso facto, the Justices of Oyer and Terminer in
that county. It has never been n otherwise ordered
by law." You have continued in commission, and
Cambria county has continued to form part of your
district. In the common language of the constitu
tion and in every legal sense, you and your associ
ates are "the Judges of the Court of Common
Pleas" fur that county. It is true that the Judges
of the Fourth Judicial District were authorised by an
Act of Assembly of the 3d of April, 1837, to hold
Special Courts of Common Pleas and Quarter Ses
sions in Cumbria county, for the purpose of dispo
sing of any cases, motions, or 'natters then pending 1 1
in said county, and in which you had been of coun
sel. But this was a very special authority, and
temporary, like the necessity which led to its enact
ment. In no proper sense could it be construed to
make my predecessor or myself a Judge of the Court
of Common Pleas of Cambria county within the
moaning of the sth section of the sth article of the
constitution ; for if it did, I have a right at any time
to sit wills you in the Court of Oyer and Terminer;
and• thus that court would be provided with two
President Judges, the constitution declaring there
shall be one. Other consequences equally absurd
and unconstitutional would result from the argument
that the Act of Assembly of the 3d April, 1837,
made me a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of
that county, within the meaning of the constitutional
provision. I conceive that the position cannot be
questioned that, I do not come under the description
ofJudges who are authorized to sit as Justices of Oyer
and Terminer in that county, and if I do not, the
Legislature cannot by their mandate place me there
fur the purposes of a solitary case.
It is true the Legislature may remove Cambria
county from your jurisdiction as a Judge of the
Court of Common Pleas, both because the power is
given to them in the 3d section cited above, and be
cause, also, having created the Judicial Districts,
they have a right to arrange and alter them accost'.
ding to the demand of public convenience; and if
they should unite Crunbria county to some other
Judicial District, the President Judge of that Dis
trict would by virturo of his commission, be a Jus
tice of the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Cam
bria county. It is only by relation to the Court
of Common Pleas that any of us are Justices of Oyer
and Terminer. Our commissions do not in terms
embrace this jurisdiction, but being commissioned as
President Judges of the Courts of Common Pleas in
and for established and ascertained Districts, we be
come, by virtue of the constitution, Justices in Oyer
and Terminer within the SUMO sphere. But until an
Executive commission and an Act of Assembly,
concur to make us Judges of the Court of Common
Pleas of a particular county, I hold that we have no
power to sit in the Oyer and Terminer of that
county.
So long os the . re are Judges of the Court of Com
mon Pleas in and for Cambria county, the constitu
tion vests in them the power which the Legislature
have attempted to transfer to me. And how can I
be expected to exercise a jurisdiction conferred by
the Legislature, when an authority superior to the
Legislature has vested it elsewhere This consti
tutional organization of the Court of Oyer and Ter
miner is not more express than it is exclusive. No
power is granted to the Legislature to a order other
wise," concerning these Courts, as there is concer
ning the Court of Common Pleas. Hence there
con be no special Court of Oyer and Terminer pro-
vided, corresponding in organization with the spe
cial Courts of Common Pleas under the act of As
senility of 1834. The legislative power to send
a Judge of one District into another to hold a Court
of Common Pleas results from the third section al
ready quoted, and which is substantially the same
in this respect as the 4th section of the sth article
of the Constitution of 1790, and this power is con
tinually exercised. But neither in the Constitution
of 1790 nor in that of 1838 is there any similar
grant in respect to Courts of Oyer and Terminer.
The right of the Legislature to interfere in the juris
diction peculiar to these Courts, is restrained to the
removal of the " indictment and,proccedings, or a
transcript thereof into the Supreme Court"
In civil disputes it often happens that a President
Judge is so related to the controversy that every con
sideratfon of delicacy as well as justice forbids him
to preside at the trial. It is a convenient arrange
ment, therefore, to call in a neighboring President to
supply his place in thataustartee, and this is a spe
cial Court of Common Pleas which the Legislature
have, I repeat, by express grant, the constitutional
power to provide. But it seldom happens that a
President Judge sustains a similar relation to any of
' !!!:h t:nincs which rnu•:t he triad in the Oyer
and Tettniner, and when such a case does occur,
the Constitution makes ample provision, not only in
the authority it gives the Legislatue to remove it
into the Supreme Court, but also by the fact that
the Judges of the Supreme Court are Justices of •
Oyer end Terminer in every county in the State,
and can supply the place of a President Judge, if
occasion demand. Suclt being the constitutional
provition for cases of emergency, it would have
been nawise to multiply facilities for bringing crimes
to trial before any other than the local Judges.-
1 A paver of this kind lodged in the Legislature
might be abused, and the liberty or life of the citizen
be en-angered in times of high excitement. If,
when a man had been accused of crime the Legis
lature by a special mandate, could send whom they
pleased to preside on his trial, in the place of the
ordinary tribunals of justice, their act would partake
strok.ty of the nature of an ex post facto law, and
be obnoxious to the same objections. These may
have •en among the reasons of the framers of our
Constitution for not giving: the Legislature a control
over Courts of Oyer and Terminer shaar to that
which they possess in respect to Courts of Common
Pleas. Whether or not, however, these were the rea
sons t:lr the distinction which is apparent in the
Constitution, it is enough for me that I find a Court
of Oyar and Terminer established by that instrument
in Cambria county, and invested with jurisdiction of
the case before me in a manner inconsistent with
the provisions of the act of Assembly under con
' 'Adoration.
In addition to the obvious right of the Legisla
ture to refer this case to the Judges of the Supreme
Cowl, I suppose they might, if cause satisfactory to
themselves existed, have changed the venue of the
Indictment, with the consent of the accused, and
have given them a trial in another county. And if
the prisoners had been sent to either county of my
distri I should have felt It my duty to proceed in
their •axe with all fidelity, however I might have
regretted the necessity for doing so. But so long as
Ale prisoners remain in a county where I am not a
judg, of the Court of Common Pleas, and where
you are, they have a right, indefeasibly secured to
them by the constitution, to be tried by you; and
you will excuse me for saying that your superior
expt , icnce and qualifications make this a highly
vale tble right if the prisoners, which nave no
&m it they properly appreciate, and which lam
um;iilling to deprive them of. On the ground,
I therefore, that this act of Assembly is unconstitu
i tioiraf, in so fur as it affects to make me a Judge of
the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Cambria coun
ty for the special purposes of this case, I respectful
ly decline to make any order in the premises.
Many other objections might be urged against my
attempting to execute the purposes of this law, es
pecially in deciding the question of a new trial. I
was not present at the former trial—no bill of ex
ceptions can certify me of evidence rejected or' of
points ruled in the progress of the trial. Indeen, it
is tiot easy to see how I conid ascertain, certainly
and beyond all dispute, what the evidence delivered
by witnesses was, and if I could, I could have no
knowledge of those many circumstances attending
the delivery of the testimony and the progress of
the trial which more or less influence a Judge in de
ciding on an application for a new trial. And yet
the law requires, that the Court of which it is at
tempted to make me the President Judge, shall be
"satiVied that according to the principles which
ought to govern in such cases, a new trial should
be granted." If the Legislature meant that the
prisoners should have a new trial at all events, they
ought to have said so in terms. But if they meant
that the question should be decided with a conscien
tious regard to principles which govern in applica
tions for new trials, they ought to have made it your
duty imperatively to pass on this question. For,
having presided at the former trial, you are perhaps
the only Judge in existence who can properly apply
to the question the principles which ought to gov
ern in such cases."
Notwithstanding, however, the obvious income
thence, amounting almost to total impracticability,
of deciding the question of a new trial in the man
ner prescribed by the Legislature, but I should still
have felt it my duty to take measures fur executing,
us nearly as might be, the intention of the Legisla
ture, if I did nut see obstacles in my way which are
insurmountable, because constitutional. That Con
stitution I hove sworn to support, and I firmly be
lieve I should violate both its letter and spirit, if I
went to Cambria county for the purposes required.
I must be excused, therefore. I intend no reflection
on the members of the Legislature who were
pledged like myself to the support of the Constitu
tion. Their act was doubtless the result of a strong
desire to furnish the prisoners with the means for a
review of their case; and probably the constitution
al objection did not present itself to their minds.—
But, when Ism compelled to sit in judgment on the
lives of two fellow beings, I want credentials that are
clear. lam not satisfied with those the Legislature
have furnished, and the occasion is too grave to
admit of the exercise of a doubtful power. Wheth
er the prisoners shall be disposed of by you and
your associates, or be kept until further legislation
shall be obtained, is with you to decide, and I am
sure the public will be satisfied with whatever
course you deem it your duty to pursue.
I am very respectfully,
Your oh% servant.
GEO. W. WOODWARD.
WILKEtiII.IARE, May 23, 1943.
After this I felt somewhat easier in mind and bo
dy, (fur it is no use to any that ! cannot be alarmed,)
and I grasped a firm hold of the aides of the cur,
determined to abide the result with as much compo
sure and observation as the nature of thecase would
admit: as it appeared evident that discharging bal
last would not let me up through the storm, nor dis
charging gas let me down, by this huge monster of
the air for at least 20 minutes. I was finally releas
ed, and found myself between the cloud and the
earth, receiving the benefit of a pouring rain, in
which I descended on Mr. UOUIrr Eileti farm, five
mike from Carlisle. The density of this cloud did
not appear alike all through, as I could at times see
the balloon distinctly above me ; also occasionally
pieces of paper, of which u considerable quantity
was blown out of my car. I also noticed a violent
convultionary action of the vapor, and a promiscu
ous scattering of the hail and snow. such is the
history of this sltort but magnificent trip, and I can
assure soy readers, that when I again meet clouds
of this character, (which I shall name the Cloud
of Terror,") I will ascend sufficiently high before
I reach them, to sail over them, or keep sufficiently
low to pass underneath thorn. I cannot forego this
opportunity of rendering my warmest thanks to the
Committee for their ardent labors in my behalf, as
also to my esteemed friend, Mr. Tawas.
Very Respectfully, the public's obedient servant.
JOIV.'" (7 1!:21 7 ,
1 • Bunker Hill Monument cost 1t130,000 im al'. Carlisle, June 19, ISt 3. •
Another Balloon Ascension.
The following narrative of Mr. Wine's forty-first
rerial voyage we take from the Carlisle Herald, to
whose editor it is addressed. It will be found to
possess much interest.
Mx. EDITOR :..According to announcement, on
Saturday, the 17th inst.. I set out on my forty-first
serial excursion, from the centre square of your bo
rough at 15 minutes past two o'clock. A slight
breeze from the west wafted me a short distance when
the ascent became more perpendicular. The first
thing that drew my attention was the immense ocean
of heads that presented itself in the square. There
appeared to be infinitely more people on the imme
diate ground than I have witnessed for some time
at a balloon ascension, and the whole affair appear
ed more animated from the fine appearance of the
military, together with their repeated firing after the
departure of the " Comet."
When I had reached a point about two miles
east of the town the Balloon commenced a rapid
and perpendicular ascent, which soon brought me
to the base of an immense black cloud, and as it has
always created a deep interest in spectators to see a
balloon passing through clouds, I did not hesitate on
this ec ssion to give my numerous audience an ex
hibition of this kind ; although I might have avoi
ded it, and kept beneath the clouds, which current
would have token me to Harrisburg, and which was
already distinctly in my view. This part of toy
feat, however, I had reason soon after to regret, al
though at the present time it gives me more gratifi
cation to contemplate its reality than any thing that
has lately transpired in my serial adventures. The
details that I shall here give of this terrible scene,
may be relied on, as I was sufficiently composed to
appreciate its grandeur and observe its physical op
eration. The cloud to the best of my judgment,
covered an area of from four to six miles in diame
ter. It appeared of a circular form and considera
bly depressed in its lower surface, or I might say it
presented a great concavity towards the earth, with
its outer edges very ragged ; it was also of a dark
smoke color. I noticed at some distance from where
I entered the cloud, the appearance of a heavy de
scending rain. The first sensations that I experi
enced when entering the cloud were extremely tm
plelsittallk suffocating aensation immediately en
sued which was shortly followed by a sickness of
the stomach—thin„ however, shortly after somewhat
abated. The cold in the meantime became intense,
and every thing of a fibrous nature heetune thickly
covered with hoar frost, the cloud at this point which
was in the midst of it, had not the black appearance,
but was of a light color, and so dense that I could
only slightly see the Balloon above, a distance of
16 feet.
From the intensity of the cold in this cloud, I
concluded the gas would condense, and the Balloon
would consequently descend beneath it, where it
was much warmer. In this however I found my
self mistaken, for in a few minutes after I entered
the cloud, I found myself whirling upwards with a
fearful rapidity, the Balloon girating, and the car
describing a large circle in the cloud ; a noise re
sembling the rushing of a thousand mill dams, with
a dismal moaning noise of wind surrounded me in
this terrible flight. Whether this rushing noise
was occasioned by the hail and snow, which by this
time Was fearfully pelting around the Balloon, I am
unable to tell. I was in hopes that I should soon
he towed out of the top of the cloud and enjoy the
congenial sunshine invariably above them. But in
this I was sadly disappointed, fur after being hurled
up, apparently to-me many hundred feet ; there ap
peared to occur a vacuum underneath, tutu the Bal
loon would again sink down, with a swinging and
fearful velocity, to be again carried up, and let fall,
which was repeated eight or ten times, all this time
the storm raging with unabated fury. The Balloon
in the mean time had received considerable damage
by kinking, and breakage from its frozen condition.
I experienced all this time an almost irresistible de
termination to steep, which I believe was only over
come by the sickening of the stomach, and most
powerful vomiting.
11 0).4 ZZI Z. 4
<~:~~~
OF THE BILL FOR THE SALE OF THE
Main Line of Public Works.
EXECUTIVE CuAluuEn,
20th June, 1843. S
Cusitt.Es ll'CLunL, Esq.,
Secretary of the Commonwealth.
Sin—Please filo the accompanying message to
be delivered to the General Assembly, together with
the Bill to which it relates, within three days after
their next meeting.
Vcry respectfully,
DAVID It. PORTER.
To the &nate and House of Representative: of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania :
GeNTtenEN herewith return to the House
of Representatives, in which it originated, the bill,
entitled An Act to authorize the Governor to in
corporate the Pennsylvania Canal and Railroad
Company from Philadelphia to Pittsburg," accom
panied with my objections to its passage into l a law:
In general terror, this bill provides for the incorpo
ration of a company, Co which is to be transferred,
on certain terms set forth, the Main Line of the
state improvements, by railroads and canals con
necting the city of Philadelphia and the city of
Pittsburg, and the almost entire control of the pub
lic over its management and use. Those improve
ments, constructed at an aggregate cost of about
fifteen millions of dollars to the State, arc to be sold
or transferred to this company for the sum of sin
teen millions, to be paid in subscriptions of one hut I
tired dollars a share, in cash, or in,citifleates oft°an
to the Commonwealth.
To the details of several of the provisions of this
bill there are objections, but I need not at present re
fer to them particularly ; I will only call your atten
tion to the twenty-third section, in which is found
what appears to be a most extraordinary feature.—
It is in the following words: "It shall at all times
be lawful for a committee of the Legislature, ap
pointed for that purpose, to inspect the books and
examine into the proceedings of the corporation
hereby created, and to report whether the provisions
of this charter have been by the tame abused and
vioalted, and if the olliceni of said corporation
should refuse to he sworn or affirmed, or give evi
dence, or produce all such of their books or papers
as may be demanded before any such committee,
then the Legislature may by law declare the said
charter void and repeal the same, and whenever any
committee as aforesaid shall find and report, or the
Governor shall have reason to believe, that the char
ter has been violated, it may be lawful fur the Le
gislature to direct, or the Governor to order a seire
facias to be issued out of the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania, in the name of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, (which shall be executed on the
President or Treasurer of the corporation for the
time being, at least ten days before the commence
ment of the term of the said court,) culling on the
said corporation to show cause wherefore the charier
hereby granted shall not be declared forfeited, and it
shall be lawful for the said court, upon the return
of the said scire facial, to o.lllillo into the truth of
the alleged violations, and if such violations be made
to appear, then to adjudge that the said charter is
forfeited, and thereupon, and in ease the Legislature
shall declare the said charter void and repeal the
same for the cause aforesaid, the canals and railroads
aforesaid, with the appurtinances, and all the estate
real and personal of the sad corporation, shall re
vert to and reveal's. the Commonwealth, upon the
payment by the Commonwealth to the stockholder,
the par value of their stock, and until the Common
wealth shall have made such payment to the direc
tors of said company, to be by them distributed
among the stockholders, the rights, privileges and
franchises of said corporation shall remain as
though said judgment of ibrfeiture had not been
pronounced." Now this section provides a perfect
immunity to the company for its infraction of its
charter or the laws. Even when it is 'proved to
have violated them, it is authorized to enjoy and
possess all its rights, privileges and franchises, as if
said judgment of forfeiture had not been pronoun
ced, until the Commonwealth pays to the Company
the par value of its stock, to wit, $16,00,000.
Such payment would he little short of a moral im
possibility. And were it possible for the State to
pay this SUM, it would be clearly for the interest of
the company to violate its charter, persist in this
violation, and make the State pay the par value of
stock which was bought and subscribed at less than
fifty per cent. of its nominal value by the stockhol
ders, or allow them to go in defiance of the charter
and the law. Can it be possible the credit and hon
or of Pennsylvania have sunk to this depth, to re
quire suds a sacrifice for their support ? I trust not.
But independent of objections to specific
it seems to sue that the measure itself is most im
politic and unwise. It is true I approved the bill
for the creation of the Delaware Canal Company,
substantially the same as this bill, but I did that
more in accordance with the apparent wishes of the
people, announced by the voice of their representa
tives in the Legislature, than in accordance with
my own prior opinions, or those I entertained at the
Limo. Had nothing occurred in the attempt of this
commissionersto procure subseriptions to that stock,
to induce the belief that it was not likely to opera's
to the advantage of the public interest, I should
probably have waved my scrupled, and, for the same
I reason have approved this bill also. But I should
ill discharge my duty if I shut my eyes to that pro
ccedini, When we see a most unexampled ser.m.
1,1. LIB. c , . tit. is tiril