the iNitator.
A. V. BATISES, EDITOR
TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 1873.
We publish this week a quarter-sheet supple
ment containing about a page of matter, and
making the Aorveron consist of forty columns
of 'print. We arempelled to this course by the
glOt pressure , upon our advertising space, and
by the desire to gire our subsocibers the usual
amount of reading matter.
A glance at the forty tong, columns of this
number will convince anybody that the business
men of Tioga county and of many regions
more remote thoroughly appreciate the fact that
the ten thousand readers of the Acrr.vron are
among the most thrifty .and enterprising eiti
fens of the land.
The. Legislature adjourned last Thursday
, Hon. 8.11. Strang, Senator from this dis
trict, was elected Speaker of the Senate just
before the adjournment.
' There was a great flood in the Genesee
river last week, resulting in the loss of a
,number of lives by drowning at RI . hester.
We print this week a couple of s wiles
-made in the Constitutional Conven t ion by
. the delegates from this county. They are
• Upon subjects which will interest every voter
and teetpayer in the county, and we cora
raenethem to the careful consideration of
tour renders.
At the recent State election in Rhode Isl
and the Republican candidate for Governor
received a majority of about 4,000. The
remainder of the Republican State ticket
was also elfcted. In the Senate the Repub
licans have seeure):l 16 majority, and in the
House r the majority on the same side is abhnt
fort • . . d
Last Tuesday the 'Speaker of the Senate
announced 'to that body that a House bill
had been-stofen - from the clerk's desk, and
the same day-a member of the House made
a statement in his place that a bill had mys
teriously disappeared or been stolen from
the files of that body. It is facts like these
that go far to disgrace the Legislature and
the whole Commonwealth in the eyes of all
honest men.
The investigation of the terrible disaster
to the steamship Atlantic, which commenced
last week at Halifax, seems to establish be
yond cciptrovetsy the fact that the immedi
ate cause of the calamity was thelneffi
cieney, carelessness, or ignorance of the
captain and chief officers of the vessel.—
The agents of the line on the other side of
the ocean are also to blame for sending to
e . ea a ship, with near a thousand souls on
board, at the most stormy season of the
year, without coal enough to carry her to
her intended haven. To parsimony and
carelessness is to be charged this fearful ca
lamity.
The New York Assembly, last week pass
ed a bill to enable the voters of towns and
cities to determine whetheilicenses to sell
intoxiiting liquors shall be granted. We
suppose this action may be ciedited to our
own "Local Option" legislation; but it is a
pity the Pennsylvania law was not more
;closely copied. We imagine that a law
which Permits the sale of liquor in one-half
the towns of a county and prohibits it in
the rest will not prove very efficient in sup
pressing intemperance. 1 The law of this
State, which makes the question of license
depend upon the vote of the whole county,
is preferable to this.
) We print in another column of this paper
the bill apportioning the State into Con
gressional districts. The bill passed both
houses of the Legislature •last week, and
will probably receive the Governor's appro
val and become a law. As will be seen,
Tioga county is placed in the Sixteenth dis
trict with Potter, M'Kean, Cameron, Ly
coming, and Sullivan. As first reported,
the ' district consisted of the same counties
with the exception of Sullivan, which was
substituted for Montour. The change in
the bill as finally pagsed reduces somewhat
the number of inhabitants in the district,
but changes its partybomplexion very little.
As now constituted, the new Sixteenth - dis
trict should be good for about 3,000 Repub
lican majority on a full vote. Our old
neighbors, Clinton and Center, are placed
in the Twentieth district along with Union,
Clearfield, Elk, and Mifflin, making a dis
qict hopelessly Democratic.
The Connecticut State election last week
resulted in the election of the Democratic
candidate by a majority of about 3,000 over
his Republipar) and • Teniperance competi
tors. The members of Congress from the
State were all re-elected, so that the delega
tion still stands three Republicans to one
Democrat. The return of ex-Governor
Hawley, the member from the First district,
is an event of hardly less interest and im
portance than the result on the State ticket.
In the Senate the Republicans have secured
a majority of cone, while .the Democrats
have control of the House by a majority of
about a baker's•dozen. The result of the
election is fairly to be attributed to local
complications, the Republicans of New Ha
ven being disaffected by the question of the
removal of the State capital. The Repub
lican candidate was charged with being a
Hartford man, and the result is seen in the
vote of New Haven. Last year that city
gave a Deniocratic majority of 580 at the
spring election, against a majority, of about
3,700 now. This tells the story so plainly
that even the. Tribune, iAlorced to admit that
the result " is not• in. 10 - degree a Demo
cratic victory." Aside from this local de
fection, it must be admittedthat the general
apathy of the people would• go far to ac
count for the result, that sort of a canvass
being generally advantageous to the Democ
racy.
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
AsinNoTos, April 8, 1873.
PROMPT CONVICTION.
The trial of Thomas Wright for the mur•
der of the Jew peddler, Rogerski, resulted
last Saturday in his conviction of murder
in the first degree. Gen. Hinkle, his coun
ael, protested that the , proof did not cover
the case in several Material particulars.—
Among these are want of proper identifica
, (ion of the body found as that of Rogerski,
and a failure to analyze or otherwise prove
that the alleged blood markk in 'Wright's
house were actually blood. The principal
witness, who alleged that Wright. admitted
the murder, was stated at the time to have
broken down in her testimony, and it is not
. beyond the bounds of possibility that some
ether person might have perpetrated the
deed and burled the peddler's pack on the
premises of Wright, whose character was
bad, for purposes of escape by fastening
the crime on an innocent man. The recent
murder of Kahn, charged upon another de.
graded negro, has excited the minds of our
'community, and our press reporters have
been too ready to work up a sensation
.against an who are charged with murder,
for the.calat and deliberate operation of the
law to whin l ,every one is entitled, more es
pecially when his Atte is at stake. It will
:therefore require great firmness - on the part
ext the Court lo rant Aer ,trial in this
case, on accounii of the unreasoning clainor
of feeling which the newspapers have
aroused. The cruel joke of exposing in
the West Capitol park a bleeding human
head, doubtless cut from a subject for med
ical dissection, was calculated to excite, for
the time, the feelings of .the jury, as it did
those of numerous respectable citizens.—
Taking it ell together, I ant inclined to the
belief that the dignity and majesty of the
law might be better subserved by a more
full and more fairly considered trial of this
poor degraded man who has no friends ex
cept unpaid counsel to stand by him. , '
TUE CUBAN PATRIOT CAUSE
News, said to be from Spanish authority,
confirms,the report of the capture and sack
ing of the fortified city and seaport of Man
zanilla, Cuba. If it is true, as alleged, that
the Cara in General has required of the
Government at Madrid a reinforcement of
troops for Havana to prevent a revolution
breaking; out among the Spaniards, as well
fis a revolt by the slaves, there are 'great
hopes of the success of the patriot cause in
that island. The borne government has as
much as it can do to suastain itself against
the Cellists and Communists, and if the
government party on the island intends to
divide at this juncture of affairs, the revo
lution and freedom of\ Cuba from Spain
never were so near aedomplished as now.
The trouble is that no report can be be
lieved until several times reiterated and in
vestigated. Manzanilla has 15,000 popula-
tion, more than two-thirds of which arc
free-colored and slaves. It is a good har
bor, but probably not sufficiently fortified
to defy a Spanish war fleet. Otherwise the
taking of the city would give the revolu
tionists a claim for recognition as a bellig
erent power among the .nations.
THREATENED CORNER IN GOLD.
The New - York brokers' ring, which has
devoted its time since the appointment of
Secretary Richardson to producing a corner
in gold and denouncing the new Secretary
of the Treasury, is still unhappy. They
wanted a man to their liking, but failed to
secure one. Hence they• are determined to
give "the Secretary all the trouble in their
power, thinking to drive him into some ar
bitrary act'on which they can base a re..ru
lar attack, with the hope of securing. a suc
cessor. Fortunately the Secretary is no
new hand at the• financial business of the
country, and is able to appreciate the ef
forts of these reckless financiers. When
the time comes for putting a large supply of
gold or currency upon the market, Secreta
ry Richardson will take the responsibility
and smash these gamblers, as well as their
designs. They have succeeded in running
gold up to 119, with no other reason for. it
than their unworthy combination for,the
purpose.
CONNECTICUT ELECTION
Connecticut is so close politically that it
can rarely be counted on by either party,
but this time it is generally' conceded to the
Republicans. The candidates on both sides
are popular men, but the returns *ill soon
render useless any prophecy that may be at
tempted as to the result of Monday's elec
tion. •
CAPITAL ITEM'S. 1\
The grand Union Ball held recently in
the mammoth inauguration building •was
the greatest success of any ever held in this
country. More than sox thousand persons
participated, and the acCOmmodations were
ample for all. No inor delightful vision
was ever witnessed than that which the
grand ball presented from the north plat-
form when the floor was covered with youth
and beauty engaged in the mazes of the
dance. C. N.
FROM THE STATE CAPITAL.
SPRLNG WEATHER—SOME LOCAL LEG [SLA-
T lON NECESSARY—EQUALIZING TAXES--A
GOOD RITLE---THE APPROPRIATION RILL—;
TILE NORMAL SCHOOLS--A NEW POLICY IN
REGARD To THEM—STATE CHARITIES--
THE FINAL ADJOURNMENT LAST THURS
DAY.
HAnivspona, April 7, 1879
Editor rf the Agitator:—l have seen but
three or four county papers during the win
ter. As I suppose they have been mailed,
I charge the fault to the .postal service. '
There is still a remnant of snow in State
street—a very unusual thing in this latitude.
The river has been high here for two weeks.
But few rafts have yet passed this place.—
The robins came • about two weeks since,'
and now the groves are vocal with the mu
sic of summer songsters. We had several
delightful days last week, and the roads
dried oil so they were dusty yesterday. I
took a ride up the Susquehannal Saturday,
and saw the gardens were ploughed, and
some early vegetables put in. Wheat al
ready covers the ground, and the meadows
have put on their green. After a season of
nearly three months of constant snow
cheerful spring is 'a welcome relief, and ev
ery sojourner here is anxious to go home.
The House has not yet agreed to the reso
lution, as amended l by the Senate, for final
adjournment on the 10th instant. It will
come up to-day, and I hope it will be agreed
to t ' but the probability is 'that the time will
be extended a week. If the time could be
devoted to the consideration of public bills,
several of which are important, it would be
well spent. But private bills are seplenti
ful that it is with gre# difficulty public
bills can be reached under the rules of the
House, which devote but l one day a week to
their consideration. Very• many private
bills are a local necessity, and the cry against
local legislation is not fully justified. A
State so vast, embracing interests so varied,
cannot be developed and, properly governed
under general laws on every subject. But a
very large number of laws annually enacted
shad be general; or not be made at all.—
This evil might in large measure be cured,
either by constitutional prohibition of spe
cial laws on general subjects or additional
joint rules of the two houses. For instance:
Prio t i to the present session probably 100
laws exempting property from taxation in
special cases have been passed every session
—principally property of religious, charita
ble, or fraternal associations. This wrong
had grown to such an extent that some-mill
ions of property in the city of Philadelphia
:dune was exempt, and large amounts in
other sections. A law has just been passed
finally repealing all such special laws, and
leaving the exemptions only of such as are
provided for by the general laws on the sub
ject—such as churches, cemeteries, and pub
lic property.
.After the passage of this net
a new • joint rule was introduced in the
House, and papsd Both branches of the
Legislature, which provides that "No bill
exempting property from taxation in any
special case shall be passed by either house."
There are other subjects which might be
regulated in the same way, and Much ex
pense and confusionloflaws be thus pre
vented.
• The Senate passed the appropriation bill
last Friday, but the House refused to agree
to it by a vote of 40 to 42, and recommitted
it to the committee of conference. Since
the Senate has passed the bill, there can be
'no further conference without a reconsider
ation, and the House committee can do
nothing but report the bill back without
amendment. There are some things wrong
in the bill, and some stricken from it which
should not have been; but it is probably as
good a bill as can be agreed upon, and I
think it will pass today. In some respects
it is a great improvement on the past. , The
Common School fund is increased to $760,-
000, which is $60,000 better than ever be
fore,
and so much better for the country as
against the thickly settled and wealthier
portions of the State.' The Committee of
Wpys and Means recommended $BOO,OOO.
?he appropriation for soldiers' orphans is
1460i000, a saving of $20;000 from last'
yFar,l but still sufficient for the purpose.- 1 -
The normal Eiehoole get . 570,009, PV)00of
ME
which go to the Shippensburg school,and the
balance to be distributed among the others
by_a board composed of the State Sup9ini
tendent, Goveipor, and Attorney General, in
their discretion, as they think the best in
terests of the State and the schools require.
This is the beginning of a policy which I
hope . may never be departed from. The
CoMmittee of Ways and ?deans gave $lO,-
000 to each school the present ye6r, and
$5,000 annually hereafter,_ requiring the
same to tie a hen upon the property of the
schools; tail some of them are not as much
in need of it as others, and it' may be wise
to vest a discretion as the bill amended pro
vides. In the end it will come to about the
same thing. The Shippensburg school is
about $50,000 In debt, and the $20,000 is
given upon the condition that the debt shall
be fully provided for before the money is
paid. ' That school received nothing last
year, and has only been paid $15,000 here
tofore. The school at Bloomsburg is in
debt ibont $OO,OOO, with a property worth
about $150,000, probably the bet buildings
for Normal purposes in the btate. ' This
debt is now pressing, and that school will
probably get as much as the one at Ship
pensburg, if provision shall be made for a
liberal subscription on its debt, so that the
institution may survive. The State is to be
secured by a lien to the satisfaction of the
board, and I understand that none of this
money is likely to be paid to any school tin
less a local subscription shall be raised—to
just what amount lam unable to say. The
school in our county is likely to get its full
share of this money, to enable it to com
plete, the building already commenced, if
the people in the locality shall raise a rea
sonable amount for the same purpose. Ido
not think the amount required Will be ex
cessive, and we should do our reasonable
share in remuneration for the local benefits.
Certainly it is a good step in the right di
rection, for it is a virtual adoplibn of a per
manent policy - which will make these insti
tutions the children of the State., to be cared
for by it in future, if this policy shall be
continued.
The hospitals for the insane of the State
are expensive institutions, but noble chari
ties. The one at Danville will probably be'
completed this year, for which $lOO,OOO is
provided, and $20,000 for expenses. There
is a large number of unfortunates already
eared for there. Our county is in the Dan
ville district. The Northwestern Hospital
for Insane, which has been contemplated as
a part of the system, will probably be com
menced this year ; and $lOO,OOO is asked for
this. The bill has already passed both
houses. This institution will cost $700,000,
and will be located in the northwest.
Sortie papers allege that the House re-
fused to pass the appropriation bill because
the pay was not increased to $1,500. This
is a great mistake. There never were more
than twenty of its members favorable to it,
and the bill was put through the House in
the first place without any person having
rin opportunity to say a word or call the
yeas and nays upon it.
The Philadelphia papers are as busy as
ever abusing the whole Legislature indis-
Priminately, having no knowledge whereof
they speak. This wholesale abuse of men,
some of whom are among our best citizens,
is an abuse of the liberty of the press, and
should he condemned by all good men.
LATER.—Since writing the above the ap
propriation bill, the . apportionment bill, and
the bill providing for the election of State
Treasurer by the people have passed finally,
and the House agreed- to adjourn next
Thursday. .
ECHOES FROM THE CONVENTION
The Division of Counties
On the 27th Ultimo, the Constitutional
Convention being in committee of the
whole, the report of the committee on
Counties, Townships and Boroughs came up
for consideration, and the Clerk read the
first section,as follows :
"SECTION"I. The Legislature shall have
power to erect new counties. No nets
county shall have an area of less than three
hundred square miles, nor a population of
less than eighteen thousand, and no coup-
ty shall be reduced to a less area
-than four
hundred square miles. No new county
shall be erected until the same shall be ap
proved by three-fifths of the votes cast by
the electors embraced within each of the
sections of the counties taken , to form the
new county."
After an ineffectual effort to postpone
the consideration of the report, Mr. Niles
submitted the following substitute for the
above section:
" SECTION. —No new county shall be
formed or established by the General As
sembly which shall reduce the county or
counties, or either of them, from which it
shall be taken, to less contents than four
hundred square miles; nor shall any county
be formed of less contents; nor ‘ shall any
line thereof bass within less than ten miles
of any county seat of the county or coun
ties proposed to be divided.
" SECTION.—No county shall be divided
or have any part stricken therefrom with
out submitting the question to a vote of the
people of the county, nor unless a majority
of the legal voters of the county voting on
thequestion shall vote for the same.
" SEcTroti.—There shall be no territory
stricken *from any county; unless a major
ity of the voters living in such territory
shall petition for such' a division, and no
territory shall be added to any county with
out the consent of the?majority of the vo
ters of the county to which it is proposed to
Wadded. 'But the portion so stricken off
and added to another county, or formed in
whole or in part into a new county,'shall be
holden for and obliged to pay its proportion
of the indebtedness of the county from
which it had been taken."
The CuAinuAri. The miestion is upon
the substitute of the gentleman from Thiga.
Mr. NELES. Mr. Chairman: If the Com
mittee will turn to the one hundred and
thirty-fourth page of the Journal, they will
find kcopy of the substitute just offered by
pie. It was offered thy me to the Conven
tion on the seventh dtSr of January, and by
it referred to the Colmittee on Counties.
.ca
`Fraying some interest an this question, I de
sire to say a few wor& in support of the
substitute just offered, to take the place of
the report of the committee. While the
committee's report, in some respects, is an
improvement upon_the amendment of 1837,
in the present Constitution, in many others
it falls far short of it, and in my opinion,-
the pending report, if adopted, will not pro
tect our people against inroads that will be
made against them by men who are eager
for the formation of new counties. The re
port isat fault wherein it reduces the re
quired-size one hundred square miles, or
one-fourth. This is anadvance in the wrong
direction, And gives us smaller counties
than have other States of the Union, save
one. No reason has been, nor do I believe
there can be, given for this departure, An
other objection to the report is, that it Aloes
not submit the question of the formation of
new counties to the vote -of the people of
any of the counties affected, no matter how
much territory may be taken therefrom.—
Three-fourths of a county may be taken
away without consulting any except those
who are to be included in the proposed new
organization. No county, as a whole, is to
be consulted, whereas under our present
Constitution, by virtue of the amendment
originated in the 33:mate bye the delegate
from Columbia, (Mr. Duckalew,) if more
than one-tenth of the population of any
county is taken, the question must be sub
mitted to the people of the whole. county.
I undertake to nay, Mr. Chairman, thepend
ing report of the committee is much mop?
favorable to new county projects than the
Constitution under which we are now living.
This may not have been intended by the
committee, but such, I submit, is its legiti
mate effect. Only those who desire new or ,
ganizations are to be consulted. They pro
pose to have the whole question fully "and
entirely decided by interested parties.
I much prefer the section in the report of
the ,Committee on Legislation, passed by the
commitcee pf the whole, to the report of the
Committee Au Counties. In myOpinion
this whole questlou skould be regulated by
,g,eneral law; that the,peoNe most deeply in
terested should Control Ibis, as ie pTopose
they
.stiall all other questions deeply Affect
ing their ,interests. But I =do destreild,r.
uhainnao, ,thax if the power is atill
to -
z vested in tie Upp,lstpre for the erea-
WO of new counties, their powers maybe
sit eirenntspribed by proper restrictions and
limitations that the rights of the people of
the State may be protected
This proposition of mine is not animprac: .
ticable.one, nor does it impose any unnec
essary hardships upon those who desire the
formation of new rounties• In substance it
Vas been i.ilitaitted - to the people of several
States, and it bus always been adopted - b A y
overwhelniing majorities. What is my prop
osition ? it prohihitS- the formation of new
counties of less area' than four hundred
square miles. This is the minimum under
our present Constitution, and a less area
than allowed in any other State, save one,
where restrictions are imposed upon the leg
islative power. •Do the delegates of this
Convention believe that new counties shold
be created with a less another of square.
miles ? It provides that existing counties .
shall not be reduced below that' area. Is
not this right 7 That is the intention of the
present Constitution, and yet,a bill is now
pending before our Legislature, With a fair
prosket of success, that reduces Sullivan
county below that standard, and this, too;
in opposition to her earnest protestations.
It also declares •'that no- new cotiply line
shall pass within ten miles a any existing
county seat." Is this prohibition wrong?
And yet the report of the committee does
not prevent ambitious corner lot men from
running their new county lines to the very
door of old and existing county seats, thus
leaving them upon the very outskirts of
what may remain of what had once been, in
substance, a county.
But, Mr. Chairman, the part that will af
ford the people a substantial protection for
all coining time, and which will defy legis
lative- spoliation, is that which provides
that "no county shall be divided or have
any part stricken therefrom without sub
mitting the question to a vote of the peo
ple of the county, nor unless a majority of
the legal voters of the county voting on the
question shall vote for the same," My sub
stitute squarely raises the question as to the
justness and propriety of consulting the
people in the formation of new counties.—
In a matter so vital to their interests, it pro
poses to consult the will of
.each and every
party to be affected by the new proposed or
der of thing.
The report of the committee allows. the
formatiou,of new counties upon the mere
application•'of the parties interested, Inhere
ever and ichenerer eighteen thousand can be
found on any given three hundred square
miles. It is practically, but most 'effectual.
ly, peaceable secenion. When any portion of
a community numbering eighteen thousand
desire to serve their political relations, they
can do it under the pending report, without
"let or hindrance." Those that remain in
the old organizations, have not a word to
say; they, will he powerless in the matter,
and the most they can do is to quietly fold
their arms and "see their wayward sisters
depart in pettee."
At presertiwehave sixty-six counties,with
a mean average of seven hundred square
miles. The committee's report gives us, if
our people avail themselves of its provis
ions, one hundred and 'fifty-three counties.
It not apparent that a multiplication of
counties means all increase of local taxa
tion ? Does not an increase of county of
ficers, jurors and the various judicial ma-
chinery of our courts carry With 'it a
corresponding increase of expenditure ?
And in these days of- extravagance and
magnificence, who can calculate upon the
cosi, of new county buibdings, and the in
creased burdens of the people' within its
boundaries ?
I confess, Mr. Chairman, that I have some
interest in this question; that I desire the
adoption of something that will prevent the
creation of counties by special acts of the
Legislature, without the approval of all of
the parties interested. But few more im
portant questions have or will come before
this Convention. Every person living with
in the Commonwealth is interested in the
result of our deliberations. In a great de
gree the permanent peace and prosperity of
ail our people depend upon the adoption of
some substantial proposition.. Mine is a
very simple one. Any person can under
stand it. It simply prohibits bold unprin
cipled men who have corner lots to sell, and
who have a desire to traffic in municipal
bonds to an unlimited extent, from going to
the Legislature and, by a mere act of As
sembly, destroying three or four counties
for the purpose of creating one of their
own. We simply say that old county lines
and landmarks shall not be destroyed by
special legislation to suit the convenience or
to enhance the private ends of any man or
set of men; that the rights of the many are
superior to the rights of the few; that we
will preserve the territorial integrity of the
existing counties unless the emergency re
quiring a change shall bring t#eir case with
in some wholesome provision pit will afford
protection to the people. I presume that
cases will arise, as many have already
arisen in the history of the State, wher6sit
will be convenient and perhaps necessary
that new counties should be erected. Judg
ing the future wants and needs of oar peo
ple by a glance at our past history and pro
gress, I can readily understand that, with
the development of our State, the organiza
tion of new counties may become a neces
sity. And when the commercial and busi
ness wants of a community have outgrown
present organizations they should have the
same relief in this that we desire to give
them in any other particular.
Sir, in my opinion, whatever concerns the
peace and to a great extent the prosperity
of our people should lie beyond the reach
of any mere legislative rescript. We now
propose to consult them in all matters of lo
cal and special legislation. We Propose
to prohibit the Legislature from: even
granting divorces front bed and board by spec
ial law, and to that I am agreed. How
much more important is it' that we should
inhibit them from tearing down county lines;
from divorcing whole communities of peo
who may have lived a century together, who
understand the wants of each other, and
who are more than satisfied with their ex
isting political organizations
Sir, this is a practical question. Scar;ely
a session passes without an attempt Xeing
made by greedy land speculators for the
creation of new counties,
_in opposition to
the clearly expressed wish of .the people af
fected'by the change. In the Constitutions
of 1708 and 1837 there was no legislative re
striction in relation to the formation of new
-counties. In those days the greed of capi
tal-had not become so exacting. The Leg
islature had never attempted to exercise its
power in opposition to the wants' and wish
es of the people. Time in this, as in many
other things, worked a change._ Cornerlots
became piore valuable. By the creation
and growth of our extensive system of rail
roads centers of population changed. The
pressure bad become so greet that in 1857,
by an amendment to our Constitutiun, one
of the many originated and prosecuted to a
successful termination by the delegate from
Columbia, (Mr. Backalew,) the /legislature
was prohibited from cutting off over one
tenth of the population of any county with
out the express assent of the people inter
ested. Nor were they allowed to create a
new county of less than four hundred square
miles.
The people of the Commonwealth owe
much to this amendment originated and de
fended by the delegate from Columbia (Mr.
Buckalew.) For sixteen years it has stood
as a bulwark between corner lot men and
the people. A. great amount of ingenuity
has annually been wasted in attempts to
nullify its provisions. It was intended by
the amendment of 1857 that in the future
no county should be created save by con
sulting the counties affected by the change.
It was then believed that no county of four
hundred square miles could be formed with
out taking more than one-tenth of the pop
ulation of some of the counties to be in
.eluded in the new ono. But the ingenuity
of some men is past finding out. At this
moment a bill is before the Legislature of
our State, has already passed the House of
Representatives, which proposes to carve a
new county out of parts ofLyeomieg, Sulli
van, Bradford and Tioga, the latter being
the one that I, in part, represent upon this
flOor, 'and the one wherein I reside, without
submitting the question of "new county" to
a vote of the people on a single one of them.
And to do this Sullivan is to be reduced to
a less area than four hundred square miles,
in violation of the true intent and meaning
of the amendment of 1857. Do did ,People
of Bradford, Sullivan, Tioga and Lyeouling
desire this ? Sir, every member of Mei
Honeg. of Representatives, from each and
every one pf those counties, is strongly op
posed to this great outrage and wrong upon
their rights ! Every Senator from those four
counties is opposed' to the new county
scheme, and back of a united senatorial
and representative delegation Staid one
hundred and forty thousand indignant and
outraged people, protesting through their
members, by numerous and earnest remon
strances, against the consummation of 'this
great wronEwhich is now pending 'before
our Legislature, with a fair prospect of suc
cess.
Mr. Chairman, why, forsooth, should this
pew county be created f Why should four
4.1cta....Ps be despoiled of their territory in
46
'bsitioa ,t . 7 their earnest protitstatiotv
Why should the ill-fated - people living With
in the limits of the proposed no* county be
subjected to increased taxation to
bttiltl
county buildings, and to pay the expenses
of . an extra municipal government ? The
reasons are simple'. Some time since a sup
posed mineral spring was discovered in -a_
Bradford county swamp; close by I he line of
the Northern Central railway. After pass
ing through the hands of various specula
tors it came into the possession of its pres
ent:owner.. A clever analysis demonstrated
the fact that it contained healing properties
amply sufficient to cure all the ills to which
humanity is heir' ! Hundreds of acres of
lands were purchased in the vicinity, a hotel
has been built, and the spring and hotel
have been named "Minnegua," which, in
the Indian tongue, from which i t is derived,
is said to mean healing water. Now. sir, for
the mere purpose of building up the spring,
and the hotel attached to it, and of enhanc
ing -the real estate of the owner, now mostly
woodland, with not another building in or
about the premises, and which was a wilder
ness but, three short years ago, the Legis
lature is asked to carve out a county in
open and direct opposition to every county
affected by the change. This scheme may
now succeed. The will of the people may
be successfully thwarted, but if my propo
sition is by us 'adopted, and subsequently
ratified by the people, we shall not hear of
any . Minnequa jobs in the future.
Sir, in the early days of the' republic the
people were. not in their present danger.—
Te greed of real estate speculators had not
then assumed its present gigantic propor
tions. In the older Constitutions of the
different States but little mention is made of
legislative restriction in this regard:- But as
time wore on—as real estate became more
valuable; we find that very , many States
found it',necessary to hedge their Leg
islatures around with limitations and restric
tions. Almost every Constitution formed
within the last twenty years contains pro
visions designed to protect the people from
the inroads of - corner lot men,
For the purpose of showing the care
taken by our sister States to preserve the
integrity of their counties, I will glance at
a few of their Constitutions upon the sub
ject. Alabama, by her Constitution of 1868,
prohibited her Legislature from creating
new counties of Jess than six hundred
square miles, and that by a vote of two
thirds of both Houses, and no boundaries
can be altered except by a vote of the peo
ple, and every new ceunty must have a pop
ulation sufficient to entitle it to at least one
Representative.
ltfr. BRODHEAD. Mr. Chairman : If the'
gentleman from 'fioga will allow me, I'
would like to ask what population would
that, at that time, have allowed for a county
in Alabama ?
Mr. NILES. I do not remember. But
every county must have a sufficient ratio to
entitle it to a member of the Legislature.
Me BRODHEAD. About one thousand
five hundred population, while this report
provides for eighteen thousand population.
Mr. Nara. Yes, sir. That would give
one to Scranton. I have no doubt about it.
The -Alabama provision is that a county
must have six hundred square miles, and
the report gives uithree hundred.
Mr..l3llororEAD. At two dollars an acre.
' Mr. NILES. I have not been buying land
in Alabama. Perhaps the gentleman has,
and very likely he knows more about that
than I do.
In Georgia, by her Constitution of 1868,
every, county must be created by a majority
,of two-thirds of each House, and ratified
by a majority of the peopte.
- "Illinois, by her Constitution of 1870, de
clares that county teats cannot be located
or changed by local law. No county can be
formed of a less area than four hundred
square miles, and the submission of the
question to a vote of the eople. On every
question affecting the territorial integrity of
her counties her people must be consulted.
This was submitted as a separate proposition
and ratified by 105,171 Majority.
lowa prohibits the formation of counties
with less than four hundred and thirty-two
square miles, and no county can be reduced
below that standard.
In Kansas no county can be formed o
less than four hundred and thirty-tWosquar
and no seat of justice removed with
out the consent of ti majority of her voters.
Maryland, by her Constitution of 1807,
prohibits the formation of counties of less
than four hundred square miles, and with
out submitting_ the question to the vote of
every county within the limits of the pro
posed new one.
I In Michigan every county must contain
four hundred and twenty square miles, and
no county can be changed, except by a two
thirds vote. Her Constitution was framed
in 1850.
In Minnesota, by her Constitution of 1857,
all laws changing county seats or county
lines must be submitted to a vote of all the
counties affected, and none can be formed
or reduced below four hundred square
miles. -
In Missouri, by her Constitution of 1865,
no county shall contain less, or be reduced
below five hundred square miles, and each
must have a population sufficient to entitle
it to at least one Representative. No county
seat can be removed, except by a two-thirds
vote.
Tennessee, by her Constitution of 1870,
provides that no portion of a county shall
be taken to form a new one, or any part
thereof, without the consent of two-thirds
of the qualified voters of the part taken off.
Texas, by constitutional ' enactment, pro
hibits the creation of counties - of a-less area
than nine hundred square miles. ,
Virginia, in 1870, provided that no new
county should contain less thansix hundred
i square miles and must have at least eight
I -thousand inhabitants.
West Virginia prohibits the snaking of
counties of less than four hundred square
I Miles, and no county can be reduced below
that number in the formation of new ones.
Wiscon'sin, by her Constitution of 1848,
prohibits the creation or division of coun
ties without the approval of her people, and
by an amendment adopted in 1871 her Leg
islature is prohibited from locating or
changing county seats.
Mr. Chairman, it will be seen that many
, 1 of our sister States have taken the precast
-1 tion to insert into their organic law a sub
stantial protection for their people. Do not
our own people demand as much ? Shall
we not afford them this relief when we have
it within our power ? Is there a delegate
upon the floor who doubts that this propo
'sition could be ratified by a large majority ?
Would not this give strength to our work ?
The people would gladly indorse it. The
corner lot men would oppose it, but while
they may have power in Our legislative
halls, they are powerless to affect our four
millions of people scattered throughout the
length and breadth of the qommonwealth.
But, independent of its being a question
of legislative power that is liable to abuse,
I respectfully submit that it is one of those
questions-, that should never be decided
*ilunit 'opsgiting the people affected by
the change. 4 is a branch of our political
government that 5h0414 bp Controlled only
by those counties that are territorially in
terested.
In 1801 we opposed the secession of the
Southern States. Was it because they 'were
not willing to go? Was it because they did
not desire to form an independent govern
ment of their own? . Nothing of the kiud,
sir. We said they had no right to withdraw
from and destroy the family of States with
out the consent of the whole. By the
amendment under consideration we do not
propose to keep counties where they now
are against their consent. We only propose
to give the people in every part of our great
State full and ample security against being I
torn away from their present political con
dition against their consent; that forcibly
and against their will they shall not be ta
ken from their friends and delivered over,
into the hands of our modern real estate
Isbmaelites.
At the proper time I intend to submit to
the Convention a proposition to prevent the
change of county seats except by' the ap
proval of the people. This emestion was
submitted in Wisconsin in 187 W and adopt
ed by a large majority, only/3,075 voting
against it.
,
Mr. Chairman, I submit—is there any
thing wrong in declaring that in reference
to the creation of counties and the location
of county seals, qu'estions in regard to
which every person has a direct and person
alinterest, that the peoe should be con
sulted? that the local member should not
be the sole judge of the propriety of the
and from whose decision there is no
appeo :
/ 13y , j , e m g d is i l s a tr ti f t, c 'e t. etiquette he is the
automat Of .
".- • •-mteous to call in
.ques
lt is highly disco, the district from
tion , anything affecting -..i.., This is
whence he comes; his word 16_ —' „, of ]fir
the rule. The exception is the e case . •
'Rerdie—passing, or trying to pass, his coun
ty bill in opposition to the wh le district.=
-If the Representative for any eason desires
to misrepresent his people, h should not
have this-power. If he well nd truly dee
sires to represent them, to act in accordance
with ,their clearly expressed will, he will
prefer that this power should he lodged
with his constituents. 'The passage of this
amendment will transfer all new county ;
atinggle,s from our halls of legislation to a
full and free discussion before the people
nand deeply interested, 'and by them will
tat deeitleti lu neeordenve with their eonvie.
tiaras, Sir, we prohibit. the Legislature
front doing;many_thittes less it,littrioaS to th e
Commonwealth, 'wt.,— propos to lop off
_many of the branelles of - the - legislative
ft - a:Wen-Ilia have given us real or fancied_
trouble in the - past. IVbether wisely on un
wisely remains to We practically
propose to rut up by the roots halal anti
special legislation. '
The extensi ve' and transcendent powers
aeretofore exercised by our General Assem
bly are, in a large degree, to be returned to
the people. One of the main reasons that
!induced the calling of tliis Convention was
Ole alarm with which the people beheld the
c instant . encroachnient. of the legislative
p iwer, and the easiness with which legisla
ti , e grants have been and we're being given
to interested parties. It'is an old axiom
that "any law is better than anarchy." BA
is any law better than that condition of
things which keeps a people in a constant
state of unrest to protect themselves from
land pirates who are 'constantly preying up
on their borders. Adopt this proposition,
and henceforth Minnequa jobs will no more
disgrace the night sessions of our Legisla
ture,
continuing them until the early dawn.
and then passing bills in defiance of a united
delegation, as was done on the night of the
24th of March.
Our people need „relief. Shall it be de
nied? Whei' they ask for bread shall we,
give them a stone? _ Let them understand
that in the future—for all time to,r otne—
they cannot be despoiled of their trrritory
without their approbation. Then sharpers
will no longer set themselveS at a conjunc
tion of three or four counties, and whenev
er and wherever they can get. four hundred
square miles of blue sky, and less than one
tenth of any of the counties affected, have
a county carved out without the approba
tion of the people. , Let us in this respect
lay the as: at the root' of the tree. We have
long known the mischief. Let us apply the
remedy.
The district from which,f come has great
feeling upon this question., Our people
feel, and' that correctly, that their rights
will never be safe until the legislative power
is restricted. For years we have had a war
upon our borders. Today one branch of
the. Legislature has fallen at Ilerdic's feet,
and has'erowned his iniquitous proposition
with success. Sir, let us remove this great
temptation- from our representatives, and
then all men will breathe easier.
I must beg. the committee's pardon for
trespassing so long upon their time. I can
but, thank you for the attention with which
you have listened to these desultory re
marks. I can now only hope and trust that
you will sustain the substantial part of my
proposition. Do this, and while corner-lot
speculators may not indorse you, the people
of our great State living upon our hillsides
and in our valleys will ratify your work by
an overwhelming majority.
The Question of the Ballot.
Some time since the Constitutional Con
vention baring under consideration, in com
mittee of the whole, the seeded. section of
the report of the Committee ,on Suffrage,
Election and Representation, lion. M. P.
Elliott made an excellent speech in opposi
tion to the report. The section as reported
was as follows:
" SECTION 2. All elections of. the citizens shall be by
ballot; the ballots may be ollen or souk, as the elect
or, may prefer, and they shall be numbered by the
election officers when received; each elector shall
write his name upon his ballot, or cause it to be writ
ten thereon and attested for him by another elector of
the district, who'shall not be an election officer."
In discussing this section Mr. Elliott said
Mr. Chairman: As a member of the Com
mittee on Suffrage, Election and Represen
tation 1 desire to ,state briefly my reasons
for Opposing this section. of the report of
that committee in its present form, and why
I shall vote for the amendment first offered,
or one substantially like it.
In my
judgment there is no principle in
volved in elections by the people which
meets with such general approval from the
thinking men of to-day, none which has
been for so long a time a part of the organ
ic law of nearly every State in the Union,
and none, the propriety of the continuance
of which in the Constitution of the State is
go well justified by reason and experience
as the principle that all elections by The
people should be by secret ballot.
• The practice of voting by secret ballot
has become so general throughout the coun
try that it would have been singular indeed
if -a committee of this Convention had re
ported against the propriety of continuing
the practice in this State. The committee
could not well ignore a policy that has pre
vailed for so long a time that it has almost
become the common law of elections in rep
resentative governments. The committee
by their report, in the section under consid
eration,lecognize the propriety of permit
ting the elector to vote by secret ballot, and
provide that "all elections of the citizens
shall be by ballot; the ballots voted may be
open or secret, as the elector shall prefer." .
I most heartily approve of the section thus
far; but the committee have thought proper
to impose requirements on the elector which
in my judgment absolutely and entirely de
stroy the secrecy of the ballot.
In the first place, they require that the
elector shall write his name on each ballot
that lie offers, provided he can write his
name, but that if lie cannot, be shall pro
cure some other elector of his election dis•
trict to write his name on his ballot for him,
thus compelling him to place the mark of
identification on his ballot which Nyill enable
the officers of the election hoard to ascer
tain for whom he voted by au inspection of
the ticket. It would seem that this require
ment .ought to be sufficient to satisfy the
most zealous advocate of the open ballot,
but in addition to this this section of the
report provides that when the ballot thus
marked is passed over to the officers of the
election board they shall further mark it by
placing a number thereon corresponding
with the number placed opposite the elect
or's name on the tally list. Now, with
these two requirements complied with—the
ballot identified by name and number—can
there be any doubt but that the election
officers would know absolutely just how the
elector voted, and that the secrecy of the
ballot would be destroyed beyond the possi
bility of 9, question? And yet, with these
requiremennts in this section, the committee
gravely report that the elector shall have
the right to ,vote by secret ballot. In my
judgment the manner of voting provided
by this section is infinitely more objection
able than the open ballot; it is in fact open
ticket voting by circumlocution. It is said,
hoWever, by those who favor the require
ments contained in this section, that a pro
vision might be incorporated into the Con
stitution requiring the election officers to
take and subscribe an oath that they will
not communicate the knowledge obtained
as such officers as to how an elector casts
his vote, except when called to testify as a
witness, and the fact 'becomes a material in
quiry. Certainly it cannot be seriously pro
posed that this Convention slduld incorpo
rate such a provision in the/Constitution.—
If it was thought proper to impose such a
requirement on election/officers, the Legis
lature is the source froth which the require
ment should come./
But such provision, whether embodied in
the Constitution/or imposed by legislative
enactment, would not preserve the secrecy
of the ba/lot! As a rule, the election boards
throughout the State are composed of act
ive local politicians, who know the politics
of nearly every man in their respective dis
tricts; and they are on the lookout for the
purpose of ascertaining how the voters cast
their ballots; and if a -man ,in the district
voted against his party ticket, or differently
from the way his employer had promised he
should, or differently from the way he him
self, under the constraint of his peculiar
situation, had promised, the fact would be
known from one end of the election district_
to the other within twenty-four hours after
the polls were closed, notwithstanding, , our
provision for secrecy on the part ot'the
election officers.
It would not be necessary for the,election
officer to state in so many words ;just how
this or that man voted, in order.that his po.
litical friend- outside -the board might be
made to understand with' sufficient certain
ty how the vote had been cast. A look, a
gesture, the slightest insinuation would an
swer just ifs well as the plainest' statement,
and the deSired information would be im
parted without rendering the officer liable
to the penalties of any provision that might
be unhealed in the Constitution, or enacted.
by the Legislature, the most comprehensive
that human ingenuity could devise.
In the consideration of this section of the
"^
report, it seems to 'me but the single ques-
LL -
0 tn
presents itself : whether tiie, open or se
cret ban,. f. I) most M oly to eli a fair ' `tsa will of the people. In
expressson ot t
-1 an open citiestion,
my judgment this is n,
I believe that the experience eveiT'deia
`l,Ara
gate on this floor teaches him that L..s. -
a large class of voters in this State, as in
every other, who would not cast their bal
lots gt apportinnce with their honest convic
tions if they weOppippeneti to voto•an open
,
. I
ticket. . kIIOW it is a favorite thenryl of
slime gentlenten in this Convention, , and for
whose opinions 1 entertain great respect,
that the man who is afraid to go to the polls
and &Hero openly for whom he desires to
vote, in the presence of the ,voters of the
entire district; is• unworthy to exereige the
right of im ekctor. This may sound very
well;-and be , all right in theory, but the
-votes of the — elaSs, who, for various reasons,
;;odare not )to the T pells-and, openly declare
their preferences, will be cast; And the-ques
tion for theWeonsideratio» is whether it is
better to have I hem east as the electors' con-
sciences and judgment dictate, under cover
of the secret ballot, or as their fears or ne
cessities comm.!, by the open ballot.
It does not require great . courage for the
man who occupies an independent position
in the world to vote an open ticket; but is
it to be wontlered.at that the petit' laboring
man, although helmay be more intelligent
than his more fortunate neighbor - , whose
bi esd and that of his :-family depends tipon
the will, of his employer; has not the cour
age to face that employer at the- polls and
east bli vote openly against the express
command of him on whom lie is dependent
for the means of subsiStefice? I know very
well that the reply to this argument' is that
in this country laho6 has nothing to fear
from capital. But, sir, there can be no
greater fallacy than this. In 'nearly every
contest between labor and capital in this
country capital has come out of the strug
gle the victor. The reason for this is plain.
While capital loses little by lying idle, if
1 the laborer refuses to work for any length
of time starvation knocks at' his door, and
he is obil'ed to yield to tlw demands of
capital: .
The po) i
'er of party discipline would pre
vent Many a loan from casting his vote as
he thought to be right., if he was compelled
to comply .with. the requirements of this
section. Take au ambitious partisan: He
May feel that a bad man has been put - in
nomination by his party, and he would
strike that man with the secret ballot; yet
you inform him that his party friends must
of necessity know just how lie votes, and
knowing that under such circumstances he
would lose caste in his party if he votes
against its nominee, the average man would
vote his party ticket, wrong though he knew
it to be: Ido not" gay this is right,• hut. the
result Phew described - would, as a rule, be
attained while weak human nature remains
as at present constitined.
What good results are to accrue to the
people of this State in consideration of their
ahandonmentof their tithe-honored method
of casting their ballot Will the casting
of. a single fthudulent vote be prevented by
,
this proposed method of casting ballots?—
No, - not one illegal vote will be kept. out of
the box; nor wilt any of the corrupt practi
ces of illegal voters Le interfered with in
the least. The provisions proposed to be
engrafted on our system of voting have no
active life for good, at least until the votes
are all cast and the count begiiis. In fact,
they cannot be of 'the slightest use except
ii Leontested'election cases; and I am will
ing to admit that these provisions may serve
to furnish evidence of how a person, proved
by other evidence to have been an 'illegal
voter, cast his ballot. I am, however, un-
willing to yield this great printiple of the
secret ballot, which gives to elections their
real value to a large class of our citizens,
simply and solely upon the ground that the
trial of contested election cases may be sim
plified. Happily for the State, contested
election cases outside of the city of Phila
delphia are few indeed. . 1
I am opposed to this section sis reported
also for the reason that the requirements of
the elector contained in it would be more
appropriate as a legislative enactment• than
as a provision in the organic law of the
State.
-If these requirements were made of the
electors of the State by an net of the Legis
lature, and were found to be burdensome
and oppressive on the people, the law could
at oncebe repealed; but if they Weotne a
Part of the Constitution of the State, how
ever much the people may desire to get rid
of theta, they then must remain for a num
ber of years before they can be got rid of.
Again, I oppose this section for' the rca
son that it would be inconvenient and" bur.
densome upon the great muss of the people
of this State to carry its requirements iuto
execution. To those who are familiar with
country elections and the eauveniehces usu
ally at hand foi' conducting them, the force
of this position will at once be apparent.
Tale for example an election in the coun
try where the election is held in a country
school house, and from three to five hun
dred votes are polled; you require those
three or five hundred voters to write their
names, ordinarily not less than three times,
with no place to write within a mile of the
polls, and you can form some idea of how
inconvenient it would be to catty into exe
cution this new patent for the prevention of
frauds at elections.
I hope, Mr. Oh:l4uit), ttintt this section
will not he adopted.
The Apportionment Biil
Dividing the State into Congressional dis
tricts is generally one of the most difficult
tasks imposed upon the Legislatiirq. In the
clash of so many differing personal and pa-
Mica] interests it is simply impossible-to
please everybody. The bill printed below
was the Boric of compromise, and was last
week reported by a committee of confer
ence and accepted . by the two houses. It
will then fore become a law upcin receiving
the signature of the Governor, As finally
passed by the LegiShiture it is as follows:
Ist district—let, 2d, 7th and 20th Wards
of Philadelphia.
2d-Btb, 9th, 10th, 13th; 14th and 20th
wards, and that part of the 17th ward lying
west of Second street.
3d-3d,"4th, 6th, 6th, 11th, 12th and kith
wards.
4th-15th, 24th, 27th, 29th and 29th :wards.
sth-18th, 19th, 22d, 23d and 25th wards,
and that part of the 17th ward east of Sec
and street.
• Wl—Chester and Delaware cotties.
7th—Montgomery county,, an all that
portion of Bucks county fit included in the
10th district. 1'
Bth—Berks county./
9th—Lancaster connty.
10th—NorthamptOn and Lehigh counties,
and the township
of Durham, Springfield,
Milford, Richla'nd, Rockhill, Haycock, Tin
icum and Nociamixon, and the,horough of
Quakertown in Bucks county.
lltli—,COlurnbia, Montour, Carbon, Mon
roe an 'Pike counties, An d the townships of
Nesgpfieck, Black - Creek, Sugar Loaf, Ha
zel/Butler, Foster, Bear Creek, Bucks, Sa
tein, Spring Brook , Roaring Brook, Ho gen
;back, Huntingdon, and that part of the city
of Scranton south of -Roaring Brook creek'
and east of the Lackawanna river, and the
boroughs of Dunmore, Not Columbus, Jed.
do, Goldsboro, White Haven and , Hazleton'
in Luzerne county. 1
12th—All that part of Luzerne county not
included in the l'lth district.
13th—The county of Schuylkill. I
14tb—Daupbin, Northumberland and
Lebanon counties.
Vith—Bradford, Susquelianna,SWyoming
and Wayne &invite%
16th—Tioga, Potter, Wltean, iiameron,
Lyeoming and Sullivanicouniies.
4701—Cambria, Bedford, Blair and Som
erset counties.
18th—Franklin, Fulton, Juniata, Hun
tingdon, Snyder and Terry counties,
19th—York, Adams and Cumberland
counties.
20th—UnionAlinton Clearfield, bliftlin,
Elk and Center counties.
21st—WeStmoreland, Greene and Fayette
counties: / / • 1
22d- 7 Pittshurg city and the townships of
Chartiers, Union, Scott, Stowe, Robinson,
Upper and Lower St. Clair, Baldwin, Wil
kins, Penn and Snowden, and-the boroughs
..fif Mansfield, Chartiers and Braddock in
Allegheny county.
'l:4l—A.ll that portion of Allegheny coun
ty not included in the 224 district;
24th--Washington, Beaver and Lawrence
Counties.
25th—Clarion, Armstrong, Indiana, Jef
ferson and Forest,counties.
24t1).---ltlereer, and Crawford miln4
ties.
27th—Erie, Warfel' ftnd Vonango coup•
ties.
THE U. S. MILITARY ACADRAIY.—The
story and scene of Benedibt Arriold's treach
ery must be so thoroughly understood by
every American who understands anything
at all of his country's histbry that for me to
rehearse it here would be liseless. lonly in
tend to write up such facts in regard to the
Military Academy as would be likely to in
terest the average American reader.
It ifl located lifty.one tulles above New York City oia
the west bank of tliellndson river among scenery
superbly grand. The grounds in connection with the
Academy are about fifty acres in extent and at.s over
one hundred and fifty feet above the river. A road
leads up Prom landing to this pleasant place,
the visitor past tie tAYll2llplablee, library boil s
arid riding bill!. The ri+s44 ban t Sala to bi) the
largeat; hall third for OrineOttati agovietA
Un mod States: ;
The Acad.:6ly - hail its blab tit the )6,,,r 1 , 02,
I'revicis to that tittio novel* atte/uptii La i l bp .
male to eul4hiiah such an Inatltutiln, but
WWI 810 W 1.1) Let and anti sPqueutly do perlat tayt evi i
made in that ail actlou. nun, an early as
agnointod a coniniittre to prepiro A p l an
Aliniary Araiirtily; but appointing riiii d „ii t i e ; 6 l
ilrau plitet anti theft rhoTo attenttotitoN
tau tn-r win Lo•Ver tuitl4l sn A.agtemy as 1110 (1(;f
Hama al vultadly fun.! oaf. ,
.th citcny,t tiara loath, tit 101141 hit' 4i tof iarriireit (O cadula fu to
11704.' Oaagteas arratigeiboo4
fora corp. .if A rtinti ianq aua Eagliwera tO be atanaT,4
at West l'ulut to train a few Young abapa.wh o
doubt aal,,ltail to beeotue Lieut. ficueralm when thti
alionld grow old unougb, lint until 16(.12 the Acado oo ,
which grinding out th e otatt ; ,
Sheridaris and Ateaili: or coming tunea did tad
into exiatence.
111) to ISM 110 Atatlbiny I olltlmied to La a fact, too
for.aevarALryationa did not accoupliab meg. tld 4 4
were accepted without an ;eaanitinition, and &a
wail no prili.;lll. : Cd ago rot' win/is/310u tho ihroatta
ieneca from such a liiime,rkateni can ti read!
nuderatood.
it aunt; taos briefly given the reader a ellidd
count of the otrly history or-th d n ii,„l, I ‘ , lll .
ni
proceed to thform Lint '
' • 'HOW A CAM:Twirl. La st.ctliw.V.
There, arii‘just twoovays of gaining admission
the Academy as a c.ader, :By securing the Witten.
of a congrerallian, or gaping the favor of the Prok4.l
dent to sorb a degree as to
: get appiinted one Of t. 14,
"tens" that he sends each year lulu that ltislittillcs.
Eteh emigre:igloos! v.tArirt 1 a 9 the right to kciptlie
cadet ilt the school and no iln,ro, 80, of cOnras, thrq
are aside (rout the President's "ten"—just sa rainy
cadet's at 11'ime Point ae there are •Ineuibers In the
lower Homo of Pons-read. leach cadet remains it
West! I'oll4 lour )rfirm unless sooner discharged
ter
BMW; cause, and as such en event crealeka vacancy
seine other young man residing In his dtatri . et can
Lave the cncletilip. A person to be eligible to ap.
poioneeot must bo oi,tr Bevi.litria, and wider twenty.
two yeat a of age, unless that applicant has served 04
scat' at least in the Army or Navy during the lite
war:, when he 'will be admitted into the Aradet4
not Over twenty-four years old. 'llie law also midst
it impossible for a person who has served in - tida l
the 'Army •.r Navy of the Confederate Bides' during
tha,•ixer to become a cadet.
The manner of securing an"' appointment by Q.
PreSident is vem simple. The person ' desiring i
cadetship, his father, guardian, or any 0119 lowing
authority in the matter eau write to the Secretarial
War at any time and Inform him of ,the 'applicant's
age; Oleo of residence, and the number of the Cos,
gresiiionai illstriet in which be lives, and his destines
becoming al cadet, and the Secretary viii have big
name placed on the Register. ^, As a role the appotet,
nacmts are made a year in advance of the time of ea.
trance. 50 its to give the person appointed time to pry
pale f„r . a' s T we,n s rid examination. rt IBM Can
msttt r
to become one of the President's ten, there are so rawly
who bate some sort of a claim On him that heir obliged
to torogniz,!.. Not long since ,gentleman wrote to
Ron. .imon Carnerim, asking him to see the President
and try to secure oue cf Lis appointments Inc a tab
taus young mate Lviog in this State. Mr, Cameras
did all in his poWer, but was obliged to write bat}
that "if the Presli.ent lied a hundred times unsay
appointments to All he would not have enough RI A li
those who had a claim on him." As soon tit, a w on
report's to West point who has an appointment, EA,
subjected to a very severe medical examination. and
11 he Is found to be in the least partionlor unsonndlte
is rejected at once.
The mental gnaltleatiuna of a young man &beetle
miter the Acadeiny consiat of a good knowledge
the common English branches. That is, he Ma
understand arithmetic, grammar, the history of tit
United lltates, mid geography, together With readitf, fL:v
writing and spelling. Nov.*, let it not be underito4
from this that if a person is Well versed in any Olen ;Al
of the educational brauehes, he will not nolit by out"
knowledge. If he is well educated before he enter
the Academy. it will be just so much center forint,/ to
Master the course.i Grant. when ho entered the
emy, barely paused the-examination, and while there \4
Suffered severely in competition with other - snemben
Of the dan. •
But although the law does not require anything ;IA
More than what is taught in our public schools, Up!, ,
quires that much to be understood thoroughly. In
arithmetic the candidate will be required to solve mers
tally examples which will average t very well with those
prom:scow examples in fractions in 'Whitmire
Arithmetic. His hnowledge of• giammar must Bland
e wore severe test than to tell the examining board
that "Low" wunt, hut whether common or proper
he doesn't lie will h..) required to unravel and
id require the know's-age
\\ho assumes to knew a
. If I remember aright,
third ware some thirty
des rejected because Oily
of that! Thirty-six at
districts reported without
/Point branue thrir Gokt
pal Ht . F.1 . 11i1 - 11Ct'S
of an oro I lvol one teac•lu y
great &al about t;nl unuir
some two or three years ag
six or thirty-aeven cittlidal
cetdairel ei,c//. Just: lidulti
thirty-se you l'ougeessiezed
a rep, cliental% e at }Feat
cambial FP , II !
Thus it e ill be seen that a persen who Is not physt
rally smitel and posC:eicti .4 a good common school
education at least, had butt r give Lb Military ,A4de•
my a wide berth, and thus escape the mortitlcattei
consequent upon helm; rejected. A certain write, ta
speaking of the mental - eliduluation says: "The ex..
atniiiims officers have no opinion; they 1//20/ reject the
deficient. 'flue nation sends these young men to t.N.
Military Academy, supports and pays them adequately
and opens to them an honorable profession, in then ,
pectation that their hest efforts will be Oxen to gull.
fy themselves for the laig l her duties of , the military
service. Those who win tA)t, or cannot Oro& by these
provisions, should not occnpy the places of those who
will and can."
I
i
Those who become innia es of the Academy indium
do not receive, the warrant,of a cadet Until the follow.
lug January, and only then after they have passed
another examination called the semi-annual examina
tion, which is also very severo. The °Annual exam!.
t
nation" is held in June, an like all other examinations
at tite,Acatliany, is very . igid, At this , time those
cadets who cannot show that they are <law welt and
are likely to succeed wi 'be - discharged frUni the
school at once. Tile 143 , sin of "iazing" which the
cadets used to practice so xtensively has gone out at
date. In order to avoid this'. hazing process, when
Grant entered the school he carried a letter of intro.
duetion from a very induentiall gentleman to an-older
eadetA Everything went of well until after Grant end
the cialet just referred tol had gone to bed, when II
knock was heard upon their, door, and upon opening
it an officer stepped in,l and taking a book from his
pocket gave Grant and his room-mate a number of
pages of reading in the book to commit .1.0 memory for
a recitation, as he stud, to test their minds. Grant
bowed him - very politely out of the room and then
went to bed while his room-mate remained up all
night and studied a lesso which ho was never oom•
polled to recite. ...,
i t,
At about the twenty ' twenty f irst of Juno the
cadets desert the bar • tigo into their summer
- matters. nonalsting of an e camPir It of -
- n is un"
, c• l•
q, ___:a, aOnalating b.. ant. campment of army tents,
l'his is the time for the is dud. 3d classes to got a
furlough for a vialt, to their homes. During the en.
campment season the cadets &IVA:heir regular sOlo
demie studies and devote all their time to the studyof
military matters. They drill regularly and learn tha
art of conducting war in a scientific manner. This
short 'season is all the relaxation they get from their
academic studies.
The encampment usually terminates about the last
of August when the cadets return to their old quarters
and musty honks The evening previous to bidding
adieu to the camp the ' boys' get upon a regular
yelling 41311 howling spree, making the camp seem for
the time a regular gathering place for all the wild
anim'alm known. A visitor at West Point mice de
scribed it thus: "An illumination of the clamp uaual
ly takes place on the evening before it is brokeup, and
the convolutions hf a 'stag 'dance' are performed on
the Parade•ground,iath e fervor and 'vivacity worthy
of incitation in a Comanche war-dance. Thin curious
cross in the Terpsieliorean art, between the pigeon
wing, double sldile, boo-down, and the quadrate,
frequent diversion in the cadet camp. It Is per.
formed by twenty or more cadets, who gyrate between
.two rows of candles stuck ip the ground, cadencing
thtfir movements by the very uncertain gonads of a
plebeian Addle and the low, muffed rattle of a datum
stmomparded by whimsicalities su( COAtOIIKOZIO '
known Aare at West Point."
The' scene during the striking of the, tents is not
altpgether devoid of interest, Outing the earlY part
of the day the cadets carry all their property into tiro
barracks, leaving nothing in the encampment SsVet
their arms and accoutrements. At, tho proper Ulna tho
general• beats,
"Don't you bear the General say,
Strilce your tents and march away,"
"when all spring to their posts, atraiting_three taps on
the bass drum." At the drat tap, all excepi the cor
ner tent cords are Chit loose and the pins aro with•
drawn; at the second, the cornec cords And pins are
east loose, atn.h.the lent is gathered around the tont•
poles and steadied in an upright position, so that at
the third tap all the tents instantly go down in con.
cert. and woo to the 'gross' one tato fails to omplete
the prostration at the moment'? The cadets are di.
sided into four classes which are numbered First,
Second, Third and Fourth, instead of the'usual man•
ner, of distinguishing them in other colleges,
lalon't think I ought to conclude this; article with.
r. , ,t telling the endera of the Antawron Who it is that
eprcsents the igliteerdb. Congressional district in
the dplitary Ace, His name is George A. Dodd.
His honie is in Dieu trsrllle, Lycoming county. I
understand his father was killed in the late war. I
might go on to describe George's appearance, but can
just as well cut my description short by saying that he
looks very much like the pictures I have seen of Jas.
moaroc, only, of course, hooking much younger.—
May he /ice to wear the stars of a Lieut. General,
• A. Gator.
Administrator's Notice.
y ETTEIIB of Administre.tion on the eslate of Dan.
J fel Ceirley late of Un on township, deceased. have
been grunted to Cathariq CoNN ley, residing in Union,
Tinge county, Pa., to will in all persona indebted to
said estate are requested make payment, and those
having claims or demand will will make known the
same without delay. • OATHARTNE COWLEY.
Union, April, 15, 1879.
Executors Notice. - .
LETTERS testamentary on the estate of Charles
Canfield, lite of Jackson tovinship,'llesktounty,
g
i
Pa., deceived, having been uteri to the under
signed by the Register of Zeal% county, all persons
indebted to the estate ars; regi ested to mate Pay
ment, and those having claims against. said estate
will present the same for settlement.
J04:PII L. BERINGER.
Jackson, Pa., April lb', "Itlithr.* . Fleet:dor.
HI fhilowing caeca are certified to the dal term
of Court, May 14th.1873, before Rom it. F. Streeter:
John Viecher and John Randall vs Wm. B. Dodge,
&trace 'Macs and Daniel lames.
John McGraw vs Farmington Barcalow d Aiitande
Barcalow. •
John W. Guernsey vs Collins W. Soper. •
R. C. COX,
yegebon, April nllBlBO4
11111
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Special' COU'r
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