The government of the people of the state of Pennsylvania

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THE

GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE

Chapter I. The Civil Government Of Pennsylvania In History

1. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, under a charter granted him by King Charles II., March 4, 1681. Penn was born in 1644, in London, and, while a student at Oxford University, joined the Society of Friends. The Friends were among the English emigrants to America during the last half of the seventeenth century.

2. The Friends were not welcome in New England, on account of their religious opinions. They did not like New York because of " the worldly character of its inhabitants." They disapproved of slavery, hence they did not like Virginia and the Carolinas. Therefore they came to New Jersey, and in the years 1675 to 1680 they founded Burlington and some of the adjoining towns.

3. New Jersey was settled under the fostering care of trustees some of whom were Friends, and among whom was William Penn. His relations with friendly settlements in New Jersey led him to think of founding a province based on friendly and just principles.

4. Penn's influence with King Charles II. was sufficient to induce that careless monarch to give to Penn the region of country now known as Pennsylvania * King Charles gave away parts of America to his favorites with a lavish hand, and, as he was not particular about boundaries, his grants were the cause of many disputes long after his death, when the States attempted to fix their boundaries. The deed from King Charles to William Penn specifies

"A tract of land in America lying north of Maryland, on the east bounded by the Delaware River, on the west limited as Maryland is, and northward to extend as far as plantable."

5. The grant of this land to Penn was not one of mere favoritism ; the English Crown was indebted to the Penn family to the amount of £16,000— about $80,000 at the present time — which Penn's father, Sir William Penn, a distinguished British admiral, had years before advanced to the British Government. The admiral, moreover, had performed great services meriting recognition.

6. Penn's request to King Charles for a grant of land in America as full payment of the debt enabled the king to

* The original area was increased in 1786 by the purchase of the "Triangle," Erie county, from the government of the United States.

pay it very easily. By English law, the land asked for belonged to the Crown by right of Cabot's discoveries nearly two hundred years before.

7. On the 4th of March, 1681, the king signed a charter by which " Pennsylvania " was given to William Penn and his heirs for ever on the condition that the head of the Penn family should pay tribute for it :

" Yeelding and paying therefore to vs, our heires and Succeffors, two beaver Skins to bee delivered att our faid Caftle of Windfor, on the firft day of Januarie, in every yeare; and alfo the fifth parte of all Gold and Silver Oare, which fhall from time to time happen to be found within the Limitts aforefaid, cleare of all Charges." *

8. Penn had already thought out a " Frame of Government." One of his friends and neighbors was the celebrated Algernon Sidney, a friend of mankind and a defender of the ideas of free government. Sidney influenced and aided Penn in making his plan of government so broad and liberal in character that its essential features remain to this day. Because of his liberal ideas Sidney was soon after put to death on the charge of treason ; he was convicted because he had written out his thoughts on free government. The manuscript was declared to be his, and he was condemned and executed, although the manuscript had never been published.

9. Penn brought Sidney's liberal ideas to America. He landed at Upland, now called Chester, October 27, 1682, and at once issued orders for a general election to occur November 20. On December 4, he held his first assembly. Penn never forgot his friend Sidney. He spoke as Sidney would have spoken when, in writing to the people of Pennsylvania, he told them that they should have law-

* The original charter may still be seen at Harrisburg, and the State has published a full-sized fac-simile of it.

makers of their own choosing and laws of their own making. He said, " I will put the power with the people " — a great idea in government — an idea made immortal by Abraham Lincoln in his speech at Gettysburg describing government as " government of the people, by the people and for the people."

10. This first Pennsylvania Assembly at Chester in 1682 enacted " The Great Law or Body of Laws of the Province of Pennsylvania," consisting of sixty-six laws, which, with slight modification in two hundred years, are the laws of the Commonwealth to this day. By his charter Penn was made lord proprietor of his province. He had almost kingly power ; but, faithful to his ideas of government, he provided for a House of Assembly, for courts of law, for justices' courts and for county offices all of which are in existence at the present day.

11. Penn himself was governor, and he sought assistance by creating a council of state, which, with the governor or his deputy, comprised an upper house in the Assembly. He made provision for the comfort of the people of the province by laying out the city of Philadelphia and giving it a charter ; so that Philadelphia is the oldest incorporated city in English-speaking America. He made the price of land low, encouraged industry and economy, made provision for schools and for a university, and then returned to England.

12. Penn's life was a benediction to mankind. He died in 1718. Montesquieu compares him to Lycurgus, saying that he overcame prejudices and a made peace his principal aim." He not only made Pennsylvania a home for the Friends, but a home for the persecuted of all nations. To Pennsylvania came Friends, Episcopalians, Scotch- Irish Presbyterians, and German Lutherans, and all were equally protected. In no other part of America was there so liberal and peaceful a spirit.

13. The nationality of the people who made Pennsylvania their home is traceable in many of the counties of the Commonwealth. The Scotch-Irish settled in the western part of the State ; the Friends settled in the southeastern part of the State, in Delaware, Philadelphia, Chester and the adjoining counties; people of German ancestry settled the rich counties of the anthracite coal-region. More than two centuries have passed, and the descendants of these early settlers are still to be found in the same sections of the State that their ancestors occupied.

14. Penn gave the people of this province his "Frame of Government " April 25, 1682. In this he laid down some principles of government well worthy of our understanding and applicable to us at the present time :

" I know some say, ' Let us have good laws, and no matter about the men that execute them ;' but let them consider that, though good laws do well, good men do better; for good laws may want good men, and be abolished or invaded by ill men ; but good men will never want good laws nor suffer ill ones."

15. Penn said, further, that " the great end of all government n is " to support power in reverence with the people, and to secure the people from the abuse of power ; that they may be free by their just obedience, and the magistrates honorable for their just administration; for liberty without obedience is confusion, and obedience without liberty is slavery. To carry this evenness is partly owing to the constitution, and partly to the magistracy (the public officials chosen by the people); where either of these fail, government will be subject to convulsions ; but where both are wanting it must be totally subverted ; then where both meet the government is like to endure. Which I humbly pray and hope God will please to make the lot of Pennsylvania."

16. Penn's prayer has been answered. The principles of government which he advanced are the principles of our government to-day. He practised them faithfully.

Although the king had given him the land and it was legally his property, yet Penn recognized the natural rights of the Indians who for ages had roamed over it. On the west bank of the Delaware, at Shackamaxon, now called Kensington, a part of Philadelphia, under the spreading arms of an ancient tree, Penn met the chiefs of the Indian tribes who lived on his domain, and entered into a solemn treaty of friendship with them. " We are one flesh and blood, brothers," said Penn to the Indians, to whom no Englishman had ever uttered such words ; and a great chief replied, " We will live in love as long as the sun and moon shine ; we will ever live in peace, Onas ;" and by that name Penn was always known to the Indians. The promise was never signed and never broken. Penn bought the land of the Indians, paying them in such things as they desired, and they took freely of blankets, axes, kettles, knives, beads and looking-glasses, for these things had great value in their eyes.

17. The deputy governors whom the Penn family sent to rule Pennsylvania were not inspired with the principles of the great founder of the province. They valued Pennsylvania only as a producer of wealth for their benefit. For many years there was a contest between the General Assembly of the province and its governor. The dispute was mainly about rents, taxes, the governor's salary and the governor's power to veto the acts of Assembly.

18. Dr. Franklin, speaking of the veto power of the proprietary governor of Pennsylvania-^and he might have said it of other colonial governors not elected by the people — said : " The negative of the governor was constantly made use of to extort money. No law whatever could be passed without a private bargain with him. An increase of his salary or some donation was always made a condition ; till at last it became a regular practice to have orders in his favor on the treasury presented along with the bills to be signed, so that he might actually receive the former before he should sign the latter. When the Indians were scalping the Western people, the concurrence of the governor in the means of self-defence could not be got till it was agreed that his estate should be exempted from taxation ; so that the people were to fight for the security of his property, whilst he was to bear no share of the burden."

19. In 1776 the colony of Pennsylvania became a State, and a convention of the people, Benjamin Franklin chairman, framed the first State constitution, which continued the civil institutions of colonial times, save that the governor was thenceforth elected by the people. The General Assembly treated the Penn family justly, and in 1779 granted to the heirs of Penn the sum of $524,000 in fullsettlement of all disputes and claims of the family against the State of Pennsylvania.

20. By the constitution of 1776 the legislature consisted of one house only, the Assembly — a name long familiar to the people. It is interesting to note that to this day the laws of Pennsylvania are called " Acts of Assembly," and not statutes, as in some of the States. In 1789 a second constitution was framed, and ratified in the following year. This constitution provided for a legislature of two bodies and the usual tripartite government. A third constitution was ratified by the people in 1838, and a fourth, now in force, in 1873. In all these constitutions the ancient form of local government introduced by Penn has been maintained. The duties of our county and township officers and their official titles are to-day the same as they were more than two centuries ago.

21. The first seat of government of the State was in Philadelphia. In 1799 it was removed to Lancaster, where it remained for thirteen years. In 1812 it was removed to Harrisburg, the present seat of the State government.

22. The principal changes that have been made in the government of the State are in the creation of bureaus, commissions, boards and departments for promoting the general welfare of the people and protecting interests unknown in the early history of the State. These changes have been caused by the development of the interests of the State.

23. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has been a field fruitful of great events, rich in great men and conspicuous in the civil history of our country. It was in Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, that the first Continental Congress assembled and organized the Revolutionary Government, based its authority upon the people, and issued the famous Bill of Rights for America.

24. In 1775 the second Congress met in Philadelphia, on the 10th of May. It took into consideration the whole nation ; it organized an army and navy ; adopted a monetary system or Treasury Department ; established a Postoffice Department; and issued the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin was made Postmaster-General, and Robert Morris, another eminent Pennsylvanian, was chosen Financier of America.

25. In 1786, in Philadelphia, there assembled the most celebrated gathering of able men ever seen in America — the men who framed the Constitution of the United States.

" In that convention no other State could boast of such delegates as were sent by Pennsylvania. Foremost in fame was Franklin, who divided with Washington the admiration of the world. He was widely famed before many of his illustrious colleagues in the convention were born. In science, in diplomacy, in society, in letters, in practical business, in great public charities and in organizations of wide influence to this day, he was foremost; and of all the Americans in an age of great men, he is still more talked and written about than any save Washington. As president of his State he sat most influential in the delegation, and, though too feeble by reason of age to participate actively in the debates of the convention, by his presence and by his inexhaustible good humor and practical sagacity his influence was so great that it may be said that the Constitution could not have been framed without him."

26. " Other influential Pennsylvanians in the convention of 1786 were Thomas Mifflin, member of Assembly, and nine years governor of his State ; Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution, delegate to Congress, a signer of the Declaration, first United States Senator from Pennsylvania, and founder of the Bank of North America; George Clymer, one of the signers, a delegate to Congress, and afterward a member of the House of Representatives ; Thomas Fitzsimons, a famous merchant of Philadelphia; Jared Ingersoll, the leader of the bar of the State ; James Wilson, a student at four universities, and the ablest constitutional lawyer in the convention ; a frequent debater ; afterward professor of law in the University of Pennsylvania, and appointed by Washington a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ; and Gouverneur Morris, delegate to Congress, later governor of New York, and afterward one of its United States Senators. Morris was chosen by the convention to write the Constitution in its final form, because his colleagues recognized the finish and elegance of his style." *

27. Pennsylvania, during the long Revolutionary struggle, was the scene of critical campaigns, of the suffering, hardships and sacrifices of patriots and of the varying fortunes of war. Valley Forge and Germantown and the valley of the Brandywine are historic spots. It was in Western Pennsylvania that the great struggle broke out between France and England for the possession of North America — a struggle which taught the colonies that they were capable of governing themselves. It was in Pennsylvania, at Gettysburg, that the world's greatest

* From Thorpe's Story of the Constitution.

battle for human freedom was fought in I860— a battle whose mighty and beneficent effects have rewritten the meaning of that constitution of the nation first written in Pennsylvania three-quarters of a century before.

28. Pennsylvania has not been wanting in great men in all departments of public affairs. Among her great governors are Mifflin, McKean, Snyder, Hiester, Curtin, Geary, Hartranft. Among her great judges are Shippen, Tilghman, Gibson, Black and Sharswood.

29. In national affairs Pennsylvania has exercised a powerful influence. The first speaker of the House of Representatives, Frederick A. Muhlenberg, was from Pennsylvania. In Congress the State has always been ably represented, and among the ablest have been Albert Gallatin, later secretary of the treasury, John Covode, David S. AYilmot, Horace Binney, Jared Ingersoll, John Hickman, and Thaddeus Stevens, " the father of the public schools in Pennsylvania." Among the United States senators from Pennsylvania are Robert Morris, Albert Gallatin, George M. Dallas, James Buchanan and Simon Cameron. Of these, Buchanan became a president and Dallas a vice-president of the United States. This Commonwealth has furnished three secretaries of state ; seven secretaries of treasury ; six secretaries of war, among them Edwin M. Stanton ; two secretaries of the navy ; one secretary of the interior; three postmasters-general; seven attorneys-general; five justices of the supreme court; three presidents pro tern of the Senate; and four speakers of the House of Representatives.

30. In educational affairs Pennsylvania has always manifested a commendable interest. Common schools are established in every township throughout the State, and through the influence of the system of county superintendents, aided by intelligent and earnest teachers, they are constantly advancing in efficiency and usefulness. High schools are found in all the chief cities and boroughs. Thirteen State normal schools aid in training a body of professional teachers. Academies, seminaries and select schools are to be found in every part of the State. More than twenty colleges offer opportunities for advanced study. The University of Pennsylvania, first suggested by William Penn, and founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1740, is the fourth in order of time of the American universities.

31. Pennsylvania is known as the " Keystone State " — a name suggested not only by the geographical position of the Commonwealth among the original thirteen States, but, in a large sense, on account of the moderation and wisdom of the action of the State in public affairs — a position referred to in an old popular song of 1790 :

" Still Pennsylvania holds the scales, And neither South nor North prevails."

In whatsoever direction we pursue the history of Pennsylvania, we meet with great men and deal with great ideas. Her founder set the fashion of her history, and her founder was one of the world's great and good men.

32. What shall be the future of our Commonwealth ? That future depends upon the men and women, the boys and the girls of to-day. It is they who make the State. " Virtue, liberty and independence " can be spoken only of an intelligent, high-minded, industrial and law-abiding people — a people who build their government upon the deep foundations of the home. Throughout the wide world there is no other land so full of opportunities as our own. We are free to make our institutions ideal in their perfection. But our civil institutions depend upon the citizen for their strength and character. He makes the government in township, county, State and nation. His interests are entrusted to public servants of his own choosing. Upon him fall both the responsibilities and the blessings of free government. At the fireside we hear the story of

Washington and of Lincoln ; in school we learn of the making of the States and of the nation ; we learn the nature of the State, its organization and its administration. We leave school and enter upon the active duties of life. Then our influence is for or against good government : we hinder or we promote the general welfare. Many years ago a child of five years became king of France. Until he was old enough to take upon himself the cares of his kingdom his guardians ruled in his name. On the day when he became of age his minister inquired of him, " Sire, to whom shall I now report?" "To me," replied the king; "I am the state." And in this country, when a youth enters upon his manhood years, he may well say, " I am the state. Its interests, its honor, its history, are mine also." Popular government on a vast scale is for the first time on trial in this country. It is upon the individual citizens that its destiny depends. The work of good government is our work. "With malice toward none; with charity for all ; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work w r e are in." And we may then confidently expect the blessings of Providence to rest upon the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The Seal of the State of Pennsylvania.

Chapter II. The Civil Government Of Pennsylvania At The Present Time

aO^O»

The Commonwealth.

33. The Citizen. — The Constitution of the United States provides that " all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." Hence all men, women and children born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, residing in the State of Pennsylvania, are citizens of both the United States and of the State of Pennsylvania. But all citizens are not electors. The elector is a citizen who has the right to vote. The Constitution of the State prescribes the qualifications of an elector. (See Art VIII. page 98*)

* Reference is made to the Constitution to familiarize the student with the Constitution itself, and to lead him to seek for information at the fountain-head.

34. The State Government. — The government of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is vested in three departments—the legislative, the executive and the judicial.

35. The Legislative Power of the Commonwealth is vested in a General Assembly consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. {See Art. II. Sect. 1.)

36. The General Assembly or Legislature meets at 12 o'clock noon on the first Tuesday in January of every second year (1893-95-97, etc.). It makes all the laws of the Commonwealth, but the laws it makes must not conflict with the Federal Constitution nor with that of the State, or they may be declared unconstitutional by the courts, and therefore null and void. These laws provide for the dealings of the citizens with each other, such as making contracts and partnerships, buying and selling lands, houses, goods and property of all kinds, making mortgages, deeds, promissory notes, checks, etc. ; for the organization and government of corporations such as insurance, railroad, telegraph, telephone and manufacturing companies ; for the prevention and punishment of crime ; for the establishment and support of charitable and educational institutions; for establishing and regulating courts; for the government of counties, cities, boroughs, townships and school districts ; for the method of procedure in courts ; for the qualifications of electors ; and for all other matters in which the citizens of the State may have any interest. It is the duty of the General Assembly to make such laws as will promote the general welfare of the people of the State. All the laws of the State are enacted " by the authority of the people of the State."

The State is divided by the General Assembly for election purposes into representative districts, State senatorial districts, congressional districts and judicial districts. The Assembly determines all matters connected with the taxation required to furnish the income for carrying on the government of the State. It elects two persons to represent the people of the State in the Senate of the United States. Members of the General Assembly are paid a salary for their services ; they are supplied with such stationery as they may need at the expense of the State; and they are allowed a sum of money called mileage to pay their traveling expenses in going to and returning from a session of the Assembly. (See Art. II. Sect. 8.)

37. The Senate consists of fifty senators, one for each senatorial district into which the State is divided. (See Art. II. Sect 16.) The senator from each district is chosen by the electors of that district to serve for four years. The lieutenant-governor of the State is ex-officio president of the Senate. He is not a member of the Senate, and has no right to vote except when the vote of the Senate is equally divided. The Senate elects one of its own members president pro tempore, who appoints its committees unless the Senate orders otherwise, and w T ho acts as president when the lieutenant-governor is absent. The Senate has the sole power to try impeachments and to confirm appointments made by the governor.

38. The House of Representatives consists of two hundred and four members, chosen to serve for tw T o years by the electors in the different representative districts into which the State is divided. (See Art. II. Sect. 17.) Each district elects its own representatives. The House elects one of its members as presiding officer or speaker, who appoints all the committees unless the House otherwise orders. The House has the sole right to institute impeachments and to originate bills for raising revenue*

39. How the Laws are Made. — The manner of making laws by the General Assembly is practically the same as in the Congress of the United States.

A law may originate in the form of a bill in either

* For the qualifications of senators and representatives see Art. If. Sect. 5.

house (except a bill for raising revenue, which must originate in the House of Representatives).

The bill must be referred to a committee, returned therefrom and be printed for the use of the members.

It must be read in full in each house on three different days, and on its final passage it must, in each house, receive the assent of a majority of the whole number of members, voting by yeas and nays, and the name of each member voting, and the way he voted, must be entered on the journal of each house respectively. (See Art. III. Sect. 4.)

If the bill be changed or amended in any respect by the other house, it must be returned to the house in which it originated, and the amendments must be approved by a majority of all the members, voting by yeas and nays, and the name of each member voting, and the w r ay he voted, must be entered on the journal. (See Art. III. Sect. 5.)

If agreed to by a majority of all the members of both houses, the bill is sent to the governor. If he approves it, he signs it and the bill becomes a law. If he does not approve it, he vetoes it — i. e. he returns it with his objections to the house in which it originated. If both houses re-pass the bill by a two-thirds vote of all the members, it becomes a law without the approval of the governor. If the governor fails either to sign or to return the bill within ten days from the time it was presented to him, it becomes a law, unless the Assembly, by adjourning, prevent its return, in which case it becomes a law unless the governor files the bill, with his objections to it, in the office of the secretary of the Commonwealth, and gives public notice of the same by proclamation within twenty days after the adjournment of the General Assembly. (See Art. IV. Sect. 15.)

40. The Executive Department of the Commonwealth is vested by the constitution in the governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of the Commonwealth, attorney-general, auditor-general, State treasurer, secretary of internal affairs and superintendent of public instruction. {See Art. IV. Sect, 1.)

41. The Governor. — The supreme executive power of the State is vested in the governor. He is chosen by the electors of the State to serve one term of four years, and is not eligible to the office for the next succeeding term. His salary is $10,000 per annum. It is his duty to inform the General Assembly of the condition of the State, to recommend to its consideration such measures as he may think necessary and expedient and to see that the laws are faithfully executed. He is the commander-in-chief of the militia of the State, except when it is called into the actual service of the United States. He has the power to appoint, subject to the consent of the Senate, a number of important officers ; to fill vacancies that may occur in any office under certain restrictions {see Art. IV. Sect. 8) ; to remit fines ; to grant reprieves ; and, on the recommendation of the board of pardons {see Art. IV. Sect. #), to grant commutations of sentence and pardons to persons convicted of crime, except in cases of impeachment; to veto bills that he does not approve; to disapprove of any item of a bill appropriating money, and approve of other items of the same bill ; to call the Senate together to transact executive business only ; to convene both houses on extraordinary occasions ; and if at any time the two houses disagree as to adjournment, he can adjourn them for such time, not exceeding four months, as he shall think proper. All bills passed by the General Assembly that he approves, he signs, and they are then laws.*