Civics of Pennsylvania

Preface

Civil government has been looked upon generally as the science of national activity. Not only has the state as a governing authority received little attention, but its relation to the nation has been viewed in a distorted perspective. Naturally the student has come to look on state sovereignty and national supremacy as wholly external to himself, and apart from each other, instead of consonant elements in a great system. An examination of the powers exercised and the duties rendered by those local organs with which he is more or less acquainted by actual contact will enable him to place both sovereignties in their proper positions with reference to each other. While this brief exposition of the government of Pennsylvania has been prepared to serve as a supplement for those who are already familiar with the important elements of civics, its further purpose is to aid the student to understand the details of our complete coordinate system of government.

WARD W. PIERSOX University of Pennsylvania September, 1906

CONTEXTS

Chapter Page

I. Proprietary Government i

II. Local Government in the Province u

III. The Governor 17

IV. Administrative Departments, Executive Boards,

and Commissions "... 24

V. The Legislature 36

VI. The Judiciary 57

VII. The County . . .

VIII. Tin: Townmiip 86

IX. Municipalities 92

X. Education • 101

XI. Suffrage and Elections 105

XII. Taxation 109

APPENDIX I. Salaries of County Officers . . . 112

APPENDIX II. Constitution of Pennsylvania . . . 113

INDEX 177

Chapter I

Establishment. To William Penn and his co-religionists, the Friends, belongs the full credit of having successfully established the colony of Pennsylvania, but several years before his arrival both the Swedish and Dutch settlers had crossed the Delaware and established their homes along its western bank. It remained, however, for the Society of Friends, the Moravians, and Mennonites, and other religious sects seeking freedom from persecution, together with the frugal German colonists, to put the new province upon a firm basis.

Although the customs peculiar to the Quakers seem strange, it is to those customs, still kept alive in a small measure, that Pennsylvania owes its distinctive individuality as a state. The Quakers drank no healths. The use of tobacco in any form was discouraged. 1 Attempts at ornamentation were viewed with suspicion because frivolous, and anything of this nature the Quaker considered to be injurious. They disapproved of dancing, swordplay, and field sports. Members of the Society always recommended silence, by example as well as by precept. The Quaker creed was to revere principles and not titles or preeminence. "They," said Oliver

1 A man found smoking in the streets of Philadelphia was fined twelve pence and admonished not to repeat the offense.

Cromwell, "are a people whom I cannot win with gifts, honors, or places.' ' * While the citizens of Pennsylvania at the present time retain much of the Quaker conservatism, the other characteristics of the people who came to form the new colony have largely been lost.

William Penn. Every one knows how William Penn, the son of a wealthy and successful sailor, became the zealous leader of a despised and persecuted sect, and how he became a favorite at the king's court. He combined all the qualities of a courtier, a religious fanatic, and a shrewd man of the world. At the same time he was liberal-minded, prudent, and just. His interest in colonization, which led to the founding of Pennsylvania, was first aroused when he began to take an active part in regulating the confused affairs of New Jersey, where a considerable number of Quakers had already settled.

Reasons for Founding. Three reasons for founding the colony of Pennsylvania stand out plainly: (a) William Penn would thereby secure land for a colony in payment of a debt due his father, Admiral Penn, from the crown, (b) He would thus be able to escape persecution, which had borne heavily upon him, and at the same time find a quiet home for his Quakers, (c) The accounts of the new country had created in him a strong desire for adventure. It was in the early summer of 1680 that Penn sent his petition to the king, Charles II, asking that in place of approximately eleven thousand pounds, representing losses his father had sustained in Ireland in the service of the king, a tract of land lying west of the Delaware River be granted him for a settlement. The

1 Penn's father once desired that his son remove his hat in the presence of three persons. Penn replied, " Neither to my father, the duke, nor the king."

king consented and granted a charter on March 4, 1681, thereby giving to Penn, his heirs, and assigns forever forty thousand square miles of territory.

Penn believed in treating the Indians fairly, and so he made a purchase treaty with them, paying a fair price for their land in ornaments, guns, etc. In measuring the land so purchased, trained walkers were employed, which caused much dissatisfaction on the part of the Indians, but they did not break their agreement. In fact, this treaty bears the distinction of being the only one made between the colonists and the original Americans which was never broken. By the royal charter, Penn and his heirs were given full power to govern and to make ordinances for government, subject to the single exception that such ordinances must be agreeable to the laws of England.

During April, 1681, Penn obtained from the king an order to those already settled in the land covered by his grant "to yield all due obedience to their new governor." Several commissioners were at once sent out to the new colony under the leadership of William Markham, Penn's cousin. As deputy governor, he had authority to appoint a council of nine persons to proclaim the king's order, establish courts, appoint officers, adjust boundaries, and in general set the machinery of government in motion. Three ships preceded Penn, who did not set sail until the autumn of 1682, arriving at the mouth of the Delaware about the first of November.

Frame of Government. It was necessary at the outset that the purchasers should know something of the political constitution under which they were to live. Accordingly, Penn drew up a Frame of Government which was published in 1682. 1 This Frame consisted of twenty-four articles and forty laws. 2 The government was to be just and righteous in conformity with Quaker principles. It was to be a government to which the people were a party. Liberty of conscience was granted to all. Capital punishment was to be inflicted for murder and treason only; other penalties were imposed on the theory of reformation and not of retaliation. Trial by jury was assured not only to white men but to Indians as well. The whole scheme was built on the principle that government depends upon men, not men upon government. "Let men be good, and the government cannot be bad. Though good laws do well, good men do better. Good men will never want good laws nor suffer ill ones." The government was vested in the governor and freemen of the province. The freemen were to elect by ballot a Provincial Council and a General Assembly. The former was to consist of seventytwo members 3 to serve for a term of three years, — a third part to be renewed each year ; the latter, of all the freemen the first year when the Frame was to be accepted, and of two hundred of them the next year, the number being increased as the population increased, but not to exceed five hundred. The governor was to be the perpetual president of the Pro-

1 This Frame of Government bears the date of April 25, 1682.

2 The forty laws "agreed upon in England by the governor and diverse freemen of the province" are dated May 3, 1682. The substance of these laws was enacted by the First and Second Assembly, which met immediately after Penn's arrival.

3 This number was reduced to 36, then to 18, and finally discontinued in 1 701 as an elective body. For a while the authority was centered in the body as a whole, then in the deputy governor only, being transferred from one to the other several times.

vincial Council and to have a treble vote. Two thirds of the Council were necessary to make a quorum, and two thirds of this quorum necessary to pass on all matters of importance. This body, with the governor as its president, was empowered to propose and lay before the General Assembly all bills that it thought should be enacted into law.-.

Penn visited his colony for the first time in 1682. He found a treaty of friendship had already been completed, and a tract of land purchased. One of his first acts was to call an Assembly. 1 This he accomplished by issuing writs to the sheriffs of the three lower counties (now Delaware), directing them to summon all freeholders to a conference. Penn presented to the Assembly the laws agreed upon in England 2 and ninety others, most of which were embodied in the "Great Law" 3 of the province of Pennsylvania. This law allowed freedom of worship to all that acknowledged one God. Any one to be an elector, or officer, or member of the Provincial Council, was required to be a believer. He was also required to be twenty-one years of age, and must not have been convicted of any crime or judged "unsober." Card-playing, scolding, lying, health-drinking, etc., were prohibited. All children were to be taught some useful trade, "so that none might come to want." Prisons were to be considered workshops, where offenders might be industriously and morally

1 When this Assembly met, Nicholas Moore, president of the Free Society of Traders of Pennsylvania, was chosen speaker. All the business transacted was completed in three days, a most commendable example. Cornell, " History of Pennsylvania," 95.

2 Penn had drawn up " certain conditions and concessions to be agreed upon by William Penn and those who may become adventurers and purchasers in the same province."

3 Passed at Chester, December 7, 16S2.

employed. Courts were erected by the governor and Council. Duplicates of all laws were to be sent to the Privy Council in England within five years after their enactment, and, if not vetoed within six years after their receipt, they were to remain in full force. In behalf of the Indians, it was stipulated that whatever was sold them should be in the public market place, if good to pass; if not good, then not to be sold for good. Differences between planters and Indians were to be adjusted by six planters and six Indians. Such, in brief, is the Frame of Government under which the colony came into existence.

The laws, in addition to the Frame of Government, contained rules of order and defined the qualifications of voters who were to be landholders or those who paid "scot" or "lot" to the governor. They provided for original procedure ; they established freedom of worship ; abolished oaths in accordance with the Quaker faith, and contained many other like provisions. These two documents were the fundamental law. Amendment was permitted only with the consent of the governor and six sevenths of the freemen in both the Provincial Council and General Assembly.

Provincial Council. The duties of the Provincial Council were: (a) to originate bills, which were to be published thirty days before the Assembly met; (b) to see that the laws were executed; (c) to take care of the business and safety of the province; (d) to settle the location of ports, cities, roads, and other places; (e) to inspect the public treasury; (/) to establish courts of justice, appoint judges, and institute schools; (g) to summon and dissolve the General Assembly. The General Assembly had no deliberative power, and could only pass or reject bills by a simple " yes " or "no." About all it could do at first was to present sheriffs and justices of- the peace to the governor for his appointment — a double number for his choice of half.

At a meeting of the Provincial Council (1683) a number of changes were made. The Council was reduced to eighteen members — three from each county ; the Assembly to not less than thirty-six or more than two hundred. The treble vote of the governor was abolished, and the veto power granted instead ; but he could perform no public act without the consent of the Council, except that Penn had, during his lifetime, the absolute power of appointing officers.

The Assembly met but once under the new Frame of Government before Penn returned to England. Almost immediately contentions and misunderstandings arose between the Council, the Assembly, and the governor. Nor did matters go smoothly for the colony in England, for conspiracy was charged against the founder; the government of the province was taken from him and given to the governor of New York. Pennsylvania now came under the direct control of the crown, but remained so for only a brief period. The Frame of Government was discarded and the Assembly modeled after that of New York. At length the charge of conspiracy was proved to be false and the government restored to Penn. Upon his return to America, in 1699, he abandoned the old Frame of Government and granted the Charter of Privileges in its place. 1 Under this charter or constitution the province flourished until the Revolution broke out, a longer period than our people have lived under any other frame of government since that time. 2

1 Signed October 28, 1701.

2 New constitutions have been adopted, — 1776, 1790, 1838, 1873.

Charter of Privileges. This constitution, granted in response to a 'demand of the people, provided for a General Assembly to be chosen annually on the first day of October, and to meet at Philadelphia on the fourteenth of that month. It consisted of four persons from each county. The powers granted the Assembly were much larger than had hitherto been enjoyed. It could now propose matters for legislation, meet annually, act as a judge of the election and the qualifications of its own members, redress grievances and impeach state criminals, and in general it had the powers of an assembly according to the rights of free-born subjects of England. The Provincial Council as a body elected by the people was abolished, but the governor appointed such a council, and continued to do so in spite of popular objections until the Revolution. Prior to 1701 the Council was a part of the legislature; subsequent to that time it was composed mainly of the inhabitants of the province, who were devoted friends of the proprietor. Some of the members were county or provincial judges, — a fact that added not a little to the high moral tone of the body. They acted as a controlling force of both governor and assembly, always urging those measures which were in the interests of the proprietor. 1

On election day the freemen were now to choose two persons for sheriff and two for coroner in each county, the governor to appoint and commission one of them for three years. The county justices nominated three persons for clerk of the peace, and the governor commissioned one of them to serve during good behavior. Liberty of conscience was also provided for. The new constitution gave the three lower counties a separate assembly as soon as their represen-

1 Shepherd, 'History of the Government of Pennsylvania," 318.

tatives desired it. On the same day a new character, dated October 25, 1701, was granted to Philadelphia, whereby the city was incorporated and given the right to elect its officers, which before had been appointed by the governor. 1

Summary. During the early life of the colony the governor was, in fact, the maker and enforcer of the laws. The execution of the English, as well as the colonial statutes, rested with him, as did the exercise of all royal authority. Penn did not make use of all the powers vested in him. His love of peace caused him to oppose all litigation, from time to time appointing peacemakers who possessed some of the powers of judges, but who were intended to act only as arbitrators. He had little regard for attorneys and restrained them from exacting fees. Under the charter the governor or his deputy was empowered to execute the laws, establish courts of justice, appoint judges, grant pardons, issue processes, and determine all causes of whatever nature, subject only to the superior authority of the crown.

The colonial government of Pennsylvania was proprietary in form. This was its chief defect. The defect was due to the union of the two characters of governor and private proprietor. The proprietor had great land interests in the colony; he was the landlord whose financial interests continually clashed with those of his tenants. Out of this situation arose the interminable quit-rent controversies. Such conflicts were embittered by the feeling that the strife was one between public and private interests. It is not too much to say that Pennsylvania was a large fief held from the crown

1 Three commissioners began a survey for a capital city as soon as the Delaware cleared of ice in 1682. The site selected for this purpose was named Philadelphia — the city of brotherly love.

io CIVICS OF PENNSYLVANIA

by the proprietors, who were in theory feudal lords, but in fact executive officers of a democracy. The vesting of government and of absolute ownership of land in the same individuals was inconsistent with the growing spirit of liberty in the colony.

1. What religious sects helped to found the colony of Pennsylvania ?

2. What were some of the customs peculiar to the Quakers?

3. Who was William Penn?

4. What three reasons are given for founding the colony?

5. How did Penn obtain his grant of land?

6. How did Penn treat the Indians?

7. What power was Penn given by his charter?

8. W T hat was the Frame of Government?

9. What were the powers of the Provincial Council? Of the General Assembly?

10. What documents formed the fundamental law?

11. What was the Charter of Privileges?

12. How were elections conducted?

13. What were the powers of the governor under the charter?

14. What was the great defect of the colonial government of Pennsylvania ?

15. Point out the similarities and differences to be found by comparing our present form of government with that in the colony.

Chapter II Local Government In The Province

In his charter William Pcnn was given power to divide the country and islands into towns, hundreds, and counties. 1 He was also given authority to erect manors and to introduce the English manorial system. Then, too, he had a scheme of his own for the establishment of local administrative districts built upon precedent and experience. In following his plan of a representative form of government he turned naturally to those local institutions with which he and his people were most familiar. A re-set of the English local government area suited to new T conditions was the natural result. The earlier settlers who had been living under the control of the Duke of York were accustomed to the township as the local unit, but under the proprietary administration there was a marked change. With the erection of the province the town passed into the background and nearly all the important functions of local government were centered in the county. For purposes of self-government the county is henceforth the election district, the judicial organism, the fiscal body, and the unit of general administration. The township becomes at most a mere agent of county administration.

County. The county was the unit of representation, members of both Council and Assembly being chosen by ballot in a general meeting of the tax-paying freemen. The free-

1 See Section X of the charter. There is no evidence that hundreds ever existed as a local division in Pennsylvania.

II ij CIVICS OF PENNSYLVANIA

men in the " county court," or General Assembly, were authorized ! to choose a double number of persons to serve for sheriffs, justices of the peace, and coroners, out of which presentments the governor was to commission the proper number, but with the new charter of 1701 a noteworthy change began to take place. Officers elected by the people were substituted generally for those appointed, the number so selected being increased from time to time until the close of the colonial period.

Courts. The county authority was the court of sessions of the justices of the peace. Usually their jurisdiction was limited to a single county. By the side of the justice was the sheriff, who was responsible for the peace, for the return of county representatives to the Assembly, and who, as a ministerial officer, carried out the decrees of the courts. There were also clerks and prothonotaries of the county courts, a recorder of deeds, and a county treasurer. These officers were appointed either by the governor or the justices.

The lowest tribunal of the county was that of the " peacemakers." These peacemakers were local magistrates, three chosen for each precinct in the county. This court became obsolete before the end of the eighteenth century; in fact, it was never more than a board for arbitration of disputes. The justices of the peace, however, possessed a real power. Any two of them had jurisdiction over and decided, with the approval of the county court, actions under forty shillings for debt, and after 1701 they could bind over parties to keep the peace. The county court was composed of all the justices of the peace in the county, sitting quarterly. The jurisdiction of this court extended to all civil and criminal cases,

1 " Frame of Government," 1682.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE PROVINCE 13

except treason and murder. It was empowered to deliver jails, to award processes, and to hold all pleas of the crgwn, but its equity jurisdiction was limited. The justices sat twice a year as an orphans' court. In 1706 two separate tribunals were erected. Civil cases were henceforth to be tried in the court of common pleas, and criminal actions in the court of general quarter sessions of the peace. Both courts met three times each year and were held by any three justices. From their judgment appeal lay to the supreme court, consisting of three judges commissioned by the governor. After 1722 * special judges appointed by the governor held the court of common plea-. A>ide from their judicial duties, the judges of the county court had other work to perform. They laid out private roads, looked after the construction of highways and bridges, and for this purpose appointed overseers and constructed fen ssing the rates therefor. They appointed viewers of stores intended for transportation, viewers of tines, and beadles to execute laws against cattle running at large. The justices attended to county finances, supervised the administration of the poor laws, and directed the action of a great number of persons who had public duties to perform. In general, the county court w r as the medium of communication between the colonial authority and the people.

Taxes. Necessary taxes were instituted almost at the beginning of the colonial government — one half on polls and one half on land. They were apportioned in all the counties by the court and assessed by a board of two assemblymen and three justices of the peace in each county. In 1724 a new system was introduced for levying and collecting the county

1 A stable judicial system was not established until 1722.

i 4 CIVICS OF PENNSYLVANIA

rate. An act of that date provided for the election of three commissioners who were to perform the functions which had hitherto belonged to the court of sessions in the management of fiscal affairs. To assist in this work, six assessors were also chosen from each county. The commissioners issued precepts to the constables, inaugurated proceedings against delinquent collectors, and imposed penalties upon the county treasurer and assessors for neglect of duty. At present the commissioners are among the most important officers in the county.

So long as the population was small the county precinct system worked well, but with the rapid progress of the colony, after its first quarter century of existence, the township threw off its manorial aspect and became an administrative organ of the county. As early as 1746 the people of the township began to choose an election inspector. These inspectors constituted a board for the county to assist the sheriff, coroner, and other election judges to prevent fraud. Twenty years later it became the duty of the inspector to receive the votes of his district. The sheriff appointed two clerks to assist at elections. In these officers is to be found the prototype of our well-known judges and election inspectors. After the establishment of the township we find two overseers of the poor, appointed by the justices in each township, at a meeting especially convened for this purpose. With the approval of two of the justices, they could levy taxes to be expended for poor relief. Their accounts were audited by three freeholders chosen for the purpose. 1

By act of 1772 each town was permitted to choose one or two supervisors of highways. They were empowered to levy

1 Gordon, " History of Pennsylvania," 552.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE PROVINCE 15

a road tax after having obtained permission from two justices. Hitherto every freeholder was compelled to work upon the road under penalty of fine. 1 The supervisors could now hire laborers to repair highways and bridges, if they saw fit, instead of calling upon the inhabitants to do the work.

Summary. The western states owe a great debt to Pennsylvania, for the type of local government which developed in the Quaker colony has been adopted in a large proportion of the states admitted to the Union. One of the principles upon which it was based has been universally accepted, — the election of the county authority by the people of the county. It was in Pennsylvania that the capabilities of the independent county system were first tested. Here it was that the countycommissioner system was adopted — a circumstance which gives Pennsylvania an equaL influence with New York upon the permanence of form and distinctive features of the local government areas west of the Alleghanies. Nor did the Revolution change the local government materially. Local administration in the commonwealth has remained practically the same as that of the province — in fact, the few changes that have taken place up to the present time have been for the purpose of satisfying the needs of rapidly growing communities.

1. Upon what was the local government of the province based?

2. How were the members of the Council and Assembly chosen ?

3. How were local officers chosen?

4. What was the county authority ?

5. What were the duties of the sheriff?

6. What were the duties of the " peacemakers " ?

1 A number of western states still employ this method of road-making.

7. Of what was the county court composed? What were its functions?

8. When was the court of common pleas established?

9. What duties, other than judicial, did the judges have?

10. How were taxes levied and apportioned?

11. Who were the county commissioners? What were their duties?

12. When did the people begin to choose township officers?

13. How were township elections carried on?

14. What were the duties of the supervisors?

15. What do the western states owe to the early local government of Pennsylvania ?

Chapter III The Governor

General. Like the national government, the state government has three departments, — the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. 1 This tripartite form of government, which is common to all the states in the Union, is in accord with the general principles of democracy, — the separation of powers. To place the enactment, the execution, and judicial determination of laws, or any two of these functions, in the hands of a single person or group of persons would be to subvert the underlying principles of our government, national as well as state. In general, the government of Pennsylvania bears a close resemblance to that of the United States, because the Federal Constitution has exerted a powerful influence on those who have drafted our constitutions since 1789. The main differences lie in the fact that the state government is more democratic. This difference appears in shorter terms of office allowed to the state officials, the mode of selecting judges, and the relation between the executive and legislative powers. The national executive is supreme. He chooses his cabinet from among his political associates. He is responsible for their conduct. In the state some of the executive officers are directly elected by the people; others are appointed by the governor, but there is nothing in the state that resembles a cabinet.

The executive department of the commonwealth, as provided for by the Constitution, consists of a governor, lieu-

1 Boynton's " School Civics," Section 115.

J 7 tenant governor, secretary of the commonwealth, 1 attorney. general, 1 auditor general, state treasurer, secretary of internal affairs, and a superintendent of public instruction. 1

Governor. The supreme executive power is vested in the governor. A candidate for this honor must possess all of the following qualifications : He must be a citizen of the United States, at least thirty years of age, and have been an inhabitant of the state for seven years next preceding his election. If, however, he has been absent on the public business of the United States or of the commonwealth, this requirement may be waived. He must not be a member of Congress nor hold any office under the United States or state.