USA > Pennsylvania > Lives of the governors of Pennsylvania : with the incidental history of the state, from 1609 to 1873 > Part 28
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At the conclusion of his second term Governor Shulze retired from public life, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. His kindness of heart induced him always to lend a listening ear to those in trouble, and his counsel was often sought by the community among whom he dwelt. In 1839 he was elected a senatorial delegate to the National Convention which assembled at Harrisburg to nominate candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States, and was chosen one of the vice-presidents on that occasion. In the following year he was a member of the Electoral College, of which he was unanimously chosen president. In 1846 he removed with his family to Lancaster, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred on the 18th of Novem- ber, 1852, in the seventy-eighth year of his age.
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GEORGE WOLF,
GOVERNOR UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1790. December 15, 1829, to December 15, 1835.
YEORGE WOLF, the seventh Governor of Pennsylvania, 5 was born in Allen township, Northampton County, on the 12th of August, 1777. His father was a native of Ger- many. He left two sons, Philip and George, who inherited the vigor, good sense, and integrity of the father. George was educated at a classical school, established in the County by a society formed for the purpose, which was presided over by Robert Andrews, A. M., a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. He here acquired a good knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages, and of the sciences usually pursued in a liberal education. Leaving this school, he for a time had the charge of his father's farm, and also acted as principal of the academy in his native township. He soon after entered the Prothonotary's office of Northampton County as a clerk, and at the same time studied law under the direction of the Hon. John Ross.
He early espoused the political principles of Mr. Jefferson, and in 1799 advocated the election of Thomas Mckean for Governor, the latter being at that time affiliated with the Re- publicans. When Mr. Jefferson became President, he ap- pointed Mr. Wolf Postmaster at Easton. Afterwards Gov- ernor McKean appointed him Clerk of the Orphans' Court of Northampton County, which position he held until 1809. In 1814, he was elected a member of the lower house of the Legislature, and in the following year was a candidate for the Senate; but was defeated on account of a rupture of the party and the formation of a double ticket.
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In 1824, he was elected a member of the United States House of Representatives, and was reelected for the two suc- ceeding terms, having no opposition in the first two elections, and being returned in the latter by a very large majority. While in Congress he acquired the reputation of a hard worker, and a conscientious, upright member. In debate he spoke like Abraham Davenport in song -
" Wisely and well, . . Straight to the question, with no figures of speech Save the ten Arab signs, yet not without The shrewd dry humor natural to the man."
In committee he evinced a disposition to carefully investi- gate every question which came before him, willing with pa- tient industry to familiarize himself with the details of sub- jects requiring his decision, rather than risk the possibility of deciding wrongfully for lack of knowledge. He was a pro- nounced friend to American industry, and labored and voted for those measures which would best protect and foster it, and build up the prosperity of the country.
In 1829, he was nominated as candidate for Governor, and was triumphantly elected. The following estimate of his char- acter at this period of his life, was uttered by one who knew him well, and who in speaking his convictions but echoed the sentiments of a vast body of the people of the Common- wealth : " With George Wolf I have long been acquainted. He possesses sterling integrity, a sound judgment, and strong natural common sense. His constant intercourse with the world has made him well acquainted with human nature. I have known few, if any, better judges of the character of men than Mr. Wolf. He has received a good education, and as a lawyer is remarkable for the strength and accuracy of his judgment. His attainments are of a solid rather than a bril- liant character. With these qualifications he possesses suffi- cient firmness to make him spurn dictation from whatever quarter it may proceed. He will himself be the Governor of the State."
He was not an aspirant for the office of Governor. He
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received the nomination without knowing that any consider- able strength in the nominating convention was in his favor. But when the will of the people was declared, he abandoned a lucrative practice at the Northampton court, and devoted himself unreservedly to the duties of chief magistrate. The State had embarked in gigantic schemes of public improve- ments designed to connect the eastern waters with the west- ern, - traversing that formidable barrier, the Alleghany range, - and the rivers of the centre with Lake Erie and the streams from the north. When he took his seat in the guber- natorial chair, he found these works projected and in vari- ous stages of progress. An immense debt had been con- tracted, and before these expenditures could be made to realize anything, the sum must be doubled and quadrupled. The finances were in a deplorable condition. The revenues were entirely insufficient to meet even the interest of the debt already contracted. It was a time when the wisest were disposed to question the policy of making such vast expendi tures as would be needed to complete them, and even the friends of the works were paralyzed by the intensity of the opposition. At an extra session of the Legislature, called just before the expiration of Governor Shulze's term, an act was passed authorizing the contracting of a temporary loan of a million of dollars, at the rate of five per cent., for the relief of the most pressing needs. But the credit of the State was at so low an ebb, that capitalists were unwilling to place their money in the hands of the Commonwealth. In this emergency it became necessary to resort to a compulsory loan from the banks whose charters required them to lend to the State. It was at this period that Governor Wolf came into office. The outlook was most gloomy, and to a Gov- ernor who should have figured to himself a rule of ease and enjoyment, would have afforded little promise. There were two courses for him to pursue, either break down the system of improvements, throw away the most of what had been expended, and allow the State to languish on with paralyzed industry, or by a bold and vastly expensive policy, finish what
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had been begun, even with the certainty of contracting an enormous debt for future generations to liquidate. He reso- lutely took the responsibility of the latter course, and he had no sooner come to the executive chair than he addressed to the · Legislature, in his message, a recommendation for the vigor- ous prosecution of the public works, and the adoption of a system of taxation by which adequate funds would be realized for regularly paying the interest on past loans and such as in the future might be negotiated. The independent attitude assumed by the Governor had a magical effect. The caviller was silenced, and the popular will secured. The miser who had hoarded his money, when the State was in the most urgent need, no sooner saw a prospect of a bold and vigorous administration, and a will to resort to adequate taxation, than he unlocked his coffers, and became importunate to obtain State securities, even paying a premium of fifteen per cent. to get them.
But the most substantial and enduring merit of Governor Wolf was evinced in his advocacy of a system of popular education. James Buchanan, in a speech delivered at West Chester previous to the election of the Governor, had said : "If ever the passion of envy could be excused a man ambitious of true glory, he might almost be justified in envying the fame of that favored individual, whoever he may be, whom Providence intends to make the instrument in establishing Common Schools throughout this Commonwealth. His task will be arduous. He will have many difficulties to encounter, and many prejudices to overcome ; but his fame will exceed even that of the great Clinton, in the same proportion that mind is superior to matter. Whilst the one has erected a frail memorial, which like everything human must decay and perish, the other will raise a monument which shall flourish in immortal youth, and endure whilst the human soul shall continue to exist. 'Ages unborn and nations yet behind' shall bless his memory." To George Wolf that honor was accorded, and to him in all time to come, when the inquirer shall seek to know by whose voice and sturdy will that great
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boon was championed and finally won, will the pæans of gratitude be sung.
Former chief magistrates had called the attention of the Legislature to the importance of the measure, but each in turn had failed to accomplish any substantial benefit. It was reserved for Governor Wolf, to make its adoption the special object of his ambition and the cherished purpose of his ad- ministration. IIe not only advocated the measure in public and in private, but, Hercules-like, he put his shoulder to the wheel, and with his iron will yielded to no temporizing. In his message of December 8th, 1830, he says: "In bringing this subject to your notice on the present occasion, I am aware that I am repeating that which has been the theme of every inaugural address, and of every annual executive message at the opening of each successive session of the Legislature, since the adoption of the Constitution. I know too, that the necessity which has existed, and which has given occasion, for the repeated, anxious, and pressing executive recommen- dations, in reference to this interesting subject, arose from the extreme difficulty which presented itself at every attempt to strike out a system adapted to the existing circumstances of the Commonwealth, and which might be calculated to accomplish the end contemplated by the framers of the Con- stitution. But difficult as the task may be, it is not insur- mountable, and I am thoroughly persuaded that there is not a single measure of all those which will engage your delibera- tions in the course of the session, of such intrinsic importance to the general prosperity and happiness of the people of the Commonwealth, to the cause of public virtue and of public morals, to the hopes and expectations of the rising genera- tion to whom the future political destinies of the Republic are to be committed, or which will add so much to the sum of individual and social improvement and comfort, as a general diffusion of the means of moral and intellectual cultivation among all classes of our citizens. Nor can there be a measure presented to you, as legislators, and as the guardians of the integrity and safety of our invaluable civil
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institutions, more worthy of a virtuous and determined effort to overcome every obstacle that shall present itself in opposi- tion to the accomplishment of an achievement so truly lauda- ble. ... Among the principal adversaries of this measure are prejudice, avarice, ignorance, and error. The fruits of a suc- cessful conflict with these, and a victory over them, will be a consciousness of having been instrumental, by furnishing the means of a general diffusion of knowledge, in securing the stability and permanency of our Republican institutions, in adding to the sum of human intelligence, and in elevating the sentiments and confirming the virtue of the present and future generations.
" If knowledge is power, and I believe the truth of the maxim is no longer doubted, it must be conceded that a well educated people will always possess a moral and physical energy, far exceeding that to which an ignorant, illiterate people can attain. It is asserted, in a document recently pub- lished at the instance of the Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Public Schools, that out of four hundred thou- sand children in this State, between the ages of five and fif- teen, more than two hundred and fifty thousand, capable of receiving instruction, were not within a school during the last year! And is it not more than probable that, if it were pos- sible to ascertain the fact, every year that has elapsed since the adoption of the Constitution, would, upon examination, have been found to present the same deplorable result in a greater or less degree. If so, what an incalculable loss has not this Commonwealth sustained, in the talents that would have been elicited, in the ingenuity and skill that would have been imparted to labor and science, and in the moral and intellectual endowments that would have been engrafted and matured, had a judicious, well-arranged system of universal education been early adopted, and rightly enforced, as con- templated and enjoined by the framers of the Constitution. To you, fellow-citizens, as the representatives of the people, possessing, as you necessarily must, an intimate knowledge of the wants, as well as the views and wishes of your con-
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stituents, in reference to this measure, and bringing with you, from every section of the State, a fund of intelligence which will be peculiarly useful in directing you to favorable results, is committed the arduous, but I trust not ungrateful task, of collecting, digesting, and arranging the details of a system of primary or common-school education, which will shed an additional lustre over the existing elevated character of the Commonwealth."
The earnestness with which the Governor pleads in behalf of his favorite measure, and the more than paternal tender- ness with which he urges the claims of the rising generation, could not fail to arrest attention, and convince men of his sincerity. Better than any description or eulogium, it illus- trates the character of his head and his heart. Though it had not the effect to bring about the passage of an act estab- lishing a system, it secured the first step towards it: the levy- ing of a tax for a school fund. He did not content himself · with calling the attention of the Legislature to the subject, and adducing the most powerful arguments in its favor; but he descended to the practical details for securing the informa- tion necessary to frame a law commensurate with the exalted purpose, and well adapted to the wants to be subserved. In his message of the following year, he says : " It is cause for no ordinary measure of gratification, that the Legislature at its last session considered this subject worthy of its deliberations, and advanced one step towards the intellectual regeneration of the State by laying a foundation for raising a fund to be em- ployed hereafter in the righteous cause of a practical general education ; and it is no less gratifying to know, that public opinion is giving strong indications of having undergone a favorable change in reference to this momentous measure, and by its gradual but powerful workings, is fast dispelling the grovelling fallacies, but too long prevalent, that gold is preferable to knowledge, and that dollars and cents are of a higher estimation than learning. This powerful lever, by which the actions of men are principally regulated, is fast approaching a crisis in relation to this much agitated ques- tion, and there is reason to believe, will speedily induce legis-
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lative action in reference to it : not, it is hoped, however, too speedily for maturing a well-digested system, possessing that degree of perfection by which it will be rendered generally acceptable to the people, and have a tendency to realize the ardent hopes and fond anticipations of its many warm and zealous friends. A system that would not have such a ten- dency, but would be received with dissatisfaction by the peo- ple, would have the unhappy effect of blasting for a time the anxious expectations of the advocates of general education, of reviving former prejudices, and of retarding for many years the progress of intellectual improvement. In order, therefore, that a system, the most perfect that can be devised, and one that will be best adapted to the views and wishes of our constituents, may be projected in the first instance, should any difficulties occur in the course of your deliberations in relation to the subject, or in regard to the most eligible plan to be adopted, I would suggest for your consideration the pro- priety of appointing a commission, to consist of three or more talented and intelligent individuals, known friends of a liberal and enlightened system of education, whose duty it should be to collect all the information, and possess themselves of all the facts and knowledge, that can be obtained from any quarter, having a bearing upon, or connection with, the sub- ject of education, and to arrange and embody the same in a report to be transmitted to the Legislature at the next ses- sion for examination and final action thereon. Such a course, there is reason to believe, would tend more than any other to elicit much valuable information that could not otherwise be obtained, would facilitate the progress and final completion of this much desired work, and would not fail to secure for it a greater measure of perfection than could under other circumstances be attained."
In compliance with this judicious recommendation of the Governor, " by great industry, assiduity, and perseverance, a mass of valuable information was obtained, which unfolded a fund of knowledge in relation to the advantages, the utility, the cheapness, -in short, the decided preference which a system of common schools, of general interest, and sustained
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and encouraged by the public bounty, maintained over every other plan of education of a private or partial character." Being thus provided, a bill was drawn embodying what were believed to be the best features of those systems which had been most successful in other States, and at the session of 1834 it "passed both branches of the Legislature with a unanimity," says the Governor, "rarely equalled, perhaps never surpassed, in the annals of legislation." It was a con- summation for which he had long and earnestly labored, and must have been a source of gratification and a subject of gratulation through life, that his administration was graced with an event of such momentous import. There were still troubles to be encountered in putting it into successful operation, and great labors were required of his successors in preserving the principle intact. But the Rubicon was passed, the system was inaugurated, and, thanks to the labors of wise men and the care of an overruling Providence, the banner then thrown to the breeze has never been furled.
Previous to the administration of Governor Wolf, the chief magistrates had had their offices in their private residences. Visitors upon business or courtesy were exposed to the prying eyes of the public, and they were alike viewed with suspicion as desiring office, or intent upon influencing the Governor in regard to appointments. Governor Wolf estab- lished himself in the front room over the hall of the House of Representatives at the south-west corner of the capitol, where during business - hours he was always to be found intently employed in the duties of his official trust. This action of the Governor gave great satisfaction. It was said: " When the citizen is in the capitol, he is in his own house, and when he approaches the Governor's room, he is not inter- rupted by servants in waiting, nor has he the apprehension of intruding upon the Governor's privacy. By this act he has relieved his fellow-citizens from all disagreeable incidents and embarrassments calculated to keep the citizen at a dis- tance from the Chief Executive officer."
Laying aside all exclusiveness and aristocratic associations, he met every man on terms of equality, and gave his personal
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attention even to the details of business. This latter trait was made the subject of animadversion in the press of a neigh- boring State, which a contemporary thus courteously but effec- tively answered : " The Philadelphia Gazette lately adverted to the business habits of Governor Wolf, and spoke in com- mendation of his regular daily attendance, in his office, at particular hours, his cordial reception of those who visited him there, and the dispatch of the immediate business of his office without the agency of a clerk. Upon this the New York Standard bestows a sneer, saying: 'We trust the honest mechanic will lay up his wages prudently ; we approve of the saving of clerk-hire as proper economy. Dr. Scudder, who can make eyes and ears as good as nature can, of the kind, intends to try his hand upon an executive machine, that shall copy papers, and sign bills, and receive wages twelve hours a day without stopping for dinner.' . .. We have been taught to look upon the diligence of a public officer in discharging the duties committed to him, as far as practicable, in person, as a trait distinguishing the republican from the aristocrat. Washington was a signal example of personal attention to public business. So was Jefferson. And the latter carried the matter so far as to transcribe with his own hand all his messages to Congress, as well those trans- mitted to the two Houses, as those with which he favored the presses that supported him. As Pennsylvanians and Repub- licans we feel no way ashamed to see Governor Wolf follow- ing such illustrious examples. He is the Governor of a State, composed of a plain, painstaking people, and could pay them no greater compliment, nor do anything more to his own credit, than by sedulously attending to the discharge of his public duties. The New Yorkers do not appear fully to ap- preciate the value of a maxim stamped upon the old Con- tinental paper money -'Mind your business !'"
In 1832, South Carolina, by a convention of its people, passed the notorious ordinance, nullifying certain Acts of Congress imposing duties on imports. This called forth the celebrated Proclamation of President Jackson, a document unsurpassed in argumentation and warm appeal, in which
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he expresses his determination to maintain the Union by all the power of the United States. The subject of the tariff had been warmly debated in Congress, and in the legislatures of the several States. In the latter bodies memorials were adopted expressive of their views upon this question, which were interchanged. These were received by the Legislature of Pennsylvania and spread upon its journals. Those from the Northern States generally defended the system, and those from the Southern complained of its injurious effects. Gov- ernor Wolf, and the party in power in Pennsylvania, warmly approved the views of the President.
The adherence of the Governor to the President and his party was not a blind one. Devotion to a popular leader could not so far blunt his sensibilities as to cause him to dis- regard the claims of duty and of sound policy. The arbi- trary action of the President in crushing out the United States Bank did not meet his approval, and he signed the resolutions of the Assembly, instructing the Senators, and urging the Representatives in Congress, to labor for the re- newal of its charter. At the succeeding session, though some of the friends of the bank had opposed his re-election, on the ground that he did not champion the cause of the opponents to the re-election of Jackson, he reiterated his views, and urged the rechartering of the bank.
The Governor was a candidate for a third term; but a division having arisen in the party by which he had been supported, and a third candidate in the person of Henry A. Muhlenberg being presented, the vote was divided, and Wolf was defeated. In the following year he was appointed by General Jackson to one of the most responsible positions in the government, that of First Comptroller of the Treasury of the United States. For two years he discharged the duties of this office most acceptably, and at the end of that period he was appointed by President Van Buren Collector of the Port of Philadelphia. On the 11th of March, 1840, he died very suddenly, while yet in the vigor of manhood, greatly lamented, in the sixty-third year of his age.
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JOSEPH RITNER,
GOVERNOR UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1790. December 15, 1835, to January 15, 1839.
TF to Governor Wolf belongs the honor of having inaugu- rated the School System, to Governor Ritner should be accorded the credit of preserving it at a crisis when in immi- nent danger of being overthrown. Graced with less school · education than any other Governor who ever occupied the chair of state, he yet manifested a zeal in its defence unsur- passed by any, and when the fair fabric won by his predeces- sor with great labor and tribulation was rent and torn by ig- norance and malice, and it was likely to be given up to utter destruction, Ritner bared his arm for the conflict, and came forth triumphant, winning laurels which shall never fade.
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