USA > Pennsylvania > Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903, Volume Two > Part 24
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1See message of 1848, p. 9.
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set forth his objections as follows: "If this system of converting State stock into banking capital, and hypothecating it as security for the payment of bank issues were not a delusion, mortgages on real estate might be used for the same purpose, which would afford an equal, if not a better security for the payment of the notes, and by this process the whole value of the real estate of the country might be converted into banking capital and the people into a nation of bankers. But suppose all real estate were thus set afloat, made negotiable, would it not show the whole scheme illusory and unsound ?"
The legislature still continued to grant charters, and the Gov- ernor to sign them, afterwards condemning himself for so doing. His remarks, in view of the subsequent development of corporate life are interesting reading: "While all the great departments of business in the Commonwealth are prosperously conducted, under free and equal competition, there are yet some men who seem to stand still while the world is going on around them and who cher- ish the antiquated notion that the timid, contracted and selfish aggregation of wealth under the protection of corporate privileges is preferable for the transaction of business to the free, ardent and bounding capabilities of individual enterprise-a power which since William Penn arrived on these shores, in 1682, has changed an immense wilderness into fruitful fields and has, in this march of civilization and improvement, provided for the wants, the comforts, the education and refinement of two million of free people. What have corporations done towards this great achieve- ment ? Where are the trophies of their generous spirit? They are behind the times ; they belong to an age that is past. The time was in other countries, when all the rights of the people were usurped by despotic governments ; when a grant by the king to a portion of his subjects, of corporate privileges to carry on trade, or for municipal purposes, was a partial enfranchisement, and made the means of resuming some of their civil rights. In this age and country, under our free system, where the people are
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sovereign, to grant special privileges is an inversion of the order of things. It is not to restore, but to take away from the people their common rights and give them to a few."1
Governor Shunk opposed, therefore, all accumulations of wealth in the hands of the few, as well as all special legislation for the privileged class. It was this sense of justice which led him to urge the enactment of laws extending certain rights to mar- ried women. Before that time, the State had been negligent in this matter. By the then existing laws, the husband on marriage had the power to become the absolute owner of the personal estate of his wife. When he thus acquired the ownership, he might dispose of it by will at his death to whom he pleased. The wife had no control of her own personal estate, or that of her husband during her marriage, and at her death she had no power to dis- pose of even that which was her own, by will; but the whole be- longed to her husband. He might encumber his estate by con- tracting debts without the consent of his wife, and upon his dying intestate, she was only entitled to the one-third of the personal es- tate, and a life estate in one-third of the real estate, after the pay- ment of all the debts. If the estate was not sufficient to the pay- ment of the debts, she lost all. Governor Shunk strongly urged a modification in these laws, so as to give married women the rights of property. He said: "The liberal and enlightened spirit of the age has developed and secured the rights of man, and has redeemed woman and elevated her from the degrading position she occupied, and placed her where she always should have been, at the side of her husband, his equal in rank and dignity. Then why should her rights of property still be to a great extent con- trolled by the contracted enactments of an age when her husband was her lord, and he might chastise her by law, as if she were a servant." Following the Governor's advice, the legislature, in 1848, enacted the first law extending to women the rights of property. Strangely enough, however, these rights were frit-
1 Message 1848, p. 9.
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tered away by several decisions of the Supreme Court, which greatly destroyed the efficiency of the original enactment.
Governor Shunk also favored a change in the law relating to the separation of married persons. From the beginning of the
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Physician; soldier; scholar; president Continen- tal Congress, 1787; governor Northwest Terri- tory, 1789-1802. Reproduced especially for this work from print in possession of Mrs. William M. Darlington
Commonwealth it had been the policy to provide by law for the dissolution of the marriage contract for other causes than adul- tery. These causes were enumerated in an act passed in 1815. They embraced a wide range and seemed to provide for all the
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grievances that might arise "in this interesting relation," requir- ing legal interposition. During the first period of ten years after passing this law, sixteen divorces were granted by the legisla- ture, forty-two during the next similar period, and ninety during the third. Governor Shunk remarked in his message of 1847 : "Special acts of the legislature for disturbing the contract be- tween husband and wife are calculated to arrest the attention of every good citizen, when it is remembered that the disregard of the marriage vows, and the facilities for releasing parties from their obligations are strong indications of degeneracy in public virtue and public morals. The Governor believed that the special legislative divorce had a dangerous tendency, and should be exer- cised, if at all, in cases only "of extreme hardship and unques- tionable propriety." The law was finally changed, and the legis- lature relieved from granting divorces. Since then, the courts alone have been entrusted with this power.
From time to time the Governors had remarked on the evil tendency of special legislation; but none had described the evils so plainly as Shunk. He said that the demand for special legis- lation had increased to an alarming extent, which no industry of the Assembly would be able within the limits of an ordinary ses- sion to justify if the practice was continued. This evil had grown from small beginnings. At first the legislature had time enough to consider the merits of every subject presented; but with the increase in population and wealth, and the expansion of industry, the subjects of legislation rapidly multiplied. There was need, therefore, of enacting general laws that would cover all matters worthy of attention ; or else many of them would pass unnoticed. To prevent the latter result, arrangements of various kinds are made to secure their adoption. Thousands of mer- itorious bills have been enacted; but by unworthy means, because they were improperly opposed or otherwise endangered. The constant struggle for charters is perhaps the best illustration. Most of these were without any objectionable features, and would
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be passed by a modern legislature without opposition. But in the earlier days there were several strong objections to them- the chief one, perhaps, because they were regarded as monopolies in the old sense of the term. When they ceased to possess this character, and were nothing more than mere aggregations of men with limited.pecuniary responsibilities, the legislature would have greatly lessened its labors had it enacted general laws per- mitting individuals to be incorporated at an earlier period. By so doing, the work of legislation would have been expedited and bargains among law makers would have been fewer. Much trouble would have been wholly averted by the enactment of gen- eral laws, thus greatly abridging the quantity of legislation. The slowness in evolving general laws from special ones, when the reasons for doing this were so strong, is a most singular thing in the history of American legislation. At no time would any one have opposed such laws, because they were of general applica- tion for the public welfare and not for any special time or class. But they were not to be delayed much longer. Governor Shunk expressed an idea that had grounded itself at last in the minds of the people, and before long would be embodied in legal form and endowed with a real practical life.
In 1847, Governor Shunk was re-elected for a second term. Early in the spring of 1848, he was attacked with a pulmonary trouble which assumed a fatal character. On the morning of July 9 he had a severe hemorrhage from the lungs. On that day, feeling that his days were numbered, he wrote the following letter of resignation :
"TO THE PEOPLE OF PENNSYLVANIA :
"It having pleased Divine Providence to deprive me of the strength necessary to the further discharge of the duties of your Chief Magistrate, and to lay me on a bed of sickness, from which I am admonished by my physicians, and my own increasing debil- ity, I may, in all human probability, never rise, I have resolved,
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upon mature reflection, under a conviction of duty, on this day, to restore to you the trust with which your suffrages have clothed me, in order that you may avail yourselves of the provision of the Constitution to choose a successor at the next general election. I, therefore, hereby resign the office of Governor of the Common- wealth of Pennsylvania, and direct this, my resignation, to be filed in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
"In taking leave of you under circumstances so solemn, accept my gratitude for the confidence you have reposed in me. My prayer is, that peace, virtue, intelligence, and religion may per- vade all your borders-that the free institutions you have inherit- ed from your ancestors may remain unimpaired till the latest pos- terity-that the same kind Providence, which has already so sig- nally blessed you, may conduct you to a still higher state of indi- vidual and social happiness-and when the world shall close upon you, as I feel it is soon about to close upon me, that you may en- joy the consolations of the Christian's faith, and be gathered, without a wanderer lost, into the fold of the Great Shepherd above.
"FRANCIS R. SHUNK."
"Harrisburg, July 9, 1848."
A few days later Francis Shunk died, and his body was laid to rest in the old Lutheran burying ground at the Trappe, in the midst of the scenes where he had spent his youthful days of toil. He was succeeded by William Freame Johnston, President of the Senate of Pennsylvania. By a provision of the constitution of 1838 if any vacancy occur by death, or otherwise, in the office of Governor, the President of the Senate becomes acting Gov- ernor. This constitution also provided that if the vacancy occurs three months before the general fall election, the acting Governor shall order a new election; but "the writ shall issue at least three calendar months before the election." If a notice of three full months could not be given, then the election must be postponed
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for a year. Governor Shunk resigned on the last day possible, and Mr. Johnston did not assume authority until July 26. There- fore, by a strict construction of the constitution, the new election must go over for a year. Nevertheless, Mr. Johnston ordered an immediate election on the second Tuesday of October. He explained his motives for this course of action in a message to the legislature. He wished to avoid all charges of selfishness, and he believed it the safest plan to submit the whole matter to the decision of the people. The result of the election was the choice of Mr. Johnston for the full term of three years.
The new Governor was born at Greensburg, Westmoreland county, No- vember 29, 1808. His father was a na- tive of Scotland, migrating to America in 1796. Young Johnston received a common school and academic education ; after which he studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1829. He soon af- Arthur St. Clair Monument terwards removed to Armstrong county. Greensburg where he engaged in the practice of law, taking a leading place in his profession. He served as district attorney of the county, and was a member of the lower House of the legislature for sev- eral years. In 1847 Johnston was elected to the State Senate and became president of that body. This placed him in the line of succession to Governor Shunk, on the latter's resignation, July 9, 1848.
One of the first subjects to command Governor Johnston's at- tention was that of the material interests of the State. He real- ized that the Commonwealth possessed unrivalled mineral and agricultural wealth, and in his opinion the best instrument to de- velop this wealth was a protective tariff. He defended this pol-
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icy in his first message, as follows: "The price of labor is regu- lated by its demand and the value of the article it produces. Hence, whatever increases profitable labor is substantially bene- ficial to the working classes and affords them the means of com- fort, the delights of rational enjoyment, and the opportunity of exalting their condition, and with performing with safety to the country the duties of citizens. The manufacturer, if he be sus- tained in his enterprise, produces this result by opening to the laborer a new source of employment. It is frequently urged that the system of protection to domestic industry is of more interest to the manufacturer than to the laborer, as it enables him to dis- pose of his fabrics for a higher price, and to realize a better profit on his capital; but is not the capital of the laborer also involved in the fabric, and also does he not receive a reward in proportion to the value of the article? Let it be remembered also, that his daily bread, the wants of his family, the education of his chil- dren, all depend upon the success of the establishment at which he' is employed, and the objection can have little weight." At the time when this message was written, the tariff of 1846 was still in operation. Framed mainly for revenue, it discriminated against protection. Governor Johnston realized that our great resources needed protection, and he frequently referred to the subject, al- ways showing a familiar knowledge of economic literature.
During Johnston's administration steps were taken to publish the records of the State. The papers from early colonial times remained in single manuscript copy, and they were in constant danger of being destroyed by fire. The Governor, in his mes- sage of 1851, referred to the subject as follows: "My attention has been called to the large body of original papers in the State Department, connected with the colonial and revolutionary his- tory of the State, and their extremely exposed and perishing con- dition. These records are worth preservation, as containing au- thentic information of the action of our fathers in the struggle for national existence. In the Capital of Pennsylvania, and with
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the sympathies of her patriotic people, was independence nurtured and declared. Her soldiers were most numerous around the standard of the nation, and there were more battlefields on her soil than in the same area elsewhere. Every memorial of those days of devotion and trial should be faithfully preserved. There exists a single copy in manuscript of the minutes of the revolu- tionary Executive Council, a document by far too valuable to re- main longer within the reach of accident or mutilation. It would be gratifying to a large body of our constituents if the Assembly would authorize the employment of a competent gentleman to se- lect and arrange for publication these memorials of an interesting epoch in the history of the Commonwealth." Following the Governor's recommendation, the legislature passed an act author- izing the appointment of a competent person to select and arrange for the publication of these valuable documents. Under the su- pervision of Samuel Hazard, twenty-eight volumes of Colonial Records and Pennsylvania Archives were published. The work has been continued in recent years, and only a few months ago the fourth series of the Archives appeared from the press.
As early as 1844, attention was directed to the neglected con- dition of the insane poor of the State; while two years later the legislature passed an act providing for an asylum within ten miles from the capital. A farm was purchased adjoining Harrisburg, and in 1848 the erection of a suitable building was commenced. This philanthropic movement was warmly encouraged by the Gov- ernor and valuable assistance was also rendered by Miss Dorothy L. Dix.
It was not until the administration of Governor Johnston that the public school system became general throughout the State. This was accomplished by an act of the legislature in 1848, which read as follows : "That the common school system, from and after the passage of this act, shall be deemed, held and taken to be adopted by the several school districts in this Commonwealth, and that the school directors of districts from which the undrawn
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appropriations were taken. in 1844, shall levy and assess a tax to enable them to receive the State appropriation, and be entitled to a deduction of twenty-five per cent. of all moneys paid into the county treasury for State purposes for two years." In 1848, when this act was passed, there were still nearly two hundred non- accepting school districts; but within two years the number had been reduced to one hundred. Wickersham states, however, that an inquiry made in 1868 "revealed the astonishing fact that there were still twenty-three districts in the State, with about six thou- sand children, that had no common schools in operation." But the system had taken firm hold and was bound to grow. The
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Old Lottery Ticket, showing Washington's Signature
grading of schools went on in the villages and towns, and some of the cities had already established flourishing high schools. In 1852, at the close of Johnston's administration, there were 9,699 schools in operation, with an attendance of 480,778 pupils and 11,713 teachers. The tax amounted to $982,196.22, and the expenses had reached $1,116,919.25. The material growth of the system was rapid and its progress forms one of the most in- teresting chapters in the history of the Commonwealth.
In 1849 a sinking fund for paying the State debt was estab- lished. The secretary of the Commonwealth, auditor-general and State treasurer were created a board to apply all the income derived from the taxes on collateral inheritances, banks, railroads, etc. Many persons counted on some magical results from the
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operation of such a fund. There was virtue, indeed, in it, which consisted of the appropriation of a part of the public revenues to paying the debt. If the law was regarded, and the funds ap- plied and no more debt created, then in time the sinking fund would effect a discharge of the debt.
Excitement over the Fugitive Slave Law ran high during Johnston's administration. The Governor was a strong oppo- nent of slavery, and much space was devoted to the subject in his first message. Among other things he said: "While the com- promises of the constitution should be maintained in good faith towards our Southern brethren it is our duty to see that they are preserved with equal fidelity to ourselves. No encroachments, however sanctioned by use, should be acknowledged as prece- dents for further wrongs against the interests, prosperity, and happiness of the non-slaveholding States of the Union. If slav- ery be, in itself, an infraction of human rights-if it be directly opposed to the enlightened spirit of our free institutions-if it destroy the equality of power in the general government, by en- larging, where it exists, the constitutional representation-if it possess a direct or indirect influence against Northern and West- ern policy and interests, by promoting a system of laws destruct- ive of domestic industry, and vitally affecting free labor -- if it re- tard the natural growth of population and improvement, by the appropriation of large tracts of land for the benefit of the few to the injury of the many -- if it be in open defiance of the spirit of the age, the march of rational truth, and the enlightened policy of mankind-it is time to arrest its further progress. These, it is believed, are the settled convictions of our citizens, and their determination to maintain them is unalterable."
The adoption of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 aroused in- tense excitement throughout the State. While Governor John- ston was a bitter opponent of slavery, he believed that the na- tional authority must be respected, and that fugitive slaves should be returned to their masters. He regarded the law as vicious
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and unjust; but held that it should be obeyed until repealed from the statute books. About a year after the passage of the Fugi- tive Slave Law a serious riot occurred on Pennsylvania soil, as the result of an effort made by a party of slave holders to recover some fugitive negroes. It appears that in September, 1851, a number of colored men had taken refuge near Christiana, Lan- caster county, and a bloody battle ensued when seven of them were about to be arrested as fugitive slaves. The slave hunters visited the neighborhood of Christiana early in the morning of September the eleventh. The party consisted of Edward Gor- such, his nephew, Dr. Pearce, Nicholas Hutchins, and others, all from Maryland, and Henry Kline, a slave-catching constable from Philadelphia. At daybreak they were discovered lying in ambush near the house of William Parker, a colored man, and an alarm was sounded. The party approached the house and a de- mand was made for the slaves. The colored people of the neigh- borhood soon gathered, armed with guns, axes and clubs. There were threats made on both sides, and the parleying continued for an hour and a half. Castner Hanway and Elijah Lewis, mem- bers of the Society of Friends, residing in the neighborhood, then visited the scene of excitement, the former on horseback. Kline, the constable, read warrants to them demanding their assistance in capturing the slaves. Of course, they refused, and while they were talking, Parker and several other colored men came to the door. Gorsuch thought they intended to escape, and drawing his revolver, called his men into line. Parker made some of- fensive remarks to Gorsuch, when a revolver was fired and the fighting began in earnest. Gorsuch was killed, and his son was seriously wounded. The other slave hunters and officers then fled, pursued by the negroes. Several colored men were wound-
ed, but none severely. Immediately after the riot the United States marshal from Philadelphia arrived at Christiana with a detachment of marines to keep the peace. At the same time, about eighty police scoured the country, arresting many persons
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on suspicion of having been involved in the fight. Castner Han- way and Elijah Lewis, who refused to assist in capturing the slaves, were arrested upon the charge of treason. Thirty-five negroes were arrested with them for engaging in the riot. They were all taken to Philadelphia, and confined in Moyamensing prison for ninety-seven days. Hanway was tried in the Circuit Court of the United States at Philadelphia in November, 1851, before Judges Grier and Kane. The jury returned a verdict of "not guilty," after which the charges against the other defend- ants were dropped. The prisoners were then handed over to the authorities of Lancaster county, there to answer the charges of riot and murder. But when the cases came up for trial in that county, the grand jury ignored the bills and the accused parties were released. In referring to these trials, Still, in his "History of the Underground Railroad," says: "Especially were slave- holders taught the wholesome lesson, that the Fugitive Slave Law was no guarantee against 'red hot shot,' nor the charges of U. S. Judges and the findings of Grand Juries, together with the superior learning of counsel from slave-holding Maryland, any guarantee that 'traitors' would be hung. In every respect, the Underground Railroad made capital by the treason. Slave- holders from Maryland especially were far less disposed to hunt their runaway property than they had hitherto been. The Deputy Marshal likewise considered the business of catching slaves very unsafe."
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