USA > Pennsylvania > Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903, Volume Two > Part 34
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vent another bill of expenses so great as that incurred in the extra session of 1883. An act was promptly passed, fixing the salary at $1,500 for the regular session, and $500 for the extra session, without regard to the length.
On March 17, 1885, an act was approved requesting the Gov- ernor to appoint an Arbor Day, for the purpose of encouraging the planting of trees and shrubbery. On March 23, Governor Pattison issued the first Arbor Day proclamation, appointing April 16, 1885. The custom has been regularly followed from that time to the present.
Pattison's administration was characterized throughout by vigorous executive action. He had pledged himself to carry out certain principles of reform and he applied himself to this work with great faithfulness. In 1886 his attention was called to charges of neglect, inhumanity, and corruption in the manage- ment of the Soldiers' Orphan Schools. These charges were so direct and specific that the Governor determined to examine into their truthfulness. He first made inquiry of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Higbee, who, by virtue of his office, had charge of these schools. The Superintendent replied that after an examination of the conditions in one of the schools, he was confident the charges were false. Not satisfied with this reply, Governor Pattison undertook a personal investigation of the management of all the Soldiers' Orphan Schools. Accom- panied by the Attorney-General and official stenographers, the Governor visited the schools, and examined under oath those in charge of the institutions, as well as the orphans themselves. Inquiry was made into the sanitary condition of the buildings, the clothing, the quality of food, and the discipline. The Secre- tary of the State Board of Health also inspected the schools and made a detailed report thereon. The investigation continued nearly a month, and the testimony of the scores of witnesses filled a thousand pages. After the work was completed the Governor arrived at the following conclusions: "As a result of
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this exhaustive examination, I was entirely convinced of the truth of the charges made. It is impossible, with the evidence procured, to doubt that for many years the generous bounty of the State has been systematically and deliberately wasted and
Pennsylvania Hospital as it appeared in 1799
From the Birch views
perverted; the orphans in many cases defrauded of the com- monest comforts of life; cruelty and inhumanity of the most repulsive character practiced, and the schools conducted by a combination of mercenary contractors in the most corrupt, un- lawful, and heartless manner. To do this the laws governing the institutions have been disregarded and persistently violated ; the public officers charged with their superintendence and govern- ment have been negligent, incompetent and studiously derelict ;
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and, while the investigation was being made, either abstained from assistance or embarrassed the discovery of the facts."
In order to reform the management of these schools, the Governor regarded a change of officials as absolutely necessary. He dismissed the male and female inspectors, and would have removed the Superintendent of Public Instruction from office, but for the constitutional provision denying the Governor that power. Governor Pattison did request Dr. Higbee to resign, but the latter refused, continuing in office until his death in the year 1889. General Louis Wagner, of Philadelphia, was ap- pointed male inspector of the schools in the place of the officer removed. After these changes in management, the Governor reported to the legislature a marked improvement in the condition of the soldiers' orphans. This investigation aroused an intense feeling throughout the State and public opinion was divided at the time concerning the charges.
In 1886 the Attorney-General began legal proceedings in order to enforce the section in the Constitution governing rail- road corporations: "No railroad, canal or other corporation, or the lessees, purchasers or managers of any railroad or canal corporation, shall consolidate the stock, property, or franchises of such corporation with, or lease, or purchase the works or fran- chises of, or in any way control any other railroad or canal corpo- ration owning or having under its control a parallel or competing line." One of the legal proceedings referred to was for the pur- pose of preventing the Pennsylvania Railroad from purchasing the franchises of the South Pennsylvania Railroad, a competing line, and the control of the Beech Creek Railroad. Suit was begun in the Dauphin county court which granted a preliminary injunc- tion. The proceedings were removed to the Supreme Court on appeal, where the decision of the lower court was affirmed.
The condition of the State funds during Pattison's adminis- tration indicated general prosperity. In four years the debt was reduced $2,966, 101. Deducting the money held by the Com-
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monwealth in the sinking fund, the actual debt on December I. 1886, was $7,078,235.82. At the same time all the ordinary expenses of government were met, and there remained in the treasury $2,101,457.57.
The approaching election for Governor in 1886 brought four candidates into the field. The Republicans nominated James A. Beaver; the Democrats, Chauncey F. Black; the Prohibitionists, Charles S. Wolf, and the Greenback Party, Robert J. Houston. In this campaign the Republicans were not divided, as they had been in the previous campaign; hence General Beaver received the united vote of the party and was elected. Governor Pattison sent his final message to the legislature on January 4, 1887. It was filled with the spirit of reform, and he closed by saying : "Four years of executive service have convinced me how much is yet to be accomplished for the reformation of abuses which have grown up constantly and imperceptibly in nearly all of the departments of the civil administration. The duty of eradi- cating these abuses is a task of great magnitude, but will as- suredly yield to fidelity, industry, and zeal. In the effort to accomplish this end, there should be entire unity of purpose, and mutual assistance by all the officers of the Government. I do not feel that I would properly acquit myself of my entire duty in this respect, if I did not fully lay before the Assembly the results of my official study and observation. That they may be of aid to the legislature in promoting good government and advancing the prosperity of the Commonwealth, is my earnest hope and only desire."
Governor Pattison retired from office on January 18, 1887. He was soon afterward appointed by the President of the United States on the Railroad Commission. While occupying this position he assisted in investigating the Pacific railways, and he recommended that the partnership between the Government and the Pacific Railroad should terminate. His second administra- tion as Governor will be the theme of a subsequent chapter.
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CHAPTER XXI
BEAVER'S AND PATTISON'S ADMINISTRATIONS-1887-1895
J AMES ADDAMS BEAVER was inaugurated on Janu- ary 18, 1887. In his address to the people on this occasion, he publicly thanked the retiring Governor "for the earnest- ness of purpose which has governed him in the discharge of the high duties to which he was called." Governor Beaver was born at Millerstown, Pennsylvania, in the year 1837. He was for some time a student at the Pine Grove Academy, and in 1856 graduated at Jefferson College when not yet nineteen years of age. Taking up his residence in Bellefonte, he began the study of law, and in 1859 was admitted to the bar of Centre county. He was always deeply interested in military affairs, and when the Rebellion broke out he was commissioned lieutenant in the 2d Pennsylvania Volunteers. The same year he was made Colonel of the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Colonel Beaver re- ceived wounds in the engagements at Chancellorsville, Spott- sylvania, and Cold Harbor, while he lost his right leg at Ream's Station, Virginia, on August 25, 1864. He was then brevetted Brigadier-General for bravery, and was mustered out of service on December 22, 1864. He always took a lively interest in Republican politics, and in 1882 was the unsuccessful candidate of his party for Governor.
At the session of the legislature in 1887 the question of ap- portionment was again considered and the State was divided into twenty-eight congressional districts. At the same time
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representative districts were provided for two hundred and four members in the lower House of the legislature. The question of temperance also received considerable attention at the hands of our law makers in Beaver's administration. One of the earliest forms of the crusade against strong drink in Pennsyl- vania was in the local option law of 1872, which authorized counties and cities to vote for or against licensing saloons. This law was tried for a short time and then repealed. The sentiment for restricting the sale of liquor is also shown in the growth of the Prohibition party, which figured so prominently in the presi-
ANDEPENDENCY
Arms, 1805
dential campaign of 1884. In his messages of 1885 and 1887, Governor Pattison invited public attention to the urgent need for legislation with reference to the liquor traffic. He said : "The legislature ought, at once, to revise the entire license sys- tem of the State. The cost of license ought to be increased to such a figure as would eradicate the enormous number of small tippling houses. Some regulation should be enacted limiting the number of licenses that may be granted for taverns within a given area, and for a given number of inhabitants. A petition signed by a reasonable number of the free-holders or residents in the neighborhood, square, or election district in which the tavern is to be located, praying for the issuing of the license, should be required to authorize the granting of the same, and the license should be limited to the place for which it is first granted or named in the petition, and made void upon removal. The person to whom a license is granted should be required to be of proved
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good moral character, and there should likewise be rigid regula- tions as to the hours during which taverns may be kept open, as to sales to minors and drunken persons, and such other provisions as will tend to lessen the evils of indiscriminate tippling, en- forced by adequate penalties and forfeiture of license for a violation of the law." The above reference to the liquor traffic was made in January, 1887, at which time it is said there were at least seven thousand licensed saloons in the city of Philadel- phia. The legislature in that year passed the high license law, which fixed the license fee in cities of the first class at five hun- dred dollars; while by a subsequent amendment the charge was raised to one thousand dollars. In the year 1887 the prohibition sentiment was brought to bear upon the legislature, and a joint resolution was passed to prohibit by constitutional amendment, the manufacture, sale, or keeping for sale of any intoxicating liquor to be used as a beverage. Requiring the approval of two legislatures, the amendment was again passed in the session of 1889. On April 15 the Governor issued a writ of election for June 18, for the purpose of approving or rejecting the amend- ment. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 484,644 to 296,617.
The great natural resources of Pennsylvania have ever opened an inviting field for practically trained men; hence the necessity of technical and industrial education. Governor Hart- ranft realized this fact, and he frequently urged the estab- lishment of scientific schools. In 1887 the whole subject came up for consideration in the legislature. On May 19 a joint resolution was approved, requesting the Governor to appoint a commission of five persons to make inquiry and report to the legislature respecting the subject of industrial education. In accordance with this resolution, the Governor appointed George W. Atherton, A. H. Fetterolf, N. C. Schaeffer, George J. Luckey, and Theodore W. Bean, as members of the so-called Industrial Education Commission. . These gentlemen were authorized to
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make a study of systems of industrial education in operation else- where, and to inquire as to the best means of promoting it in this State. A great mass of literature was thus brought together and published as a report, "constituting," the Governor said, "the best body of practical information upon this subject which has yet been collected." The work of this commission bore imme- diate fruit, for manual training schools were soon established in the larger cities and towns of the Commonwealth. Governor Beaver gave much serious thought to this subject, and in his message of 1889 he wrote: "The alphabet of the straight line, the angle and the curve, is just as essential to the training for usefulness as the ordinary alphabet through which we express our thought in words. The education of the hand, so that it can be applied dexterously to the practical work which comes to every man in solving the problem of life, is just as important as the knowledge of arithmetic which is applied in so many different ways by those who become acquainted with its rudiments in our public schools. The improvement in our school system required for to-day is not more time for school, but more instruction in such branches as tend to fit men and women for their legitimate place in practical every-day life."
In 1887 and inquiry was made into the forestry conditions of Pennsylvania. On April 28 a joint resolution of the legislature was approved, enabling the Governor to appoint a commission of five persons "to examine and consider the subject of forestry in Pennsylvania, and report the result of their labors, by bill or otherwise, to the next regular session of the legislature." Hon. Washington Townsend, Prof. William A. Buckhout, Col. George B. Weistling, Rev. Samuel F. Colt, and Mr. George O. Prae- torius, were named as members of this commission. These gentlemen made a careful study of the subject, and presented a report filled with practical suggestions. The forestry commis- sion was continued, and in 1893 Dr. J. T. Rothrock, of West Chester, was made botanist of the department. Dr. Rothrock
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has been in charge of the work since that time, and he has pushed it forward with commendable zeal. Many acres of forest land have been redeemed from destruction, and systematic tree plant- ing has been encouraged.
By the act of June 15, 1887, an appropriation was made for the erection of memorial tablets or monuments to mark the posi- tion of the Pennsylvania regiments on the battlefield of Gettys- burg. The work was rapidly pushed forward and the memorials were dedicated on Pennsylvania Day, September 11-12, 1889. The proceedings on this occasion form an interesting contribu- tion to military history, and the material has since been published by the State in two volumes entitled "Pennsylvania at Gettysburg."
The year 1887 marked the one hundredth anniversary of the adoption of the Federal Constitution. An event of so much na- tional importance could not pass by without fitting ceremonies. On December 2, 1886, the Constitutional Centennial Commission was organized at Philadelphia for the purpose of making all necessary arrangements pertaining to the celebration. It may be said that the movement originated in a joint resolution of the legislature of New Jersey, adopted on June 2, 1886, inviting "the governors and representatives of the thirteen colonial States to assemble in Philadelphia on the 17th of September following, to consider the propriety of a national celebration." The other States responded and the result was the formation of the Com- mission on December 2. An attempt to secure congressional action failed : but the legislature of Pennsylvania appropriated seventy-five thousand dollars. This amount was greatly increased by private subscriptions, and by the appropriations of other States. The Commission arranged for a civic and industrial procession on September 15th, a military display on the 16th, and memorial day ceremonies in Independence Square on the 17th. The occasion was celebrated with great credit to all concerned, and it well illustrated the dignity and grandeur of the Republic.
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Charles Willson Peale
Artist; author; naturalist; soldier; dentist; member State Legislature, 1799; founder Phil- adelphia Museum, 1802, Photographed espe- cially for this work from an engraving by J. B. Longacre after the painting by Rembrandt Peale
Beaver's and Pattison's Administrations
On May 31, 1889, the Commonwealth was visited by a devas- tating flood, which left death and ruin in its path, and destroyed property worth several million dollars. While the whole State suffered from the calamity, the regions along the West Branch of the Susquehanna, the Juniata, and the Conemaugh Rivers were the principal scenes of desolation. A rain storm continuing several days had so increased the volume of the water that it could not be carried away. The towns on the western slope of the mountains suffered most. A large dam on the South Fork, ten miles from Johnstown, broke on the afternoon of May 31, and in a short time that city and neighboring villages were swept away. In a few moments, three thousand lives were lost; communities were broken up, and government ceased to exist. Relief com- mittees were at once organized in Philadelphia and Pittsburg; and the Governor appointed the Flood Relief Commission for the purpose of distributing funds and other aid. This commission received and paid out nearly three million dollars, nine-tenths of which was applied to the relief of sufferers in the Conemaugh Valley. The State Board of Health inspected the region visited by the flood, and on June 12, took charge of the sanitary work at Johnstown.
The Fourteenth regiment and one company of the Fifth regi- ment of the National Guard were placed on duty here to assist in maintaining order and guarding property. Under command of Adjutant-General Hastings, valuable service was rendered and the best discipline was preserved all through this trying ordeal. General Hastings personally superintended the work of the State Board of Health, and showed great executive abilities whils thus engaged. The debris was removed as promptly as possible, and healthful conditions were restored. The people of Johnstown, although prostrated by their misfortune, soon recovered, and rebuilt their city, making it a more beautiful place than ever be- fore.
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On April 17, 1889, the legislature passed an act establishing a nautical school ship upon the Saratoga, which was furnished by the United States government. About one hundred young men are trained in nautical affairs upon this ship. The course of instruction is rendered more practical by a cruise each season. The benefits of the school ship were at once demonstrated, espe- cially in the Spanish-American war, when a number of young men found places in the United States navy.
Under the provisions of an act of May 20, 1889, the office of factory inspector was established to provide for the safety of women and children employed in factories and mills. It is the duty of the factory inspector to report to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on or before November 30 of each year, the name of every factory, the number of hands employed, and the number of hours of work performed each week. This system of inspection has produced marked changes in the condition of the factories, and strict regulations have been adopted for the comfort of the employes.
During Beaver's administration, a number of commissions were appointed to consider matters of public interest and report thereon. Under the provisions of an act of May 4, 1889, the Governor selected Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, Hon. Robert E. Mon- aghan, and William H. Miller, Esq., to act with a similar com- mission from the State of Delaware, to survey and re-establish the boundary line between the two States. A new line was agreed upon, and was appropriately marked; but for several years the matter has been in litigation on account of the dissatisfaction caused by the new boundary. Commissions were also appointed to revise and codify the laws relating to the poor; to revise the laws relating to public highways, and to investigate the subject of coal waste. Another commission, "to make and survey a route for a ship canal to connect the waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio River," made a careful study of this question, and reported the
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feasibility of such an undertaking. Governor Beaver wrote en- thusiastically on this subject, as follows: "If the waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio were connected by a canal such as is proposed
Richard Peters
Secretary Continental Board of War, 1776; afterward commissioner of war until 1781; discovered that Benedict Arnold was converting war funds to his own use; member Continental Congress, 1782-1783; speaker State Assembly, 1788-1790; speaker State Senate, 1791; judge United States District Court, 1792-1828; first president Philadelphia Agricultural Society
and shown to be entirely feasible, and if the present canal from Albany to Buffalo were enlarged so as to admit vessels of the same size, these links would secure a chain of inter-waterway communication between New York and New Orleans, which would be invaluable for commercial purposes and in times of war
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would furnish an entirely safe means of communication between these important termini and all interior points. It would in ad- dition give us control for defensive purposes of our lake front, which we do not now have and which it is doubtful whether we can secure in any other way under present treaty stipulations."
Dr. E. E. Higbee, Superintendent of Public Schools since April 1, 1881, died at his home in the city of Lancaster, on December 13, 1889. Like Thaddeus Stevens, Dr. Higbee came into our State from Vermont, and like Stevens, he did much to advance the interests of our public schools. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1849, and his first employment after this event was as assistant in the academy at South Wood- stock, Vermont. He soon removed to Emmitsburg, Maryland, and taught in a classical school there. He also began the study of law and hoped to return some day to his native State, to prac- tice this profession. The plans for his lifework were changed. however, and in 1851, he became a student in the Theological Seminary, at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Here he was under the influence of Nevin and Schaff, and in 1854, was licensed to preach in the Reformed Church. He was pastor of several prominent churches, until 1864, when he was elected Professor of Church History in the Theological Seminary at Mercersburg. Dr. Higbee was instrumental in founding Mercersburg College. which began its existence in 1864, under the presidency of Dr. Appel. When Dr. Appel went to Lancaster in 1871, Dr. Higbee succeeded him as President of the College, holding this position until 1880, when the institution closed its doors. The world will probably never fully realize the good accomplished by Mercers- burg College, under the presidency of Dr. Higbee; but financial difficulties doomed it to an untimely end. Governor Hoyt at once recognized Dr. Higbee's abilities and nominated him for the position of State Superintendent of Schools. The wisdom of the choice was soon apparent, for the new Superintendent rapidly
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made a deep impression upon educational affairs. He was twice reappointed and was cut off in the midst of his work by a stroke of paralysis on December 13, 1889. Thus, Vermont gave two sons to Pennsylvania, both of whom stamped their personality upon the school system of our State, and whose memory it is pleasant to recall.
In the campaign for Governor in 1890, practically the same political conditions existed as in 1882. There were four candi- dates : George W. Delamater, Republican; Robert E. Pattison, Democrat ; John D. Gill, Prohibition, and T. P. Rynder, Labor. Great dissatisfaction prevailed in the Republican ranks, and Mr. Pattison was elected Governor for a second time. Mr. Beaver retired from office on January 20, 1891, and at once resumed the practice of law. In 1895 he was appointed Judge in the new Su- perior Court, and a year later he was elected to this office for the full term of ten years.
In his inaugural address on January 20, 1891, Governor Pat- tison briefly referred to several important problems, which he hoped to consider during his administration : "First, constitu- tional enforcement; second, the purification of elections, involv- ing ballot reform, personal registration and the prevention of the misuse of money in politics ; third, taxation; fourth, municipal government."
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