USA > Pennsylvania > The history of Pennsylvania from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 20
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Pennsylvania soon found it expedient to change her constitution, and make it more in accordance with the ruling republican sentiment, discarding the old machinery retained from the proprietary government, which stood in some- what anomalous contrast with republican usages. By. the new constitution, adopted in 1790, a Senate was added to the legislature, and the executive power was vested in a governor, elect- ed annually, and eligible only for nine years out of twelve. Suffrage was free in effect to all white males over one-and-twenty. Judges of the higher courts held their offices during good behaviour. The patronage of the governor was enormous, and was more than once the occasion of violent political excitement, and always open to the objection of giving opportunity for the exercise of an undue influence. In 1838, a new constitution was adopted, by which the executive patronage was very much abridged. The go- vernor can serve but six years out of nine. Many officers hitherto appointed are now elective. The constitution of 1838 limited the tenure of judges to fifteen, ten, and five years; but this has again been changed. A provision in the present constitution makes it open to the addi- tion of amendments without the call of a con- vention. An amendment passed by one legisla- ture, affirmed by a succeeding one, and afterward approved by a direct vote of the people becomes
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a part of the constitution. The only amendment thus passed was perfected by a vote of the peo- ple in 1850, and by this the judiciary is made elective.
The influence of Pennsylvania has always been powerful in the course of national policy, whether we consider it as exercised by her representation in the legislature, or as indicated by the expres- sion of her popular voice. She ranged with the War States in 1812. Her volunteers and their commanders were among the most brave and efficient in the war with Mexico. But in neither did actual hostilities or operations take place within her territory, if we except the prepara- tions of Perry at Erie, which were covered by a regiment of Pennsylvania militia. Even this " speck of war" was not within the original boundaries of the state. The Erie triangle was purchased of the general government in 1792.
The political history of Pennsylvania, from the adoption of the first State constitution to the present time, is an instructive study for the phi- losophical observer of the principles of govern- ment and the source of political power. Our limits forbid entering upon it, nor would such a discussion be generally acceptable. In a few ge- neral observations, we briefly sum the subject. The spirit of the people has always been intensely -perhaps we may say individually democratic. By this, we mean, that particularly with the un-
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educated, and with the class-educated, or rigid disciples of sects and systems, the idea of govern- ment by the people, is that of such a government as makes not the people only, but each individual man, sovereign ; and the Pennsylvania multitude · has ever been ready to rebel against any govern- ment or power which requires any sacrifice of one man or one class for the many. The early Quakers resisted even William Penn. The Pax- ton boys undertook to assume the care of the whole Indian relations. The people struggled with the proprietaries. The revolutionary party ruled with a strong arm, and the government enforced obedience, even to the length of execu- tions for treason. The minority stoutly resisted ; and the right of a minority to resist seems to have been always a part of the popular creed. After the establishment of the Federal govern- ment, the farmers in the far western counties, who had in fact no market for their grain but that offered by the distillers, saw in the excise a grievous oppression. The Western rivers were not open. Conveyance of corn in bulk to the East was impossible ; and corn, in its mischievous essence, was almost the sole article of commer- cial exchange. Thus arose the bloodless whisky insurrection of 1790. The rebellion against the house-tax in 1799, and some other difficulties purely domestic, including even the later riots in Philadelphia, which resulted in the burning
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of public buildings and churches, have arisen from the assumptions of the ignorant to liberty running into licentiousness, fomented by the better informed but unscrupulous.
The conservative element has gradually given way before these demonstrations, until, in law and in practice, Pennsylvania has become more and more democratic in practice and in theory. The power now held by the people would have terrified the most ultra of revolutionists in 1775; and if held by them at that time would have been ruinous. But while the conservative interest has resisted innovation, and the people have broken out in violence, while furious party spirit has perverted justice temporarily, and even made victims of the innocent, and elevated the guilty into suffering martyrs, the ferment has evolved good. The people have increased in intelligence. The passage of the common school law, twenty years ago, in pursuance of the principles laid down by Penn, and affirmed in the constitution of 1790, has already done great good; and the political discussions which have been protracted from the time of the proprietaries till now, have, of themselves, been a school for freemen-a school in which many bad pupils deserved punish- ment and received it, as much to the profit of others as to their own chagrin and discomfort. No colony had a more heterogeneous population than Pennsylvania. The cauldron has seethed
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with no little vehemence; the subsidence of the froth and fury leaves a most excellent and prac- ticable, consistence. The staid humanity and quiet firmness of the Quaker, the fiery activity of the Irish Presbyterians, the patient industry of the Germans, the conservative character of the English Churchmen, (evident in Philadelphia if not in the interior,) the restless spirit of the New Englanders, these form the principal ingre- dients of Pennsylvania character. Each class had its virtues, and each its faults, and each, without exception, had that' inevitable conse- quence of collision with others-bigotry. In the contradictory composition of man, let us theorize as we may, the firm adherence to one's convictions, is the only assurance of usefulness ; and though this degenerate to harshness, it is still one of those failings which " leans to vir- tue's side." Education and true religion correct its acrimony ; but without the elements which cause danger of political and religious bigotry, no people ever were capable of reaching a high position, politically or morally.
One idea, seldom noted by historians, but nevertheless evident, William Penn impressed upon the character of this government; and though at war with radical theories it still has its influence. As the proprietor and patron he held it a duty to employ the power of govern- ment in the conferring of positive benefits, as
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well as in the restriction of evil. Even William Penn speculated in theory on great public im- provements. As early as 1790 the subject of internal improvements took the attention of the Legislature, and reports were made in favour of various canals and river improvements. The building of roads and bridges received the en- couragement and direct aid of the legislature. The first turnpike in the United States, that from Philadelphia to Lancaster, was completed in 1794 at an expense of $465,000. The sub- stantial stone bridges of the State are in won- derful stength and preservation, among the best in the world. In the whole State there are 2000 miles of turnpike-now partially obsolete, but still convenient. The whole cost of the turnpikes, railways, canals, and bridges in Pennsylvania, exceeds one hundred millions of dollars. The turnpike excitement culminated in 1815, and soon after gave way before the era of canals, and that in turn was succeeded by railroads.
Until 1821 these enterprises were conducted by private companies, aided by subscriptions on the part of the State. From these the dividends received have been little or nothing. In 1824, the State was first committed to the plan of in- ternal improvements, by the appointment of a board of commissioners of survey; and in 1825 a similar board was appointed for further explo- rations. In 1827, active operations were com-
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1850.
menced, and from that date to 1836 annual appropriations were made and loans contracted. The credit of the State at the commencement was unlimited, money was abundant, and no dif- ficulty was experienced except in obtaining the votes of counties not directly in the route of the main lines of improvements. But these votes were secured by pushing the improvements into every practicable corner, and in some cases by sacrificing the direct and most practicable route in order by a sinuous path to command more in- terest. The Gettysburg railroad, upon which no rails have been laid, is a curious instance of this policy. In 1836 this policy of lavish expen- diture was checked. The people became alarmed at the increase of the State debt and the un- productiveness of a great part of the improve- ments. The operations since have been continued only on routes which promised immediate advan- tage from completion. Commonwealths which undertake business are not exempt from the or- dinary laws of trade. While a concern is solvent retrenchment may prevent embarrassment, but in a non-productive enterprise the very retrench- ment which necessity imposes hastens the catas- trophe. The general commercial distress of 1837 and the years following added to the difficulty, and in 1842 the great and rich State of Penn- sylvania was unable to pay the interest on her debt. This difficulty was met by the issue of
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interest certificates and the contraction of new loans; and though for two or three years the State of Pennsylvania exposed her creditors to some delay and inconvenience, she has paid or guaranteed all her liabilities. Her public finan- ciers never applied the "sponge" or "scaled" the public debt. Her paper issues during the Revolution were called in and funded at the value expressed on their face ; and never in her whole history, as colony or State, has the commonwealth refused to acknowledge or neglected to provide for her indebtedness. Indeed the presumption is strongly the other way; and the shame of em- barrassment has sometimes operated to the ad- mission of full demands, which with money in hand she might have sternly questioned.
The funded debt of the State as appears from the report of the auditor-general, made at the commencement of the present year, (1854,) is $40,367,332. The total cost of the State in- ternal improvements was $32,542,267. Of this sum nearly nine millions, expended for works which remain unfinished, were transferred to pri- vate companies or are abandoned. The total revenue from the completed works from the be- ginning has been $25,342,020. The total of ex- penditures to keep them in operation has been $19,499,857. This seems to leave a small ba- lance to the credit of the works; but add to the debtor side the interest which has been paid on
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loans directly or indirectly pertaining to the State improvements-$35,157,796,-we find about twenty millions are to be added to the original cost as the expense of keeping the works in operation.
Still, under the maxim of Penn, before re- ferred to, the State is a garner. Without her improvements, Pennsylvania could not have risen from a population of 434,373 in 1790, to 2,311,786 in 1850. Her coal trade began in 1810, with the offer of a few wagon-loads in Philadelphia, the seller of which had to make his escape from the city to avoid prosecution as a swindler ! In 1820, the quantity of three hundred and sixty-five tons was disposed of. The annual sale now amounts to over five mil- lions. . The cost of the railroads and canals by which the coal finds a market, finished and con- templated, belonging to the state and to corpo- rations, is about fifty millions of dollars. To pri- vate enterprise the State gave the first sensible impetus ; for before the State engaged in the work, and coal came into use, canal attempts languished. The first railroad of any length put in operation in the United States was the Phila- delphia and Columbia, completed in 1834 by the State of Pennsylvania.
The value of the iron and coal and the agri- cultural products of this great State is enormous. Her iron, in the heavier products in 1850,
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amounted to over twenty millions. Her capital in farming utensils and live stock, on about nine millions of acres of improved land, is about fifty millions of dollars, exclusive of the value of the land. Her wheat crop is about sixteen millions . of bushels, and her corn nearly twenty .. Too much of the latter goes to the still, but we are glad to find the figure annually decreasing. Her cotton and woollen manufactures, in 1850, amount- ed to about eleven millions. Such are a few of the leading products-but the hum of industry all over the State turns out much more than the above estimated sums, on all the various products of this country. These estimates, of course, must be varied as trade fluctuates, and some- times one interest flags and sometimes another. We close these imperfect statistics-designed rather to give a general idea than a close esti- mate-with the fact that the railroads of Penn- sylvania, through which its trade finds vent, ex- ceed in extent thirteen hundred miles, including those now in process of construction. She has also over one thousand miles of canals. If the public has been heavily taxed to produce these great results, the State would still be gainer in the increased value of property though the past expense were never directly repaid. The last great work was the connection of Philadelphia and Pittsburg, at a cost, by private and munici- pal subscriptions, of about twenty millions.
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A few words of Philadelphia and we have done. The city of Penn, originally a strip two miles wide, extending across from the Delaware to the Schuylkill, has been extended, by the act · of the legislature (1854) to embrace the whole county, including an area of one hundred and twenty square miles, and a population of half a million. In commerce and manufactures she is daily advancing with rapid strides; and if her direct foreign trade is small, her coastwise and canal arrivals are over thirty-five thousand annually. Her past history is identified with that of the State and of the United States. For ten years after the adoption of the Federal con- stitution she was the political centre of the United States, and until the commercial distress of 1837 its financial centre. About that time the vigorous arm of the executive broke up a central financial power, which it was alleged was "becoming too strong for the government. He was sustained by the people. The immediate effects of the measure were distressing-the re- sult has proved as salutary as the discipline was severe.
In 1800, the seat of the state government was removed to Lancaster, and in 1812 thence to Harrisburg. Philadelphia gained by her loss in this respect; for the interior jealousy of the "Proprietary City," which long outlasted the change of government, was thus removed. Like
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many other public servants, Philadelphia has suffered rebuke as the reward of her usefulness. Generous and public spirited, but sedate with the honours of past pre-eminence, for a series of years she was like a fading belle living on the incense of past admiration. Now her claims are placed on more substantial grounds. Her merits and her excellence are acknowledged ; the yeo- manry of the state, with no further cause of financial or political jealousy, rejoice in her pros- perity ; her excellent institutions are cherished, and the people of Pennsylvania are proud of their chief city. Her merchants are princes. And in the Girard College and other noble in- stitutions, the men of the past have connected their memories with William Penn; while the men of the present, in building up Philadelphia, are adding to the pile, which is a nobler monu- ment to William Penn than any Alexandria, Constantinople, or pyramidal structure of anti- quity to its despotic builder.
THE END.
STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO. PHILADELPHIA.
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