618 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



Resolved, That the recent attempt, under the per- 

 sonal direction of ruling Eepublican leaders, to de- 

 bauch the Legislature by wholesale bribery and cor- 

 ruption, and to take from the Commonwealth four 

 million dollars, for which its liability had never been 

 ascertained, is fresh and alarming evidence of the ag- 

 gressiveness of the political ring, and should receive 

 the signal condemnation of the people at the polls. 



Resolved, That the great fraud of 1876-"77, by which, 

 upon a false count of the electoral votes of three States, 

 the candidate defeated at the polls was seated in the 

 Presidential chair, and, for the first time in American 

 history, the will of the people was set aside under a 

 threat of military force, was the most deadly blow ever 

 aimed at our system of representative government. 

 To preserve our country from the horrors" of a second 

 civil war, the Democratic party submitted for the time, 

 in the firm and patriotic faith that the people would 

 peacefully redress the great wrong and signally rebuke 

 the dark crime when they should come to vote" in 1880. 

 That issue precedes and dwarfs every other. It im- 

 posed a more sacred duty upon the people of the Union 

 than ever addressed the consciences of a nation of 

 freemen . 



Resolved, That in conformity with the time-honored 

 custom of the Pennsylvania Democracy, and to the 

 end that our great Commonwealth shall not be de- 

 prived of her legitimate influence, her delegates to the 

 National Convention are instructed to vote as a unit 

 upon all questions, and they are further instructed to 

 oppose the abrogation of the two-thirds rule. 



The unit rule controversy was introduced by 

 the last resolution, and the following was pro- 

 posed as a substitute for the entire declaration : 

 " That delegates to the National Convention be 

 and they are hereby instructed to oppose the 

 abrogation of the two-thirds rule." After a 

 sharp debate, this was adopted by a vote of 

 125 to 122, which was a success for the Ran- 

 dall faction. The candidate selected for Judge 

 of the Supreme Court was George A. Jenks, of 

 Jefferson County ; for Auditor-General, R. P. 

 Dechart, of Philadelphia. 



At the election in November the total vote 

 for Presidential electors was 874,783, of which 

 444,704 were for the Republican, 407,428 for 

 the Democratic, and 20,668 for the Greenback 

 ticket. There were also 1,939 votes for the 

 Prohibitory, and 44 for the " American" can- 

 didates. The Republican plurality over the 

 Democratic vote was 37,276 ; majority over all, 

 14,625. The vote for Supreme Court Judge 

 was 444,934 for Green, 406,904 for Jenks, 12,- 

 643 for Samuel Calvin, Greenback candidate, 

 and 827 " scattering." The Legislature elected 

 at the same time consists of 31 Republicans, 16 

 Democrats, and 2 Greenbackers in the Senate, 

 and 122 Republicans, 77 Democrats, and 2 

 Greenbackers in the House. 



The proper legislation has not yet been se- 

 cured in Pennsylvania for the effectual execu- 

 tion of the provisions of the Constitution for- 

 bidding discriminations by railroad companies. 

 Section 3, Article XVII, of the Constitution 

 provides that "all individuals, associations, 

 and corporations shall have equal right to have 

 persons and property transported over rail- 

 roads and canals, and no undue or unreasona- 

 ble discrimination shall be made in charges for, 

 or in facilities for, transportation of freight or 

 passengers within the State, or coming from, 



or going to, any other State. Persons and prop- 

 erty transported over any railroad shall be de- 

 livered at any station at charges not exceeding 

 the charges for transportation of persons and 

 property of the same class in the same direc- 

 tion to anymore distant station, but excursion 

 and commutation tickets may be issued at 

 special rates." Section 7, of the same article, 

 provides that " no discrimination in charges 

 or facilities for transportation shall be made 

 between transportation companies and indi- 

 viduals, or in favor of either, by abatement, 

 drawback, or otherwise, and no railroad of 

 canal company, or any lessee, manager, or em- 

 ployee thereof, shall make any preferences in 

 furnishing cars or motive power." Section 

 12, Article XVII, prescribes that "the Gen- 

 eral Assembly shall enforce, by appropriate 

 legislation, the provisions of this article." 

 While these requirements and prohibitions ex- 

 ist in the organic law, the " appropriate legisla- 

 tion " for their enforcement has not been ob- 

 tained. 



A litigation, begun by the State for the pur- 

 pose of enforcing the rights of shippers as 

 against the transportation companies, under ex- 

 isting laws, has been terminated by compromise 

 and without any final adjudication upon the 

 principles involved. During the year 1878, 

 upon the petition of a large number of citizens 

 engaged in the production of oil, charging that 

 they were subjected to injustice by reason of 

 discriminations in freights, the result of illegal 

 confederated action between certain railroads 

 and oil-shippers, suits in equity were instituted 

 in the name of the Commonwealth by the At- 

 torney-General, in the Supreme Court of the 

 States, against the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- 

 pany, the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad 

 Company, Dunkirk, Allegheny and Pittsburg 

 Railroad Company, and the Lake Shore and 

 Michigan Southern Railway Company. Sepa- 

 rate bills were filed against each corporation, 

 charging unlawful conspiracy with all the 

 others, and the appropriate relief prayed for. 

 The object of the Commonwealth was to pro- 

 cure a judicial declaration of the common law 

 duty of carriers, in the absence of a statute, to 

 the effect that charges must be the same for all 

 persons similarly situated, and for all freights 

 of a like kind and quality for a given service. 

 After the testimony had been taken as against 

 the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, it was 

 proposed to compel that corporation to put in 

 its evidence in answer. But, as there were al- 

 legations of conspiracy in which all were alike 

 engaged, the Attorney- General decided not to 

 put that company on its defense until the case 

 against the others was also completed. There 

 was delay on the part of the petitioners in 

 placing their testimony in the hands of the At- 

 torney-General, which indicated a disposition 

 not to press the cases against the othc>r com- 

 panies. In the mean time indictments had been 

 found, at the instance and in the interests of the 

 same petitioners, in Clarion County against a 



