PENNSYLVANIA. 



677 



year amount to $8,694,060.42, of which $5,- 

 4.06 belong to the general fund and $2,- 

 773J556.36 to the sinking-fund, the former be- 

 ing applicable to general purposes, and the lat- 

 ter to the redemption of the principal and the 

 payment of the interest on the public debt. 

 The principal items of the receipts were : Taxes 

 on corporations, $2,398,405.44; tax on bank 

 stock, $456,102.76; tax on personal property, 

 $1,014,823.20; tax on collateral inheritance's, 

 $713,434.11: tavern and liquor licenses, $1,- 

 017,807.57; tax on foreign insurance compa- 

 nies, $428,816.41 ; commutation of tonnage 

 tax, $460,000. The principal items of dis- 

 bursement during 1888 were : Expenses of 

 State Government, $790,535.30 ; judiciary, 

 $560,611.01 ; payment of loans and interest, 

 $1,884,322.26 ; charitable institutions, $1,063,- 

 077.91 ; penitentiaries, $244,686.25 ; reform 

 schools, $226,242.16; common schools, $1,- 

 614,276.58 ; National Guard, $354,446.37; Sol- 

 diers 1 Home, $151,850 ; soldiers' orphans' 

 schools, $336,419.22; second geological sur- 

 vey, $50,000; State College, $59,500. The 

 balance in the treasury Dec. 1. 1888, wu 

 687,035.65, against $2,380,841.47 on the same 

 date in 1887. Of this balance, only $1.318.- 

 691.92 is applicable to general expenses, the 

 sinking-fund absorbing the rest. 



The State debt on Nov. 30, 1888. was as fol- 

 lows: Non-interest bearing debt, $134,821.28; 

 3J-per-cent. bonds, $1,857,900; 4-per-cent. 

 bonds, $7,798,700 ; 5-per-cent. bonds, $4,430,- 

 500 ; 6-per-cent. Agricultural College bond, 

 $500,000; 6 per cent, on proceeds of sale of 

 experimental farms, $17.000: making an ag- 

 gresrate indebtedness of $14.738,921.28. 



The 5-per-cent. loan may be paid in accord- 

 ant with its terms in 1892. The available 

 funds are more than sufficient to pay this bal- 

 ance now, and the commissioners have endeav- 

 ored to purchase these bonds at a reasonable 

 premium, but many holders refuse to sell. The 

 larger part of the balance of the debt, funded 

 at 3 and 4 per cent., is not due until 1912. 

 The net reduction in the debt for 1888 was 

 $496,794.90. 



Education. The State is divided into thirteen 

 normal - school districts. There are normal 

 schools in eleven districts, and a twelfth has 

 recently been erected at Centerville, leaving 

 only one district (the fourth) without a school. 

 The Central State Normal-School buildings at 

 Lock Haven have recently been burned. There 

 has been a strong movement to secure indus- 

 trial training as part of the public-school sys- 

 tem, and in 1887 the Legislature authorized 

 the Governor to appoint a commission to in- 

 vestigate the subject. The commission report 

 strongly in favor of the system. Isaiah V. 

 Williamson, a wealthy citizen of Philadelphia, 

 toward the end of 1888, conveyed to trustees 

 property valued at several million dollars for 

 the establishment of a " Free School of Me- 

 chanical Trades." The State College has had a 

 year of prosperity, there being ninety students 



in the college and seventy-seven in the prepara- 

 tory department, with nineteen professors. 



Soldiers' Orphans' Schools. The Legislature of 

 18S7 provided for the closing of these schools 

 on June 1, 1890. The Governor recommends 

 the repeal of this law, and calls attention to 

 the fact that, at the time set for closing the 

 schools, there will be 1,549 children in them 

 under the age of sixteen, all orphan children 

 of deceased soldiers of the L'nion. There are 

 at present in these schools 2,249 children, the 

 schools having been established in 1864. By 

 the same act, the schools were closed to fur- 

 ther applicants June 1, 1887, yet many appli- 

 cations have been made. 



Insurance. The last annual report of the in- 

 surance commissioner gives the following state- 

 ment of the business done in the State in 

 1887: Premiums for life insurance, $10,855,- 

 456.37; premiums for fire and marine insur- 

 ance, $9,305,172.21 ; total paid fur insurance, 

 $20,160,628,58. This aggregate is $1,880,- 

 550.16 greater than the total sum p;iid for in- 

 surance in 1886. The total losses paid in 1887 

 were as follow : Paid by fire and marine com- 

 panies, $5,400,637.34; paid by life companies, 

 $4,357,188.36 ; total losses paid, $9,757,825.70. 



National Guard. The last annual report of the 

 adjutant-general gives the total strength of the 

 guard at 7,788 enlisted men and 601 officers. 

 In twenty-three counties no military organiza- 

 tion exists, while in the two counties of Alle- 

 gheny and Philadelphia there are fifty-four 

 companies. The annual appropriation for the 

 guard has been increased from $220,000 to 

 300,000, and the term of enlistment reduced 

 from five to three years. 



State Institutions. The last Legislature pro- 

 vided for the erection of an Industrial Re- 

 formatory at Huntington. The buildings have 

 been erected and equipped, but, owing to the 

 fact that no appropriation had been made for 

 maintenance, the institution is not open. The 

 courts have discretion to send convicts to this 

 reformatory instead of to the State penitenti- 

 aries. "Work on the Western Penitentiary 

 approaches completion. The Eastern Peni- 

 tentiary continues what is known as the soli- 

 tary or confinement plan. The House of 

 Refuge in Philadelphia is about to make an 

 important departure. Through the liberality 

 of two individuals, large funds have been given 

 for the purchase of a farm and the erection of 

 new buildings. The five insane asylums of the 

 State contain 4,265 inmates, of whom 1,568 are 

 at Norristown, 676 at Warren, 843 at Dan- 

 ville, 618 at Dixmont, and 560 at Harrishurg. 

 The number has largely increased by reason of 

 the legislation requiring the removal of insane 

 in county homes to the State institutions. 



Decision. Late in December the State Su- 

 preme Court rendered a decision declaring the 

 act of 1887, dividing the cities of the State into 

 seven classes, unconstitutional and void, on the 

 ground that the act was in the nature of local 

 and special legislation. This decision brings 



