PENNSYLVANIA. 



690 



the number of Senators fixed at 50, and r. pr.- 



Metitati\e> ut -Jnl. llcpivsciitativ.", :nv IM l.c 

 4 biennially lor a term of two years, and 

 one-half of tho Senate every two yearn for u 

 ti-nii uf t'.ur years. A new election law was 

 passed providing for the registration of legal 



- and the conductor elections. Tin- 

 t rat ion is inadu by tho assessors, who at the same 

 t'um< make assessments for taxes on those not 

 :iliv:nly assessed. The elections are to be con- 

 duct. -ii liy judges and inspectors, who are ap- 

 pointed by tin- judges of (Jie county courts, but 

 <>f election may also be appointed in 

 any election district on the petition of five citi- 

 zens setting forth that it is necessary in order 

 to secure :i fair election. These overseers must 

 bo two in number, one from each political 

 party, who shall supervise the proceedings of 

 the election-officers, and make a report thereon 

 to the Court of Common Pleas of the county. 



Kvcry ballot cast mnst be numbered in the or- 

 der in which it was received, and the same 

 number is placed opposite the name of the per- 

 son voting. Any person whose name is not on 

 the registration lint may vote on satisfactory 

 proof to the eloction-ottirertt that he has a legal 

 right to do so in the district in which he rlaim^ 

 the right, but he must produce at least one wit- 

 ness who shall testify under oath to the facts 

 necessary fur his qualification. The right to 

 vote of any person whoso name is upon the 

 list may be challenged at the polls by any quali- 

 fied voter of the same district, whereupon 

 proof of tlie right of suffrage of the person so 

 challenged shall be made and passed upon by 

 the Election Hoard, and the vote received or re- 

 jected according to tho evidence. The polls 

 must close at seven o'clock p. M., nndthe votes 

 he immediately counted and returns made out in 

 triplicate. The result shall also be announced 



HARRISBURG, FROM THE WEST BANK OF THE SOSQUEHANNA. 



to the citizens present and posted in writing on 

 the door of the " election-house." The tripli- 

 cate returns must be sealed in the presence of 

 the officers and taken to the prothonotary of 

 the county. One copy of the returns is to he 

 placed on file for public inspection, one deliv- 

 ered to the Judges of the Court of Common 

 Pleas, and tho other sealed up in the box with 

 the ballots. The returns for the entire county 

 are to be opened and computed in the Court 

 of Common Pleas. The county returns must 

 be transmitted to the Secretary of the Common- 

 wealth by the county commissioners. Provi- 

 sion is made for compensation to election-offi- 

 cers, and punishment for neglect of duty or 

 violation of the law. 



An act providing that all children over tho 

 age of six years should be admitted to the com- 

 mon schools of the State " without regard to 

 color," and that colored children should " en- 



joy all the rights and privileges of said schools 

 now allowed or which hereafter may be al- 

 lowed to white children," was introduced in 

 the Senate and passed by a strict party vote 

 of 20 Republicans to 11 Democrats. At tho 

 same time a bill was introduced in the Ilou-e 

 of Representatives making attendance on the 

 common schools compulsory. These measures 

 were intended to make tho laws of the State 

 conform to the civil-rights bill then pending 

 in Congress, and, when that bill failed to pa--. 

 they were abandoned without becoming law. 

 Among the other measures of the session was 

 one providing for a geological survey of the 

 State. This authorized the appointment by the 

 Governor of a board of ten scientific nnd prac- 

 tical men to serve without compensation, who 

 should select the State geologist and superint.iV; 

 the survey. An appropriation of $35,000 per 

 year was made to carry on the work, which is 



