570 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



long period distinguished by the pursuits of 

 peaceful industry exclusively, has become wholly 

 inefficient, and the interference of the Legisla- 

 ture is required to remove its defects, and to 

 render it available to the public service. 



" Precautions such as I have suggested are 

 wise and proper at all' times in a Government 

 like ours ; but especial and momentous consid- 

 erations, arising from the condition of public 

 affairs outside the limits, yet of incalculable 

 consequence to the people, and demanding the 

 gravest attention of the Legislature of Pennsyl- 

 vania, invest the subject to which your action 

 is invited by this communication with extraor- 

 dinary interest and importance. 



" We cannot be insensible to the fact that 

 serious jealousies and divisions distract the 

 public mind, and that in portions of this Union 

 the peace of the country, if not the safety of the 

 Government itself, is endangered. 



" Military organizations of a formidable char- 

 acter, which seem not to be demanded by any 

 existing public exigency, have been formed in 

 certain of the States. On whatever pretext 

 these extraordinary military preparations may 

 have been made, no purpose that may contem- 

 plate resistance to the enforcement of the laws 

 will meet sympathy or encouragement from the 

 people of this Commonwealth. 



" Pennsylvania yields to no State in her re- 

 spect for and her willingness to protect, by all 

 needful guarantees, the constitutional rights and 

 constitutional independence of her sister States, 

 nor in fidelity to that constitutional Union whose 

 unexampled benefits have been showered alike 

 upon herself and them. 



" The most exalted public policy and the 

 clearest obligations of true patriotism, therefore, 

 admonish us, in the existing deplorable and 

 dangerous crisis of affairs, that our militia sys- 

 tem should receive from the Legislature that 

 prompt attention which public exigencies, either 

 of the State or of the nation, may appear to de- 

 mand, and which may seem in your wisdom 

 best adapted to preserve and secure to the peo- 

 ple of Pennsylvania and the Union the blessings 

 of peace and the integrity and stability of our 

 unrivalled Constitutional Government. 



" The government of this great State was es- 

 tablished by its illustrious founder ' in deeds of 

 peace.' Our people have been trained and dis- 

 ciplined in those arts which lead to the pro- 

 motion of their own moral and physical devel- 

 opment and progress, and, with the highest re- 

 gard for the rights of others, have always cul- 

 tivated fraternal relations with the people of all 

 the States devoted to the Constitution and the 

 Union, and always recognizing the spirit of con- 

 cession and compromise that underlies the foun- 

 dation of the Government. 



" Pennsylvania offers no counsel and takes no 

 action in the nature of a menace. Her desire is 

 for peace, and her object the preservation of 

 the personal and political rights of citizens, of 

 the true sovereignty of States, and the suprem- 

 acy of law and order. 



" Animated by these sentiments and indulg- 

 ing an earnest hope of the speedy restoration 

 of those harmonious and friendly relations be- 

 tween the various members of this Confederacy 

 which have brought our beloved country to a 

 condition of unequalled power and prosperity, 

 I commit the grave subject of this communica- 

 tion to your deliberation." 



A bill, corresponding to those recommenda- 

 tions of the Governor, was immediately reported 

 in the Legislature, which passed both Houses 

 without amendment, and became a law on the 

 12th of April. It also appropriated half a mil- 

 lion of dollars for the purpose of arming and 

 equipping the militia. This gathering of the 

 elements of the approaching contest, indicates 

 that those who set them in motion knew what 

 was at hand and were determined to be ready 

 for the fearful contest. In the House the bill 

 passed by a vote of ayes, 65 ; noes, 28. 



Mr. Smith, a democratic member of the 

 House, after despatches had been read an- 

 nouncing the commencement of hostilities at 

 Charleston, changed his vote in order to urge 

 forward this bill. In the Senate it was adopted 

 by a vote of ayes, 26 ; noes, 6 ; and before eight 

 o'clock that evening became a law by receiving 

 the signature of the Governor. 



On the next day a bill to define and punish 

 treason passed the Senate. It forbid any citi- 

 zen of the State to take a military commission 

 from the enemies of the United States, or to 

 engage in any plot or conspiracy, or traitorous 

 correspondence, or furnish arms, under a penalty 

 of two years' imprisonment, and a fine of five 

 thousand dollars. Any person convicted of sel- 

 ling vessels to the enemy or fitting out privateers 

 should be punished by five years' imprisonment 

 and a fine of five thousand dollars. All officers 

 of the Pennsylvania volunteers were required 

 to take an oath of allegiance to the United 

 States within thirty days ; on refusal they 

 should be at once deprived of their commis- 

 sions. Two new regiments specially raised for 

 the United States reported on this day as ready 

 for immediate service. This was two days be- 

 fore the proclamation of the President calling 

 out troops was issued. The Legislature, imme- 

 diately after the passage of this bill, adjourned. 



On the 15th of April the excitement in Phil- 

 adelphia, the principal city in the State, and one 

 of the largest in the Union, was great in conse- 

 quence of the attack upon Fort Sumter, the 

 proclamation of the President calling for vol- 

 unteers, and the feeling of exasperation in the 

 public mind caused by the presence in the city 

 of persons who were suspected of sympathy 

 with the secessionists. A large mob collected 

 in the streets, which at one time numbered 

 about ten thousand. The office of the " Palmetto 

 Flag," a newspaper recently commenced for ad- 

 vertising purposes, was visited, and the demon- 

 strations against it were of so decided a charac- 

 ter as to call for the interference of the police. 

 The proprietors were obliged to display the 

 American flag, and Mayor Henry made a speech 



