PENNSYLVANIA. 



679 



January of each year, for the period of twenty 

 years, and the principal of said certificates of 

 loan to be paid on January 1, 1898, which cer- 

 tificates should be signed by the Governor and 

 State Treasurer, and countersigned by the Au- 

 ditor-General, and be free from all taxes except 

 those imposed by the laws of the United States. 

 Upon the issuing of these certificates the State 

 should become sole owner of the claims, and 

 should proceed to press the collection of the 

 same from the General Government of the 

 United States. 



The Committee on Labor and Industry in 

 the House reported with a preamble the fol- 

 lowing resolutions, which were adopted : 



Resolved, That the House of Representatives (the 

 Senate concurring) most earnestly and respectfully 

 recommend that our Senators and Representatives in 

 Congress d.evise some means of aiding and encour- 

 aging the immediate building of the Texas Pacific 

 Railroad, or any other needed national improvement 

 consistent with prudent economy and protection to 

 our national interest. 



Resolved, That we recommend that they adopt 

 some practical plan for furnishing the necessary 

 means by which a portion of the surplus labor of 

 the country may be settled on the public domains, 

 and assisted until such times as they can be self- 

 sustaining ; and that we earnestly protest against 

 any change at the present time of the tariff laws of 

 the nation. 



In Pennsylvania almost the entire revenue 

 is derived from an indirect tax upon corpora- 

 tions. Of the total income of the State Trea- 

 sury for the year 1877, amounting to upward 

 of $6,000,000, nearly $4,000,000 was paid by 

 railroad and coal corporations, and foreign in- 

 surance companies. That a considerable amount 

 due from corporations escapes assessment there 

 is no doubt. The Standard Oil Company, for 

 instance, derive their whole business from a 

 great production of the State, and yet their 

 contribution to the Treasury for the year 

 amounted to about $300. The corporations 

 are the agencies that are selected for the pur- 

 pose of collecting this revenue. What they 

 pay into the Treasury of the State they levy 

 upon the consumers of their products, upon 

 the employees of their lines of transportation, 

 upon the holders of their shares, and upon the 

 purchasers of their policies. There is no por- 

 tion of the population of the State that does 

 not in this indirect way contribute to the pay- 

 ment of the taxes. While a system which pre- 

 sents so easy and advantageous a means of 

 raising revenue is likely to be still further 

 elaborated instead of being disturbed by the 

 Legislature, it is attended with evils. The 

 representative does not hesitate to vote away 

 large sums of public money for doubtful ob- 

 jects when it is obtained so easily by assessing 

 corporations. The provision of the Constitu- 

 tion that no appropriation shall be made to in- 

 stitutions not under the absolute control of the 

 Commonwealth, except by a two-thirds vote, 

 has not proved a very effective protection 

 against extravagant expenditure. By making 

 combinations it seems to be as easy to get a 



two-thirds vote as it was formerly to get a 

 majority. 



The debt of the State on December 1, 1878, 

 was $21,875,620. Of this amount $8,504,899 

 is provided for by bonds of the Pennsylvania 

 and Alleghany Valley Kailroads, and a balance 

 of $958,630 in the sinking fund, leaving $13,- 

 370,721 unprovided for. The Constitution of 

 the Sta.te requires an annual reduction of the 

 debt of not less than $250,000. The debt con- 

 sists of the following obligations: 



Over-due loans, upon which interest has been 

 stopped and not presented for payment 



Redeemable loans of 5 and 6 per cent., upon 

 which interest has been stopped and not pre- 

 sented for payment 



Six per cent, payable in 1879. 



$48,848 28 



131,750 00 

 400,000 00 

 895.000 00 

 87,000 00 



2,118,000 00 



90,400 00 



9,271,850 00 



723,950 00 



8,000,000 00 

 500,000 00 



Five per cent, payable in 1882. 



Four and a half per cent, payable in 1882 



Six per cent, redeemable in 1877, and payable in 



1882 .: 



Five per cent, redeemable in 1877, and payable 



in 1832 . .:.... 



Six per cent, redeemable in 1882, and payable 



in 1892 ! 



Five per cent, redeemable in 1882, and payable 



in 1892 '. ...... 



Five per cent, redeemable in 1892, and payable 



in 1902 ! ..;.... 



Six per cent, agricultural, payable in 1922 



Relief notes in circulation $96,167 00 



Interest certificates outstanding 13,038 54 



Interest certificates unclaimed 4,448 38 



Domestic creditors' certificates 25 00 



Chambersburg certificates unclaimed 148 66 



113,827 58 



Total debt, December 1, 1878 $21,875,620 86 



As regards annual receipts and expenditures 

 the following statement of the receipts and 

 expenditures during the fiscal year ending No- 

 vember 30, 1878, shows a serious deficiency : 



Balance on hand. November 30, 1877. .. . $454,775 50 

 Revenue 3,957,881 83 



Total receipts $4,412,657 83 



Payments 4,862,170 95 



Balance, November 80, 1878 $50,486 38 



The estimated receipts and expenses for the 

 year ending November 30, 1879, were as fol- 

 lows : 



Balance, November 80, 1878 $50,486 88 



Estimated revenue, 1879 (State Treasurer) 3,395,000 00 



Total available fund $3,445,486 38 



Estimated expenses for 1879, including unpaid 



appropriations (State Treasurer) 5,618,547 35 



Estimated deficit in general fund, November 30, 



1879 $2,173,060 97 



The revenues of the general fund for 1878 

 have fallen below the revenues of 1877 some 

 $600,000, and the estimated revenues of 1879 

 are $900,000 below the same standard, making 

 altogether, for the two years in which the defi- 

 ciencies will have principally accumulated, a 

 falling off of the revenues of a million and a 

 half. This deficiency is ascribed to two causes 

 extraordinary appropriations and decreased 

 revenue. The sum of $673,000 can be laid to 

 the extraordinary appropriations required on 

 account of the Insane Hospitals for the south- 

 eastern district and at Warren, the building of 

 the new Western and Eastern Penitentiaries, 



