PENNSYLVANIA. 



719 



Crawford, assistant superintendent of public 

 grounds, of Blair County, A. M. Loisenring of 

 Mauch Uhunk, and Christian Long of Cumber- 

 land County, or such of them against whom 

 they may be satisfied there is sufficient evi- 

 dence, in the Court of Quarter Sessions of 

 Dauphin County, and that the Attorney-Gen- 

 eral is requested to lend them such aid as they 

 need in conducting said prosecution. This 

 ended the action of the House relative to the 

 report of the committee. 



The following preamble and resolution re- 

 lating to special schools of instruction were 

 offerod in the Senate and adopted : 



Whereat, It is the opinion of thia body that it is 

 the duty of the State to adopt such measures oa will 

 promote the variety and value of her productions, and 

 to foster the establishment of industrial and technical 

 schools having tor their object the practical education 

 and training of the boys and young men of this Com- 

 monwealth m the mechanic arts and sciences, believ- 

 ing, as we do, that the practical result of our present 

 system of education is to direct the attention of boys 

 and young men too much in the direction of the 

 learned professions, to the great neglect and detri- 

 ment of the mechanic arts and skilled industries ; 

 and, 



Whereas, It is believed that the enormous ma^nxi- 

 tude of the production of iron in the State demands 

 the establishment of a limited number of schools 

 wherein shall be taught theoretically and practically 

 the manufacture of all kinds of articles made from 

 iron and from iron steel : therefore, be it 



Resolved by the Senate, That a committee of ten bo 

 appointed, consisting of five Senators to bo appointed 

 by the President pro tern, and five practical and scien- 

 tific mechanics to be appointed by the Governor, 

 whoso duty it shall be to examine the matters in the 

 foregoing preamble, and report to the next Legisla- 

 ture such facts as they may deem necesnary, together 

 with their opinion as to the advisability and policy 

 of establishing such institutions as are therein men- 

 tioned. 



A supposed over-issue of $5,000,000 State 

 bonds in 1852 and 1853 was found upon inves- 

 tigation not to be correct. 



The committee of the House appointed to 

 investigate the affairs of the State Agricultural 

 College reported that the institution had been 

 very badly managed ; that its location was a 

 very undesirable one; that the building was 

 entirely unsuited for the purpose for which 

 it was erected ; that the agricultural depart- 

 ment, which was intended to be the leading 

 object of the institution, had never been a 

 success ; and that the State had never received 

 and is not now receiving benefits at all com- 

 mensurate with the amount of money which 

 had been appropriated to said institution by 

 the United States and the State. The Con- 

 gress of the United States granted to the State 

 780,000 acres of land, which by bad manage- 

 ment netted the State only $439,000. The act 

 of Congress granting this vast amount of land 

 required that the proceeds thereof should bo 

 used by the State mainly in the interest of 

 agriculture and the mechanical arts. The in- 

 terest accruing from this fund, in addition to 

 some $400,000 appropriated by the State Legis- 

 lature, was used and controlled by the trustees 



of said Agricultural College. In addition the 

 trustees aforesaid hold the bond of the State 

 bearing six per cent, interest, dated February 

 2, 1872, calling for $500,000, and falling due 

 fifty years from date, from which they derive 

 a revenue of $30,000 annually. The evidence 

 disclosed the further fact that the deeds for all 

 the freehold belonging to the Pennsylvania 

 State College, including the experimental 

 farms, were held by the trustees, not in trust 

 for the Commonwealth but for themselves and 

 their successors. The committee also found 

 that the experimental farms owned by the 

 trustees, which were to be conducted solely in 

 the interest of the agricultural class of the 

 Commonwealth, have utterly failed to accom- 

 plish the object intended. This is notably so 

 in the case of the western farm located in In- 

 diana County, which is not now a third-class 

 farm nor in as good condition as when pur- 

 chased. At the present session of the college 

 but forty-six students are in attendance, many 

 of whom are non-residents of the State, and 

 there are now in the employ of the college 

 eleven professors, which is out of all propor- 

 tion with the number of students in attendance. 

 The committee is of the opinion that the trus- 

 tees have signally failed to carry out the object 

 for which the magnificent, land-grant was given 

 by the United States, and which was further 

 sought to be accomplished by most liberal ap- 

 propriations on the part of the State. The re- 

 port was received, and a resolution adopted 

 instructing the Treasurer to pay no more 

 money to the college until it was shown that 

 the laws under which it existed were faithfully 

 executed. 



A vast amount of local business was trans- 

 acted, and the Legislature adjourned on June 

 4th. 



The railroad question has perhaps greater 

 prominence in Pennsylvania than in other 

 States. Complaints were formally made to 

 the Governor hi 1878 of undue and unreason- 

 able discrimination in charges and in facilities 

 for transportation of freight over the lines of 

 certain transportation companies. Under his 

 directions such legal proceedings were insti- 

 tuted to redress any such wrongs to shippers 

 as were within the reach of judicial remedy. 

 The transportation of oil was the chief cause 

 of complaint. One company aimed at the pur- 

 chase and refining of the whole product of the 

 State, and had reached such a point of success 

 as to dictate its own price in the purchase of 

 the oil, and to secure from railroads its own 

 terms of transportation. The greatest relief 

 from the oppression of this monopoly was, 

 however, obtained by the producers of oil, by 

 ttie construction of a line of pipe along the 

 surface of the ground through which the oil 

 might fiow from the wells to an independent 

 line of transportation. This line was con- 

 structed from Bradford to Williamsport, a dis- 

 tance of 238 miles. (See u Annual Cyclopro- 

 dia " for 1878, page 682.) The work of con- 



