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PENNSYLVANIA. 





ARTHUR WELLESLEY PEEL, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. 



ber, 1868, to January, 1871 ; Parliamentary 

 Secretary to the Board of Trade from January, 

 1871, to August, 1873 ; Secretary to the Treas- 

 ury from the latter date till February, 1874; 

 and Tinder-Secretary of State for the Home 

 Department from April to December, 1880. 

 On the 26th of February, 1884, he was elected 

 Speaker of the House of Commons, succeeding 

 the Right Hon. Sir Henry Brand. He has 

 never been knighted perhaps because his 

 father, who had declined both knightage and 

 a peerage, left in his will an injunction to his 

 sons never to accept any such distinction. 



PENNSYLVANIA. State Government. The fol- 

 lowing were the State officers during the year: 

 Governor, Eobert E. Pattison, Democrat; 

 Lieutenant - Governor, Chauncey F. Black ; 

 Secretary of State, William S. Stenger ; Treas- 

 urer, Willian Livsey ; Auditor-General, Jerome 



Cassidy; Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

 E. E. Higbee ; Insurance Commissioner, J. M. 

 Forster. Judiciary, Supreme Court: Chief- 

 Justice, Ulysses Mercur ; Justices, Isaac G. Gor- 

 don, Edward M. Paxson, John Trunkey, James 

 P. Sterrett, Henry Green, and Silas M. Clark. 

 Finances. The fiscal year that closed Nov. 30, 

 1884, began with a cash balance in the treasury, 

 Dec. 1, 1883, of $3,534,538.03. During the year 



there was received, for the general 

 fund, $3,735,279.87, and for the 

 sinking fund, $2,491,679.51, mak- 

 ing the total receipts $6,226,959.- 

 38. For the same period the pay- 

 ments were, for the general fund 

 $4,377,515.68, and for the sink- 

 ing fund, $3,266,396.62, making 

 the total payments $7,643,912.30. 

 While the receipts were thus less 

 than the expenditures, yet, with 

 the cash balance on hand, Dec. 

 1, 1883, from former years, the 

 Treasurer was enabled to meet all 

 the current expenses during the 

 year, and, at the same time, invest 

 for the sinking fund $2,150,476.37, 

 and close the year with a balance 

 in the treasury of $2,117,585.11. 

 The apparent excess of payments 

 over receipts for the year is $1,- 

 416,952.92. Of this excess, how- 

 ever, $774,717.11 is invested in 

 the sinking fund to secure the pay- 

 ment of the debt of the State. This 

 leaves, therefore, as the real excess 

 of expenses over receipts, $642,- 

 235.81. This difference may be ac- 

 counted for by a net decrease in 

 the receipts over the previous fiscal 

 year of $374,465.66. Of the gross 

 decrease, $547,758.32 occurred in 

 the receipts from the five items of 

 tax on capital stock of corpora- 

 tions, of gross receipts, of collat- 

 eral inheritance tax, of retailers' 

 licenses, and of tavern-licenses. The excess of 

 payments over the previous fiscal year is due 

 mainly to the extra session of the Legislature. 

 The increased payments to charitable and refor- 

 matory institutions, to public printing, to nor- 

 mal and common schools, to penitentiaries, and 

 to costs in suits against dealers, six items, 

 amounted to $258,802.37. 



The following is a statement of the condition 

 of the public debt : 



Three and a half per cent, loans, due 1912 $1,755.900 00 



Three and a half and four per cert, loans of 



1881, due 1885 to 1692 1,870,60000 



Five per cent, loans of March 20, 1877, due 



1892 7,767,800 00 



Four per cent, loans of 1879, due 1 894 1,917,000 00 



Four per cent, loans of 1879, due 1912 5,108,800 00 



Miscellaneous loans upon which interest has 



ceased 165,183 28 



Six per cent, agricultural bond 500,000 (M 



Total debt $19,084,288 28 



The following are the chief items of receipts 

 and disbursements for 1884 : 



Tax on grosreceps. . . . 

 Tax on gross premiums 



Tax on loans ..... 

 Tax on premiums 



$1 ' C ?i 616 IS 



787,929 $ 

 36,158 



8K5 52 



140,715 s 



