Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1856-01-09

ihe House q Representatives. Of TIE General
assembly:
GENTLEMEN A kind Providence has great
! ly blessed our Commonwealth during the past
year. No foreign war, no internal strife have
interrupted or destroyed the peaceful.quiet of
our homes. All the great interests of the peo-
pie have been eninently prosperous. The
earth, in rich abundance, has yielded her in
! crease TO supply our wants, and reward with
4 her bounty the labor of the hushandman. La
Dor, in every department of manufacturing and
mechanical industry, has been stimulated and
encouraged. The ravages of disease and th,
/ horrors OF the pestilence have been averted
/ from US and whilst the cry of human suffer
| ing, from other States, has been heard inyo-
| king ours sympathy and aid, we have been
| blessed with health and permitted to enjoy tho
comforts and happiness of social life To Him
| who hath bestowed these blessings upon us
| and upon whose care we are constantly de-
! pendent, should be ever paid the willing ho-
mage OF our grateful hearts.
The report OF the State Treasurer viii exhi-
bit TO You IN detail, the operations OF his de-
partment. The results are more satisfactory
and encouraging than were anticipated
The receipts of the Treasury for the fiscal
year ending November 80, 1855, including the
balance in the Treasury on the Ist day OF De-
cember, 1854, S1,210, ,92S 72) amounted to
S6,63l 400 e3. The total payments for the
same period were $5,385, 705 81 leaving
Balance In the Treasury on the Both Novcm-
ber;l655, of 81 ,245, ,697 81. No loans Temporary
or otherwise, were negotiated during the past
fiscal year, as they were lot required by tho
wants ofthe Treasury.
: The receipts during the past year from all
sources, ;. (excluding the balance in the Treasu.
ry on the first day Of December, lS54.) were
81, 1896, ,414 IL. The ordinary expenditures
for the same period, including the interest on
the public debt were 81, ,139, ,5l2 %, showing
an excess of receipts over ordinary expendi-
lures Of 81 ,250, ,961 SO.
The extraordinary payments for the year
were 81 ,2i6, l93 a, as follows, viz TO the
completion of the ew Portage railroad over
the Allegheny mountains, S446,762 II; to the
North Branch canal, SS7 ,562 81; to the CO.
lumbia railroad. to relay south track, $780,
loo co; TO the payment Of domestic creditors,
S ,629 50; to rede nption of loans, S316. $50
60, and to relief notes cancelled, S26O, ,5SS 90.
The balance in the Treasury will be requi-
red for the interest on the State debt falling
due IN February next, and for unpaid appro-
pridtions. The interest on the funded debt of
the Commonwealth which became due in Feb
ruaTy and August last, was promptly paid
and it IS gratifying to state that the interest
due in February next viii be paid with equal
rrcmptness. The credit of the state may be
regarded as firmly established, and with pro-
per economy and a careful and honest man
agement of her finances, annual reduction
of her debt, to q considerable extent may DO
confidently expected.
There is due by the Treasury to the Sink
ing Fund, the sum of $685., oil 80 to be appli-
ed to the redemption ofthe relief notes now in
circulation, and to the funded debt of the
Commonwealth. The greater part of the fun
ded debt bears interest at the rate of five per
cent per anrum the balance bears still less
rate of interest. But as the temporary loans,
which by law are to be first paid out of the
available means of the Treasury, bear interest
at the rate of six per cent it has been deemed
alV mat rfarf of
the surplus revenue to the payment of those
loans. When these are liquidatcd, the amt
due and properly applicable to the sinking
fund viii be paid, and its operation continued
as directed by law.
Notwithstanding the revenues for the last
four OF five years have largely exceeded the
ordinary expenditures of the government, yet
in consequence of the large and Unsuitable de-
mands upon the Treasury for the completion
Of the North Branch Canal, the Portage Rail-
road, and other kindred improvements, tho
public debt, instead of being reduced, has
been increased. This increase with the amount
and condition of the debt at different periods,
win be seen in the following statement.
The message contains tabular statement OF
the financial affairs of Commonwealth since
1851, at the end of which year the total debt
of the State amounted to $40, ,l14236 SO. At
the close Of the year 1854, the debt reached
S4I, sos ,595 "a, being an increase of 81, 1,5S4,-
359 80. On the 1st day of Dec. 1855. the to-
tai debt was S41 ,067. .994 70, being decrease
of S630,601 02, during the fiscal year, in the
course of which s'large appropriations and pay
ments were made for the completion of the
new Portage Railroad, re-laying the track OF
the Columbia Railroad, and for other purposes.
These demands upon the Treasury were, with
out the aid of loans, promptly paid.o
Refusing to undertake any new schemes of
internal Improvement, limiting all appropria-
tions to the actual demands of the occasion,
practising strict economy in all departments
OF the government, and holding the receiving
and disbursing agents Of the Commonwealth TO
a rigid accountability, will greatly reduce the
expenditures, and, under ordinary circumstan-
ses leave an annual surplus of the revenues to
be applied to the redemption Of the public
debt.
The estimated receipts and expenditures for
the current fiscal year viii be presented to you
in the report of the State Treasurer The re-
ceipts from the usual sources of revenue,
above the ordinary expenditures, may exceed
the sum of one million and half of dollars
These estimates may approximate the true re-
suits, but cannot berelied upon with certainty.
By the thirty-eighth section of the act of
the 10th April, lSi5, entitled ssAn Act to pro-
vide for the ordinary expenses of government,
the repair of the canals and railroads of the
State, and other claims upon the Common
wealth. the Governor was authorized to cause
certificates Of State stock to be issued to all
persons or bodies corporate holding certifi-
Gates for the payment of interests on the fun
ded debt of the State, which fell due on tho
lst day of August, 1912, the 1st days of Feb
ruary and August, 1913, and the 1st days of
February and August, 1874, in an amount
equal to the amount of certificates so held up
on their delivering up said certificates to the
Auditor General. In pursuance of the author.
ity thus given, certificates of State stock to
the amount of four millions one hundred and
five thousand one hundred and fifty dollars