The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1860-01-19

If les earnings, in the shape cf fixed tax
tipoa the freight carried over the road, Is
Questioned by the company, and that, Too,
after the grant has taksR effect, aud while
the corporation is in the full eljpEment. .ot
n ,br senestf cGRferred u2oaSt by its
charter. The question, it is true, is a
ldgrtl one, and its decision, therefore, rests
yith the judicial department of the gov.
Grnment; BtE, have not the slightest
d9utt, that tfie decisi6n, when had, Will
frftisefY ysadicate the right OF the gov
erumeatito IMPOSE the tax, and to ceuhs
pelcorPoFationssvf its own creation etey
i4e,lrw ffr8@ which L F.heyg derive their eza
islence,roWheR' il, is remembered, that
the tax was originally llApossd, IN order
taindempifg the State ts& seine) extent,
far hsSes hleh aie. was sure to susta IN
from, aGmpctition,s which, was inevitable,
he weep t)se, gsilroad authorized, aud her
nsan line Of public wegkS !; and that this
.onpetition did, not only seriously affect
sfls FfYenues of the COMMONWEALTH, de-
rived fran her public Improvements, but
4timaiely ipl1ced the sale of the main
! ne to the railroad company itself, at a
!, Ice many millions of dollars. below what
il would have produced, in the absence
# such competition, it is certainly not to
be presmed that the Commonwealth will
Willingly kield her demand for revenue
from, this soitaee, until she is, at least,
tllly unidentified far the pcsuaiaEy nja
fy sustained in the depreciation of hei.
uwa property, by the liberality extended
to the company which now denies her
power. t, enforce contract, voluntarily
entered into, upon consideration entire
y adequate.
The annual report Of the Superintend
ont Of Common Schools, with the tables
and documtpts accompanying it, will ex-
h bit the condition of the vast engine of
soc al improvement to which it relates.
The number Of pupils, in all the pablic
schools of the State, is 634,65l-of
.eaaok, III ,4S5-and Of teachers, l4,0ZI.
'Ehe schools have bees in operation. on
isfs average. oyer the whole State, FIVE
months and nine days The average sal
ary Of male teachers, is S24 sc, and Of
female teachers $l7 10, and the cost of
Instruction. per p&pji, fifty,.hrce cents
rer month. The average tax for tuition,
&c, is about fye and half mills, and for
building purposes, about three and one
Aixth mills, ON the dollar Including the
city of Philadelphia, the entire c)st of tu-
ition, 60, was 81 ,047, ,66l o. the build
ing expenses S53l Alb So; and the whole
expense Of the system, IN the State, for
the year, S2,579,075 II.
Though the school year ending oa tie
FIRST Monday of June last, was one Of un-
usual difficulty in money affairs, yet the
system marlfestS All encouraging activity
inallits departments, while a lse rate oftax-
,,tion, both for tuition and buildings, would
appear, from the official report, to have
somewhat decreased But, it is by con-
trast of the present condition of the sys-
tom, with that of 1854, when the agcn-
cies now operating so benefcially, were
created, that alts are most plainly seen
Within. that. period; the whole number of
pupils has been increased nearly one-sev-
rnth-of teachers, one thirteenth-and
the salary of teachers, the best index IF
improvement, one-Sixth for males, and
nne-toarth for females These results,
with the others which the official report
will exhibit, unerringly point to the duty,
Us we'll as necessity, Of the utmost care
and attention, on the part of ali public
agents, to this primary social institution
primary in importance, no less than in
ths career Of each citizen. To strength
IN, to retain pure, and to properly direct,
this fountain head Of social influence, is,
it seems to me, the great duty Of the law
maker, in his highest and most responsl-
bic capacity, as th3 framer Of :ke future
ofthe State.
The attention Of .bc General Assembly
was called, somewhat at length, to the
existing condition ahd further require
mcnts Of our schoo! system, IN the annual
~ ,ssage of last year, 1t is not, there
fore, necessary to repeat the suggestions
aid c 10 u iols then presented. TIE are
again, however, commended to your ia
vJrable consideration; the events and K
perience Of the Intervening period, hav-
ing increased the conviction of their pro.
priety. This is especially the case, in
gard to the plan devised BY the act Of
10Th of May, 1857, for the due training
'ofteachers for th common schools of the
State. A full supply of competent teach
ers, is admitted by all. to be the great
need of the system, aud the first want to
be provided for. Unerring indications,
in every quarter, not only establish this
fact, but point to the general adoption Of
the proposed means, at no distan day.
The efforts of the teachers, then selves,
for professional Improvement, encouraged
and sustained by all who duly estimate