Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-01-13

ere to other corporations, sometimes without even
gHng the date Of these acts. Ali these practices
az bad, and although they may sometimes be pur
sud by parties having no bad intention. yet they
eetalny originated IN the design of surprising the
Commonwealth into grants of privileges which 1t
\ We known could not be obtained if their extent
& VIE understood, and they often followed now
fdthe same fraudulent purpose.
4 strongly recommend the repeal of the act passed
tif 18TH day Of july A. p. 1868, entitled AN act
/ reating TO corporations for mechanical. manufac
| tqing mining and quarrying purposes.
i sts provisions are found TO be practically so In
consistent with the due protection Of the citizens and
1 viii the jnst policy of the Commonwealth. that it
ought not to be allowed to stand longer on or stat
! utl book. / approved the act in question with
great refactancc, and subsequent reflection and oh
seratlon have satshedme Of its mischieyous charac
Ialso recommend the repeal of an act passed the
ID day of July, 1868, entitled 4 further sap
plHnent 10 enable joint tenants and tenants in
mgaa and adjoining owners Of mineral lands IN this
/ Commonwealth, 10 manage and develop the same.
This act allows foreign corporations to Lold three
hthdred acres Of land in this State for mining par-
paes 1t was passed. is believed, for the purpose
ofenabling companies near our border engaged in
thf manufacture of iron, to hold land as ore banks
Bd nader the idea that the sinking Of an oil well is
mining, il is believed that companies have already
besn organized under the laws of other States and
mre will be. for the purpose of holding lands and
carving the oil business in this State. Ii would
pealng the act These companies, being foreign
corporations are not within the control of our laws
to the extent that they ought TO be for the purposes
of taxation and regulation.
The immense development eff wealth in some Of
ON western counties by the discovery of oil has ad
des vastly to the resources of the Commonwealth.
! have made efforts TO ascertain the value Of this
predue during the past year, bat have failed in pro-
cuing information sufficiently accurate 10 justify me
nestimating It's amount 1t is already vast and is
raoidly increasing.
The productions and manufactures of the State
have become so diversified and abundant that some
measure should be taken for accurate ascertain
neHt af them. that their extent may be generally
known and also that the necessary taxation may be
inteIligently imposed. / recommend for these pur
poses the creation Of Bureau Of which the Auditor
General and State Treasurer shall be members. aud
the head of which shall be officer, to be styled
Commissioners Of Statistics, or designated by any
other appropriate title.
The act of25th August, 1864. providing for the
voting Of soldiers, should be carefully examined,
with view to It's amendment, and, indeed, revis-
sion Of cur whole election laws would seem to be desi
rable with view TO the two essential objects Of l.
The admission Illegal and exclusion of illegal votes
at the POLLS; and, ?. Faithful and correct returns
of the VHees actually poled. / communicate here
wi ith the opinion of the Attorney General the
eoniiieting returns for the 10th Congressional Dis
trct, which viii show of the practical difhcul
ties which rise under the existing system. Without
undertaking to recommend the adoption of particu-
lar plssl submit the whole subject to your careful
and earnest consideration, in the hope that in your
wisdom you viii be able to devise some measure
which will produce the result SO essential 70 the ex
istenee Of free government: that votes shall be
fairly taken in the first instance, and fairly counted
and Teturned afterwards.
IhaHe snleayored since came into office to exer-
lis cautiously as p0SS1uIe me powers e0nnced 10
the Executive, and avoid usurping any. / shall en-
deavor to persist in this course to the end.
A new call has been made by the President for
00.000 iaen. This renders it proper that / should
invite your attention to the evils which have resulted
from abuses of the system of local bounties which
was begun, in an emergency by the voluntary and
generous loyalty of citizens before the passage
by Congress of the enrolment act, and has since
been continued by sundry acts of Assembly. The
result has been to the last degree oppressive to our
citizens and unproductive of corresponding benefit
to the Government. In some counties and town
ships it is believed that the bounty tax during the
last year exceeded the average income derived from
the land The large sums offered IN some places in
the competition for men, have demoralzed many of
our people and the most aroclous frauds connected
with the system have become common. The men
of some of the poorer counties have been nearly
exhausted by their volunteers being credited rich
ar localities paving heavier bounties. The system
As pracced lowers the morale Of the army itself BY
putting into the ranks actuated by merely mer-
cenary motives, and who are tempted to desert by
the facility of escaping detection, and the prospect
of new gains by eenllsment, process which they
expect Ge 2De 10 repeat }iueiEllAS huInpeF
times OF the number of men for whom bountes
have been paid, it is believed that not one-fourth
have been actually placedln the ranks OF the army,
and even.those who have joined 1t, have probably
not on an average received for their own use one
half of the bounty paid for them. Immense sums
have thus been appropriated by cheats andswinders
in many cases believed to be acting IN completely
with agencies Of the Government.
An effort was made to prosecute some OF the par
ties concerned In such frauds under the act of As
III g - t11F nd c41rall
over by the Mayor of this city, bat after the witness
es had come here the meeting of the court they
disappeared from the public eye. / recommend the
whole subject to your careful consideration, that
the system may be purged OF these evils
/ am officially informed that the quota OF this |
State under the recent call, 66, 999, bat not
informed Of the principle on which the draft is to
be made.
1t appears from the Presidents proclamation that
II is made chiefly 10 supply alleged deficiency in
former calls am surprised at the amount Of this
large deficiency, and can only account for the diff
ference between the number OF men furnished by
the State and the deficiency alleged to exist IN the
assignment Of the present quota by the assumption
that the men never reached the army, although
listed and mustered after the payment of bonuties
by the localities which they were supposed to be
credited II Is nrobabe tbat there are very few
counties ia the State which have not paid large
bountes for a number Of men sufficient to tiil their
former qnotas.
Taking the local bounties at the low average of
four hundred dollars, ii is believed that it can be
demonstrated that the people OF Pennsylvania have
thus been robbed Of more than twelve millions OF |
dollars during the past year. This estimate does
not include the money fraudulently taken from men
who have actually gone into the service
The continuance of these monstrous and unparal-
ieled abuses cannot be tolerated.
Certainly more men are required to aid our gal
liant soldiers in the field in crushing this rebellion,
and every consideration Of patriotism and OF regard
for our brothers who in the face OF the enc
my obliges us to spare no effort TO raise the neees
sary force.
In June last gave letters To a committee Of the
prison society al Philadelphia, requesting that the
members of the COMMITTEES might be allowed to vis-
il and examine the prisons and poor houses through
out the Commonwealth. / transmit with this COM
munication copy Of the report made to me by the
society of the results Of their labors and commend
the same to your attention with view 70 the adop-
e rntartn the ahrlses