Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-03-10
HARRISBURG.


Tremendous Draw Oh the State Treasury
Pittsburg Leader Correspondence.
| Outside the bill proposing to apprOpriat, t,
about s., ,OOO, 900 to indemnify Allegheny
county for the amount paid for losses in
flictcd by the railroad riots of 1877, and t.
indemnify the people Of the counties in
vaded by the rebels in 1868, the demands
for money from the state treasury exceed
the anticipated revenue for the presen
year about 50, 600, 900. The appropriation
cOmmitte is unfortunately constituted, but
three members being on who have no in
stitution in their district demanding tribute
from the state. The consequence of thi.
arrangement Of the committee is that the
| members help each other to get their bills
affirmatively reported, and very few come
before the House with negative recon-
mendatiOns. Scarcely any attention j:
paid to the recommendations Of the board
| of public charities which in it's prelimin
ary report to the Legislature gives its esti
mates of the appropriations required tt
run the various state institutions. Ex
travagance is the rule economy the ex.
ception. Those members who are Op-
posed to the large and indiscrimmate Civ.
ing of money have been so often defeated
that they have resolved to allow the ma
jority to have their own way without
further protest, as the opposition is not
sufficiently formidable to execise a salutary
effect in the pruning down Of the appro-
priations demanded.
Among the leeches sucking 1T the treas
ury are the state normal schools, which
have drawn from the general revenue
fund at least one million dollars in apprO-
priations, and which regularly knock at
the legislative doors for more money to
run the costly institutions The normal
schools would never have been created by
tho Legislature had it not been first claimed
that they would be self-sustainin.. But
no year in which the Legislature met has
been allowed to pass without . demand
for big appropriation for the maintenance
of the schools. This year the song has
been somewhat changed, the institutions
in debt asking the Legislature to liquidate
their Indebtedness. For this purpose
$3.50, 600 are demanded, but $50, 900 could
be added to the amount without exceeding
their liabilities OF this amount about
$3.50, 600 are prior liens to the mortgagee
of the commonwealth.
The partial destruction of the Danville
state lunatic hospital will probably result
in tho introduction of bill apprOpriatinc
between $4OO, 900 and s45OO, 600 for the re-
building Of the institution, the trustees
estimating that that amount will be re-
quired for the purpose. 1t il doubtful if
the Legislature will appropriate this sum
of money, as the insane people in the state
can be accommodated ut other lunatic
hospitals at a greatly reduced expense,
owing to the fact that it would enable the
state to dispense with much of the force
now employed to treat and watch over the
insane.
The soldiers orphan schools are de-
manding S7OO, 600 to keep them going the
next two years, which would run their
total expenditures to about $1,000, 600
since their organization. Large numbers
of petitions are being received from vari-
GUS portions of the state praying the Leg
islature to grant the amount demanded,
which will doubtless be done, as there is
no disposition of any consequence evident
to stop appropriations until the system of
the children of soldiers have |
gone out Of operation.
1t is probable that the Allegheny in |
lemity bill will be negatively reported |
from the committee on appropriations, al
,hough the Allegheny members are doing
Ill in their power to have it returned to /
he House with an affirmative recOmmen-
lation. Both it and the border raid re-
ief bill, which is on the House calendar,
lave not the least chance of favorable con-
liberation in either branch of the Legisla-
ure.
There have been introduced in the Leg
stature thus far about GOO bills-4O0 in the
House and 200 in the Senate-and before