Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-01-26

DurSn, inc appOrtiOnment Notwithstanding
the impracticablc provisions Of the Consti
tuition, the tax upon coal and others. have
been accomplished. Some, like the exercise
Of eminent domain only upon the actua
ascertalnment Of the public need the ap.
plcation Of the law OF public nuisance &c
the habitual publication Of falschood the
Of a park from the front Of tn.
Capitol to the Susquchanna River, wait
the further enlightenment Of the people OF
the State.
MESSAGE.
GentlCmon: In his mcs age to the As.
Scmbly, December =, 1903, the Honorable
Thomas Mexican, then Governor Of this
state said that PENNSYLVANIA command
Cd general admiration and respect for
the mClioration Of her penal code for the
good faith and punctuality Of her fiscal
transactions, for her benevolent and liter
airy institutions FOR her encouragement
pI pubic improvements in roads and
inland navigation. and for the ardOr aud
discipline of hcr militia" and he added
the gcocrauhical position and the polit-
l"al r"Nf which we hold i'm the Union
seem To- aSS'"u to MS the patriotic task Of
Sottin" a" example Of virtue and indus
trN or p0 'ic spirit and social harmony
Much cf this depletion of then existing
CONDITIONS may after the lapse of a CCn-
tury be repeated with propriety
The reports Of the various departments,
which are herewith submitted. show
state Of affairs which ought to he very
gratifying to the good people OF the Com
monwealth. For the fiscal year ending
June !, 1904. the receipts Of the Treasury
amounted to the sum of S2I7S9,9iO7j.
During the same period, the payments
Tor the expenses Of tho Government were
Sl9,2GG ,369.l1, leaving "A balance of re.
CeiptS over expenditures Of S2.j235I "a.
Tho moneys in the Treasury ON the first
ut June, 1904. were Sl6.SOl .O67.3S. Tho
debt over and above the value Of bonds
and cash in the sinking fund was on
June l. 1903. 1885,. .5O7.2l. and on June l.
1901 S232,S5S.76, 50 that substantially the
commonwealth is free from debt Dur
ing thc same fiscal year, there were cN-
pended for the support of the schools
S6,Ol3I2j.jS; i'm aid Of the various hos
pitfalls ana other charities Of the state,
S2,9l3,3671O: in relief Of the counties in
the rebuilding Of bridges which had been
carried away 10y floods. S5Oij5l 80, and
Tor the erection OF the new state Capitol
Nl.OUO,OOO, II is Crcdbablo that the CAPT
tol. which approaches completion and
promises To- be i'm every way suitable for
the purposes intended and worthy Of tho
commonwealth, is hCiuG built for the rea-
souabIc sum of Sl,j5O,00O and paid for
out of revenues. When We reflect that
the Capitol of Massachusetts cost $3.50.
~, paid for with moneys raised upon
bonds, and that the Capitol of Now York
cost S2i,26I, ,0S2.61. these figures ought
to lac very satisfactory. The Capitol
would bC much improved if there could
hc secured an extension of the present
somewhat limited grounds surrounding
II. The ideal plan in my view would he
10 connect with tho city park hy Open
iuS from the front. say between South
and state streets to the river \ sug-
ECStiOu which would perhaps lead to less
expense would be to secure the properties
IN the rear on which Tor tho most part
are erected a poorer class of buildings.
The question is very much one which
will have to be considered from the point
of view OF tho resources Of the State
Bridges and Charities
With respect 10 the rcbuildiu. of
county bridges, recommend that the
amount tu hC expended each year for
this purpose be fixed at such figure as
may seem to the Legislature to he wise.
udCr the law as il exist, at present.
there is no limitation to the sum which
tho Board of Public Grounds and Build
mGS may bc required to CNpcnd in this
way ana at a time OF the coincidence ur
great floods and diminished revenues. the
situation might lead to serious Cmllr.
TaSsncnt. lf a certain proportion of the
cost of construction of tho bridges were
left to the counties instead of the whole
burden being imposed upon the State.
they would have a substantial interest.
not only in making effort to save the
bridges from destruction, but also in the
preservation of such of the material as
could be utilized.
The subject Of the charities aided by
the State is one which ought to receive
your serious consideration. The number
nG "a Of Il.
to benefit suffering humanity i'm their
respective localities and worthy of sup.
port, Is continually increasing and the
sums appropriated TO them already reach
what in some other States would be re-
garded as an enormous expenditure. If
the Commonwealth is to continue its
present policy of assistance, there oughts
to bc some systematic and businesslikc
method provided both for securing in
formation as to the needs of the inStitu-
ton and for supervising the expenditure
of moneys contributed by the State. so
that it may be known that these funds
are actually required and are applied
without extravaganza to the purposes
for which they are intended. 1t is unfair
that the burden of investigation should
be imposed upon the Committees upon
Appropriations of the Senate and House
to be completed during the brief periods
Of the sessions, No matter how long and
the nature of things must be imperfect
The time is insufficient and only I'm.
tereSted parties appear before them
The efforts of members to secure these
appropriations for institutions in the dis
tricts they represent are "A hindrance to
and interference with general legisla-
tion. A plan could be adopted which
would not in any way interfere with the
visitatorial powers of the Board of CharI-
ties, and perhaps the most effective way
would be to increase their powers and
agencies.
Reducing Reports q.
An earnest effort has been made, in
which all the heads of departments have
participated, to reduce the bulk of the
departmental reports, which had gradu-
ally grown to unwieldy proportions, and
thus to reduce the expense Of printing
The report Of the factory inspector.
which in 1903 covered 1906 pages, i'm
/ 9O4 was reduced to 100 pages and gave
practically as much information. The
volume of laws for the session of 1903