of all the children in the Cominonwealth and also the kind of schools provided for in this amendment. It was with the view of giving the Legislature the largest liberty on the subject of education, that I voted against the second section of this article providing that the Legislature should appropriate a million of dollars annually for the support of common schools. I feared that a provision of that kind in the Constitution would be taken by the Legislature as a limit, and that it would appropriate that sum and no more; that for years to come that would be looked upon by the Legislature as a limit beyond which they would not go. I know it says "at least;" but I know that the Legislature on the subject of appropriations for common schools and educational purposes has been very careful to make the sums very small. The sums heretofore appropriated by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth for the purposes of common schools have been a mere pittance, nothing more than enough to keep the establishment at Harrisburg going. I hope to see the day, and that not very far distant, when a much larger sum than a million of dollars-yea, thrice that sum-will be appropriated by the Legislature of Pennsylvania for the support of the common schools of this Commonwealth.

I therefore would rather have confined this article to the first section; but it seems to be the desire of the Convention to do otherwise; but I am not willing to go with the gentleman from York (Mr. Gibson) to provide for establishing general mechanical establishments by the Legislature of the State for all persons. I want to confine it, if at all, to the kind of people that are named in this section, those that are found in cities like Philadelphia and other large towns and cities in this Commonwealth. They are persons that ought to be provided for. They are the persons that I suppose are intended to be provided for by this section -poor, indigent and neglected children, such as have been described here so well by the gentlemen on my right from Washington (Mr. Hazzard)-those foreign children that are now in the streets of Philadelphia and other towns and cities of this Commonwealth. If put in educational establishments where they can be fed and clothed and educated and learn mechanical occupations, they will then become important and valuable citi

zens to the Commonwealth. I am not like the gentleman from Montgomery ; (Mr. Boyd;) I do not care whether they come from Philadelphia or Pittsburg, or from any other county in the Commonwealth. If they are the kind of children that are contemplated by the section urder consideration, they may be placed in institutions of this kind.

Our system of common schools as now conducted under the acts of Assembly of this Commonwealth will not accomplish this purpose. The common schools have no power to clothe children and feed them and teach them mechanical occupations. That requires a different kind of system from any that we have ever had in Pennsylvania or any that we desire to have for the general education of our people. I do not desire that the children of all persons, as is contemplated by the gentleman from York, should go there, but just such as are contemplated by this

section.

The gentleman from York is mistaken, and the gentleman whose letter he read is mistaken, in regard to the system of The common schools in Pennsylvania. letter from which he read states that it was not until the Legislature provided that all should be taught together in the same schools, that up to this time the common school system of Pennysvania had been a failure. Sir, up to 1831, there had been no common school system in Pennsylvania. The article of the Constitution of 1790, which authorized the Legislature to provide a system of common schools at which the poor should be taught gratuitously, had been on the statute book for forty-one years before anything was done under it except a provision in an act of Assembly of 1825 that made some provision for the creation of a common school fund; and it was not until 1831 that an act of Assembly was ever passed under the Constitution of 1790 providing for the establishment of a system of common schools. Forty years had that constitutional provision been in force in Pennsylvania and nothing done under it. Strange as it may appear, and strange as it is, the Convention of 1837-238 adopted that provision from the Constitution of 1790 verbatim et literatim, added nothing to it, let it remain as it was, although the common school system of Pennsylvania then was in its infancy.

The PRESIDENT pro tem. The question is on the amendment to the amendment,

now before us, incorporating as it does a principle of compulsory education of the kind proposed into the Constitution of Pennsylvania. What the gentlemen who advocate this section declare they wish to effect, can be accomplished by having your school system so perfected that it will invite of its own accord all the poor children of the Commonwealth to come to the public schools provided for them. The reason now that such a large percentage of your population will not attend your public schools, is because your public schools are run in many instances in the interest of sectarian denominations. You will find that large numbers of the people do not regard them with favor because the religious faith of their children is tampered with and attempts are made to pervert those children from the faith that they believe in; and, Mr. President, that is the danger that we have to fear from a section of this kind. If we have the danger under our present system as it is now, when it is not compulsory, how much more danger will there be when it will be compulsory. How much danger will there be when you will allow a State officer to go into a man's house, take out a child and put that child into a house of refuge, or perhaps allow him to walk into a religious orphan asylum and on the plea that the children in that orphan asylum have been neglected and abandoned, take those children out of the asylum and put them into a State institution?

I tell you if you attempt to enforce anything of that kind, the people of this State will, sooner or later, reverse your action.

I do protest against the passage of this section, and I hope the good sense of the members will lead them to vote it down. We voted it down in committee of the whole, and I hope we shall do so here. The true course is to so perfect your common school system as to remove all sectarian influence from it and make it inviting to all the people of the State to send their children to reap the benefits to be derived from it. By doing this you will get clear of your difficulty, and have your large class of neglected and vagrant children provided for.

Mr. ANDREW REED. I desire to state the reasons for the vote which I expect to cast. Were I in the Legislature I should vote for a section of this kind. I am in favor of its principle; and had the section remained as originally moved by the chairman of the Committee on Education,

(Mr. Darlington,) I should have voted for it; not because the Legislature would not have the power without it, but for the sake of showing the favor of the Convention to that measure. But this Convention having adopted the amendment of the gentleman from Philadelphia, (Mr. Knight,) making it compulsory on the Legislature to do it, I shall vote against the section, because I believe the matter should be left to the Legislature, and then if it does not work well it can be repealed.

Mr. HANNA. Mr. President: I fear that quite a number of the members, in discussing this question, have confounded compulsory education with the establishment of industrial schools. The subject before us is not compulsory education, but a section requiring that the Legislature shall establish industrial schools where neglected children shall be taught mechanical pursuits.

That is a very different question; and for one I am not prepared to vote in favor of compelling the Legislature to do this very thing. The first section of this article covers the entire subject; and as has been well stated by the gentleman from Mifflin, this is a question entirely for the Legislature. Why, sir, what are we about to do? Authorize the establishment and the location in four, or five, or half a dozen different sections of the State of institutions governed by State officers, with their agents and their police authorities. Why, sir, they cannot be organized without it, and I submit they will in time become unpopular and the source of complaint.

Again, it will impose a vast burden of expenditure upon the State at large. As my colleague from Philadelphia referred to that subject, I will not again advert to it, but I do insist that the State now, the people at large, are not prepared to introduce into the Constitution of the State any such principle as this. Why, sir, our soldiers' orphans' homes and other institutions under the charge of the State have been from time to time the source of very serious criticism. Time after time have charges been made in the Legislature against the improper management and control of those institutions; and for one I am not willing to increase the number of such institutions. I think that all the State at large has to do is to provide for the expense of our common schools, and as regards compulsory education, I submit that is question which should be left to the school authorities of the several

WEDNESDAY, June 25, 1873.

The Convention met at nine o'clock A. M., Hon. John H. Walker, President pro tem., in the chair.

Prayer by Rev. J. W. Curry. The Journal of yesterday's proceedings was read and approved.

LEAVES OF ABSENCE.

Mr. DARLINGTON asked and obtained leave of absence for Mr. D. N. White, for a few days from to-day.

Mr. WHERRY asked and obtained leave of absence for himself, for a few days after to-day.

PLACE FOR SUMMER SITTINGS.

The PRESIDENT pro tem. The yeas and nays are ordered, and the Clerk will call the roll.

The yeas and nays being taken, resulted as follows:

YEAS.

Messrs. Achenbach, Andrews, Baily, (Perry,) Bannan, Bardsley, Bigler, Black, Chas. A., Boyd, Broomall, Bullitt, Calvin, Carter, Darlington, Edwards, Fulton, Guthrie, Hall, Hay, Hemphill, Kaine, Knight, Lawrence, Lilly, Littleton, M'Camant, M'Culloch, Mann, Mantor, Mott, Palmer, G. W., Palmer, H. W., Patton, Porter, Pughe, Purman, Purviance, Samuel A., Rooke, Smith, H. W., Stanton

Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the President to inquire what facilities are afforded by different places for the sitting of this Convention during the summer months, and report at their earliest convenience.

NAYS.

Messrs. Ainey, Alricks, Baer, Bailey, (Huntingdon,) Beebe, Black, J. S., Bowman, Brodhead, Brown, Church, Cochran, Corbett, Cronmiller, Curry, Curtin, Davis, Dunning, Elliott, Ellis, Ewing, Funck, Gibson, Gilpin, Greene, Hazzard, Horton, Hunsicker, Lamberton, Long, MacConnell, M'Clean,

Mr. J. N. PURVIANCE. I move to amend by striking out "five" and inserting "three" as the number of the committee. The amendment was rejected.

Mr. LILLY. I move to strike out "five" and insert "the committee of the whole." The PRESIDENT pro tem. That is not in order.

Mr. KNIGHT. I move to postpone the further consideration of the resolution.

terson, T. H. B., Purviance, John N., Reed, Andrew, Runk, Russell, Struthers, Van Reed, Walker, Wetherill, J. M., White, J. W. F., and Woodward-46.

So the question was determined in the negative.

ABSENT.-Messrs. Addicks, Armstrong, Baker, Barclay, Bartholomew, Biddle, Buckalew, Campbell, Carey, Cassidy, Clark, Collins, Corson, Craig, Cuyler, Dallas, De France, Dodd, Fell, Finney, Hanna, Harvey, Heverin, Howard, Landis, Lear, MacVeagh, Metzger, Mitchell, Newlin, Patterson, D. W., Read, John R.,

Mr. EDWARDS. I second the call.

Mr. STANTON. I trust the Convention will either accept it or postpone it, and not spend another day on this question.

and Meredith, President-44.