accidents that we read of in the papers. Every day we have an account of some child or man or woman run over by some railroad train passing through the settled portions of the city at a tremendous rate of speed. Now, by placing it within the power of the city authorities to regulate the matter, we shall prevent those accidents that are continually occurring. It will be no injustice to the railroad companies, because the city authorities will not change the grade of a railroad unless it be absolutely necessary for the protection of the people of the vicinity. When ever the complaints of the people are so great that the city authorities will be compelled to change it, then we shall have the grade changed, and not before, so that the matter will, to a certain extent, regulate itself.

Now, as the gentleman from Pittsburg remarked on the last section, we have been putting in sections in reference to the rights of stockholders on many matters, and we have passed hardly any section in reference to the right of individuals to have their lives protected. This will provide that the lives of citizens in populous districts shall be to a certain extent protected, and therefore as represent ing in part the city of Philadelphia I hope this section will pass.

Mr. NILES. I have no doubt that the Convention see at a glance that the adoption of the proposed section would put every railroad in the State at the complete mercy of every town-council, and I undertake to say that there could be no greater source of corruption imagined than that every railroad in the State should have to make its peace with the borough authorities. Now, sir, in the little town in which I live, (and railroads are popular there to-day,) a railroad passes at a grade of about sixty feet to the mile. Suppose at some time in the future the council should become opposed to the railroad and they should prescribe by a borough ordinance that the road should pass through the entire corporation limits upon a dead level. It would be an entire impossibility; it never could be done; and I undertake to say that there are not three boroughs or cities in the State today where it would be practicable to build a road upon an entire level; and yet if this section is adopted as now before the Convention, this would have to be done. They may not only regulate the speed, but the grade of every railroad in the State. The proposition was voted down

almost unanimously before, and I hope it will be now.

Mr. CAMPBELL. I move an amendment striking out the word "borough" to accommodate some gei t'emen.

Mr. HARRY WHITE. I hope this section will prevail. If there is any one thing we have been fighting for it is the right of local self-government, and I trust we shall adhere to it and never surrender it. By virtue of statutory provis ions now, this power, so far as regulating the speed of trains and the regulation of the grades of railroads, is referred to the municipal authorities. Those statutes may be repealed, and I for one am in favor of placing the principle in the organic law.

Mr. NILES. I desire to amend the section by striking out the clause about "grade." I do not care anything about the speed. I move to strike out the words "the grade of railroads and.”

Mr. CAMPBELL. I rise to a point of order, that this is not an amendinent to the amendment. My amendment I offered at the suggestion of some gentleman back of me to strike out the word "borough," so as to make it apply to cities only. The amendment of the gentleman from Tioga is not an amendment to that.

The PRESIDENT pro tem. The question is on the amendment of the delegate from Philadelphia, (Mr. Campbell,) and the other proposition is out of order at this time. The question is on the amezment of the gentleman from Philadelphia to the amendment of the gentleman from York.

Mr. HOWARD. I hope the delegate from Philadelphia will withdraw that amendment, or the delegates from boroughs will vote against the section.

Mr. COKSON. No, the delegates from boroughs will vote for that amendment and then against the whole section.

Mr. TURRELL. If this section is passed at all, it should be passed just as it is presented. Every municipality ought to have the control of this matter within its limits, and this is in furtherance of protection to human life. It has come to that pass at this day that a few moments or seconds of time in speed to a railroad are considered of more consequence than any man's life. 1 say if we are to pass this at all, let us have it entire and have the benefit of it. Gentlemen here have said within the last three minutes that they have had their lives jeoparded within the limits of this city, and so it i

all over; and if it is worth anything and is good for one municipality, let us have it for all. I will not multiply words at this late hour.

Mr. BUCKALEW. I am in favor of this amendment striking out "boroughs." I have no objection to the councils and mayors of cities fixing the rate of speed, because they have a thoroughly organized local government that can attend to this subject. It is not so in all the little towns of the interior.

Now, with regard to the speed by which railroads can run in our interior towns, it ought to be regulated by a general law. I would not allow one town-council to fix the rate of one mile, and another the rate of ten. There would be no equality; the thing would fall into utter confusion, and I take it if we put this into the Constitution you cannot pass a general law regulating the speed of railroads in interior towns of the State. Therefore, if the amendment of the gentleman from Philadelphia is agreed to, confining it simply to a few large cities where they have local authorities that can control this subject, I will vote for it; if his amendment is rejected, I shall necessarily vote against the proposition.

The PRESIDENT pro tem. The question is on the amendment of the delegate from Philadelphia (Mr. Campbell) to the amendment of the delegate from York (Mr. Cochran.)

The amendment to the amendment was rejected, the ayes being twenty-four, less than a majority of a quorum.

Mr. NILES. Now I renew my amendment.

I have no objection to letting the rate of speed be regulated; but I move to strike out the words "grade of railroads and."

Mr. CAMPBELL. That is one of the most valuable parts of this section. If you strike out that clause it will prevent the city authorities, say of Philadelphia, from declaring to a railroad company, "You shall change the grade of your track to suit the public convenience of the citizens in certain localities." The amendment would also have another bad effect. We have, for instance, in the city of Philadelphia, a magnificent street, like Broad street. We want to preserve that street forever free from having any railroad upon it—and this is the almost unanimous wish of the people of Philadelphia. There have been attempts made in the Legislature, and one attempt succeeded, to have a railroad track authorized to be

placed upon that street; but the wishes of the people were so decided that the parties who got the bill through actually became frightened, and they did not put the track down. Now, we want to have some provisfon of this kind, so that the city authorities can regulate the grade of railroads, and can have it within their power to say to all railroad companies: "You shall not run upon Broad street; and if you want to cross Broad street you shall either tunnel under the street or build a bridge over the street," so that we can keep that magnificent thoroughfare forever free from railroads. If this amendment prevails, it will prevent that; it will subject Broad street, and every other street in the city of Philadeiphia, to the whims and caprices of the Legislature. I hope the amendment will not prevail, and that we shall adopt the section as it stands.

I only offered the amendment that I did a moment ago, because some gentlemen from the boroughs suggested that they did not wish to have the section applied to boroughs. I myself should like to see it applied all over the State; but now that that has been voted down, I appeal to the gentleman from the boroughs to vote in the section so as to give some protection to the people of the Commonwealth for their lives in passing these railroads in crowded localities.

I hope

If

Mr. LILLY. Mr. Presiden: these words will not be stricken out. you give authority to municipalities to fix what grade they please, they will make you go down three or four feet below where you ought to go. I am opposed to the whole section. I think this matter ought to be left in the hands of the Legislature to be acted upon by a gen eral railroad law. These details, as I remarked yesterday, we are getting down to too small a place in, and the next thing we shall want to put in will be a time-table to govern the running of the roads. I am opposed to the whole thing because I think it can be better taken care of by general law than by being in this way put it into the Constitution. I hope the whole section will be voted down.

Mr. MANN. Mr. President: It does seem to me that this is the wildest proposition which has been submitted. The adoption of this section will convert every train into an accommodation train, and I suppose that is the purpose of it, because if it is adopted it will give the authorities

porting the papers to the different towns, boroughs and cities along the line, by reason of opposition on the part of those newspapers to the action of the corporation. Why, sir, only recently in the State of New York, Harper's Weekly was in this manner driven off a principal road, and on another road the New York Times was prohibited being either sold or transported.

I think for these reasons that the section I have proposed ought to be adopted. Mr. DALLAS. I offer an amendment to the amendment, to come in at the end of it. The section provides for a meritorious class, our newsboys, and I propose to add:

"And that all bootblacks shall be admitted to the depots without distinction of race or color." [Laughter.]

The PRESIDENT pro tem. I suppose that is hardly offered seriously.

Mr. DALLAS. I withdraw it.

The PRESIDENT pro tem. The question is on the amendment of the gentleman from Philadelphia (Mr. Newlin.)

The amendment was rejected.

REPORTERS' ACCOUNTS.

Mr. HAY. I desire to make a report which I request leave to present at this

time. The Convention will probably soon adjourn; as this is a matter which should be attended to before we adjourn, I ask leave to present a report from the Committee on Accounts and Expenditures. Leave was granted and the report submitted, as follows:

The Committee on Accounts and Ex. penditures respectfully report the following resolution:

Resolved, That a warrant be drawn in favor of D. F. Murphy, Official Reporter of the Convention, on account of his services as such Reporter, for the sum of $3,000, to be accounted for by him in the settlement of his accounts.

The resolution was read twice and agreed to.

RAILROADS AND CANALS.

Mr. COCHRAN. I now move that the article on railroads and canals be referred to the Committee on Revision and Adjustment.

The motion was agreed to.

The PRESIDENT pro tem. The Convention having completed the second reading and consideration of the article on railroads and canals, the Convention stands adjourned until the sixteenth day of September, at ten o'clock A. M.

TUESDAY, September 16, 1873.

The Convention met at ten o'clock A.M., pursuant to adjournment, Hon. John H. Walker, President pro tempore, in the chair.

PRAYER.

The following prayer was offered by Rev. J. W. Curry:

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we desire to come before Thee this morning with reverence and humility. We thank Thee for Thy mercies and protecting care over us during our brief vacation. We rejoice that through Thy goodness our health and lives have been preserved. Truly we can say, "goodness and mercy have followed us all the days of our lives." O, Lord, on our re-assembling in this Hall this morning, one of our number is missing. He who presided over the deliberations of this Convention with so much dignity and marked ability; he who was recognized among his fellow citizens as a faithful defender of truth and justice, and the acknowledged leader of the legal profession in this city; he whose voice was heard during the morning prayers in this Hall, to say "Amen, amen," has passed away, ripe in years. Truly a great man has died; his place among us is vacant. We shall never hear. his voice in words of wisdom again. His eyes are closed in death. We followed his remains in sorrow to the grave. Yet, Lord, we rejoice, because Jesus was laid in the grave, and by the power of His divinity, rose again, and robbed death of its sting, and the grave of its victory. We praise Thee, O Father, for the precious and comforting words of Thine only Son, Jesus Christ, who said, "let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in God; believe also in me, for in my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am there ye may be also." We ask Thy blessing, O God, upon the children of our departed brother. Help them to have living faith in Christ the Redeemer of the world. We invoke Thy blessing upon the members of this Convention, its

clerks, officers, reporters and attachees. O God, for the sake of Thy Son, who suffered, the just for the unjust, save us from sin in this world and from eternal death in the world to come, and we will praise Thee for ever and ever, world without end, amen.

WITHDRAWAL OF JUDGE WOODWARD'S RESIGNATION.

Mr. KAINE. I move that the roll be called.

Mr. WOODWARD. I rise to a personal explanation, which I think should precede the motion of the gentleman from Fayette. On the second of July I tendered my resignation as a member of this body, in perfect good faith and with great respect for the body, and in pursuance of notice previously given. I understand that the body, in the same spirit, declined to accept my resignation, and laid it on the table. I am now returned to Philadelphia, which I left immediately after resigning, willing, but not anxious, to resume my seat and duties in this body if it is the pleasure of this body that I should perform those duties. Therefore I say if it be the pleasure of the body that I should withdraw my resignation, it may be considered as withdrawn. ["Yes!" "Yes."]

The PRESIDENT pro tem. put the question, and leave was unanimously given to withdraw the resignation.