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JOSEPH RITNER,

GOVERNOR UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1790.

December 15, 1835, to January 15, 1839.

F to Governor Wolf belongs the honor of having inaugurated the School System, to Governor Ritner should be accorded the credit of preserving it at a crisis when in imminent danger of being overthrown. Graced with less school education than any other Governor who ever occupied the chair of state, he yet manifested a zeal in its defence unsurpassed by any, and when the fair fabric won by his predecessor with great labor and tribulation was rent and torn by ignorance and malice, and it was likely to be given up to utter destruction, Ritner bared his arm for the conflict, and came forth triumphant, winning laurels which shall never fade.

Joseph Ritner, the eighth and last Governor under the Constitution of 1790, was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, on the 25th of March, 1780. His father was John Ritner, who emigrated from Alsace, on the Rhine. During his early years Joseph was employed upon his father's farm. The only school advantage which he ever enjoyed was during a period of six months in a primary school at the early age of six years. At the age of sixteen he removed to Cumberland County, and was employed as a laborer upon the farm of Jacob Myers, near Newville. In the year 1800, he married Susan Alter, of Cumberland County. Their offspring were six sons and three daughters. Soon after their marriage they removed to Westmoreland County, and finally became settled upon a farm belonging to the wife's uncle, David Alter, in Washington County. What was unusual for farmers of that day, the uncle possessed a good library. The books

were principally German works of a substantial character. Gifted with strong native sense, and a wonderfully retentive memory, this library proved to him a mine of wealth. Here, during his leisure hours, he delved, and what was wanting of privilege in school instruction, he, by diligence, himself supplied, affording a perpetual example to the young, of the fruits of industry and perseverance.

In 1820 Mr. Ritner was elected a member of the House of Representatives, from Washington County, and served in that capacity for a period of six years. In 1824 he was elected speaker of that body, and was re-elected in the following year. In 1829 he received the nomination for Governor in opposition to George Wolf. It was a period of much excitement respecting secret societies, and great antipathy was exhibited towards them, especially the Masonic fraternity. So strong was this feeling that a political party was built upon it, known as the Anti-Masonic, and by this party Ritner was supported. He received a handsome vote, but was defeated. In 1832 he was again put in nomination, and though again defeated, made a great gain over his former vote. He was for a third time nominated in 1835, and was elected.

At the session of the Legislature of 1834, the law for the establishment of a common-school system was passed. It met little opposition in either branch of the Legislature, being enacted with a unanimity rarely equalled upon any important question. So much had been said upon the subject, and so thoroughly had the necessities of the State been presented, that a readiness for its adoption seemed to be felt. But, unfortunately, though the field was white for the harvest, the law which with great labor and care had been prepared, proved signally unsuited to the wants of the State. If the thing were possible, it may be said to have been too perfect. It was so elaborately drawn, and the minutest particulars were so carefully provided for, that little discretion was allowed in adapting its operation to the wants of the diversified populations it was designed to affect. It was like the

machinery of certain inventors, where all the motive power is expended in overcoming the friction of the parts. The consequence was that a sudden revulsion of feeling was experienced, and at the session of 1835 the sentiment was almost universal against it. A proposition was brought forward in the Senate for its abolition, and for substituting the system of 1809-educating the poor gratis,-which was carried with little opposition. It came up in the House, and but for the eloquent appeals of Thaddeus Stevens, would have been carried with a like unanimity there. The tide which was setting seemed likely to engulf all. "Why," said Stevens, "shall Pennsylvania now repudiate a system which is calculated to elevate her to that rank in the intellectual, which, by the blessings of Providence, she holds in the natural world? To be the keystone of the arch, the 'very first among her equals.' I am aware, sir, how difficult it is for the great mass of the people, who have never seen this system in operation, to understand its advantages. But is it not wise to let it go into full operation and learn its results from experience? Then if it proves worthless or burdensome, how easy to repeal it. . . . But we are told that this law is unpopular; that the people desire its repeal. Has it not always been so with every reform in the condition of man? Old habits and old prejudices are hard to be removed from the mind. Every new improvement which has been gradually leading man from the savage, through the civilized, up to the highly cultivated state, has required the most strenuous, and often perilous, exertions of the wise and the good. But, sir, much of its unpopularity is chargeable upon the vile arts of unprincipled demagogues. Instead of attempting to remove the honest misapprehensions of the people, they cater to their prejudices, and take advantage of them to gain low, dirty, temporary local triumphs. I do not charge this on any particular party. Unfortunately, almost the only spot on which all parties meet in union is this ground of common infamy. I have seen the present Chief Magistrate of this Commonwealth [Wolf] violently assailed as the projector and father

of this law. I am not the eulogist of that gentleman; he has been guilty of many deep political sins; but he deserves the undying gratitude of the people for the steady, untiring zeal which he has manifested in favor of common schools. I will not say that his exertions in that cause have covered all, but they have atoned for many of his errors. I trust that the people of this State will never be called on to choose between a supporter and an opposer of free schools. But, if it should come to that; if that should be made the turning-point on which we are to cast our suffrages; if the opponent of edu cation were my most intimate personal and political friend, and the free-school candidate my most obnoxious enemy, I should deem it my duty as a patriot, at this moment of our intellectual crisis, to forget all other considerations, and I should place myself unhesitatingly and cordially in the ranks of him whose banner streams in light."

Mr. Stevens was wrought up to a great pitch of excitement while delivering this speech. He took a position in the broad middle aisle leading up to the Speaker's desk, where he had full freedom for action, and his appearance is described by one who was then a member of that body, as lit up by an enthusiasm almost more than mortal. He was the bitter political opponent of Governor Wolf, to whom he alludes in the passage quoted; and when, after passing encomiums upon the Governor's advocacy of the commonschool system, that startling and majestic declaration was made, "I should place myself unhesitatingly in the ranks of HIM WHOSE BANNER STREAMS IN LIGHT," it was received with the wildest expressions of delight. The magical sentence was caught up and passed current upon every lip, and whenever this era of the school system is the subject of conversation among those who were present on that occasion, the words "whose banner streams in light" are exultingly recalled.

The vote was taken, and it was found that the friends of common schools were largely in the ascendant. It is recorded by John W. Forney, in an elaborate article published in the

Washington Chronicle, upon the life and character of the Great Commoner, on the occasion of his death, that "Immediately after Mr. Stevens concluded this great effort, he received a message from George Wolf, then Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania, and a leading member of the Masonic fraternity. Governor Wolf was the firm friend of popular education. Of a different and more methodical character, he did not and could not bring to the movement the attributes with which God had clothed Thaddeus Stevens; but he was earnest and sincere. When Mr. Stevens, in response to his invitation, entered the Executive Chamber, he threw his arms about his neck, and, with tearful eyes and broken voice, thanked him for the great service he had rendered to our common humanity." Fortunately for the cause of education, the law was preserved intact. But an unwieldy system, which in its operations was constantly provoking hostility, even among the friends of common schools, was still in force. At the following session, that of 1836, the whole subject would come up for action. In the meantime Governor Ritner had succeeded to the gubernatorial chair, and had selected for Secretary of the Commonwealth, Thomas H. Burrowes, a firm friend of education, and who, as its special advocate in after years, did signal service to the State. With his countenance and aid, George Smith, M. D., who, as chairman of the joint committee of education in the two Houses, had been intrusted with the subject, drew an entirely new bill, embodying the principles of the old law, but divesting it of objectionable features. In this new form it was presented at the session of 1836, and was carried triumphantly through. It went immediately into effect and forms the basis of the excellent system at present in operation — reaching out to every nook and corner of the Commonwealth; taking by the hand the child of wretchedness and poverty equally with the most favored and pampered of fortune's easy-going offspring, and leading them to the pure fountains of knowledge; and noiselessly and unheralded scattering open-handed the richest of earthly blessings.

During the heated political canvass which preceded his

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