“ The same advantages, together with the large railroad interests of Pennsylvania, have led to the most extensive car-construction and general shop works of steam railroad companies of any State. Altoona, Reading, and Philadelphia are the chief centres of this industry.
An entirely different group of industries, less dependent upon the material resources of the State, is the manufacture of textiles, in which the State takes second rank. Philadelphia, the principal seat of the industry, is the largest textile centre in the country. In 1900 the silk product amounted to 29 per cent. ”

“ The soils are on the whole somewhat more fertile than those of the average Atlantic State, there being no Tertiary sand area, and comparatively small areas of primary rocks. The soil is to a large extent decomposed limestone material, which is a good grain soil, and, where least fertile, is well suited for pasturage. Pennsylvania was originally one of the most densely forested States, and there are still considerable forest areas on the western plateau. ”

“ A voter must have been a citizen of the United States one month, a resident of the State one year, and of the election district two months, and have paid State or county taxes. No elector can be deprived of the privilege of voting because he has not registered. ”

“ Private schools were meanwhile being established all over the province, and the agitation for a higher educational institution in Philadelphia, carried on by Benjamin Franklin, resulted in the foundation of the Academy and Charitable School of the Province of Pennsylvania (now University of Pennsylvania) in 1749. The first free public schools in Pennsylvania were opened by the settlers from Connecticut in 1769. The provisional Constitution of 1776 provided for the establishment of a school in each county, but it was only in 1834 that a free school system was successfully established. ”

“ The law of 1844 taxed all property, but real estate was released from State taxation in 1867. The income tax survives, but contributes a trifling sum. The taxes on personal property and inheritances are productive of more revenue. The main sources, however, are the taxes on corporation stocks and receipts and various licenses, Pennsylvania having introduced the high-license principle. ”

“ Other important roads are the Philadelphia and Reading; the Lehigh Valley; the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago and Saint Louis; the Baltimore and Ohio; the Erie; the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore; the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western; the Western New York and Pennsylvania; and the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago. The canal and slack-water navigation facilities are mostly controlled by railroad and coal-mining corporations. The State expended large sums in canal construction, but the rapid extension of the railroad system has caused many such waterways to be abandoned. ”

“ Pennsylvania suffers in common with other States in the low professional standing of the teachers, especially in the rural districts. For normal education the State maintains thirteen normal schools, which had a total attendance of 7987 in 1901, including 4664 female students. In that year the school revenue amounted to $26,159,774, consisting of $5,250,000 derived from State taxes, $15,482,898 from local taxes, and $5,426,876 from other sources. ”

“ If a proposed amendment receives a majority vote of both Houses at two successive regular sessions, it will be submitted to the people, and if approved by a majority of those voting, it becomes a part of the Constitution. No amendments can be submitted oftener than once in five years. ”

“ The acreage of hay is greatly exceeded in New York and slightly in two or three Western States. Potatoes form one of the chief money crops. Other varieties of vegetables are also abundantly grown, particularly sweet corn and cabbage, the acreages separately reported in 1900 being respectively 12,879 and 10,851. Tobacco is a very important crop in Lancaster and York counties. Pennslyvania is a large producer of orchard fruits. Between 1890 and 1900 the number of trees increased 59.4 per cent., the increase in the peach trees being particularly noteworthy. ”

“ In 1870-73 more than 90 State banks were chartered bv special acts, but the Constitution of 1874 prohibited the organization of banks, except under the general law. At present State banking is regulated by the law of 1876 as amended in 1891, when a Banking Department was established. National banks remain by far the more important ones. Trust companies are conducted mostly in conjunction with the banks, and take care of business which the law prohibits the banks from doing. Savings banks have existed in Pennsylvania for almost a century. ”

“ Canals, roads, bridges, and railroads were built. Between 1789 and 1828 more than $22,000,000 was spent on these improvements. In 1834 the system of canals and railroads to connect Pittsburg and Philadelphia was completed at the cost of more than $14,500,000, and lateral canals were added in 1838 at the cost of almost $6,500,000. The large sum (more than $12,000,000) which the United States Bank furnished in 1837, partly as a bonus and partly as a loan to the State, in exchange for a State charter, further stimulated this feverish activity. ”

“ The department of the Secretary of Internal Affairs embraces a bureau of industrial statistics, and maintains the supervision of corporations, charitable institutions, and the agricultural, mineral, timber, and other interests of the State. ”

“ The western boundary is a straight line running along the meridian, but the eastern boundary is formed by the Delaware River, which forms two large and regular zigzag bends, making the extreme length of the State 302 miles. The area is 45,215 square miles, of which 44,985 square miles, or 28,790,400 acres, are land surface. The State ranks twenty-ninth in size among the United States. ”

“ Here the hard sandstone strata generally form the ridges, while the softer limestone forms the valley floors. The series begins with a narrow belt of Cambrian running along the edge of the Archæan outcrop. West of this, between the South and the Blue or Kittatinny Mountains, the Kittatinny Valley runs across the State as a belt of Lower Silurian limestone, from which rise the Appalachian ridges of Devonian rocks, with some belts of Silurian. ”

“ The Governor is empowered to call extra sessions for urgent business, and required to do so in case of a vacancy in the office of a United States Senator occurring during the recess. No bill can contain more than one subject, and revenue bills must originate in the Lower House. ”

“ And though the greater part of the iron used in the latter part of the nineteenth century came from outside regions—especially the Lake Superior mines—the output within the State has not decreased, and Pennsylvania takes fourth rank among the iron-mining States. The yield in 1901 amounted to nearly l,040,684 long tons, valued at $1,890,100. Over 771,000 tons ere of the magnetite variety, for which the Cornwall hills, near Lebanon, are noted. Brown and red hematites and a small quantity of carbonate are also mined.
Pennsylvania is without a rival in the stone-quarrying industry. ”

“ The hemlock is the most abundant merchantable species and the one most extensively drawn upon at present. The white pine is next in importance. Hard woods are common in the southeast corner of the State. ”

“ The Roman Catholics form over one-eighth of the population. The principal Protestant denominations are the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran, each with over one-sixth of the total number of church members. ”

“ Of the total population 51 per cent. is urban—i.e. they live in places which contain over 4,000 inhabitants, there being, in 1900, 119 such places, or more than in any other State. The average number of inhabitants to the square mile in 1900 was 140.1.
Cities. The population of the 18 largest cities in 1900 was as follows: Philadelphia, 1,293,697; Pittsburg, 321,616 ”