Judiciary. The judiciary embraces a Supreme Court, consisting of seven judges, elected by the people for 21 years, ineligible for reëlection, with the judge the oldest in commission as Chief Justice. The court holds annual sessions at Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Sunbury, and Pittsburg. Other courts are a Superior Court, courts of common pleas, of oyer and terminer and general jail delivery, of quarter sessions of the peace, magistrates' and orphans' courts. Judges of the Supreme Court, and those of the Common Pleas, are justices of oyer and terminer and general jail delivery in the respective counties; the latter discharge also the functions of judges of quarter sessions of the peace and of orphans' courts in districts where special provision for them has not been made. Criminal matters of the respective districts belong likewise to their cognizance. There are 51 judicial districts in the State, in each of which the people elect one or more common pleas judges for ten years.
Local Government. The creation of new or alteration of old counties is conditioned on a minimum population limit of 20,000 and a minimum area limit of 400 square miles for all counties affected. Each county elects sheriffs, coroners, prothonotaries, register of wills, recorder of deeds, treasurer, surveyor, clerk, three auditors, and three commissioners, all for three years. Towns of over 10,000 may be chartered upon the approval of one-half the electors. The State has classified the cities for charter purposes into four classes.
Finances. The first direct State tax was levied in 1785, but was discontinued in 1789. Taxes were very unpopular and the State expected to cover its expenditures by income from public property, sale of public lands, etc. Some taxes were introduced in the beginning of the nineteenth century, but in 1810 the revenue from them amounted only to 20 per cent. of the total receipts. In 1825 there were no direct State taxes. About this time the construction of public improvements, which had been going on in a quiet way since 1789, became the cry of the day. Loans were the only available source of necessary means. In 1821 the public debt incurred during the War of 1812 amounted only to $1,230,000, but new loans followed one another in great rapidity. 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 State debt was $24,500,000 in 1835 and in 1842 reached $40,000,000. Expecting large returns from these improvements, the State did not provide a thorough system of taxation. Interest had to be paid by means of further loans. The credit of the Commonwealth was therefore so much impaired in 1840 that failure was threatening. The income from the improvements did not even cover their expenses, and a law was passed in 1840 imposing small taxes on banks, personal property, and salaries. The revenue from this law did not cover even a tenth part of the expenditures, and the interest on the bonds continued to be paid by issue of special bonds. In 1844 a radical change was made in the financial system. A comprehensive tax was imposed upon all property, stocks, incomes, etc., and cash payment of interest was resumed the next year. For 15 years the debt remained on the same level; the i^tate was not al)le to cancel any of its obligations and kept on refunding the maturing bonds. In 1857 and 1858 the State works, which were built at the expense of over $75,000,000, were sold for $11,000,000 to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and Sunbury and Erie Railroad Company, and a gradual reduction of the State debt dates from that time.
In 1860 the debt decreased to $38,000,000, but the military loan of 1861 increased it by $3,000,000. A steady decline came after the war. In 1870 the debt was $28,980,071; in 1880, $21,561,990; in 1890, $12,349,920; and from 1895 to 1902 it remained $6,815,299. In 1902 bonds to the amount of $2,008,650 were bought at a high premium by the sinking fund and the debt was reduced to $4,806,649, against which the sinking fund had $4,432,023. These results were only possible by vigorous taxation. 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.
During the fiscal year 1901-02 the receipts were $22,947,890 and expenditures $17,787,106. Discounting the operations of the sinking fund, the receipts were $19,374,093, and the expenditures $15,210,793. The cash balance in the sinking fund was $3,717,440, and in the general fund $9,151,399. Of the expenditures more than 50 per cent. was for schools and 17 per cent. for charitable institutions.
Militia. In 1900 there were 1,405,916 men of militia age. The number of the militia in 1901 was 9343.
Population. The following figures show the growth of the population: 1790, 434,373; 1820, 1,047,507; 1850, 2,311,786; 1860, 2,906,215; 1870, 3,521,951; 1880, 4,282,891; 1890, 5,258,014; 1900, 6,302,115. The State has nearly always ranked second in population. The absolute increase in each decade has been greater than that of the decade preceding. The per cent. of the increase between 1890 and 1900 was 19.9, as compared with 20.7 for the United States. The State ranks second in the number of foreign born, with a total of 985,250. This element is not so greatly centralized in the large cities as in some of the other Eastern States, being found in large numbers in the mining districts. The Irish, Germans, and English are the most numerous; but there are, besides, a larger number of Welsh and natives of Hungary than in any other State. In 1900 the negroes numbered 156,845. 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; Allegheny, 129,896;
