Page:The autobiography of a Pennsylvanian.djvu/300

 The State Library had long been neglected. With the exception of Ehrenfeld and Egle, the librarians had either been politicians, pure and simple, or incompetents, who neglected their work. The archives, consisting of papers tied up in loose bundles, had long been the stamping ground of literary thieves. I put at the head of the library Thomas Lynch Montgomery, a trained librarian, who had been in charge of the Wagner Institute in Philadelphia, a member of a family of high social standing and a man of great efficiency. I likewise had arrangements made to have the archives that remained and all of the papers of the departments, prior to a certain early date, repaired, chronologically arranged, bound into volumes and put in the library. Carson, Wharton and Montgomery, who came with myself, and Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, president of the Academy of Natural Sciences, and John C. Groome, captain of the First City Troop, whom I drew along later, were referred to as the influx of gentlemen into the political life of the state.

Believing that improvement, like all of the virtues, begins at the home and would be best advanced by setting a proper example, I began the work of reformation with the governor. All the passes from the railroads and all the free privileges from express companies and other corporations, which were poured in upon me, were returned, with expressions of appreciation, and, when traveling, I paid my fare. The expenses of the mansion, paid by the state, were cut down from about fourteen thousand dollars a year to about two thousand dollars. I kept no horses and rode in a cab. I declined to toss the first ball at the opening of the baseball season, and the like, not that there was any harm in so doing, but it seemed to me that the office ought not to be used for advertising purposes, and that it was well to let people see that the incumbent had regard for its dignity. I made it a point to be at the Executive Department at 9 A. M. and to remain there until 6 P. M., and to see that no papers were issued under the authority of the governor 284