Page:The autobiography of a Pennsylvanian.djvu/550

 and views improved, so that nowhere in the country can be found surroundings more attractive to visitors. The number of persons from at home and abroad who go there is continually and rapidly increasing. There have hitherto been no salaried positions in connection with the commission, but it would be well to consider whether the time has not arrived when provision should be made for the permanent care of the park.

During the last session of the legislature there were a number of bills passed for the erection of monuments in various parts of the state and upon battlefields outside of it, to signalize and preserve the recollection of important events. To commemorate the achievements of those men who in the past have rendered important military and civic service to the state and conferred honor upon her is commendable, since it shows her gratitude, and beneficial, since it presents an example and arouses a spirit which in time of need may save her from danger and disaster. If such appropriations are to be continued, there ought to be a wise selection of subjects so that attention may be drawn to that in her career which is most honorable. Among the men of Pennsylvania most conspicuous for military achievement during the Revolutionary period was Anthony Wayne; during the Rebellion was George G. Meade. To Meade there are monuments in Fairmount Park and at Gettysburg—to Wayne there are none in the state. At this time, when the nation is celebrating with vast outlay the Louisiana Purchase and the settlement of the West, it would be a fitting season for Pennsylvania to erect upon the hills of Valley Forge, where his brigade lay, or at some other proper place, an equestrian statue to Anthony Wayne, perhaps the most imposing and potent figure in the western settlement. The Pennsylvania Society Sons of the Revolution have already raised a sum of $8,380.35 for a like purpose. This fund is under capable and intelligent supervision and it might perhaps be wise to supplement their efforts.

An act of February 27, 1865, provided that any corporation owning or using a railroad might apply to the governor to commission such persons as the corporation should designate to act as policemen for said corporation. These policemen were to possess in the respective counties the powers of policemen of the City of Philadelphia, and jail-keepers were directed to receive all persons arrested by them for the commission of offenses against the commonwealth along the railroads. The companies were to pay the policemen and when the services were no longer required, they were empowered to discharge them by notice filed in the 530