Pennsylvania has a public debt of more than thirty-eight million dollars
Pennsylvania reported its public debt as of December 1,1859 at $38,638,961.07 with total annual interest payments of $1,945,250.00. This accounted for almost half of the state's income. The running of the state government had cost $408,097.40 and the common schools of Pennsylvania $287,790.37. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge (Boston: Crosby, Nichols, Lee and Company, 1861), 348.