Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1842-12-16
MESSAGE.
Gentlemen Of The Senate,

Your tassembIage at the Capitol o
thelSlate, clothed with the power of le
gisIation, touching the present and fu
ture welfare Of our common country
presents q proper occasion for the ex
preston OF gratitude to God, for the
blessings Of peace, health and abundant
harVesls, which, through a mercifuI dis.
pensation of His providence we have
enjoyed The past year The usual avo.
cations OF our people have not been dis.
turbed, by either foreign or domestic
war As a nation our destiny hitherto
has been happily exempted from intes.
tine Commotion, whilst in most other
countries that fatal scourge has been
long and often felt, marking the exis-
tence Of oppressive government, or
pointing philosophical inquiry with IN
failing certainty 10 the prevalence OF a
bad social system,or imperfect political
organizations
Our.fatbers. byEa single, though long
protracted struggle, established free
and republican forms Of government,
and left the people at liberty TO mould
at will their own systems Of civil policy.
These conflicts Of opinion and collision
Of apparently adverse interests, which
must arise under a government like
ours, extending its dominion over a
large territory and a great variety Of
pursuits have with US hitherto been ad.
iusted by the elective franchise and The
tribunals established by the Conslilu-
iion and laws of the land. The occa-
sional threats Of armed resistance TO al
legged wrong, which have occurred in
our history, have been condemned by .
dispassionate public judgment, always
speedily suppressed, and terminated
without destructive conflicts. The fierce
civil wars that have ragged, aud still con.
iiuue with undated fury in our neigh
boring Republics, arising from their
attempts to reconcile order with free.
dom, presents a striking contrast TO the
peaceful and more successful means by
which all the Legitimate ends OF good
government have been accomplished by
our Republic. TIE enlightened hjsto.
rian will find this difference in the pro-.
gress OF two people, inhabiting the same
continent, to have its origin in their
widely different moral and Intellectual
education. Speculative writer's on the
native and proper elements Of free gov,
eminent, have agreed that civil rights
and political power, can only be safely
extended to the masses Of any people,
when general intelligence and pure mo
raIity have been widely diiused, aud ex,
ert a controlling influence. The unsuc
cess(ul efforts Of men in past ages, to as.
sert and maintain equal rights, all con
cur In furnishing evidence Of the truth
Of this great principle in the science of
government 10 Ohio, every citizen
who has attained TO majority, after u
short residence IN the State. and who
has been charged with, or paid taxes, is
armed with the right OF suffrage. Our
fundamental law, therefore, and the
general Legislation Of the State, have all
been made 10 wear the Same aspect;
they each regard all men as equal and
seek TO extend to all an equal amount of
power, in the conduct Of public affairs.
10 such a system it must be- obvious that
education, combining both moral and in
teIIectual culture, is a matter Of primary
public interest. 1t is with us not mere.
ly the ornament Of our political edifce;
it is the foundation on which it stands;
ami without which it must crumble into
ruins, and crush in its fall, those who, in
a false and fatal security, have taken up
their abode within it.
In q former communication, | have
had occasion to urge upon the Legisla-
ture the necessity OF maintaining, in full
vigor, the school system now in force,
and OF improving it by every means
which experience may, from time to
time, suggest, Any act which wears
the appearance Of weakening, or looks
10 the future abandonment or it, must be
considered as a blow, aimed at u system
Of policy, which all enlightened mon, of
modern times, regard as of vital impor.
lance. BY an act Of the last session, the
school fund was reduced by 90 amount
OF about fifty thousand dollars. Tho ne.
cessily, real or imagined, for the reduc
ZION Of such a fund Is greatly TO DO de-
plored. Heavy as the taxes now are,
| cannot doubt but the people of the
State would have cheerfully paid the
amount thus taken of, knowing that
their children were thereby to be fitted
for the proper exercise Of the great
powers and privileges Of American free.
men. II the present rates Of taxation
should be reduced, | earnestly recon-
mend thai such reduction may be made