Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1856-01-23

ly any enlargement Of the present estab
lishment. Of the six hundred convict
ne now in the Penilentiary. one hundred
lie and lhirty-six are under the age Of TWEEN
5, ty-one years. The youthful offende
j. should never be placed on an equality o
ID treatment with the confirmed criminal
lie or compelled to resume the career Of lft
s. under the odium that almost necessarily
h attaches 10 a "~Penitentiary convict"
IS L called the attention of the Genera.
Assembly on a former occasion. to the
disorganized condition of the militia o.
the State. The present Constitution pre-.
scribes a different mode for the election
n of general and field officers from that
r contained in the former, and repealed all
laws and parts of laws that in any way
cOnficted with its provisions. The terms
o of the officers chosen under the former
Constitution have nearly all expired, and
: there is no law through which the vacan-
cies can be supplied, or the requirements
of the present Constitution be carried in
to effect. All elections that have taken
place since the adoption of the present
Constitution, having been held and con-
r Quoted under the provisions of the for
mer, and in pursuance of the laws that
we've thus repealed, are, in the opinion
of the Attorney General. illegal and void.
Ii such be a correct Interpretation of the
present Constitution, there are no Gene
raj or Field Officers in the State, and the
whole system has been rendered almost
entirely useless.
The public arms are in danger of be-
ing lost. They are scattered over the
State, AMI many of them in the hands of
persons, who. according to the opinion
of the Attorney General referred 10, are
in no way connected with the militia of
the State.
a well regulated militia system is al.
most essential to the preservation Of an
efficient military spirit among the people.
S anding armies in time of peace are
viewed with great distrust in all Repub.
lican Governments, and it is upon an in
telligent and well organized militia that
We must lest our defence, to a great ex-
tent, even in war.
In other Governments, the military
force is organized for the support of tyr.
amy, and the mnss Of people ar" neither
trained nor allowed 10 possess arms
Here the military force is organized for
the support of popular Government, and
The right Of the people to bear arms is
an express guaranty of the Constitution.
The protection of the libertieso of the coun.
try and the maintenance of public order,
are conided to the hands of the free and
independent citizens of the States.
We receive annually, a large quantity
of arms from the General Government,
and with suitable encouragement, there
would be organized a line of uniformed
volunteer companies hat would inspire
our young men with a laudable spirit of
chivalry. and in the hour of necessity
and peril, reflect honor on the State.
In closing the present communication
to the General Assembly, l may bs al
lowed TO advert, with some little feeling
of pride and congratulation, to the high
position which our State has acquired,
and the brilliant future hat is still before
us. The public debt, under the policy
that has been recently pursued, is rapid
ly diminishing. Our credit is unques-
toned on either side of the Atlantic
There has never been a period in the his
tory of the State, when industry and en-
terpiise were more adequately and liber-
ally rewarded.
The geographical position of Ohio, be-
ing encircled by an Inland Sea and Ri
yer. which bear upon their bosCms a
commerce sufficient 10 enrich an empire,
is not surpassed by that of any State in
tee Union She has six hundred miles
of navigable rivers, and eight hundred
miles OF canals; t%wenty-six Kindred of
completed railroad, and more than that
number of miles projected and in course
of construction. These natural and arti
fetal channels of form tie
great arteries of communication between
the Atlantic States and the rapidly grow
ing West. The soil and climate admit
of as great an extent of variety of pro.
duction as any similar area on The face
of the globe. Her supply of the most
useful minerals is ~inexhaustible, and she
has all the facilities to render her once of the
first manufacturing States Of the Union.
She contains a population, that, under a t
broad and enlightened policy, has in 5
creased, since the commencement Of the !
century, from forty-ive thousand to at i
least two and a quarter million. {
Her Benevolent institutions are monu-
ments of the enlightened humani y of :
the people, aud her educational system, a
which is as free and equal as the bles- :
Of Heaven, is ample for the solid t
instructions of all her youth. a
The wheat crop of Ohio for the past :
year has been estimated by the Secreta j
ry of State, at thirty millions of bushels, !
and the o + crop at eighty millions q
State of Ohio yielded full one eighth of :
all the corn that was produced in the L
United States, and our wheat crop was
more than n fifth of the aggregate of
the Union. The value of the cereal or
bread products of the STATE for 1856, in
the granaries and upon the premises t
where grown, will probably exceed one !
hundred millions of dollars; of which !
more han one-half finds a market be- $
yond the limits of the State. By the re- a
port of the Auditor, it will be seen that {
the aggregate valuation of horses, cattle,
sheep and swine, is nearly sixty millions
of dollars /; and this valuation being for
the purpose of a taxable basis, is pre- /
TO be within reasonable bounds.
While the wheat and corn crops are the
principal staples OF our agriculture, they q
form but a small proportion of the i'm
mense resources of that great interest in /
Ohio.
The returns ofthe Federal Census of
1850, which embraced the farm products ,