Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1857-01-13


1 welome you, with great pleasure to tn
first session of the General Assembly il
the New State House. ,~---,~
In simplicity of Design, in !, time, as
Proportions, and in massive soliditS .
Structure, itstands, and may it long stand
a monument and a symbol of the clea
Faith, the well ordered Institutions, and
the enduring Greatness of the Peopl
whose House it is.
The year which has just closed, has beer
marked by the steady advance of the grea
State, whose interests, for the pres
ent, have been confded to our care, in al
the elements of wealth, honor and power
The returns of Agriculture, though less
abundant than in some more favored years
have yet been sufficient to supply abundant
y our wants at home, and to furnish
large surplus for expectation. The pro
ducts of Manufacturing Industry hav'
been steadily and greatly augmented. Th'
transactions of Commerce have multiplied
in number and increased in importance
Vast mineral treasures, hitherto compare
lively inaccessible, have been brought, by
the extension of Railroads, within the ca
sy reach of enterprise, and made tributary
to the general progress.
While the developemcnt and enlarge
ment of our material resources have been
ensured by these and similar agencies,
other instrumentalities have been actively
employed in the promotion of the mora
and intellectual welfare of the people
Public order and private rights have beer
maintained by an enlightened and impair
tial administration Of justice. In stitulion'
of Education have diffused, among the
masses, the power of knowledge. Insti
tutions of Benevolence have ministered tt
the children of sorrow, the wise and noble
charity of the State; Institutions OF Re
ligion, sustained by the voluntary contri-
buttons and ready sympathies of the peo'
pie, and made efficient by the self-denyin2
Iabors of teachers and ministers have lent
their powerful support to virtue and order
while they have enforced the obligations
.sf- private duty, and cherished the aspira,
tions of individual faith.
Nor are these the only benefits which
demand our grateful acknowledgements
Peace is the opportunity of progress, and
peace, unbroken, has prevailed throughout
our borders. The Pestilence which. in for
mer years, invaded and desolated so many
homes, has not been permitted to approach
us. Health, in unusual measure, has
cheered our homes and animated our la
bors.
From this pleasing survey, til my duty
to proceed to a more detailed exposition
of the condition of the State.
The primary interests of Ohio connect
themselves closely with the ownership and
cultivation of the soil.
The whole area of the State, according
to the computations Of the Federal author
tiles, contains 80, ,964 square miles, Or 25,
576, $50 acres. A little more than half a
century ago, not an acre of this area had
been cleared for cultivation, or even re-
duced to private ownership.
The Federal government asserted an ex-
elusive proprietary title in the whole, ex-
cept that portion included in the Connect
icut Reservation. The hardy pioneers who
pushed forward into the wilderness, were
to buy of the Government, Or
its grantees, the very soil which they sub
dued. The whole burden of contributions
for the support of the State and its institu-
tions, was cast upon the land thus pur-
chased. The land of the Government
was wholly exempt; and the contributions
of the Government, by grants of land in
aid Of public improvements, were insig-
nificant in comparison with the enhanced
value of the ungranted lands.
Notwithstanding these serious disad-
rantages, the process of purchase and set
tlement has gone steadily forward until
more than twelve millions of acres, occu-
pied for agricultural purposes, and nearly
thirteen millions more, .classed as unculti-
vated, have become as private property,
md contribute to the public revenue.
When, in 1909, Ohio became a State in
he American Union, every other of the
seventeen members of the confederacy was
more populous and better cultivated, and
'ix had larger areas. Now, although the
number of the States has increased to thir-
y-one, of which nineteen are larger than
ohio, not one surpasses, her in the extent
md variety of her agricultural products.
A general outline of the gradual con-
'ersion of public into private ownership,
will reward attention.
Prior to 1908 the returns of lands held
,y individual proprietors are meagre and
In 1910, the number of
cres thus owned was 1888, 101. In
$50, this quantity had increased to 49,
'19,O43 acres; in 1880, estimating the
luantity for two counties from which there
vas no returns, to 16, 1893, ,682 acres; in
$40, estimating for one county, to 10, ,47O,-
'8l acres. in 1850, to 23,981, $50 acres,
nd in 1855, 25,220, ,583 acres. These
Quantities are exclusive of Town and City
OTIS. Nearly all the land in the State, i'll
vii be observed, has thus become private
'foperty and subject to taxation.
Inc facts disclosed by these returns
,uggest q question of the correctness of
ne federal ei, estimate Of the area of the
'a!e. y Ihc difference between the retui1Isl
L lands for 1855. ond tbh nrl;,sS :. st-'s.S -