Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1858-01-19
GOV ER NORas MESSAGE

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Senators and Representatives saIog'9 ~
You are Summoned, by the sufffages Of
your. citizens, to the Important dus
ties of legislation. at aperiod Of peculiar
in terest both in State and National affairs.
= The year Just closed, has been strongly
marked by. prosperous and adverse cir
cumstances. ~.
RETROSPECT.
Abundant harvests have fulfilled the
farmers hopes; almost unbroken health
has blessed our homes and animated our
activities; Industry, in every vocation. has
successfully pursued its legitimate objects;
Education, with steadily enlarging aims,
and powers constantly augmenting. has
prepared the youth for the duties and re-
sponsibiiities of citizenship; and Religion,
unembarrassed by the interference of the
State with the domain of conscience, has
! fulfilled its holy mission of instruction in
the duties of the life which now is, and
of preparation for the awards of that which
is to come. In short, no year since the
organization of the State Government, has
been more conspicuously distinguished by
substantial increase in all the elements of
real wealth, permanent power, and true
greatness. .-......, Ia. u. ....-s-
And yet, this year, so distinguished by
these circumstances of prosperity, has
been marked, hardly less conspicuously,
| by the evils of disordered currency, pros
trate credit, and impaired fortunes. -
The financial embarrassments which
have affected the citizens of Ohio, in com
mon with those of the whole country, have
been augmented in this State, by special
and peculiar causes. The criminal mis-
conduct of a former State Treasurer, re-
sulting in defalcation of over half mill
| lion of dollars, concealed from the people
by the false statements and reprehensible
contrivances of himself and his successor
in Office, deprived the Treasury, at criti-
cal moment, of the proper means of pay
ing the interest on the public debt, and of
meeting the ordinary demands of the pub
lie service; while the failure of great
moneyed corporation, intimately connected
with the business interests of the commu-
nifty, suddenly disclosed the alarming fact,
that vast proportion of all the imme-
diately available resources of very many
of the banks of the State, had been alb
stracted by the fraud of its cashier in New
York, and converted into means for post
poning, if not averting its fall.
STATE CREDIT UNIMpAIRED. a.e
1t is most gratifying fact, and it well
illustrates the energetic good faith which
SO honorably distinguishes the people of
Ohio, that, notwithstanding these embar-
RAISING circumstances, every obligation of
the State has been punctually fulfilled, and
her banking institutions, with very few
temporary exceptions, have performed their
entire duty of specie payments, without
evasion and without delay.
The disorders and embarrassments of the
present time, they manfully encountered,
must soon pass away. They may check
for a moment, but cannot arrest the ad-
vancement of the State. Our fertile soil,
our productive mines, and our varied in
dustry, will soon redress present inconve-
financial prosperity. '...''. s
| {'ra OUR INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES. fIit5 5r
That you may clearly see the founda-
tions of this anticipation, permit me to
direct your attention to brief review Of
our Industrial condition, which will be
more fully exhibited by the reports of the
Commissioner of Statistics, and of the
State Board of Agriculture.
| Of the 25, SIG, $50 acres which consti-
tute the area of the State, according to
Federal computation, no portion worth
consideration, can be classed as absolutely
uncultivable. Only 1O,8OO,o0O acres,
however, are actually cultivated, and of
these, only about 5000, 900 acres by the
plow, while more than $4,000. 600 yet re-
main to be brought under contribution to
our power and wealth.
This whole area, with trif1ing excep-
ton, is reduced to individual ownership,
and is divided among about 27O, 900 pro-
lprietors, excluding the owners of tow n
lots. The average quantity of land held
by each proprietor, is estimated at about
ninety acres.
This division of the land into small pro-
lperties, promotes improvements in the
methods of cultivation, augments produc-
ton, insures individual independence, and
contributes largely to the security of pub
lie freedom. Every tendency in the oppo.
site direction should be watchfully OBJ.
served, and wisely checked.
The value of these properties as as.
sessed for taxation, is $435,602, ,655, and
that Of town lots and chattels is $4l3,
626, ,426-making an aggregate of $849,
399,o8I. The real value largely exceeds
Z 81 900, 900, ,ooO. a'ah
POPULATION NEAR TWO AND A HALF MIL
| leyeaaIN LIONS. su. taa l.
The present population of the State, upor
the best attainable dates, is estimated a
. 100000 persons, of whom nearly all
except the very young and the very old
are actively engaged in pursuits which
increase or preserve public and privat
wealth. Ga-u sfa taet - '|7
The efficiency of this vast human energ.
i is enhanced almost beyond computation b,
/, the machinery SO extensively introduced
J into every department of industry. Th
agricultural machines, put in operation