The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1866-01-12


who were rebels, to restore political
privileges to those who we're formerly
masters, and yet protect the freedom
Of those who were formerly slaves
such is the difficult and delicate work
before the executive and the legisla-
ture of the nation, and they may
rightly claim of us all such appYeci-
alton of their task as shall make us
most kind and charitable judges OF
their differences from favorite meas
ures of our own. We have, indeed,
reason to be devoutly thankful that
the work has fallen upon men in
whose patriotism and wisdom we
have so great cause for confidence,
and that the progress they have al
really made promises q conclusion
which shall be reasonably speedy
and generally satisfactory TO the
country.
In the presence of the vast interests
which are before us rs part of the
nation, the local concerns which af-
feet us as a State alone are likely to
be dwarfed and lose their proper at
tention. j do not propose to enter
into any detailed or elaborated ex-
animation of our condition, or to
make recommendation of legislative
action. This has been fully and ably
done by my predecessor. l shall
only glance at the outlines of affairs,
and content myself with the briefest
and most cursory view Of the situa-
tion. In our official State duties, we
find no such heavy responsibility as
rests upon the shoulders of the Off
GERS of our national Government
The close of the war has taken from
us the necessity for putting armies in
the field, and relieved us in our State
capacity of the labors incident to
close CO cooperation with the General
Government in all the great affairs
which have made the past five years
so memorable in our history. We
are subsiding into the quiet routine
Of peaceful times, and as our young
men are returning to their farms,
their merchandise and their shops,
the great drain upon our physical
strength being removed, the energet
ic use of intelligent labor will soon
prove how rapidly the recuperativc
powers of this people act, and how
true it is that the times which make
least show in the worlds history are
very commonly those of greatest real
happiness and prosperity tc State.
Our veterans will not be adding new
names to the long list OF their fields
of glory, but they will be winning
victories over physical nature and
transforming the fruits of the soil
and the minerals of the earth into that
wealth which shall spread comfort
and happiness everywhere. We, who
have been called to guide the move
ment of our State Government, will
connect our names with no such bril-
liant acts as have given widespread
reputation for high craftsmanship to
the succession of State officers who
have preceded us during these troub.
led times; but in the humber duties
which will tall to US we may rejoice
that these quiet days are, in some,
our best days. because they are, as
we hope, the beginning of an era o.
purer and more rapi'l advancement
in everything which tends to the
highest civilization.
The habit Of grasping great
thoughts aud OF daring to 90 great
deeds has apparently bcgotten in ouI
people disposition which makes al
business enterprise take wider scope
than heretofore, and the keen insight
with which all our resources are
scanned, and the adventurous encr
gy wish which their development i:
pushed, leave nothing to be desiret
in business point OF view, unless i
be an increase of that sagaciou:
caution which may save US from thC
danger of those commercial rcvul
sions which have, with considerable
regularity, followed great expansions
of the currency. The late chang,
in the banking system of the coun
try has transferred the control of thu
circulating medium to c ngress, arc
comparatively little can be done by
us directly to provide aganst til,
threatened evils to which ] have al
luded, except to extort our fellow cit
izens to prepare in season for every
contingency.
The large tracts Of valuable land.
within the State which are still un
cultivated remind us OF the desira
billy of encouraging immigration
and of the evident policy of seekin:
to attract the most thrifty and valua
bic classes of emigrants within oul
borders. Wise foresight and prom
action may unquestionably do mucl
to induce the best class of the for
eigners who are flocking to on
shores to settle among us, where the,
will find IN the highest degree th,
advantages which have allured then
to this country, with many of thos,
pleasures CT society and of an olde
civilization which they must foreg'
in the sparsely settled regions of tn,
far West, to which the great curren
of migration is tending. 1t will als'
be our duty to promote the most rap
id assimilation of the foreign elemen
with our native population. Tn,
events through which we have JUS
passed have proven how rapidly tn
foreign settler has become American
in interest, in thought, and in patri
otism; but the good results we hav,
seen should only encourage us t.