Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1868-01-24

GOV. M ERRI.LL.

H ts " ST. gk4N4 s.E3fk sssts
C Ov. M e r RIL l..
Gentlemen Of TIE Senate and House of
Representatives
With gratitude to the people of Iowa
for am election to the responsible Office
of chief magistrate of the State, APP
pear before you to take the solemn OBJ
legations prescribed By the Constitu-
ton, and to give assurance of fidelity
to the interests of the Commonwealth
The period In which we meet Is dis
ltinguished with peculiar favor. The
labors Of the husbandtian have been
crowned with plenty, pestilence and
want have not visited us;1a spiritlof
good will and ffaternal regard has pre-
vailed throughout all our borders. Let
us gratefully acknowledge the beniti-
cent Author of these blessings and rec
ognize our increased obligations of obe-
dience ard love. sfl .,sa.5le.sa1
The prospects of our State were new
er more hopeful. The finances are In q
sound and healthful condition. Not
war, we find ourselves untrammeled
with debt aud free from exhausting
taxation. Our seasons are kindlyan
harvests abundant. The useful and
mechanic arts have not been neglected
in the development of our resources
Never In our history has the spirit OF
| internal improvements exhibited such
strength of purpose as to-day, and en-
terprise is every where striving to pro.
mote the commercial facilities of the
State. Especially Is this manifest in
the rapid development of our railway
communications. In 1889 the number
Of miles I'm operation was three huIi.
dred and ninety in 1855 IL was seven
hundred end ninety-three; while at
the present time II eanuot be less than
twelve hundred, and as this estimate
embraees but a fractional part Of char
tered lines, we see how hopeful, how
| full OF promise Is our future i'm this
particular. The growth of our cities
and towns; the spread of our COM
merce the multiplication of schools
and colleges in our midst are eyislen-
ces of a substantial and progressive
prosperityv ssas f9HEIag2 ~
The representations of the condition
of the State I'm its details by my prede-
cessor have given you favorable In
/ tr0duction To its varied interests, atid
bespeak for his recommendations your
/ careful consideration. To again cou-
slider the topics which have been so re-
Gently and SO we'll presented would
seem unnecessary on the present occa-
sion. Hereafter | may deem IL my
duty to invite your attention TO some
particular subjects of legislation, and
therefore shall be pardoned If | now
turn to the more extended field of ma
tional affairs. un3f u tfi3 yasA
at In the war for preserving the unity
of tire Republic, the people of Iowa
4 ELL
may we congratulate ourselves, there
/ fore, that the labors In which we have
shared, the sorrows In which we have
participated, the hopes and anxieties
which We have felt in common with
loyal hearts oil over the land, have cs-
tablished IL upon firmer foundations
than ever before. The pernicious dog
! ma Of Estate Rights perished with
the sword which was drawn i'm Its de-
fence. 1t is one of the first fruits oi
victory that we are not % Republic OF
corporations, but Republic of the peo.
pie, and that i'm questions affecting the
Interests of oil the States, the ultimate
arbiters are the people of the United
States. While tue rights of none are
to suffer eneroachment, and the prerog-
atives of each are to be jealously guard.
ed by the power of the whole, the pip.
ular will must be tile great expoundeI
of the Constitution. The cry has been
raised that I'm establishing aud fortify-
ing The powers OF the nation, the peo
pie are i'm danger OF losing their liber.
ties. History has been cited To- show
that we are Initiating the unhappy pol.
icy of other free governments, In
which, first the spirit. and then the
form, of their institution pcrished.---
but IL Is forgotten that men never be
fore attained q freedom worthy of the
name, and that IL they failed they
failed because they were linworthy.
Ourown experience lias more mean
ing lessons Tor us than any examples oi
former success or ruin. Disclaiminp
the heresy that the nation is evary
thing aud the State nothing, let us Al
the same time rejoice that we have es.
tablished so firmly the paramount SOW.
iereignty of the Union over all its parts
That in the hour of great national ext
gency, We shall never again be comi-
PEELED 10 listen to the declaration that
there Is no power in the general gov.
ernment to coeree a sovereign State
Centrifugal must yield obedience tc
Icentripetal law, or our system perishes
And yet neither can he spared from the
perfection of our theory. With the
supreme, must be coupled the principle
that the States have n sphere of action
limited to be sure, but nevertheless q
distinct sphere, which the general. gov.
ernment has neither the power nor tlIt
wish To invade. - .ya q8a-faH
TO 9indicaie tie integrity of The
Union required q. large expenditure =
Happily for us aud for the success oi
our cause, the credit of the nation was
equal TO the emergency which called II
into exercise. In times OF unprece-
dented difficulty and when DIR tinan.
cial ability seened the pivotal pcint o.
triumph on defeat, IL proved an unfail.
ing rock of supply. To maintain thai
credit constitutes our most sacred duty
and whatever responsibilities IL may
impose upon Us, the highest standard
of national good faith will command
the verdict of the American people,
The citadel of financial honor. eennoi
be guided. too sacrediy. should rep.
rebate a. the most calamitous of mis-.
fortunes any legislation on the part
of Congress. tending to invalidate the
pligh.edy or even the fairly implied,
faith of the nation. "a tn Ntesss
ls.It has beccfiE the conviction OF some
that a part OF the national bonds could
be redeemed In currency, witliout frau
upon the holder. The advocates oi
this policy base the righteousness oi
such redemption upon ihe fact that the
4 bonds themselves contain no sti pula
tion OF pay In specie. A more
subtle, insidioiis, and, at tile same time,
deadly attack upon the public credit
could not have been made. Apart
from the faet1 that gold ID the recog-
nized currency of the world and the
standard of value, aud that We cannot
exempt ourselves from the Operations, ,ol
this law, there was. I'm this instance, an
implied understanding with both par
| ties to the covenant that loans TO the
Government should be paid ii specie.
The Secretary of the Treasury placed
this ilfarnretafifn upon the contract at