The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1871-01-07
GOVERNORS MESSAGE.

SPBiNGFfELD, ILL.,.
January Ith, 1871. I
GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE AND HORSE OF Rrp-
REsENTATIyEs:
Meeting the representatives OF the peopIe a
second time; am permitted by the circumstances
10 congratulate them that since the last session of
,ne General Assembly. nothing has occurred to-
interrupt the steady progress of the State.
have b lanaoi,ans of nearly every district
health the haryests have afforded plenty; en-
pi9ymeht has been abundant and industry
wen rewarded; the wants of the needy, the
helpless; and the poor have been supplied; efforts
Tor the diffusion Of morality and education have
hot altogether failed of success; new lines of rail-
wa! nave oeen constructed opening TO fertile dir
ricts heretofore isolated, convenient access to
favorable markets, and the laws for the preserva-
non oil peace and order have BEEN in almost every
Instance, faithfully executed. No people have
eieatef reasons for thankful gratitude to the D
vine GlVer or stronger motives to impel them 10
duty.
eht OF the laws of the State are several instances
OF oulrages committed by mobs ON the 2lst day
~ februray, 1870, one Harrison Reed. who was
charsed with murder committedin Madison county,
was taken from the custody of an officer who was
conveying him TO Jail, and killed.
oh the 2oth day of April, $50 one Hank Leonard
wa loiclDly taken from the Jail of Marion county,
ana put to death under circumstances Of peculiar
atrocty.
>, ON the 10th day of April, ls7', one Joseph c.
Ramsey, while in the custody of an officer Of Put
nam county, who was conveying him to the co unity
Jail. was seized by mob aud hanged.
Ihese cases were officially reported TO me- and
other instances of lawles- violence have occurred
IN the state, in regard 10 which have no official
information. 1t will be observed by an examua-
ton Of the reports made to me of the crcum.
stances that attended the killing of the persons
above named, that they were at the time helples,
Prlsoher-; without any means at hand Of self-de-
Tense, and If the officers who had them in custody
attempted To defend them ii was done in IA manner
mat reflects no great degree of credit upon their
hrmness or sense of duty.
Inc case of Reed j. especially humiliating. He
had escaped from the State. and was arrested under
the ORDER of the Governor Of Missouri, in conse-
quehce OF requi-rOn made by me. and was
murdered while in the custody of an officer of thi-
STATE, VINO could not or would not protect him.
When the facts were fully investigated by me,
oucrcd reward of one thousand dollars for the
apprehension and conviction of the offenders in
ehch OF these cases, hut no arrests have been re
portfolio me. The papers that relate 70 them will
ne transmitted 10 the General Assembly.
The frequent recurrence Of crimes committed by
mobs aud the fact that instances of the punish
ment of the offenders rare. suggest the inquiry
whether some legislation il not necessary for their
repression. The Governor j. charged by the Con
sutqton with the obligation ITO take that
the laws are faithfully executed" and vet, al
though he may he satisfied that in this class of
cases and Others, ofCer- NEGLECT or refuse to dis
charge their duties. that states Attorneys are
incompetent or refuse TO take the necessary steps
10 punish offenders, he can neither remove nor
suspend them, nor bring them TO trial before the
Judicial tribunals. II Is for the General Asst mbly
to determine whether II Is proper to give to the
Executive Department any additional powers. to
De employ ed for the enforcement OF the criminal
laws. In the cases mentioned nv powers aye cx.
hAus'rd. and The yiolators Of the Laws are un-
punished.
THE NEW coSsrITUTIOS.
ON the I'd day Of Juy 1870 the people Of the
STATE express I'd their approval OF the Constitution
submitted 10 them by the Convention that as
-Aembed in this city on the 18th day of December
1862. THIS instrument. that was prepared with so
much care by the intelligent and patriotic men that
composed the Convention, and that was adopted
f IA Fr.a.r
OF uhauimlty, Introduces many most salutary
reforms into the organic law of the State.
. The Constitution of lsis was well suited to the
times and was adopted by the people under cir
cumsiGnCes of difficulty and embarrassment that
we cannot now fully understand. At that time he
state was overwhelmed by debt mproyidenuy
contracted. and that had wholly failed OF benefit
TO the people, property had hut nominal value,
the resources Of the State were nndeveloped aud
nut little understood. and immigration had almost
ceased. The Constitution the expression OF
the etermination OF the people of that day 10
meet every obligation aud TO practice the most
rigld economy, until the claims Of the public cred
ltnr- were placed In condition that would satisfy
them; The purpose intended was accomplished
and the Constitution of lS4S will he remembered
~ an eHampl" OF courageous integrity, TO the en-.
during honor of the state OF Illinois.
The Convention OF 1870 was called by the people
from conviction, well Justified by the facts that
the Constitution Of ISIS was no longer suited 10
the changed condition of the State Under the
practical construction OF it, provisions the Ex-
ecutiye Department was destitute of influence, the
Judicial Department was unequal TO it, greatly in
creased duties while the legislature regardless Of
the limitations upon It's authority. was practically
the supreme power in the State. Before the
adoption Of the Constitution Of $50 the history Of
the American States presented no example of
government more defective or vicious than that OF
the state Of Illinois The public Judgment Is that
the Constitution now In force Is admirably framed
10 correct the abuses that had grown mp under the
former system of government, and that ii its
provisions are respected it will secure 10 the State
an efficient. economical administration of it, az
far and r.F,f1s ,Nri.ra
right.
But, a. we'll founded as these expectations are,
II Will forever remain true that self-eXecung
Constitution has not been devised by human skill,
and II such an instrument could he created itwoud
I've without value, for II is of the essence of free
government that it exists and Is preserved by the
intelligent assent and the active. vigilant. or
gained will of FIRE people, and the lastSyears of
the Constitution of lSiS afford an impressive warn
Ing that formal instruments of government are
vain II the people themselves do not respect and
VIII not enforce their provisions. The radical vice
4 of the government under that Constitution was
4 thatlts limitations upon the powers of the depart
mentS had become obsolete, so that there remained
. no effective rule by which their responsibilities
could be defined or enforced. Officers received
compensation for their services under the authority
t OF laws that were thought BY the people 10 be in
i consistent with the Constitution. and government
that was intended to be economical was, IN fact.
unreas0nably expensive. Legislation was ha-ty and
improHdent, so that the feeling was general that
public and private rights were unsafe, and that the
officers charged byi he Constitution with the on.
! actment the Interpretation and the enforcement Of
the laws, were alike unworthy of the full confidence
! of the people of the State. The forms of popular
! government may escape subversion. but il will
practically perish when the people are unable to
conide in the integrity and wisdom of those TO
whom they are compelled to entrust the execution
of Its powers: and hence the officer who justly for
fets the confidence of the people, Is a. dangerous
To the welfare of the State a. If he had traitorousy
assaied its existence.
REPRESENTATION AND ELECTIONS.
The trainers of tho Constitution of 1870, correctly
approaching the existing evils, and fully under
standing that the suppression Of all the abuses of
government must be the work of the people,
prepared and presented to the freemen of the
State plan for an enlarged and improved system
Of popular representation inthe General Assembly:
Senators and Representatives Is merely provisional,
and 1t will he necessary for the present General
Assembly to divide the State into hfty.one Sena.
torial districts, upon the basis Of the Federal CEN
sus of 1870 according to the 9th section of the 4h