The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1874-01-02

instead of this abrupt and alarming dim
mutton, q large increase of both was OBJ
viously demanded by the revolution il
business relations resultshg from th,
emancipation of the colored race. 1t il
too much to expect the full recuperatior
of our business interests. or our sontin
ued ability to yield required Federal ant
state revenues, unless these enormous inc.
qualities are corrected. Upon every con
sideration of justice and interest, the Fed
eral government should either cause thu
state to be supplied with its due proportion
of national currency, or repeal the existing
tax on state bank notes, and thus empow
er us to provide circulating medium fol
ourselves. ae
| STATE DEBT AND EXPENSES.
/ While I recommend earnest efforts t.
! carry into effect the views and to Obtain
correction Of the grievances set out in thi
message, it will not become us to depend
solely or mainly upon assistance ant
relief from the general government. Tit
surest way. to obtain help from Others il
first to help ourselves. Obligations tc
public creditors, binding the, honor and
good faith of the commonwealth, should
be fulfilled to the utmost of her ability In
any event and under all circumstances.
No other calamity could infict greater
detriment, either moral or pecuniary, upon
the whole body of the people than a
deliberate breach of public honor. 1t is
believed that proper scrutiny Of all
appropriations of public money, the cor
rection Of every abuse, the adjustment Of
every unnecessary office, the enforcement
of the strictest accountability on the part
of all revenueloficers, and the application
Of just principles of retrenchment to all
branches Of the public service, will lead to
reduction Of expenditures, corresponding
with the contraction Of the limits of the
state and the diminution in the means Of
people, and, together with the taxing Of
such legitimate subjects of taxation as may
have been unwisely or inadvertently
exempted in the past, will enable
us to meet all present demands upon the
treasury without increasing existing rates
of taxation. Such changes Of our organic
law as shall at an early day recommend,
would, in my opinion, lead to reduction
Of present rates of taxation, without inn
pairing any of the rightso creditors.
ia4& EOblIlO INpIIlO1lOrNos
! While enforcing rigorous system of
retrenchment throughout the entire public
service, let us remember that there are
cases in which, a wise liberality is the
truest economy. The care of our public
institutions, educational and eleemosynary,
must be generous to be prudent. The eff
.ficiency of our high schools, colleges and
universities is no less essential to the fu-
turo progress and power of the state than
a, wisely ordered system of common
schools. The higher institutions of learn
ing established and controlled by the state,
as well as public schools Of lower grade,
are entitled to the most liberal legislation
compatible with the embarrassed condition
of the treasury. Especially should the
University of Virginia, the favorite legacy
of Jefferson to his country, be provided
with such aids and announcements as will
largely dispense its benefits among the
meritorious poor Of our youth, enlarge its
means and facilities for instruction so as
to keep it abreast of the rapid advance
ment of the world in knowledge and
science, and maintain its true position
among the foremost similar institutions on
the continent.
At time when the popular mind and
energies are concentrated upon the work
of repairing our shattered material inter-
ests; in period of increasing utilitarian
tendencies, let US not forget the wisdom
contained in the noble words of living
that Git is not true that physi-
cal happiness is a principle on which you
commonwealth. A civilized community
must rest on large realized capital of
thought and sentiment. There must be
reserved fund OF public morality to draw
upon, in the exigencies of national life.
Society has q soul as well as body. The
traditions of state are part of its exist
ence. Its yalor and its discipline, its re-
ligious faith, its venerable laws, its science
and erudition, its religious faith, its
poetry, its art, its eloquence and its schol-
arship, are as much portions of its exist
ence as its agriculture, its commerce, and
its engineering skill" -zs +,
8sg THE CENTRAL WATER LINE.
8 i most earnestly recommend the renewal
OF every timely effort, and the use of all
available means, to further the construction
of the central water line, the great concep-
tionsof Washington, the contamination of
WuiCu 10 uCStucu W oie uaAiAo Juo pECoCne
period of our history. The proposition.
already submitted to Congress to adopt it
as national highway, to be constructed
by the general government and to be main
tanned and operated under its supervision,
in the interest of the whole country, will
receive the most effective, aid at my COM
mand. 81 aa u Is tt8 . E
The great want of the country, trans
portation between the points of production
and consumption, has become vital ques-
ton of the day, affecting on the one hand
the profits of the western producer and in
yolving on the other the most serious ques-
ton of food TO the eastern operative. 1t is
q lamentable fact that while the want of
cheap and abundant food is oppressively
felt in many eastern sections, corn is yearly
consumed as fuel in some of the grain-grow-
ing states of the Mississippi valley.
The improvement of the natural water
ways of the country and their connections
with each other and with the Atlantic sea-
board by artificial Waterways, is not only
necessary as supplemental to the transport
tation facilities afforded by railroads, but
to secure that healthful competition which
the interests of internal commerce de-
mands. The natural waterways ere con-
trolled by the general government, and it
is equally and obviously proper that their
connections with each other and with the
Atlantic seaboard, when extending through
two or more states, should be controlled
by the same government for the whole peo-