The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-12-11
the PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.

To the Senate and House of Representatives.
In submitting my seventh annual message
10 Congress in this centennial year OF our
national existence rs free and Independents
people, it affords me great pleasure 10 Iecur
TO the advancement that has been maue from
the time OF the colonies, one huhareu years
ago. We were then a people numbering Only
30OO 900: now we number more than 4o,UOJ,'
200 Then the industries were confined al
most exclusively to the tlllage of the soil
now manufactures absorb much of the labor
of the country. Our liberties remain unim
paired The bondsmen have been freed
from slavery. We have become possessed OF
the respect, II not the friendship of ali civil
,zed nations. Our progress has been great IN
all the arts, in science, agriculture, commerce
navigation, mining, mechanics, law, medi
cine, etc, and in general education the pro
gress is likewise encouraging. Our thirteen
States have become thirty eight, including
Colorado, which has taken initiatory steps tt
become State, and eight Territories, includ
ing the Indian Territory and Alaska, and eX
GLIDING Colorado making q territory extend
ing from the Atlantic to the Pacific. On the
South, we have extended to the Gulf OF Mex
ico and IN the West from the Mississippi u
the Pacific One hundred years ago the cot
ton gin, the steamship, the railroad, the lei'
egraph, the reaping, sewing and modern
printing machines, and numerous othcr III
ventions of scarcely less value to our ousi'
ness and happiness, were entirely unknown
In TITO manufactures scarcely existed even even
IN name in all this vast territory; IN lo'o
more than two millions of persons were en-
ployed in manufactures producing more than
ne iOO.,aiO 600 Of products In amount, annual
anuaJ IN ,y,r national debt From
nearly the whole of the population OF 1915
being engaged in the one occupation OF az
riculture, III 1870, SO numerous and dlVersl'
fed had become the occupation OF our peo-
pie. that less than SIX millions out OF more
than forty millions were so engaged. Inc
extraordinary effect produced In our country
by a resort to such occupations, has built a
market for the products OF the fertile lands
distant from the seaboard and the markets OF
the world.
The American system OF working various
and extensive manufactures, next TO inc iarn
and pasture, and adding connecting railroads
and steamboats,, has produced in our distant
county a result not equaled by the intelll'
gent parts of other nations. The ingenuity
and skill of American mechanics have been
demonstrated at home and abroad in man
ner most fiat,ering to their pride. But for the
extraordinary genius and ability OF our me
chanics, the achievements of our agricultur-
lists. manufacturers and transporters through.
oHt the country would have been Impossible
of attainment.
The progress of the miner has also been
great. OF coal our production was small ;
now many millions of tons are mined annu.
ally. So with iron, which formed scarcely
an appreciable part of our products hall a
a
world consumed ut the beginning OF our ma
tonal existence Lead, zinc and copper, from
being articles of import, we may expect to
ne large exporters of, in the near future. The
development Of gold and silver mines hrough-
out States and Territories has not only been
remarkable, but has had a large influence
upon the business Of all commercial nations.
Our merchants in the last hundred years
have had success, and have established n
reputation for enterprise, sagacity, progress
and integrity unsurpassed by the people OF
older nationalltles. This good name is not
confined 10 their homes, but goes out upon
every sea, and into every port where Com
merce enters. With equal pride, we can
point to our progress in all of the learned
professions
As we are now about to commence our sc.
cond Centennial, commencing our manhood
as nation, 1t is we'll to look back upon the
past, and study what will be best to preserve
and advance our future greatness.
From the fall of Adam for his uansgres.
sion to the present day, no nation has ever
been free from threatened danger 10 It's pros
perity and happiness. We should look to the
dangers threatening us and remedy them 50
far as lies in our power. We are RepuDlic
wherein one man is as good as another before
the law.
Under such form Of Government, ii IS of
the greatest importance that all should be
possessed of education and intelligence
enough 20 cast n vote with a right under
standing Of ITS meaning. A large association
Of ignorant men cannotfo any considerable
period oppose successful resistance to tyr
amy and oppression from the educated few,
but will inevitably sink INTO acquiescence to
the will of intelligence whether directed by
the demagogue or the priestcrait. Hence the
education of the masses becomes Of the first
necessity for the preservation OF our institu-
tons. They are worth preserving, because
they have secured the greatest good to the
greatest proportion of the population OF any
form of government yet devised All other
forms of government approach ii just in pro,
portion to the general diffusion of education
and independence of thought and action. As
the primary step, therefore, TO our advance
ment IN all that has marked our progress in
the past century, | suggest Tor your earnest
consideration, and most earnestly recommend
il, that q constitutional amendment be sub
mitted 10 the Legislatures of the several
States for ratification, making 1t the duty of
each of the several States TO establish and
forever maintain
FREE PUBLIC SHOOTS,
ADEQUATE to the education of all the children
in the fundamentally branches within their
respective limits, irrespective Of sex, color,
birth place, or religion, forbdding the teach.
ing IN said schools of religious, athestic, or
pagan ideas, and
PROHIBITING THE GRANTING
of any school funds or school-taxes, or any
part thereof, either by legislative or municipal
powers, for the benefit of any other Object
of any natsre or kind whatever in connection
with this important question. | would also
call your attention 10 the Importance of cor
rectlng an evil that II permitted to continue
will probably lead TO great trouble in ou
land before the close ofthe nineteeth century
1t is the accumulation of vast amounts o
UNTAxED CHURCH PROPERTY.