Connecticut western news., 1881-03-09


 the king, it should be counted no less crime here to strangle our sovereign power, and stifle it's voice. It has been said that unsettled questions have no pity for the repose of nations. It should be said, with the utmost empha- sis, that this question of the suffrage will never give repose or safety to the States or to the nation, until each with ill its own jurisdiction makes and keeps the ballot free and pure by the strong sanctions of the law.
 But the danger which arises from ig norance in the voter cannot be denied. It covers 8 field far wider than that of negro suffrage and the present condi- tion of that race.
 the sources and fountains of power in every State. We have no standard by which to measure the disaster that may be brought upon us by ignorance and vice in the citizens when joined to car ruption and fraud in the suffrage.
 The voters of the Union who make and unmake Constitutions, and upon whose will hang the destinies of our Govern ments, can transmit their supreme au- thority to no successor save the coming generation of voters, who are the sole heirs of sovereign power. If that gen. eration comes to its inheritance blinded by ignorance and corrupted by vice, the fall of the Republic will be certain and remediless.
 The census has already sounded the alarm in the appalling figures which mark how dangerously high the tide of illiteracy has risen among our voters and their children.
 To the South this question is of su- preme importance, but the responsi- bility for the existence of slavery did not rest upon the South alone. The nation itself is responsible for the extension of the suffrage, and is under special obligations to aid in removing the illiteracy which it has added to the voting population. For the North and South alike there is but one remedy. All the constitutional power of the na- tion and of the States and all the volun- teer forces of the people should be sum- moned to meet this danger by the saw ing influence of universal education. It is the high privilege and sacred duty of those now living to educate their suc- | cessors and fit them by intelligence and virtue for the inheritance which awaits them.
 | In this benefcent work sections and races should be forgotten and partisan ship should be unknown. Let our peo- pie find 0 new meaning in the divine oracle which declares that "A little child shall lead them," for our little children will soon control the destinies of the Republic.
 My countrymen, we do not now differ in our judgment concerning the contro- versies of past generations, and fifty years hence our children will not be di- vided in their opinions concerning our controversies. They will surely bless their fathers and their fathers God thet the Union was preserved, that slavery was overthrown, and that both races were made equal before the law. We may hasten or we may retard, but we cannot prevent the final reconciliation. Is it not possible for us now to make a truce with time by anticipating and &C., cepting its inevitable verdict?
 Enterprises of the highest importance | to our moral and material well-being invite us and offer ample scope for the employment of our best powers. Let all our people, leaving behind them the battle-fields of dead issues, move for ward, and in the strength of Liberty and the restored Union win the grander victories of peace.
 The prosperity which now prevails is without parallel in our history. Fruit full seasons have done much to secure it, but they have not done all. The pres ervation of the public credit and the re- sumption of specie payments so success fully attained by the Administration of my predecessors have enabled our peo- pie to secure the blessings which the seasons brought. By the experience of commercial nations in all ages, it has been found that gold and silver afford the only safe foundation for monetary system. Confusion has recently been created by variations in the relative val
 ue of the two metals, but confidently
 believe that arrangements can be made
 between the leading commercial nations
 which will secure the general use of both
 metals. Congress should provide that
 the compulsory coinage of silver now
 required by law may not disturb oul
 monetary system by driving either met
 al out of circulation. If possible sucl an adjustment should be made that the purchasing power of every coined dol lar will be exactly equal to its debt pay 1 ing power in all the markets of tho { world.
 The chief duty of the National Gov ernment in connection with the curren , cy of the country is to coin and declare , it's value. Grave doubts have been en 7 tertained whether Congress is au thor , ized by the Constitution to make any
 form of paper money legal tender. Tn, present issue of United States notes has , been sustained by the necessities of war , but such paper should depend for it. value and currency upon its convenience in use and its prompt redemption in ciol Ut the will of the holder, and not upol l its compulsory circulation. These note are not money, but promises to pa, money. If the holders demand it, tn l promise should be kept.
 t The refunding of the National debt a 3 a lower rate of interest should be nc l complished without compelling tn l withdrawal of the National Bank notes I and thus disturbing the business of tn l country. l venture to refer to the posi- r tion I have occupied on financial ques q tions during long service in Congress : and to say that time and experienc r have strengthened the opinions I hay @ so often expressed on these subjects. 8 The finances of the Government shal r suffer no detriment which it may be pos
 sible for my administration to prevent l The interests of agriculture deserv n more attention from the Governmen 1, than they have yet received. The farm e of the United States afford homes an l. employment for more than one-half ou s people, and furnish much the larges
 o1-E Ne oil o,.ke Ac4 41,o ~ }. ment lights our coasts for the protec d tion of mariners and the benefit of com j. merce, so it should give to the tillers c # the soil the lights of practical scienc l. and experience.
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