The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-01-15
novERNoR's MESSAGE.

tiOn. "at the commencement or each SeS-
sion and at the close OF his term OF Of
flee. to give to the General Assembly in
formation by message OF the condition OF
the state. and recommend such measures
as he shall deem eXpedlent.
You assemble under the most FAVOR
able circumstances. Since the last meet
ing of the Legislature the state ana the
whole country have been prosperous.
Our people have especially enjoyed lhe
blessings of good health, bOuntlful bar
vests and all business interests flourish
Illinois commenced her career under
very different conditions from those that
attend the frontier state of to-day. ana
much less favorable to Il rapid develop
ment. Remote from markets, her most
favored localities depended upon the UNI
certaintes of "a water Navigation OF many
hundred miles, and her staple products,
beyond what was needed to support her
incubation. had little value. Whatever
money could be accumulated III scanty
SIMS bv labor and privatl0n was fOrlh.
with paid into the United States Land
ONCE. am not crticislnS the federal
nolicv of that day with reference to the
publc domain: but the natural and lneV-
table consequence of the policy was 10
keen the state drained of actual money
inst so long us fertile acres could be
bought of the general Government AT Il
pllce which invited speculative purclaS-
eS.
The new state of the present DAY has
its railroads built in advance or settle
ment and the actual settler receives his
homestead as a free gift from the Nation.
1t is no wonder that Illinois, in It's llrst
decade, under stress OF poverty, dld re-
sort to financial eXpedlentS which we now
can clearly see were erroneous IN theory
and disastrous in practice, albeit these
very theories and practices ma rev
stout defenders at the present day. In us
second decade, when, under the pressing
need of transportation facllllleS, lhe state
sought to inaugurate
SYSTEM OF CANALS
and general internal improvements by
the and of public credit, much OF what
was done was unwise in detail and lily
considered, inducing, as an immediate
consequence, great financial distress;
still we day owe to the men Of that
time infinitely more than we have paid
in paving the debts they incurred. The
foundations were then laid Of our pres
ent prosperity and wealth. which came to
us as soon as the title to the lands was
held by our own citizens, and the very
system of internal improvements which
our fathers inaugurated had been carried
out. TO the spirit and manner In which
we have paid this debt we owe whatever
of credit and good name we enjoy as
state. And here we are under Obliga-
tions to the men of that day for correct
teaching and example. In the darkest
hour of debt and insolvency, Illinois new
er faltered in her purpose to pay her debts
at the earliest possible moment, without
scaling or adjustment, and whatever lin
ancial errors may have disiignred her leg
islation, she never sought to cover them
with the foul mantle of reputation.
The growth of the state in the last de-
cade has been of a healthy and perma-
mcnt character, although not showing us
high per centages of increase as I'm some
earlier stages Of development. We have
made large gains In directions which do
not show in the assessment rolls, in the
payment of mortgage Indebtedness, and
In the purchase of real-estate titles held
by non-residents. This is especially true
of our farm lands, and the good effects
are shown IN the increased and visible
prosperity Of the people in some districts
which, few years ago, were almost over
loaded with debt.
THE DEBT OF ILLINOIS
commenced with the issues OF the first
state bank, which was chartered by the
Second General Assembly in 1871, over
the veto of Governor Bond. Nothing
could have been more crude and faulty
than the plan and methods of this lnsti-
tuition. 1t was the sole property Of the
state. 1t had no capital, except an APP
preparation of $1,000 to pay for plates,
books and stationery. Its issues were le-
gal tender, so far as the state could make
Them so, and were loaned chiefly on real
estate security as standing accommoda-
tons renewable indefinitely. In less
than two years the specie value Of its is
sues had deprecated 50 per cent, and Il
little later they were paid out Of the State
Treasury, by law, for salaries of judges
and other officers, at 335 cents
on the dollar. The first funded debt of
the State, known as the Virgins Loan"
to $lOO,OOO was marketed in
1881, and It's proceeds used In retiring the
outstanding issues Of the State bank.
Meantime, in 1927, the State received u
grant of public lands from the General
in aid of the construction
Of a canal between Lake Michigan and
the Illinois river. After prosecuting this
work for Il few wears, and spending what
and some small appropriations from the
public treasury, the State, in 1885, to fin
lsh the canal and carry out mammoth
scheme Of internal improvement, char
tered a new State bank, and in different
ways loaned its credit and sold its bonds
as long as money could be raised by any
means. The crisis came in lS39-i0 Cred
It was gone, the career of debt making
ended. and the era of settlement and pay
ment began. At this date the entire debt
If the State. funded and unfunded, was
about So 900, 900. The exact amount is
1ariously stated in contemporaneou re-
ports, according TO different methods of
adopted.
THE WORK OF LIQUIDATION
Vas pushed mantully, and every resource
If the State was dedicated to the pay
nent of debt. The canal was surren-
Tered TO the trustees of bondhOlders-
The unfinished railroads were offered for
sale-the constitution of 1913 incorpora-
ted in It's provisions means of payment
which was perfected by wise legisiation;
arrears of interest were funded, and in
SE7 for tho fire tin,a IN, a.