Evening star., 1901-06-13
ITS WORK HAS BEGUN


succeeding generations. If we met this
weighty question in a spirit of fairness, of
economy and intelligent adjustment, and
evolve a written instrument that, will save
hundreds of thousands of dollars to the
taxpayers of the state and give US a simple
and more direct and successful plan of
government"
In my inaugural address on the 1st of
January, 1898. | said: II do not under
stand that the complaint of the people is
so much at the amount of salaries paid
as against the number of officers the pres
ent unSuited constitution allows to be inn
posed upon them. We have become an office
ridden people In many instances the
amount of salary is only sufficient to invite
a scramble for the office. while the pay is
not enough to furnish even a scanty sup
port. The official has to find some other
means to supplement his income, and his
other occupation usually receives about all
his time. the state and counties getting
but little for the money expended"
| bring these previous utterances before
you to show the earnestness of my spirit
in the work that has been committed to
your hands.
1t is not my province to make sugges-
tion as to how best to make needed changes
in organic law. / am sure the wisdom
of this convention will devise the best
things for the people, who have confided
their interests into its keeping Social and
political problems are confronting you. AS
one Of your feHow-citizens I can only beg
of you to search your hearts and bring to
the oppressive responsibility of your
weighty duties a patriotic love of your
state and an earnest desire to give to every
citizen the highest incentive and oppor-
tunity to improve himself and to be of ben
eft to the community in which he lives.
As to the Future.
While not forgetting the lofty traditions
and sacred memories Of our noble past, I
beg of you to turn your faces to the future
and become leaders in deed and in truth Of
the best political thought of our new CEN
tury. Let no old, mildewed prejudice en-
cumber your labors; regulate and adjust
the affairs Of this commonwealth to the fu-
ture progress Of our country and of the
world. Give nice and delicate adjustment
to the scales of justice, as between man
and man, so that 1t can be the proud boast
of Virginians everywhere that in their dear
old state the humbleSt citizen has equal
opportunity before the law. l am sure you
will not neglect the proper theories of gov
ernment and that you will display wise
discrimination in constructing the legisla-
tive. executive and judicial departments of
our state constitution; but while not ne
glectful of these things, feel that we live
in an intensely practical and Industrial age,
and that the material welfare Of Virginia's
territory should also receive your fostering
care. l beg of you to put this state on
business basis. We Virginians are twitted
with Living in the past and with spending
golden hours in ancestral worship that
should be expended in the service of the
present and of posterity. But proper
study of the greatness of that very past
should inspire us with an intelligent devo-
ton to the future and It's possibilities. The
faces OF all our great founders and nation
builders were turned exultingy to the fu-
ture. Jefferson founded here in Virginia
university on such advanced lines that
three-quarters of century has scarcely
enG 1ied other states to grow up to it. while
1t has never yet grown insufficient or out
Of date in a single detail. George Wash
ington worked for canal building, shipyard
industries and water-power development
Patrick Henry was keenly alive to the
value OF the sheltering harbors that lie
along our coast line, and was so jealously
sensitive to an attempt to barter away our
great inland commerce on the Mississippi
for certain advantages to Boston harbor
that he withdrew his mighty influence
from the federation of the states. SO, while
you study and enact forms of government,
suffrage clauses and questions of public
office-hOlding, 1t is surely not unbecoming
but on the contrary 1t is your bounden
duty to take energetic action to bring back
to Virginia her material prosperity and
leadership.
Induce Immigration and Capital.
To induce people and money to come and
dwell with US something tangible, some
thing practicable must be offered When 1
was In the senate of Virginia in 1S77-7S 1t
was my privilege to offer a bill in that body
to exempt from taxation for period Of ten
years all foreign capital invested in de-
Veloping new mining and manufacturing in
dustr1es. 1t was then claimed that the
constitution. which declared that all taxa
ticn should be equal and uniform forbade
the passage Of such law and the bill was
defeated.
In 1870 Virginia, with an area of 40 800
square miles, had a population of 1 ID, 163
while Massachusetts, with an area of only
S,o46 square miles, had a population Of l.
4oI,35l. In 1900 Virginia had increased her
a fn .L<.,,f
while Massachusetts had 2,SO5, ,346, or an in
crease of about 125 per cent.
Why cannot the lands that once were In
profitable cultivation, but that are row
growing up in brush and broom-sage, be
made to bloom again? Would it not be wise
to offer inducements to foreign capital to
come and cultivate them? We could say to
the homeseeker from every section: Come
and dwell with us, we will exempt from
taxation the capital that you bring for a
sufficient number of years to sgive you a
start, and buy stock and erect buildings
on these waste places. Every barren acre
is a blot on the state and should be erased.
l ask that this convention, framing a new
constitution, will permit the state and local
authorities to offer such inducements as
have indicated for capital to come within
our borders.
To Press Forward.
The prosperity of Virginia should be
ma rked from the very day this convention
d
growth as some of western sister
states, but there is a charm in the very
thought of having Virginia as your home,
and your children reared amid the sacred
memories of this historic soil. 1 look to
see the day when this commonwealth will
be made the meeting ground in friendliest
harmony between the men from the north
and from the south, from the east and
from the west, and from the lands beyond
the sea. We can be by virtue of our very
geographic position the meeting place and
camping ground of a rounded and pros
porous nation. In conclusion, beg to say
that 1 recognize IN this body as in no
other one that has assembled here the
very presence Of the Virginia people. You
are Virginia. You alone have authority to
speak for her without limitation or restric-
ton Her heart throbs in your hearts.
Your voices are her mouthpiece. Your acts
are her acts. Your character Is her char
acter. and with a heartfelt wish that high
Providence will bless and preside over
your deliberations and acts I salute you
with my most considerate obeisance and
profound respect.