Year: 1866

, They are mere distractions, 1t IS true, Ou
we need to bear them in mind none tn
less carefully for that. All rules are ab
stractious, whether they be the formula
for solving the problems Of government


or of other sciences. We recall them tC
lost our work, and we reckon ourselves
to have made good progress in proportion
to tho faithfulness With which we have
adhered to them.


In the heat Of our just wrath agains
+. those who would have swept republican
ism from the continent, had they beer
successful, we are in danger Of forgetting
principles to which we owe allegiance
and therefore we should not excuse our
selves from the thankless task of remind


ing each other Of them. To follow these
rules and yet provide that the nation,
safety be not endangered, to determine
who of the late enemies of the Govern
ment are without the pale of clemency
and yet to extend amnesty to the other
millions Of those who are rebels. to restore
political privileges to those who were for
merly masters. and yet protect the free
dom OF those who were formerly slaves
such is the difficult and delicate work BE- 3.
lore the Executive and the Legislature of
the nation, and they may rightly claim oil
us all such appreciation OF their task as
shall make us most kind and charitable
Judges Of their differences from iavorite
measures of our own. We haze. indeed,
reason to be devoutly thankful that the
work has fallen upon men in whose pa
triotism and wisdom we have so great
cause for confidence, and that the pro
gress they have already made promises a
conclusion which shall be reasonably
speedy and GENERALLY satisfactory TO the
coitntry.


In the presence or the vasts itterets
which are before us as paIt OF the nation,
| the local concerns which affect us d State
alone, are likely to be dwarttd and lose
their proper attention. l do not propose
to enter into any detailed or elaborated
examination o: our condition, or to make
recommendation of legislative action.
This has been fully and ably done by my
predecessor. I shall only glance al the
outlines Of affairs, and content myself
with the briefest and most cursory view
| of the situation. In our official State du-
ties we find no such heavy responsibility
as rests upon the shoulders of the officers
of our National Government. The close
of the war has taken from us the neces-
sity for putting armies IN the field, and
relieved us, in our State capacity, Of the
lahors incident to close cooperation with
the General Government in al! the great
affairs which have made the past five
years so memorable in our history. We
are subsiding into the quiet routine Of
peaceful times, and as our young men are
returuing to their farms, their merchan
disc and their shops, the great drain upon
our physical strength being removed, the
energetic use of intelligent labor will
soon prove how rapidly the recuperstlve
powers Of this pc pie act, and how true
it is that the times which make least
show in the worlds history are very com
monly those Of greatest real happiness and
prosperity to a State. Our veterans will
not be adding new names to the long list
of their fields OF glory, but they will be
winning victories over physical nature
and transforming the fruits of the soil
and the minerals of the earth ihlo that
wealth which shall spread comfort and
happiness everywhere. We, who have
been called to guide the movement OF our
State government, will connect our names
with no such brilliant acts as have given
widespread reputation for high states
manship to the succession Of State officers
who have preceded us during these trou
bled times; but in the humbler duties
which fall to us we may rejoice that these
quiet davs are, in some sense, our best
days, because they are, as we hope, the
beginning Of an era of purer and more
rapid advancement in everything which
tends TO the highest civilization.


The habit OF grasping' great thoughts
and Of daring to do great deeds, has ap,
parently begotten in our people disposi,
ton WHICH makes all business enterprise
lake WlueT scope IMAM Heleto'olc, 6uu 'tie
keen insight with which all our resources
are scanned, and the adventurous energy
with which their development is pushed,
leave nothing to be desired in a business
point of view, unless it be an increase Of
that sagacious caution which may save
us from the danger Of those commercial
revulsGns which have, with considerable
regularity, followed great exPan,'6hs OF
the currency. The late change IN the
banking system Of the country has trans
terred the control Of the circulating me-
dium to Congress. and comparatively
little can be done by us directly to pro-
vide against the threatened evils to which
have alluded, scept to exhoft our fel-
low citizens to prepare In season for every
contingency.


The large tracts OF valuable lands within
the State which are still uncultivated re-
u ind us Of the desrability OF encouraging
Immigration, and of the evident policy Of
seeking to attract the most thrifty and


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