Year: 1866

can be more important than that of sto


ping occasionally to weigh well VIII


seems to cross our desires or to questio


the direction of our progress.


We have the right and are in dut


bound to insist upon sufficient guarantit


for the future safety of the Union bu


those guarantees must be such as shall NJ


be inconsistent with a republican goverl


ment for those who give as well as thos


who receive such security.


Conquest does not rightfully give III


limited sway over the persons and prop


erty of the conquered, and their right


may be diminished no farther than is ne


cessary for the public safety.


If it were proven that it would be IN


possible for us to live safely, as shaTers c


a common government, with the peopl


of any State or community, our republ


canism might force us to consent to SEP


aration, but could not justify us in hold


ing them as subjects; and this propos
ton is true without reference to race o


color.


Representation is not a privilege confer


red upon majorities, but it is NEST eff


cient for good when it approaches mos


nearly to giving voice in the LegislatGr


to all minorities in proportion to thei


number.


1t is better and safer that a minority


however hostile to us in principle, should


be so represented as to be openly hearC


and answered, than that it should hav,
the advantage of winning sympathy anC
gaming partisans by making issue upor
the question of the right of representa-
49,, ;,.+o.I oF ,,non fba f,lritv cf its oh
noxious principles.


Military government is in its very es
sence a despotism, and any long continu
ance of it after the cessation of armed
resistance is contrary to, and n confess ion
of the failure of republicanism.


These and many similar general max
inns of government are the intellectual
diet upon which every living American
has been bred, and of which we have
been such earnest propagand.sts that no
one of us can deny them without incur
ring the contempt of the civilized world.
They are mere distractions, it is true, buC
we need to bear them in mind none the
less carefully for that, All rules are a,
stractions, whether they be the formula
for solving the problems of government
or of other sciences. We recall them to
test our work, and we reckon ourselves
to have made good progress in proportion
to the faithfulness with which we have
to them.


In the heat of our Just wrath against
those who would have swept republican
ism from the continent, had they been
we are in danger of forgetting
principles to which we owe allgiaence,
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 national
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 were rebels, to re-
store political privileges to those who
we're formerly masters, and yet protect
the freedom of those who were formerly
;laves-such is the difficult and delicate
work before the executive and the legis-
ature of the Nation, and they may right
y claim of US all such appreciation of
their task as shall make us most kind
and charitable judges of their differences
rom favored measures of our own. We
nave, indeed, reason to be devoutly
thankful that the work has fallen upon
men in whose patriotism and wisdom we
nave so great cause for confidence, and
hat the progress they have already made
promises a conclusion which shall be
speedy and generally satisfac-
.orY to the country.


In the presence of the vast interests
which are before US as part of.the Ma
ion, the local concerns which affect US as
/ State alone, are likely to be dwarfed
md lose their proper attention. l do
lot propose to enter into any detailed or
elaborated examination of our condition,
,r to make recommendations of legisla-
i've action. This has been fully and ably
lone by my predecessor. l shall only
glance at the outlines and content my
elf with the briefest and most cursory
yiew of the situation. In our official
State duties we find no such heavy re-
as rests upon shoulders of
he officers of our national Government.
The close of the war has taken from US
he necessity for putting men in the field,
md relieved us, in our State capacity, of
he labors incident to close cO-ODeration
With the general Government in all the
,reat affairs which have made the paat
i've years so memorable in our history
We are subsiding into the quiet routine
If peaceful times, and as our young men
ire returning to their farms, their mer-
.handize and their shops, the great dIain
lpon our physical strength being remov-
ID, the energetic use of intelligent labor
will soon prove how rapidly the recuper-
tive powers of this people act, and how
rue it is that the times which make least
how in the worlds history are very com
nonly those of greatest real happiness
nd prosperity to q State. Our veterans
viii not be adding new names to the long
ist of their fields OF glory. but they will
'e winning victories over physical nature
nd Transforming the fruits of the soil
nd the minerals of the earth into that
wealth which shall spread comfort and
happiness everywhere. We, who have
'een called to guide the movement of
ur State Government, will connect our
lameS with no such brilliant acts as have
iven widespread reputation for high
'tatesmanship to the succession of State
ffcers who have preceded us during
hese troubled times; but in the humber
Iuties which will fall to us We may rejoice
bat these quiet days are, in some sense,
ur best days, because they are, as we
lope, the beginning of an era of purer
nd more rapid advancement in every
hing which tends to the highest ciViliza-
ion.


The habit of graphing great thoughts
nd of daring to do great deeds has ap-
'arently begotten in our people dispo- I
ition which makes all business enter |
rise take wider scope than heretofore,
nd the keen insight with which all our
are scanned and the adventurous
nergy with which their development is
ushed, leave nothing to be desired in a !
usiness point of view, unless il be an in
rease of that sagacious caution which |
nay save us from the danger Of those
revulsions which have, with
considerable regularity, followed great
Expansions of the currency. The late
hange in the banking system Of the
ountrJ has transferred the control Of the
REGULATING medium to Congress, and COM
arstivelJ little can be done by us direct
T to provide against the threatened evils
D which have alluded, except to exhort
ur fellow citizens to prepare in season
Dr. every contingency.


The large tracts of valuable lands with
1 the State which are still uncultivated
amind us of the desirahilitV of epcour-