Year: 1866

Inaugural Address of Gov. Jacob
ID. Cox.


CuNCLULED.


ever hostile TO us in principle, should be SC
represented as to be openly heard and an
swered, than that it should have the advan
tage OF winning sympathy and gaining part
sans by making issue upon the question o
the right Of representation instead Of upon the
tals.ty of the obnoxious principles.


Military government is in its very essence
a despotlsm, and any long continuance Of il
after the cessation of armed resistance is cor
trary to, and confession OF the failure Of
republlcanIsm.


These and many similar general maxims
of government are the intellectual diet upon
which every living American has been bred
and OF which we have been such earnest pro
pagandists that no one Of US can deny them
without incurring the contempt Of the civiliz
ed world. They are mere distractions, it is
true. but we need to bear them in mind none
the less carefully for that All rules are al.
stractions, whether they be the formula for
solving the problems OF government Or othr +
Sciences We recall them to test our work,
and We reckon ourselves to have made good
progress in proportion to the lathfunt IS with
which we have adhered to them.


In, the heat of our jrst wrath agninst those
who would have swept rrpublicanism from
the continent, had they been successful, We
are in danger Of foigcttins prime pies 10 which
we owe allegiance, and ther fore we should
of rem nding each other OF them. 10 follow


these rules, and yet provide that the national
safety be not endangered, to determine who
Of the late enemies of the government nrs
without the pale of clemency, and yet to es-
tend amnesty to the other millions of those
who were rebels, to restore political privileges
to those who were formerly masters and yet
protect the freedom of those who we're for.
nerly slaves--snch is the difficult and lellcate
work before the Executive and the Lrgisla,
tnre Of the nation, and they may rightly
claim Of us all such apprcc alton ct their task
ns shall make us most kind and charitable


ulges OF their differences from favorite mcN-
surrs of our own. We have, inueed, reason
to be dcvonty thankful that the work has tal.
len upon men in whose p triotiam and wisdom
we have so great cause for confidence, and
that the progress they have already made
promises il conclusion which shall he reason
ably speedy and generally satisfactory to the
country.


in the presence Of the vast interests which
are before us as part of The Nation, the local
concerns which affect us us a State ale ne, are


likely to be dw"r!ed and lose their attention
| do not propose to enter into any de;alled
elaborated examination OF our condition, or
to make recommendations Of Legislative nc
lion. This has been fully and ably done b,
my predecessor shall only glance at the
outlines of affairs and content myself with the
bri fest and most cursory view Of the siua-
ion In Our official state duties we find no
such heavy responsibility as rests upon the
shoulders of the officers Of our national Gov.
ernment. The close Of the war has taken from
us the necessity for putting armies in The field,
and relieved MS, in our state cam CT y, OF the
llhors incident to close cooperation with the
general Government in all the great affairs
which have IN dc the past five years so mem.
urahlc in our history We are subsiding into
the quiet routine OF peaceful times, and as
young men are returning 'utheir farms Il cir
merchandise and their shops, the great drain
upon our physical strength being removed the
energetic use of intelligent labor will soon
prove how rapidly the recupcrative powers Of
this people act, and how true it is that the
times which make least show in the world s
history are very commonly those of greatest
real happiness and prosperity to a State
Our veterans will not he 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 into that wealth which
Shall spread comfort and happiness every
where. 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 wide spread reputation for states
manshp TO the succession OF state officers who
have preceded us during these troubled times
but in the humber duties which will fall to us
we may rejoice that these quiet days, in some
sense, our best days, because they are, MS 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
daring to do great deeds has apparently be-
gotten in our people disposition which makes
all business enterprise take wider scope than
heretofore, and the keen insight with which
all our resources are scanned, and the advent
ufous energy with which their development is
pushed, leave nothing to be desired in a busi
mes point of view unless it he mn increase of
that sagacious caution which may save us
from tae danger of those commercial revuls-
ions which have, with considerable regularity,
followed great expansions of the currency
The late change in the banking system of the
country has transferred the control of the Cir
culating medium to Congress, and eompara-
lively little can be done by us directly to pro.
vide against the threatened evils to which |
have alluded, except to exhort our fellow cti.
zens to prepare in season for every conting-
ency. ~ f|


The large tracts of valuable lands within
tho state which are still uncultivated remind
us Of the desirability of encouraging immi'
grafton, and Of tbs evident policy of seeking
to attract the most thrifty and valuable class
cs Of immigrants wiG,in our borders Wise
foresight md nrompt action may unuuestlon-