Year: 1867

ulSO Was ulSiCRdIutu. lie ldSb VI %
series of articles on the subjects referred
to in the Governors message last winter,
which the editor declined to publish,
for satisfactory reasons, I enclose to
You with permission to publish, if you
think it will do any good at this time. =


Now l would, with all earnestness,
ask the taxpayers and friends of the
State, what is to be done Can we still
let things drift and expect relief to
comet As well might the. crew of a
boat when within the suction of Mag
ara Falls expect deliverance by laying
down their oars and folding their arms;
or for piratical crew to become con-
science stricken and surrender their
booty, as for the present managers to
voluntarily let 60 their hold, bring the
State back to its Constitution and adj
minister it in conformity to its spirit
and meaning, in future. The good and
true men of both parties must unite and
return to the next Legislature con-
trolling majority in both Houses, if pos
sible, of honest, intelligent and prac-
tical men, who have some iaterest at
stake. who are not violent partisans, but
who shall feel they have State to rescue
and save and possess the nerve to do it.
The present managers and their
partsans, in order to induce
us to still carry them will
cry Rebel Rebel Rebel =. and urge
that there are national considerations
touching reconstruction, that make it
absolutely necessary that we should
still let them ride and plunder. All this
we must expect; but there is no such
necessity now; we have full represen-
tatiOn in both Houses of Congress, of
men who are all that can be asked on
this question, and there will be no va
cancies. to be filled till after the ques-
ton shall be definitely settled. So
nothing remains now but for the State
Ito put its own House in order" and
make it fit for honest people to live in.


1t is clear, to my mind at least, that
the Radical changes that have taken
place in the old State have etfectually
weaned your party from all desire to
re-unite, and that its members are sim
cerely desirous to unite with the trne
men of all parties and make the most
that can be made of the new State-if
they can be fairly treated. OF this
there is abundant evidence, whatever
may be said to the contrary by interest
ed partisans.


Now | believe that men of the char
actcr have mentioned, who will pledge
themselves in writing to carry out a
platform substantially of the character
at follows, will be elected to the next
Legislature by whichever party they
may he nominated, viz:


|. To annul all unconstitutional laws
of every description, bring the State
back to the true spirit and meaning of
the Constitution and keep it there in fu-
ture; to the end that the fundamental
compact which the people have estab-
lished to guard their rights shall be
preserved inviolate, and not frittered
away by wautOn and repeated viola
tions, long dcquiesced m


= That the clause in the Constitution
that taxation shall be equal on all
species of property according to its val
ne" he rigidly enforced according to its
true spirit and meaning, against corpo-
ratiOns and individuals alike, with no
releasing of taxes except for erroneous
assessment or payment, and that any
member of the Legislature that shall re-
ceive bribe, after his election and dur
ing his continuance i'll office, whether
in the form of free railroad tickets or
otherwise, shall forfeit his Office and be
disqualified from holding any other for
ever thereafter; to the end that we may
have government of law and not of
bribery or corruption.


3. That the appointment of Boards of
trn nn1 afhar nffia hn c.
ferred from the Governor to the Legis-
lature, or that the appointment of the
Boards Of Registration be referred to
the Boards of Supervisors of the several
counties-to the end that our govern
ment be one of the people and not OF one
man.


4. That the Hospital and Penitentiary
be at once thoroughly overhauled and
Investigated and all parties concerned
made to render strict account and to
pay up all arrearages. That the works
he suspended until definite plans suited
to our present wants and means, as far
as the present condition of the works
will allow, shall he determined on, and
then these, with suitable drawings and
specifications, to be widely advertised
and let to the lowest bidders, taking
sufficient security to insure perform
ance. And the donations for the Agri-
cultural College (over which the next
Legislature will have full controD be
faithfully applied to the purposes which
the donors prescribe, viz: the education
of young farmers and mechdnics-to the
end that the bounties be saved from
forfeiture and applied to the benefit OF
those whom the donors intended.


5. To iIaugurate rigid system of
economy with all departments and Of
ficers, from Governor down, reduce ap-
preparations for Ordinary current cX-
penses' and contingent expenses to
what is really necessary and the Consti-
tuition cOntemplates, and require all
officers from Governor down to give "ac-
curate and detailed statements" at least
once a year, of all public monies eX-
pended, and to publish the same in
newspapers, where practicable, and by
posting in counties, townships, districts
and precincts, rs the case may require, to
the end that the people may see where
their money has gone, and that the ex-
press provisions of the Constitution in
this respect shall be complied with.


Z. That all supertluous offices III what
ever department., be dispensed with,
however small the prescribed pay may
be, to the end that responsibility to the
people shall not be lost by too great diff
fusion, and that the inordinate greed of
our people for office may have chance
to die out for want Of material to feed
on.


ANY party that shall make the sub
stance of the foregoing their platform,
and nominate the kind of men before
mentioned as its candidates, pledged in
writing, and with such established
character as shall guarantee q faithful
performance, will be elected, if our peo-
pie possess the stamina they proved
themselves to possess during the war,
and thereby the State will be rescued
and its future prosperity secured.


HNeither trust nor vote for any man
who will not pledge himself in writing
before hand, and whose established
character shall not be guarantee for
his keeping 1t. "a 1854.


Very respectfully, q. +.


August &c, 1861.


1.-THE article referred to will be published