  ELECTED GOVERNOR OF OHIO.Party of State Rights—Their Convention—Platform—Nomination of Thurman—Republican Convention and Platform—Nomination of Hayes—Platform—Opening Speech at Lebanon—Thurman at Waverly—National Interest aroused—Hayes Victorious—Inaugural—First Annual Message—Second Annual Message. The questions at issue in the great political canvass of 1867, in Ohio, were closely allied to the one whether the National Government had a constitutional right to maintain its existence. It was many years after the war of the Rebellion before the Democratic party could be induced to admit that the war had settled anything. The question of State or National supremacy or sovereignty, settled a hundred times by argument and twice by arms, was still persistently argued by them as an open question. The State Supremacy or State Rights party fought the constitution at the time of its adoption, on the ground that it established a supreme central government, and were defeated. They opposed putting down the Whisky Rebellion, in Pennsylvania, under the leadership of Jefferson and Randolph, and were outvoted in the Cabinet by Washington, Hamilton, and Knox. They forced their disintegration doctrines into the Supreme Court, and were there vanquished by the resistless logic of Chief Justice Marshall. The same old doctrine assumed the The identical questions discussed in Washington's Cabinet, when there was a Whisky Insurrection to be put down, were discussed by Lincoln and Davis, by Meade and Lee, at Gettysburg, and by Grant and Pemberton, at Vicksburg. Is a State or is the Republic supreme, has been the central question dividing parties for a hundred years. The Democracy are still talking about "sovereign and independent states," as if there were more than one sovereign State on the continent—the Republic itself. The Democratic State Convention, which met at Columbus, January 8, 1867, forgetting that "war legislates," continued harping on the old State Rights theme. The temporary chairman of the convention, Dr. J. M. Christian, varied the monotony a little when he elegantly said: "We have come here not only to celebrate an honored day, but to nominate men of noble hearts, determined to release the State from the thralldom of niggerism, and place it under the control of the Democratic party." Mr. George H. Pendleton, the permanent chairman, delivered a rhetorical State rights speech, in which he said: "The Democratic party has always maintained the rights of the States as essential to the maintenance of the Union." The platform or resolutions of the convention, re The convention nominated, by acclamation, Hon. Allen G. Thurman for Governor. Judge Thurman had served one term in Congress and five years upon the Supreme Bench of the State, and was a gentleman of high personal character, and a lawyer of extended reputation and commanding abilities. The Republican State Convention assembled at Columbus, June 19, 1867, to nominate candidates for governor, lieutenant-governor, and other State officers. The three candidates most talked of for governor were Hon. Samuel Galloway, Adjutant-General B. R. Cowen, and General Hayes, then representing the Second District in Congress. Mr. Galloway had served in Congress, had long been one of the most active members of the Republican party, and was popular because of his abilities as a stump speaker. General Cowen had devoted much time to the organization of the State in his own interest as a candidate, and was possessed of considerable managing ability. Public opinion, however, in Northern, Southern, and Western The Convention of June, 1867, was almost imprudently courageous in the enunciation of sound, but then unpopular, principles. It placed the Republican party "on the broad platform of impartial manhood suffrage as embodied in the proposed amendment to the State Constitution," and appealed to the "intelligence, justice, and patriotism of the people of Ohio to approve it at the ballot-box." The platform emphasized the point—always well taken—that the United States is a Nation. On this platform General Hayes was nominated for Governor on the first ballot, receiving two hundred and eighty-six votes to two hundred and eight cast for Mr. Galloway. The nomination was accepted for him by a friend in his absence. The honor which On the evening of the nominations, Mr. Fred. Hassaurek delivered in Columbus a very able speech in favor of manhood equality, in the course of which he said: "The men who now lead and officer the Democratic party are the most dangerous enemies of the country, of its peace, prosperity, and welfare. Let both sections of the country unite to give a final, crushing blow to the influence of Democratic leaders. Let the serpent be fully expelled from Paradise, and our country will soon be a Garden of Eden again." General Hayes, having resigned his seat in Congress, opened the campaign of '67 in a comprehensive speech, delivered at Lebanon, August 5, aggressive in tone and full of bristling points. It was equivalent to a charge along the whole of the enemies' line—a species of tactics which he had learned the advantage of in the valley of the Shenandoah. We refer the reader to this clear, resolute, vigorous speech, reprinted in full in the Appendix, for the grounds upon which the Republican leader demanded a popular verdict against his political adversaries. The speech showed that he deserved the eulogies of the press which followed his nomination, among which were those of Colonel Donn Piatt—a judge of ability, to say the least—who had written: "The people will find his utterances full of sound thought, and his deportment modest, dignified, and unpretending.... Possessed of a high order of talent, enriched by stores of information, General Hayes is one of the few men capable of accomplishing much without any egotistical assertion of self." Judge Thurman—now Senator A. G. Thurman—opened the campaign on the Democratic side in an elaborate speech, delivered at Waverly, August 5th, and reported in the Cincinnati Commercial of August 6th. He vigorously defended the course and action of the Peace Democracy in Ohio, and assailed Mr. Lincoln and his administration with an extravagance of language that weakened the force of many of his arguments during the campaign. He intemperately asserted that there was "scarcely a provision of the Constitution" that had not been "shamelessly and needlessly trampled under foot" by "these enemies of our Government," including as "enemies" the Congress and Cabinet that supported and maintained the war for the Union. These and other unfortunate allusions, such as that to the "poison of Abolitionism," enabled General Hayes to effectively retort at Sidney, and at other points. So much of the Sidney speech as refers to Judge Thurman's Waverly speech is reproduced in our Appendix. The contest waxed warm between these able antagonists, and the number of speeches that each delivered was only limited by his powers of physical en As the contest grew in magnitude it aroused a national interest. Morton, Julian, Orth, and Governor Baker came from Indiana to aid Hayes in the struggle; Shelby M. Cullom, and John A. Logan from Illinois; Schurz from Missouri; Governor Harriman from New Hampshire; Chandler from Michigan; and Gleni W. Schofield from Pennsylvania. The home talent—and no State ever had more—was in the field in force. There were men of conceded abilities, such as Aaron F. Perry, Shellabarger, Hassaurek, W. H. West, Judge Storer, and John A. Bingham, and men of reputation like Governors Cox and Dennison, Galloway, John C. Lee, and Senators Wade and Sherman, who manifested the most earnest interest in the canvass. Judge Thurman was not so ably seconded, although Vallandigham, Pendleton, Ranney, H. J. Jewett, Durbin Ward, George W. McCook, Frank H. Hurd, and other well-known leaders contributed aid to the extent of their ability. In this canvass General Hayes gave proofs of that boldness and moral audacity for which he is remarkable. In every community in which he went he was besought by committee-men, soldiers, and others, to say nothing about the suffrage amendment. Negro He was inaugurated as Governor of Ohio, in the rotunda of the Capitol, January 13, 1868. On that occasion, in the presence of the Legislature and judicial departments of the State Government, and a large concourse of citizens, he delivered the following inaugural address: Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives, and Fellow-Citizens: The duty devolved on the governor by the constitution of communicating by message to the General Assembly the condition of the State, and of recommending such measures as he I can think of no better reward for the faithful performance of the duties of the office which I am about to assume than that which, I believe, my immediate predecessor is entitled to enjoy,—the knowledge that in the opinion of his fellow-citizens of all parties he has, by his culture, his ability, and his integrity, honored the office of Governor of Ohio, and that he now leaves it with a conscience satisfied with the discharge of duty. I congratulate the members of the General Assembly that many of the questions which have hitherto largely engaged the attention of the law-making power, and divided the people of the State, have, in the progress of events, either been settled, or, in the general judgment of the people, been transferred for investigation and decision to the National government. The State debt, taxation, the currency, and internal improvements, for many years furnished the prominent topics of discussion and controversy in Ohio. In the year 1845 the State debt reached its highest point. It amounted to $20,018,515.67, and in the same year the total taxable property of the State was $136,142,666. With a disordered currency, with business prostrated, with labor often insufficiently rewarded, the burden of this debt was severely felt, and questions in regard to it naturally entered into the partisan struggles of the time. Now the State debt is $11,031,941.56; the taxable property of the State amounts to $1,138,754,779; and there is no substantial difference of opinion among the people as to the proper mode of dealing with this subject. State taxation was formerly the occasion of violent party contests. Now men of all parties concur in the opinion that, as a general rule, every citizen ought to be taxed in proportion to the actual value of his property, without regard to the form in which he prefers to invest it; and differences as to the measures by which the principle is practically applied rarely enter into political struggles in Ohio. Party conflicts and debates as to State laws in relation to banking and the currency constitute a large part of the political Internal improvements made by State authority, so essential to growth and prosperity in the early history of the State, no longer require much consideration by the General Assembly. Works of a magnitude too great to be undertaken by individual enterprise will hereafter be, for the most part, accomplished by the government of the Nation. The part which patriotism required Ohio to take in the war to suppress rebellion demanded important and frequent acts of legislation. Fortunately the transactions of the State growing out of the war have been, or probably can be, closed under existing laws, with very little, if any, additional legislation. If not mistaken as to the result of this brief reference to a few of the principal subjects of the legislation of the past, the present General Assembly has probably a better opportunity than any of its predecessors to avoid the evil of too much legislation. Excessive legislation has become a great evil, and I submit to the judgment of the General Assembly the wisdom of avoiding it. One important question of principle as old as our State government still remains unsettled. All are familiar with the conflicts to which the policy of making distinctions between citizens in civil and political rights has given rise in Ohio. The first effort of those who opposed this policy was to secure to all citizens equality of civil rights. The result of the struggle that ensued is thus given by an eminent and honored citizen of our State: "The laws which created disabilities on the part of negroes in respect of civil rights were repealed in the year 1849, after an obstinate contest, quite memorable in the history of the State. Their repeal was looked upon with great disfavor by a large portion of the people as a dangerous innovation upon a just and well-settled policy, and a vote in that direction consigned many members of the legislature to the repose of private life. But I am not aware that any evil results justified these ap An effort to secure to all citizens equal political rights was made in the State constitutional convention of 1851. Only thirteen out of one hundred and eight members in that body voted in its favor; and it is probable that less than one-tenth of the voters of the State would then have voted to strike the word "white" out of the constitution. The last General Assembly submitted to the people a proposition to amend the State constitution so as to abolish distinctions in political rights based upon color. The proposition contained several clauses not pertinent to its main purpose, under which, if adopted, it was believed by many that the number of white citizens who would be disfranchised would be much greater than the number of colored citizens who would be allowed the right of suffrage. Notwithstanding the proposition was thus hampered, it received 216,987 votes, or nearly forty-five per cent of all the votes cast in the State. This result shows great progress in public sentiment since the adoption of the constitution of 1851, and inspires the friends of equal political rights with a confident hope that in 1871, when the opportunity is given to the people, by the provisions of the constitution, to call a constitutional convention, the organic law of the State will be so amended as to secure in Ohio to all the governed an equal voice in the government. But whatever reasonable doubts may be entertained as to the probable action of the people of Ohio on the question of an extension of the right of suffrage when a new State constitution shall be formed, I submit with confidence that nothing has occurred which warrants the opinion that the ratification by the last General Assembly of the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States was not in accordance with the deliberate and settled convictions of the people. That amendment was, after the amplest discussion upon an issue distinctly presented, sanctioned by a large majority of the people. If any fact exists which justifies the belief that they now wish that the resolution should be repealed, by which the assent of Ohio was In conclusion, I am happy to be able to adopt as my own the sentiments so fitly expressed by the speaker of the House of Representatives of the present General Assembly. I sincerely hope that the legislation of the General Assembly and the administration of the State government in all its branches may be characterized by economy, wisdom, and prudence; that statesmanship, patriotism, and philanthropy may be manifest in every act, and that all may be done under the guidance of that Providence which has hitherto so signally preserved and blessed our State and Nation. Certain principles are laid down in this address. One is that every citizen ought to be taxed in proportion to the actual value of his property. Another is that too much legislation is an evil to be avoided. A third is that equality of civil rights justly belongs to all citizens, notwithstanding the vote at the recent election to the contrary; and a fourth, that represen Governor Hayes took an active part in the State canvass of 1868, being assisted by Hon. James G. Blaine, who spoke with marked effect in Columbus, October 9th. At the session of the legislature in November, 1868, the governor delivered his first annual message. Fellow-citizens of the General Assembly: Upon your assembling to enter again upon the duty of legislating for the welfare of the people of Ohio, the Governor is required by the constitution to communicate to you the condition of the State, and to recommend such measures as he shall deem expedient. The reports of the executive officers of the State, and of the heads of the State institutions, are required by law to be made to the Governor on or before the 20th day of November of each year. Since that date, sufficient time has not elapsed for the publication of the reports, and I shall therefore not be able, at the opening of your present session, to lay before you a detailed exposition of the affairs of the various departments of the State government. It will be my purpose in this communication to invite your attention to a few brief suggestions in relation to some measures which are deemed important, and which may be considered and acted upon, if you think it advisable, in advance of the publication of the official reports. The financial affairs of the State government are in a satisfactory condition. The balance in the treasury on the 15th of November, 1867, was $677,990.79; the receipts during the last fiscal year were $4,347,484.82; making the total amount of funds in the treasury, during the year, $5,025,475.61. The disbursements during the year have been $4,455,354.86; which sum has been paid out of the treasury from the several funds, as follows, viz:
Small temporary appropriations are required as promptly as practicable for each of the following objects, the existing appropriations having been exhausted, viz: Expenses of the Presidential election; expenses of the General Assembly, trustees of benevolent institutions, care of state-house, gas for state-house, expenses of legislative committees, binding for the State, and the new idiotic asylum. In pursuance of an act passed March 18, 1867, a board of commissioners, consisting of Aaron F. Perry, of Hamilton county, Charles E. Glidden, of Mahoning county, and James H. Godman, auditor of State, was appointed by my predecessor, Governor Cox, whose duty it was "to revise all the laws of this State relating to the assessment and taxation of property, the collection, safe-keeping, and disbursement of the revenues, and all the laws constituting the financial system of the State," and to report their proceedings to the next session of the General Assembly. The report of the commission was laid before you at your last session. It disclosed many imperfections and inconsistencies in the existing legislation touching the finances and the urgent necessity for an elaborate revision of that legislation. Their report was accompanied by eight separate bills, consolidat The destruction of the central lunatic asylum by fire, during the night of the 18th inst., causing the death, by suffocation, of six of the patients, and incalculable distress and suffering to the remainder, will require investigation and prompt action on your part. In rebuilding the asylum, the erection of a fire-proof building will occur to you as alike the suggestion of prudence and humanity. This calamity also suggests the propriety of examining the condition of the other institutions of the State, with a view to providing them with every proper means of security against a similar disaster. The interests of common school education, in my opinion, will be promoted by the early adoption of county superintendency, as provided in a bill on that subject now pending in one branch of the General Assembly. I therefore earnestly recommend the consideration and passage of the bill. The commissioner of common schools is required, in the discharge of his duties, to pay out each year, for traveling expenses, about $700. The propriety of refunding to him, out of the State treasury, his traveling expenses, will probably not be called in question. During the last summer, a cattle disease, commonly known as the Spanish or Texas cattle fever, occasioned much alarm in the grazing counties of the State, and in a few localities caused serious loss. On the recommendation of the State board of agriculture, in the absence of effective legislation, it was deemed proper to appoint commissioners to take such measures as the law authorized to prevent the spread of the disease. A proclamation was issued to prevent, as far as practicable, the introduction, movement, or transportation of diseased cattle within the limits of the State. The railroad companies and the owners of stock promptly complied with the requirements referred to, and I submit to your consideration the importance of providing for a thorough and comprehensive geological survey of the State. Many years ago a partial survey was prosecuted under many difficulties and embarrassments, which was fruitful of valuable results. It is, beyond doubt, that such a work as it is now practicable to carry out will, by making known the mining, manufacturing, and agricultural resources of the State, lead to their development to an extent which will, within a few years, amply reimburse the State for its cost. The annual report of pardons granted and the commutations of the sentences of convicts required by law; a statement in detail of the expenditure of the governor's contingent fund; the semi-annual report of the commissioners of the sinking fund, for May; copies of proclamations issued during the last year; and an acknowledgment of the presentation to the State of several of the portraits of former governors of Ohio, are transmitted herewith. The most important subject of legislation which, in my judgment, requires the attention of the General Assembly at its present session, relates to the prevention of frauds upon the elective franchise. Intelligent men of all parties are persuaded that at the recent important State and National elections great abuses of the right of suffrage were practiced. I am not prepared to admit that the reports commonly circulated and believed in regard to such abuses, would, so far as the elections in I submit to your judgment the propriety of such amendments to the election laws as will provide, first, for the representation of minorities in the boards of the judges and clerks of the elections; and second, for the registration of all the lawful voters in each township, ward, and election precinct, prior to the election. That the boards of elections ought to be so constituted that minorities as well as majorities will have a fair representation in them, is so plainly just that in some parts of the State, even in times of the highest political excitement, such representation has been obtained, in the absence of law, by arrangement between the committees of the rival political parties. It is not probable that any mode of selecting judges and clerks of elections can be adopted which will, in every case, accomplish this object. But in all cases where the strength of the minority is half, or nearly half as great as that of the majority, the desired representation of the minority may be insured with sufficient certainty by several different plans. For example, it may be provided that at the election of the three judges who are to decide all questions at the polls, each elector may be allowed to vote for two candidates only, and that the three candidates having the highest number of votes shall be declared elected, and in like manner that, at the election of the two clerks of elections, each elector may vote for one candidate only, and that the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. I do not lay much stress on the particular plan here suggested, but your attention is invited to the importance of a fair repre All parts of the State of Ohio are now so closely connected with each other, and with other States, by lines of railway, that great and constantly increasing facilities are afforded for the perpetration of the class of frauds on the elective franchise, commonly known as "colonizing." In the cities, men called "repeaters," it is said, are paid wages according to the number of unlawful votes they succeed in casting at the same election. The increase of population adds to the difficulty of detecting and preventing fraudulent voting, in whatever mode it may be practiced. It is manifestly impossible, amid the hurry and excitement of an election, that the legal right to vote, of every person who may offer his ballot, should be fully and fairly investigated and decided. The experience of many of the older States has proved that this can best be done at some period prior to the election, so as to give to every legal voter, in an election precinct, an opportunity to challenge the claim of any person whose right is deemed questionable. Laws to accomplish this have been in force in several other States for many years, and have been carried out successfully and with the general approval of the people. Believing that an act providing for the registration of all legal voters is the most effective remedy yet devised for the prevention of frauds on the sacred right of suffrage, and that a registry law can be so framed that it will deprive no citizen, either native born or naturalized, of his just rights, I respectfully recommend to your earnest consideration the propriety of enacting such a law. The comprehensive geological survey of the State recommended in this message was promptly brought about through the able co-operation of the Hon. Alfred E. Lee, representing Delaware county in the House of Representatives, who drew up and reported a bill on February 9, 1869, making provision for the important object in view. Through the intelligent activity of Governor Hayes and Representative Lee, Governor Hayes in this message demands laws to secure honest elections, because "to corrupt the ballot-box is to destroy our free institutions." He recommends laws securing the representation of minorities on election boards, and advocates stringent registry laws. In the second annual message, delivered at the close of his first term, which we give below, he recommends increased powers to the State board of charities; better provision for the chronic insane; the establishment of a State agricultural college; the founding of a home for soldiers' orphans, and restoring the right of suffrage to soldiers in the national asylum, to college students, and others who had been disfranchised under Democratic legislation. He urged also the ratification by Ohio of the Fifteenth Amendment. We shall speak of the gratifying result of these recommendations in our next chapter. Fellow-Citizens of the General Assembly: In obedience to the constitution, I proceed to lay before you the condition of the affairs of the State government, and to recommend such measures as seem to me expedient. The balance in the State treasury on the 15th of November, 1868 was $570,120.75; the receipts during the last fiscal year were $4,781,614.49; making the total amount of available funds in the treasury during the year ending November 15, 1869, $5,351,735.24. The disbursements during the year have been $4,913,675.10,
Leaving a balance in the treasury, November 15, 1869, of $438,060.14. The estimates of the auditor of State of receipts and expenditures for the current year are as follows:
The amount of the public funded debt of the State, November 15, 1868, was $10,532,675.43. During the last year the fund commissioners have redeemed of the various loans $516,093.57, and have invested in loans not yet due $160,643.59, leaving the total debt yet to be provided for $9,855,938.27. The whole amount of taxes, including delinquencies, collectible under State laws during the year 1869 was $21,006,332.44. The auditor of State reports the total amount of taxes, including delinquencies, collectible during the current year at $22,810,675.84, an increase of the taxes of 1870 over 1869 of $1,804,353.40. In 1869 there was collected for the sinking fund, to be applied to the payment of the principal and interest of the State debt, the sum of $1,370,101.12. In the present year there will be collected for the same purpose the sum of $808,826.61, or $561,275.51 less than was collected last year. A large proportion of the taxes collected from the people are for county, city, and other local purposes, and do not pass through the State treasury, but are disbursed within the counties where they are collected. During the current year the taxes, exclusive of delinquencies, to be collected for all State purposes The foregoing statements from the report of the auditor of State show that the taxation of this year for State purposes other than for payments on the principal and interest of the State debt exceeds the taxation of last year for the same purposes by the sum of $609,601.50, and that taxation for local purposes this year exceeds that of last year for the same purposes by the sum of $1,695,725.38. The local taxes this year are about 44 per cent. greater than they were three years ago, and are 10 per cent. greater than they were last year. The increase of taxation for State purposes is in part due to the amount collected for the asylum building fund, which exceeds the amount required last year for building purposes by almost $300,000. Making due allowance for this, the important fact remains that both State and local taxes have largely increased. A remedy for this evil can only be had through the General Assembly. The most important measures to prevent this rapid increase of taxation, which have heretofore been recommended, are a revision of the financial system of the State in accordance with bills prepared by a board of commissioners appointed for that purpose, in pursuance of an act passed March 18, 1867; short sessions of the General Assembly; adequate fixed salaries for all State, county, and municipal officers, without perquisites; and definite and effectual limitations upon the power of county commissioners, city councils, and other local authorities to levy taxes and contract debts. The constitution makes it the duty of the legislature to restrict the powers of taxation, borrowing money, and the like, so as to prevent their abuse. I respectfully suggest that the present laws conferring these powers on local authorities require extensive modification, in order to comply with this constitutional provision. Two modes of limiting these powers have the sanction of experience. All large expenditures should meet the approval of those who are to bear their burden. Let all extraordinary expenditures therefore be submitted to a vote of the people, and no tax be levied unless approved by a majority of all the voters of the locality to be affected by the tax, at a special election, the number of voters to be ascertained by ref The evils here considered are not new. Fourteen years ago Governor Medill, in his annual message, used the following language, which is as applicable to county and municipal affairs now as it was when it was written: "The irresponsible and extravagant system of administration which prevails in some of our counties and cities furnishes the principal cause for the exactions which are so generally complained of. There public contracts are given to favorites, which occasion the most lavish expenditures. There also we find officers with incomes which shock all correct ideas of public compensation. These things have their effect upon the general tone of public morals. County reform is a duty enjoined by every consideration of public virtue." The whole of this important subject is commended to your candid consideration. The management of the affairs of the penitentiary, during the past year, has been good; discipline has been maintained; under kind and judicious treatment the prisoners have been industrious and orderly, and the pecuniary results are satisfactory. The number of prisoners, on the 31st of October, 1869, was 974, and the number of convicts admitted during the year ending on that day was 347. This is a decrease compared with the
A large proportion of the convicts, when admitted, are quite young. The age of about one-third does not exceed twenty-one years. More than two-thirds of the inmates of the prison are now under thirty years of age. It will occur to any one who considers these facts that, under our system of prison discipline, too little effort has heretofore been made to reform these young men. A high authority has said, "No human being is so debased and wicked that he can not be reclaimed." It is believed that, under a wise system, the young, at least, can be reformed and prepared for useful and worthy citizenship. The present system has two capital defects—the mingling in intimate association of the young with the hardened criminals, and the failure to educate the convicts in habits of thrift and self-control. The defects are in the system. The convict, when he leaves the penitentiary, is exposed to greater temptations than ever before, and the result of his prison life is that he has less power to resist evil influences, and, too often, less disposition to resist them. I do not enlarge upon the objections to the present system; it is not claimed to be reformatory. In a recent report, the directors said: "The great mass of convicts still leave the penitentiary apparently as hardened and as dangerous to the State as they were when they were sentenced." The vital question is, how to remove this reproach on our penal legislation. In considering it, I commend to you the remarks of the board of State charities on the Irish convict system. The distinguishing merit of that system is, that "it enlists the co-operation of the prisoner in his own amendment, without withholding from him the pun In several other States voluntary associations have been formed to provide for, encourage, and furnish employment to discharged convicts, and their efforts have been of incalculable benefit to this unfortunate class. If a similar association should be formed by the benevolent citizens of Ohio, they will reasonably expect to receive proper assistance from the General Assembly, and in that expectation I trust they will not be disappointed. The total number of persons of school age in the State, in 1869, was officially reported at 1,028,675—an increase of 11,108 over the previous year. The total number enrolled in the public schools in 1869 was 740,382—an increase of 8,610 over the year 1868. The average daily attendance in the public schools in 1869 was 434,865—an increase over 1868 of 24,144. The total taxes for schools, school buildings, and all other purposes, the present fiscal year, is $6,578,196.83—an increase over the taxation of the previous fiscal year of $616,795.68. Of this increase of taxation, the sum of $17,833.86 is in the State taxation for school purposes, and the sum of $598,991.82 is the increase of local school taxation. The State commissioner of common schools, in his report, will recommend the adoption of county superintendency, the substitution of township boards of education to provide for the present system of township and sub-district boards, a codification of school laws and other important measures, to which your attention is respectfully called. Prior to the organization of the board of state charities in 1867, there was no provision for a systematic examination of the benevolent and correctional institutions under the control of the State and local authorities. The members of the board serve without pecuniary compensation. It is simple justice to them During the last year more than nine hundred persons, classed as incurably insane, have been lodged in the county infirmaries, and almost one hundred have been confined in the county jails. Besides these a large number of the same class of unfortunates have been taken care of by relatives or friends. The State should no longer postpone making suitable provision for these unfortunate people. The treatment they receive in the infirmaries and jails is always of necessity unsuited to their condition, and is often atrocious. To provide for them, I would not recommend an increase of the number of asylums for the insane. It is believed by those best acquainted with the subject, that both economy and the welfare of the patients require that the chronic insane should be provided for by additions to the asylums already built, or to those which are now building. It is probable that in this way such patients can be supported at less expense to the people of the State than in infirmaries and jails. However this may be, their present condition imperatively demands, and, I trust, will receive, the serious consideration of the General Assembly. Although commonly classed as incurable, it is quite certain that, by proper treatment, in suitable institutions, the condition of all of them will be vastly improved, and, it may well be hoped, that many of them can be entirely cured. The expediency of establishing an asylum for the cure of inebriates has not been much considered in Ohio. The encourag The agricultural and mechanical college fund, created by the sale of land-script issued to Ohio by the National government, amounted, on the first instant, to $404,911.37-1/2. The State accepted the grant out of which this fund has been created, February 10, 1864, and is bound by the terms of acceptance, as modified by Congress, to provide "not less than one college on or before July 2, 1872, where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts." The manner in which this fund shall be disposed of has been amply considered by preceding General Assemblies, and in the messages of my predecessors in the executive office. I respectfully urge that such action be had as will render this fund available for the important purposes for which it was granted. It is not probable that further delay will furnish additional information on any of the important questions involved in its disposition. Much time and attention has been given to the subject of the location of the college. No doubt it will be of great benefit to the county in which it shall be established, but the main object of desire with the people of the State can be substantially accomplished at any one of the places which have been prominently named as the site of the college. I therefore trust that the friends of education will not allow differences upon a question of comparatively small importance to the people at large longer to postpone the establishment of the institution, in compliance with the obligation of the State. A large part of the work required to complete the "Soldiers' Record," in pursuance of an act passed March 17, 1864, has already been done, at an expense of about $8,000, and the propriety of making an appropriation sufficient to enable the adjutant-general to complete it is respectfully suggested for your consideration. During the war for the Union, the people of this State acknowledged their obligation to support the families of their absent soldiers, and undertook to meet it, not as charity, but as All agree that a republican government will fail, unless the purity of elections is preserved. Convinced that great abuses of the elective franchise can not be prevented under existing legislation, I have heretofore recommended the enactment of a registry law, and also of some appropriate measure to secure to the minority, as far as practicable, a representation upon all boards of elections. There is much opposition to the enactment of a registry law. Without yielding my own settled convictions in favor of such a law, I content myself, in this communication, with urging upon your attention a measure of reform in the manner of conducting elections, the importance and justice of which no one ventures to deny. The conduct of the officers whose duty at elections it is to receive and count the ballots, and to make returns of the result, ought to be above suspicion. This can rarely be the case where they all belong to the same political party. A fair representation of the minority will go far, not only to prevent fraud, but, what is almost of equal importance, remove the suspicion of fraud. I do not express any preference for any particular plan of securing minority representation in the boards of judges and clerks of elections. Various modes have been suggested, and it will not be difficult to adopt a means of attaining the desired result which will harmonize with our system of election law. The re-enactment of the law securing to the disabled volun I transmit herewith the report required by law of the pardons granted during the year ending November 15, 1869, a report of the expenditures of the Governor's contingent fund, copies of proclamations issued during the year, and several communications accompanying gifts to the State of portraits of former Governors. The most important measure which it will be your duty to consider at your present session is the proposed amendment to the constitution of the United States. I do not feel called upon to discuss its merits. The great body of that part of the people of Ohio who sustain the laws for the reconstruction of the States lately in rebellion believe that the fifteenth amendment is just and wise. Many other citizens who would not support the amendment if it was presented as the inauguration of a new policy, in view of the fact that impartial suffrage is already established in the States most largely interested in the question, now regard the amendment as the best mode of getting rid of a controversy which ought no longer to remain unsettled. Believing that the measure is right, and that the people of Ohio approve it, I earnestly recommend the ratification of the fifteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States. |
|
