Newspaper Page Text
MESSAGE.
ExSCnTIV* DxH-HTMKST, G*., ?
Milledgeville, November, 6lh, 1839. >
Fellow Citizens of the Senate
and House of Representatives
Assembled together as the rulers of the peo
ple. to pass laws for their government, it is an
appropriate act of duty to acknowledge our de
pendence upon the Sovereign Ruler ami Lawgiv
er of the unive.se, and to ask that he will so
guide the public councils as to secure the happi
ness of the governed.
In accordance with established usage, I pro
ceed to give you on account of the course which
has been pursued by lha Executive Department
during the past year, in discharging its various
duties ; and to recommend to the Legislature the
measures of public policy which experience, or
reflection may suggest as best calculated to ad
vance the public interest.
The Militia of the State under the command
of Oen. Floyd, who were employed at the time
of your last session in protecting the inhabitants
of the counties adjoining Flo ida, succeeded by
their constant activity and courage in driving
the Indians from the Okefanokeo Swamp, and
their other fastnesses, so effectually, that the en
dangered part of the country has remained in
seenrity ever since.
The act passed at your last session to provide
for the payment of the Militia who were called
into (ho service of the Stale during the year
1838, to repel tho invasion of the Indians from
Florida, has been carried into execution by this
Department, ns fully as possible. The appropri
ation of fifty thousand dollars proved insufficient
to satisfy all the claims arising under it. Two
Companies of Lowndes county remain unpaid,
and the accounts for the supplies furnished all tho
Companies who were in service in that county,
The rep'rt of Col. King tho Commissioner ap
pointed under tho act, will show tho manner in
which tho appropriation has been expended,
«nj the probable amount of its deficiency.
I regret to inform the Legislature that the De
partment has failed in its efforts to procure from
the United Stales Government the repayment of
the fifty thousand dollars which has been thus
advanced hy the Hlate, or the sum which is yet
due to the militia for their services and expendi
ture*. When the application was first made to
the Secretary of War, to pay the militia, the an
swer received was, that the restrictive terms of
the law then in force, making appropriations for
the suppression of Indian hostilities, did not ad
mit of the payment of such troops, and that the
authority for that purpose must he given hy a
special act of Congress. The President and Se
cretary of War failed, however, to bring tho sub
ject to the view of Congress, at tho opening of its
session; and although it was afterwards brought
before Congress hy the delegation from this Kioto
no such special act was passed ; neither was the
the general act making appropriations for the
suppression of Indian hostilities, so drawn up as
to avoid tho difficulty which had occurred under
tho previous law, or to provide in any other man
ner for making the required payments. That
this State has just reason to complain of this con
duct of tho authorities of the United States, is ev
ident from the facts, that before the State ordered
any troops into its service, Gen. Jessup, then
commanding in Florida; was informed of the
danger which threatened tho inhabitants of the
counties adjoinining that Territory: That he pro
mised to afford them protection: That when the
Indians entered the Okefanokce Swamp, soon
thereafter, in sufficient forces to endanger the
whole of the neighboring population, no means
had been provided hy Gen. Jessup, or any other
officer of the United States, to repel them: That
the emergency rendered it indispensilile that the
militia of the Slate should he called out for that
purpose: That information of the invasion of tho
State by the Indians, from Florida was immedi
ately communicated officially to the President of
the United States, Secretary of War, and to Gen
Taylor, (who hud a short time before succeeded
to Gen. Jesnp’s command, in Florida,) with a
pressing call for assistance and protection: That*
no greater force was called out hy the authorise
of tho State than the oxteutof (lie danger roquir*
ed, nor retained in service longer than was nee*
cssary: That the General Government is hound
hy the Constitution to protect tho Slates against
invasion, and that it is its practice to pay the mijj
litiaof the States for performing that service
whenever it could not have been performed by
the troops of tho United States.
In pursuance of other provisions of the same
net already referred to, Augustin 11. Hansel,
Esq., was appointed a Comniissionca to audit the
claims arising under it in the Cherokee counties
and middle Georgia, and William S. Rockwell,
Esq., commissioner fur the counties west of the
Ocmulgeo river and south <>f the road loading
from Milledgevillc to Columbus. The commis
sioners found great difficulty in auditing the
claims presented to them, as did this Department
in allowing them ns “just and well founded.” —
None have in their inception any lien upon the
Treasury of the State as having boon created un
der the authority of its laws, or in accordance
p-. with any general principle rendering it obligatory
upon the State to pay thorn, and could only
therefore he determined upon hy the strict letter
of the law which directed their settlement. Co
pies of the report of the commissioners are laid
before the Legislature, and will show in what
manner they have discharged the duty assigned
them.
The Legislature was informed at its last ses
sion that the accounts against the United Stales,
for payments made hy this Slate, to its militia
and volunteers, under the acts of 1831! and ’37,
had been presented to tho War Department for
reimbursement, accompanied by the request that
they should be passed upon as soon ns possible;
and that the Senators and Representatives from
this State in Congress, had also been requested to
ascertain what portion of these accounts would
be paid by the War Department, and to apply to
Congress for the passage of a special law, to au
thorize the payment of tho remainder.
These accounts were placed in tho possession
of the Secretary of War, for adjustment in the
month of June, 1838 In the month of Janua
ry, thereafter, having re vived no information
that any progress had been made in their settle
ment, and perceiving that the subject had not
been brought before Congress, the attention of
the Secretary of War and the Delegation, was
again called toil. Near the close of the session,
and when it was too late for the Delegation to at
tempt to obtain the passage of a law hy Con
gress, to reimburse the Slate for the payments
made by it, the accounting officers of the War
Department, reported that the whole of those
payments had been made either contrary to law,
or required forms,*or that they were unsupported
by sufficient evidence.
I lay before the Legislature for the exercise of
its pardoning power, the cases of two convicts,
for murder, to whom reprieves have been granted.
I would avail myself of the present, as a tit
opportunity for earnestly recommending to tho
Legislature, so to modify the law defining mur
der, and prescribing its n iniahment, as to make
a large portion of the offences which are by the
decisions of our Courts, delermed to be murder,
and punishable with death, subject to a different
punishment. Pardons have been so uniformly,
tor a long time, granted to convicts for murder,
whoso guilt has been unattended by circumstan
ces of great atrocity, as to prove conclusively,
that some other means than sentences of hanging
mu**, be provided, to secure society against such
crimes. It is submitted to the wisdom of the
Legislature, to determine whether the object of
the proposed alteration of the law, will Is- hesl
effected by creating two distinct crimes of the
acts, which are now included in the definition of
murder, dutiugauhlng them hy the cifcunwtan
cea attending upon theirdifTnrcnt degrees of gudl, I
and nuking the oircnco of the least degree, pun- I
ishablo by confinement in the Penitentiary —and
tho highest with death, or by leaving it to the
discretion of the judge lie fore whom convictions
for murder may take place, to pas* sentence of
death, or confinement in the Penitentiary, accor
dingly ns the guilt of a convict may 1 e attended
by circumstances of alleviation or aggravation.
In obedience to the requirement ot the Legis
lature, the Hoard of Commissioner* of the West
ern and Atlantic Railroad proceeded to examine
the country on the Tonnersee river, with the
view of ascertaining tho most eligible terminus
of the road for securing the advantages of the
trade with the West. This examination result
ed in their fixing upon Ross’ Landing as that
terminus. The selection lias been concurred in
hy the Executive Department.
One hundred mile* of the grading and mason
ry of lilt) railroa I is now completed, except a
small distance where unexpected difficulties have
been met with, which will soon be overcome,—
The remainder of the road would have been put
under contract for construction before this lime,
hut for the want of funda.
Tho entire cost of the, road up to the first of
October last, has been one million three hundred
and twenty thousand one hundred and forty eight
10-100 dollars. Os this sum, about one million
and seventy thousand dollars have been ohaiined
through the Central Honk, and hy the sale or
pledge of the stock issued under the acts of 1K37
and 183.8, leaving a balance of upwards of two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars due to the
contractors and other persons in the employment
of thn Commissioners. The payment of this
last sum, together with what has become due the
contractors since the first of October, ought to lie
provided for immediately hy the Legislature,
Tim annual report of the Hoard of Commis
sioners to the Legislature, will show the liability
of thn State for stock sold, for money advanced
upon tho pledge of stock, and for interest which
may become due upon those sums. The great
embarrassment in the money market of this
country and Europe, mid the low price to which
State slocks have fallen, render it impossible for
the Slate to raise money upon credit. Tho Le
gislature must therefore determine hy what other
means it will provide the fund* necessary for ex
ecuting its great work of internal improvement.
Although tho failure of the State’s agent to
sell stock may increase tho amount which must
he provided at once for carrying on the construc
tion of the road, yet this circumstance neither
adds to its filial cost, nor lessens its advantages
when it shall he completed. The indisposition
of the Legislature to impose heavy and unusual
tuxes upon the people; the large demand* which
must ho made upon the treasury for other purpo
ses during the present year; mid the deranged
slate of the finances, have created an apprehen
sion lesi tho road shall he abandoned altogether.
Great us tho difficulty will he in finding means
for constructing the road, this apprehension can
not hul prove needless, when it is considered that
51,330,148 10 have already been expended in
its construction, which will he lost entirely to the
Stale, if it shall ho abandoned: That the lino of
the road is the cheapest and shortest practicable
route hy which the West and Southwest enn he
connected with the Atlantic: and that its great
cost will therefore create an additional security
that it will enjoy the monopoly of its advantages;
That it is due to her enterprising citizens who
are constructing tho Georgia, Central and Mon
roe Railroads, that (lie State should finish the i
Western anil All mlic Railroad: That, as tho i
government of the Stale holds the political opin- i
ion that (he general government has no constitu- ’
lionnl power to make internal improvements ’
within the State, it owes it to itself and the other i
members of the Union, to execute a work neces- <
sary for the prosperity of several, and advanta- i
genus to all, and which none can execute hul (
Georgia: That the road will furnish the only i
mean* by which the heavy and valuable produc- I
lions of the Clierokei counties can reach a profi
table market: That it will connect the Stale with
one of the most extensively fertile countries in
the world, so as to introduce into every part of it
supplies of the first necessity, at all times and in
any quantity which may be demanded: That it
will give to our cities a large export trade in the I
productions of the Western and Southwestern i
Stales, and an equally beneficial trade ia supply- i
mg their homo consumption: That, it must he- 1
come the great thoroughfare for travelling be
tween the Sou lb west and the Atlantic: That it
will strengthen the bonds of the Union; add to
tho means of mutual defence and protection a
inong the States; elevate the character of the
Slate; advance its general prosperity, and retain
within it the population and wealth which would
otherwise emigrate to other States.
If, however, the Legislature should consider
tho finances to he in such a condition as to forbid
the continuance of tho road hy funds to ho drawn
from taxation, I would recommend that the Le
gislature authorize the hoard of commissioners to
accept of the proposal which has been made hy
tho contractors now at work on tho rood, to re
reive six per cent slock of the State in payment
for its construction to Ross’ Landing,
A copy of tiro correspondence of this Depart
ment with the Chief Engineer, upon this subject,
and of lire proposal on the part ot the contractors,
is laid before you. If the Legislature should de
termine upon accepting the terms offered hy the
contractors, I would advise that it he done as soon
ns possible so that they may he notified of it br
ibe time that their present contracts shall he
completed.
Reports have been received from all the Hanks
in tho State, allowing their condition on the first
of October last. These reports are so numerous
and extended that copies could not lie made out
to accompany this message. They are filed in
the E xeeutivefOfficc, subject to the disposition of
the Legislature.
Tiro late suspension of specie payments hy
most of the banks, affects so generally, and to
such an extent, tho interest of the whole commu
nity, as to call for the decided interference of the
Legislature, to prevent the injurious consequen
ces which may follow from it. The preceding
suspension of specie payments hy the hanks,
found its justification in tho extreme necessity
which was created hy the sudden revulsion in
trade, and general loss of confidence in commer
cial transactions, which succeeded immediately
after the excessive issues of the banks, which had
been called for by overtrading on the part of the
merchants, extravagant purchases upon credit,
and living beyond their means by the people, and
the spirit of speculation which pervaded the
whole country. It gave to the banks the means
of affording the usual facilities for business, and
at the same time of gradually curtailing their dis
counts, so as again to resume specie payments
without great pressure upon their debtors; and to
debtors the opportunity of making payments hy
time, industry and economy, without the ruin
which would have been the consequence to many,
of forced collections immediately after the pres
sure took place. Tho present suspension has
been made under very different cireuinstan -es;
and if permitted to go unnoticed by the Legisla
ture. will tend to produce an insecurity and va
cillation in Hank issues and credit, affecting most
injuriously the relation of debtor and creditor,
and the general wealth and prosperity of the
community. The conduct of many of the hanks
shows the slight control which the obligation to
perform their contracts has over them, and the
probability that they will use the opportunity
wlrich the suspension gives them, of making pro
fit from it, unless restrained hy efficient laws.
Whilst, therefore, I would recommend that all the
banks should he permitted to retain their charters,
whose reports show that their business has been
conducted with ordinary caution ami regard for
the rights of tho public, I deem it very important
that the Legislature should impose such condi
tions upon them as will prevent their malting ex
cessive issues; speculating in cotton or other pro
ductions; or selling specie; and force them to re
sume specie payments as soon ns the present em
barrassment in the money market in those coun
tries with which we have commercial dealings
shall have passed away. They should he requir
ed to make quarterly reports to the (Inventor,
showing their coirliti >n, and exhibiting the a
m iunt of th.-ir liabilities, and the specie in their
vaults. The conduct of several hanks during
previous suspension and since, proves the propri
ety of subjecting them to increased penalties lor
issuing change hills or notes under five dollars;
and of compelling them, by the same means, to
pay their five dollar notes in specie, when pre
sented to them for payment in small amounts.
The Bank of Darien and the Bank of Rome,
suspended spe.-ic payments, and stopped dis
counting, in the curly part of the year. The
loss which has been sustained by individuals and
the public from the depreciation o( the bills of
these banks, render it the duly of the State to en
quire into the causes of their failure, and that
such remedies may bo applied as will guard the
community from similar losses hereafter. As
the failures of the Darien Bank have most pro
bably proceeded from its having been in the hands
of Directors appointed by tho Stale, wh> have
ha 1 little or no interest in its safe and profitable
management, I would recommend either that the
charier of the Lank he forfeited, or that the Stale
dispose of a large portion of its stick, so as to
place the direction of the Bank in the hands of
those who will have a strong individual interest
in conducting it properly.
No persons have, as yet availed themselves of
the privilege granted by the law passed at your
last session, to all the citizens of the State to es
tablish banks. This result is fortunate for the
country, ns it is very certain, that if any banks
bad gone into operation under the law, they
would only have increased the derangement of
the currency and monied embarrassment; and
because it gives to the Legislature an opportuni
ty of repealing the law, before any rights are ac
quired under it. As long ns the currency of the
country is in hank notes, its proper regulation is
of so much importance to every individual and
the public, that the State ought to retain suffi
cient power over it to protect the community
from its abuses. The Legislature should ascer
tain wlml amount of capital it required to furnish
the circulating medium, sufficient for the purpo
ses of trade ; where such capital ought to lie em
ployed; and to grant the privilege of using it to
such persons, and upon such conditions as would
hest secure a sound currency.
Bank charters are not intended for the exclu
sive benefit of the stockholders, hut to advance
the wealth and prosperity of all. The tendency
of the general Banking Law, is to induce those
who have no money, are largely indebted, and
those who are employed in extensive specula
tions, to engage in making rneney ; or what
passes for it, as an easier and more rapid means
of acquiring it, than by labor. Although the
law, ns passed, contained provisions, which for
the time have prevented the country from being
flooded with irredeemable bank bills, yet its pol
icy is believed to he founded in error, in consid
ering land and negroes a better security for a cir
culating paper medium, than gold and silver;
and that all persons owning such property,
ought not only to have the right of using it, en
joying its profits, and selling it for its value, hut
tlie privilege of depreciating or alfectingthe value
of every oilier person’s property, by pulling into
general circulation hunk lulls, to pass for money.
The great mistake in this matter consists in pro
viding for the eventual redemption of banknotes,
rather than for their continued circulation, with
out depreciation ; and for tliu benefit of the issu
ers of bank notes, rather than for the interest of
the whole community. Land and negroes are
unfit instruments for carrying on the business of
bnrtar and exchange, or for being made the basis
for bank note issues, Because they cannot be ex
changed into money at the will of the holders, or
as the necessities of commerce may require. The
rich may profit by land and negroes, being the
basis for the issues of banks which fail, but a
large portion of the holders of the notes of such
banka, must part with them at any rate of depre
ciation. If, however, the Legislature should
continue of the opinion that the business of
hanking may he left to regulate itself, under the
restrictions imposed upon it by the general law
upon that subject, those restrictions ought to bo
increased by requiring that hanking companies
shall consist of a sufficient number of stock
holders, and the stock held by each he so limited
as to prevent the banks from falling under the
control of individuals, or of few persons, and
thereby secure them from being directed to specu
lative or fraudulent purposes.
In compliance with the Resolution of the Le
gislature, John McPherson Berrien, Win. W.
Holt, and Absalom 11. Choppcl, Esqrs., have
been appointed commissioners to arrange and di
gest a system of finance for the State. Their re
port will be made to you at an early day. The
high qualifications of these gentlemen for the
duly imposed upon them, the labor which has
been employed in its peifonnance. and the im
portance of its subject, will entitle their report
to great consideration.
V\ illiam Law, Joseph Henry Lumpkin, and
David Campbell, Esqrs., have been appointed
commissioners to investigate (lie claims of Tre
zevant. (lalpbin and Elliot. The result of their
investigations will ho reported directly to the Le
gislature, and will, it is to bo expected, produce a
final disposition of those claims.
Li pursuance ot the authority given this De
partment, Charles Dougherty and James A. Mer
riwelhor, Lsqrs., have been employed as counsel
to defend the actions pending in the Superior
Court of Habersham county, in favor of the
heirs of certain Indian reservees, against the
grantees of the State or those who hold under
them. The Legislature is referred to the report
ol those gentlemen for information upon the
subject of these suits,
1 refer the Legislature to the correspondence
between this Department and the Governor and
Commissioners of the Stale of Alabama, for in
formation in relation to a proposition made bv
the Governor of Alabama, to run again the lino
between the two States, in conjunction with the
authorities of this State.
I transmit to each Branch of the Legislature,
a list of the Executive warrants signed during
the past year, and of officers appointed by Iho
Executive during the same lime.
I he proceedings of the Legislatures of several
ol the States, upon subjects of supposed common
interest to all the States are laid before you, at
their request.
Brigadier General Zachsriah While's com
mand has become vacant, by his r unoval from
the State.
1 lay before the Legislature, copies of the cor
respondence between this Department and Col.
Asa Bates, the contractor far improving the navi
gation ol the Chattahoochee river, from the city
ol ( olumhusto the Florida line, and the superin
tendent. Benjamin V. Iverson, Esq.; with conics
ot their accounts against the State. These pa
pers satisfied the Department that the sum of
T IT, lliul l ’* vn received from the Stale,
by ( 01. Bates, greatly exceeded what he was on
tided m tor his services. They will also show
the difficulty which occurred in ascertaining what
ought to be paid to the superintendent. They
are referred to the Legislature, that such deter
mination m.y he had upon them, as a just regard
for the public interest, and the righls of the con
tractor ami superintendent may require.
, Mr. Howard, the agent who was sent to En
gomd to procure copies of the colonial records,
relating to the . arly history of this State, has
placoi. m the Executive office twenty-two manu
script volumes as the result of his labors. Great j r
credit is due to Mr. Howard for the industry andl . t
perseverance with which ho overcame the dil.in i
cultics which he met with in effecting the object t
of his mission. c
The appropriation for building a house for the i
residence of the Governor having proved insutn- |
cienl to complete the building in the style and ac i
eroding to the plan on which it was commenced,
the Gommitlec who had lire superintendance of
its erection, borrowed from the Lent I Lank, ■
upon their own credit, the sum of three thousand
two hundred and thirteen dollars to supply t.ie
deficiency. The public spirit which induced the
Gommitlec to incur this responsibility, entitles 1
them 1 1 be relieved by the Legislature in the same
spirit. An enclosure and out houses correspon
ding!'! style with the principal hud ling, remain
td’be erected.
The limits of the districts within which Jus
tices of the Peace exorcise their regular Jurisdic
tion, and Captains of Militia their commands,
are by the laws now in tores subject to the con
trol of the Regimental Courts of inquiry. Ihe
militia of the State is so disorganized at present
that it would be a matter of some convenience
both to the People and the Executive Department,
if this power were taken from the military Courts
and given to the Inferior Courts of the counties.
Notwithstanding the ellhris of the Department
to collect into the Arsenal at this place the pub
lic arms which arc scattered over the country, a
great many yet remain in the possession of indi
vidua s, where they are becoming useless by want
of care, or are used and disposed of ns private
property. The evil is sufficiently extensive to
authorize the Legislature to compel, by penal
enact merits, those who may have public arms in
their hands, to deliver thorn up to some designa
ted officer.
The stale in which the public arms were found
which have been collected into the Arsenal, ren
dered it necessary that considerable expense
should be incurred in cleaning and repairing
them, to preserve them fit for public use.
In executing the act passed at your last ses
sion, directing the Department to have sold such
of the public arms as might he deemed unneces
sary to retain, an order was issued to the Military
Store-keepers to select and sell according to the
terms of the act, the useless arms under their
care.
The reports of the Military Store-keepers, co
pies of which are laid before the two houses, will
show the manner in which tiiat act lias been car
ried into effect; and the condition of the public
arms in each of the Arsenals.
The appropriation of ten thousand dollars for
a geological survey of the State, will he expended
before the end of the present year. It will he
necessary that on additional appropriation shall
lie made, if it is the purpose of the Legislature
to continue the operations of the Geologists un
til an entire survey of the State shall be comple
ted.
The building which is now being erected fora
Lunatic Asylum, will he completed before your
next session, and ready for the reception of the
insane, f would call the attention of the Legis
lature to tho necessity of prescribing the rules
upon which its inmates shall bo received; adopt
ing proper regulations for the government of the
institution ; appointing a Board of Trustees for
its superintendnnee and inspection, and a Physi
cian for its Medical direction.
There are at present one hundred and sixty
convicts in the Penitentiary. This number is
too large to he employed within the present, buil
ding. or to admit of the convicts being subjected
to solitary confinement, the number of cells now
erected being only one hundred and fitly,
Tho Principal Keeper, his assistants, and the
Board of Inspectors, have discharged the duties
of their respective offices in a manner which has se
cured for the institution as successful management
as can he given to it under the laws which at pre
sent control it. There have been no disturbances
among the prisoners during the past year, hut one
escape, and the amount of labor of the con
victs exceeded in value that of any previous
year, upwards of eight thousand dollars. But
no efforts of the officers, however well directed,
can make the Institution what it ought to he, a
terror to evil doers, and the means of reforming
criminals, without the aid of a well regulated po
lice. It is especially necessary that the unre
strained daily communication which is now per
mitted among the convicts should he prohibited,
and that a separate building should be erected for
the reception of female convicts.
Upon the subject of the reforms which are ne
cessary in the government of the Penitentiary,
the Legislature is respectfully referred to the re
ports of the Board of Inspectors, and of the Com
mittee of the Legislature.
1 would respectfully recommend the repeal or
modification of tho law passed at your last scs
sion, to promote the culture of silk. From en
quiries nia le by this department, it has been as
certained that the premium of fifty cents offered
by that law for each pound of silk cocoons, raised
in the State, is twice the sum of their value; so
that, the producers, receiving the premium, will
receive certainly twice the value fjr cocoons, and
three times, if they can find a market for them.
The extended plantings of tho moms multienulis
mulberry tree, which has already been made in
this State.; the facility with which it can he rap
idly propagated; its quick growth and early fit
ness for feeding the silk worms . and the ease
with which any quantity of the silk worms may
ho obtained; render it highly probable that a suf
ficient quantity of silk cocoons will bo raised, en
titled to premiums, to exhaust tho Treasury in a
few years. There can he hut little doubt that
this will be the case, if our climate, soil, and
cheap lands, admit of the application of labor, to
the cultivation of the mulberry tree, and raising
silk cocoons, so ns to derive therefrom the ordina
ry profits received from other employments. If
not. then all tho premiums which shall have been
paid will he so much public money thrown away.
As the law gives an implied pledge that the pre
mium shall he paid for ten years, regard for the
public faith, as well as the public interest requires
that if it is to he repealed or modified within
the ten years, it he done nt once and before very
extensive obligations shall have been incurred to
our citizens under it, or large amounts of the pub
lic money paid away.
Besides these objections to the particular pro
visions of the law, tire policy in which it is
founded is itself very questionable. The people
of this country are so keenly alive to their own
interests; so little under the influence ot long
continued usages; aiuVchangc from one employ
ment to another so readily; that the interference
of the Government in giving a forced direction to
I their labor by bounties, can scarcely ho justified
in any instance whatever. As the raising of silk
cocoons requires neither extVaordinaryjcapital nor
skill; has been known to the people of this State
from its firs* colonial settlement; is designed to
snpplv the demands of luxury and not of neces
sity; and therefore encouraged by the- 5;-rrO to
enlarge the sources of profit; there is no strong
er inducement for its encouragement by bounty,
than any other production which the Legislature
mav he of opinion can he raised with advantage.
If the Legislature should be of the opinion,
however, that the law is founded in sound policy,
and ought to be continued in force. 1 would rec
ommend that it he so modified as to take off :hc
bounty now allowed upon silk cocoons, and in-
I crease that allowed upon silk, and especially up.
!on raw or reeled silk. Frauds are so easily com
i milted in weighing cocoons that they cannot he
prevented. There is besides no object to he ef
fected bv encouraging the raising of cocoons at
present, as there is no sufficient market for their
sale in the United States, and because they can
-1 not be sent abroad on account of their great bulk
| in proportion to their value; the injury done them
by compression; and their liability to decay when
exposed to the damp of the occr.n. Raw silk, on
lh£ contrary, finds a ready market to any amount
in England or France, and is so light in propor
tion to its value, as to be sent abroad at very li tie
expense. If silk is to he made in this State in
sufficient quantities to become one of its staple
productions, it will most probably he in the form
of raw silk, and,therefore, encouragement should
he given to it in that form, if at all.
No distribution has been made during the past
1 year of the funds appropriated by the acts ol 1837
and 1838, to establish a general system of educa
tion by Common Schools. This delay has pro
ceeded from the exhausted state of the Treasury
| and the inability of the Central Bunk *o advance
the amount, except in the bills of the Darien
Dank, which the Treasurer refused to receive.
Whilst the general system of education isyet
incorporativc, a suitable opportunity is afforded
the Legislature of again enquiring whether the
means proposed to be used by it arc calculated
to answer the end designed. With a view to
such an enquiry, it may be proper to observe,
that the primary objects to be attained n estab
lishing such a system, are generally understood
to he the building ot comfortable slicool houses,
of durable materials, in every school district; the
placing in them a library for the use ol all the
scholars, of hooka calculated to impress uoon
them religious, moral, and practical truths; and
the increase of the number and qualifications ot
the teachers, by providing certain and sufficient
public funds to effect that purpose. A very slight
examination of the Acts of 1837 and 1838, will
show, that these objects are net provided for at
all, or very inadequately, by the proposed system.
These laws direct that the trustees of the school
districts shall locale and superinlcd the erection
of suitable school houses in their respective dis
tricts; but expressly prohibit their using the
school fund for that purpose ; no hooks can be
purchased except what may he necessary for the
children whose parents are unable to supply
them; although the Stale could perhaps in no way
advance the cause of education more efficiently
than by causing tho highly improved class hooks
which have lately been published in this coun
try, to he placed in the hands of every chil l.—
Neither il ics the system provide adequate funds
to procure, the necessary supply of qualified teach
ers. The academic and poor school funds and
the interest derived from one-third of the surplus
revenue received from the United .States, make
np the entire sum appropriated for the support of
the general system of education, and may he con
sidered equal to sixty thousand dollars per annum.
The law intends that this sum shall ha so expen
ded as to extend the advantages of education
equally to all the children of ill? State. The ex
tent of the State is equal to sixty thousand square
miles, so that if there should he a school in each
sixteen square miles, as there must he to bring
a school houss within reach of all the children,
the whole sum applicacble to the payment of the
teachers of each school, will he sixteen dollars,
including in that sum what may he necessary for
purchasing books and stationary for the poor
children.
Another view may perhaps present the subject
in a yet clearer light. The whole number of
children between the ages of five and fifteen, be
ing those, who arc entitled to the benefits of the
system, exceed one hundred and six thousand.—
An equal expenditure of the sixty thousand dol
lars among them, will allow somewhat more than
fifty rents to he applied to tho education of each
child. When, therefore, from this sum of fifty
cents for each scholar, or sixteen dollars for each
school, is deducted what may he necessary to sup
ply the poor children with books and stationary,
what may remain undrawn from t.ie Treasury,
and that which may he misapplied or not applied
at all by agents, it will scarcely he necessary to
estimate the sum which will remain of the sixty
thousand dollars, to show its entire inadequacy
to pay teachers for all the school districts, and to
educate nil the children in the State. It is true
that the law provides that in aid of the funds
whicli have been appropriated, the trustees of
the school districts may raise money by voluntary
subscriptions, and that the Inferior Courts of the
counties may levy a tax. But that system is no
system at all. Its operations must he too uncer
tain and variable to he relied upon for any valua
ble purpose whatever. In addition to these de
fects of the system, it may he added, that the ex
penditure of the school funds as directed by it will
he very unequal. In nil the populous and
wealthy districts and counties, where school
houses will ho erected, teachers employed, and
children taught whether any aid is received from
the public funds or not, the proportion of the
school fund to which such counties and districts
may he entitled, will he received and expended,
whilst the sparsely populated and poor districts
and counties, whore schools arc not supported at
present, will receive nothing; because their pro
portion of tho school fund will he too small to
enable them to employ teachers nr maintain
schools. Entertaining these opinions of the effi
ciency and inequality of the general system of
education by common schools, I consider it my
duty to recommend to the Legislature, cither to
amend it so as to make it what it purports lobe,
or to abandon it altogether.
The two houses will find in the accompanying
papers, several acts and resolutions, passed at the
last session of tiro Legislature, with the reasons
why they were not signed or returned to the
Houses in which they originated.
I regret to inform you that the Legislature of
the State of Maine has declined taking any meas
ures to give satisfaction to this State, for the vio
lation of its constitutional rights, by the refusal of
Governor Dunlap and Governor Kent to deliver
up to its authorities upon their demand the fugi
tives from its justice, Philbrnok and Kellcran.—
You will perceive from the proceedings of the
Legislature of Maine, at its last session, that up
on reference to it of all the documents insolation
to Pliilbrook and Kellcran, il contented itself by
resolving that tho whole of that subject was ex
clusively within the province of the Executive
Department, and that it was inexpedient for the
Legislature to take any order in relation thereto,
notwithstanding that the Legislature had passed
a law nt its previous session, defining the power
of the Executive Department in arresting and de
livering up fugitives from justice, from other
States, and evidently with the view of justifying
Govcrncr Dunlap in his previous refusal to de
liver up Pliilbrook and Kellcran to the authorities
of this Slate.
This conduct of the Legislature of Maine and
tho previous conduct of Governor Dunlap and
l" Governor Kent, prove conclusively that the op
i position to the institution of slavery is so great
among the people of that State, that their author
ities are prevented from obeying the injunctions
of the Constitution of the United States, when
required to deliver up fugitives from justice
charged with the crime of violating the righls of
properly in slaves. This Slate must therefore
protect by its own authority, the rights of its cit
izens in slave property against the disposition of
the people of Maine, to violate them. For this
purpose you wiil he justified in declaring by law
that all citizens of Maine who may come within
the jurisdiction of this State, on hoard of any
vessel ns owners, officers, or mariners, shall be
considered as doing so with intent to commit the
crime of seducing negro slaves from their owners,
and be dealt with accordingly by the officers of
justice.
I have not called a Convention of the people
of the State to take into consideration the course
they ought to pursue in maintaining their rights
in consequence of the refusal of Maine to do
them justice, as directed by the resolutions of the
Legislature, passed at its session of 1837. for the
reason that the Legislature failed to provide forthe
expenses of such a Convention, and because a
Convention for another object had already been
called by the Legislature, and its proceeiting*
submitted to the people for ratification.
Your attention is called to a law which has
been passed by the Legislature of the state of * a
New-York, to authorise the arrest and detention
of fugitives from justice from olherstates, and the
Territories of the United States, a copy of which
the Legislature of New Y'ork has caused to be
transmitted to the Governors of each of the states
in order that similar laws may he passed by all
the stales. The copy received at this Depart
ment accompanies this message. I also lay be
fore you copies of very interesting proceedings of
the Legislature of the State of South Carolina
i and the State of New Jersey, in relation to the
| controversy between this Stale and the State of
Maine.
The amendments to the Constitution, which
were proposed to the people for ratification, by
the late Convention, have been rejected by the
most decided expression of public opinion. This
: is the second time that the people have refused
| to sanction the proceedings of Conventions, held
to reform the Constitution ; and in both instan
ces have probably been induced to the course pur,
I sued, by the belief that the amendments ufTcreA S,,
i for their approval, were intended for sectional or
| temporary party purposes. Thatthc proceedings jH
| of these Conventions, should have been liable to
! such decisive objections, is very much to be re
j gretted, since the amendments to the (Jonstilu-
I lion, which they were called to make, arc indis
| pensablo to the good government of the State.—
The present number of ihe members of the Leg
islature, must be reduced, and the representation
of the people equalized, to secure to the country
a wise, economical, and just system of public
| policy. From whatever causes the failures to
I amend the Constitution may have proceeded, it
I continues to be an object of the highest impor
tance to ihe people of the State, that it should be
amended. According to the Constitution, the
power of amending its defects belongs exclusively
to the Legislature; and to that body I would
therefore respectfully refer the consideration of
the subject.
The necessity for establishing a supreme ap
pellate jurisdiction, in order to give security to
private rights, by correcting the. errors, rendering
uniform and certain, and making public the de
cisions of our Superior Courts, has been fre
quently brought to the attention of the Legisla
ture, in previous communications. The contin
ued, indeed, increasing importance of such a tri
bunal, arising out of the increasing wealti and
population of the State, and the enlarged value
and diversity of the interests, which must of con
sequence be adjudicated by our Courts, make my
justification for again recommending to the Leg
'll islature, the organization of a Supreme Court for
correction of errors.
"Long continued ill health must he my apology
for the imperfect manner in which these views
are presented to the Legislature. I have been
prevented by the same cause from giving an ex
position of the present state of the public finan
ces, and attempting to show how the millions of
money which have been received for public lands,
and from other sources of revenue, have been
continually wasted, either by mistaken appropri
ation or improvident management, until die trea
sury is not only so exhausted that it is without
the funds for carrying on the first great work
which has hern undertaken by the State, hut a
public debt has been contracted of more thnrk> a
million of dollars. I must content myself wrtk
reminding the Legislature, that whilst for several
years its appropriations have been greater than the
treasury could pay, the general annual faxes,
which belong properly to the treasury, have been
given away to the counties, and of what is, per
haps, still more important to be remembered, that
the credit of the State lias been sacrificed, and its
character disgraced, by the protest, in snother
State, of a debt of throe hundred thousand dol
lars. contracted by the Central Hank under the
authority of the Legislature, and which the Le
gislature has prevented the bank from paying
when due, by requiring that its means should he
applied to other purposes. The present state of
the finances, and the system of public revenue
and expenditure hereafter to be adopted, arc sub
jects of the highest importance, and demand, as
I irust they will receive, the prompt and earnest
attention of the Legislature.
About to retire from the Executive department,
I must avail myself of the present opportunity of
expressing to you, and through you to the peo
pie. my deep sense of gratitude for the kindness
and confidence whicli I have received from the
country, during my now extended public, life, and
the strong desire which I must continue to feel,
that (lie Government may be so conducted as best
to secure the honor of the State, and the pros
perity of the people.
GEORGE R. GILMER.
‘MIUONICI.K AND SKNTINKL.
A II (i V S T A .
THURSDAY MORNING, NOV UMBER 7.
Health of the City.
There arc a still a few cases of fever, and fitter
deaths have occurred, during the week ending
yesterday, at noon; viz: Hezeldah Bailey, Mas
ter Charles Ogden, Jacob D.mibrth, and Mrs
Gay.
Considering that our population has very
much increased, this is a decided improvement,
from the previous week. Our people are return
ing to their usual avocations, and business is be
ginning to revive, very considerably. Cotton
comes in freely, and we do hope our troubles are
near their termination. Still, we have no frost,
and the river is ns low as ever. We have looked
for a change of weather, till “ hope deferred”
has almost made the “heart sick.” But we be
gin to think this change is now at hand. While
we write, wo feel a cool nir, hear a fresh wind,
and see the clouds gathering. If they do not dis
appoint us, our next paper will announce that
the pestilence has left us.
In the Minutes of the proceedings of the Mer-
I chants’and Planters’ Convention, in Macon, Wil
liam Longstroet and J. S. Coombs, arc represent
ed as having appeared ..nd taken their scats in that
bo ly, as del t'ales from Augusta. We are author
ized and requested to state that this is a mistake.
These gentlemen happening to be at Macon on
business, attended the meeting frem mere curiosi
ty, and were requested by the Convention to /
mingle in their deliberations as representatives of
Richmond; which county, for reasons given by
the Mayor of Augusta, was unrepresented. They
yielded to the request of the Convention, and
thus became members of that body.
The City Corporation of Baltimore have au
thorized the issuing of City Change Tickets to
I the amount of $400,000.
A“poixtme\t bt the President.—R. B.
Gilchrist, of South Carolina, to be Judge of the
| United States, for the District of South Carolina,
in the place of Thomas Lee, deceased.
Specie. —About $70,000 in specie arrived in
St. Louis on the 18th, from the Springfield (Mo.)
land office in wagons.