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JOINT DOCUMENTS.

[No. 1.]

Annual message of the governor.

Fellow citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:

The period has again arrived, when, by our organic law, the representatives of the people of Michigan are required to assemble. The great design of this constitutional requisition is, that after examining into the condition of public affairs, we may, in all things practicable, ameliorate their condition; that we may correct the errors, and supply the deficiencies of former legislation; that we may increase the extension of useful knowledge, and elevate the public morals; that we may advance the principles of justice, foster the great interests of the state, sustain the public faith, and promote the public prosperity. And happy will be our lot, if, when again we separate, we may be permitted to return to our constituents, with a consciousness, that in any material degree we shall have been the instruments, in the hands of an overruling Providence, in giving effect to purposes of so hallowed a character.

In furtherance of this general design of the constitution, it is made mandatory upon the governor, that he "communicate to you the condition of the state," and "recommend to you such matters as he shall deem expedient." Who would enter upon the execution of such a duty, except with feelings subdued by a consciousness of his own inability to perform it in a manner the most conducive to the public good? But it is our duty and our happiness to remember that our destinies are in the hand of a benevolent and an Almighty Power, who shapes. our ends according to his will, and without whose favor, we can realize nothing good-for feeble and short sighted is the wisdom of man!

In any attempt to review "the condition of the state," the attention of the observer is first, very properly, directed to the consideration of the moral and intellectual character, actual and prospective, of its people. Civil commotions and wars Vol. I.

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have an end; the evils of misgovernment are temporary in their nature, and may be corrected; the chastisement of heaven, even, through the merciful Providence of God, are, in this world, ordinarily, of short duration. But who can measure the extent, or see the end, or estimate the intensity, of the evils which flow to a people, from ignorance and vice? If any political axiom to be better established than another, it is this, that no republic can long exist, unless intelligence and virtue predominate among, and characterize the great body of its people. Gathered principally from the older states of this happy Union, our fellow citizens have, for the most part, participated, more or less, in the benefits of their excellent and long established institutions-their common schools, and all their highly improved literary and religious establishments. We may, therefore, justly claim for them the present possession, in equal degree with our fellow citizens of the older and more favored states; of those high and ennobling attributes of human nature, intelligence and virtue. But in so far as we may justly claim this high distinction, in the same proportion are the motives stronger and the obligation more imperative, to secure to those who shall come after us to our own children-at least, an equally elevated rank in the scale of intellectual being. But, have we been sufficiently mindful of this great duty? Not experiencing in our own person, perhaps, or but in a slight degree, the immeasurable evils likely to result from a deprivation, in early life, of the benefits of such institutions, have we not accustomed ourselves to think but seldom, and then with too much indifference upon the vital importance of the establishment, multiplication and perfection of similar systems, in our own beautiful, but recently reclaimed, peninsula? The character of our state, the happiness and the destinies of our people, are fast passing into the custody of those who shall come after us; and shall it in future times be said of them, that through the improvidence of their fathers, it was their unspeakable misfortune, to be deprived of those advantages of early mental, moral and religious education, that we ourselves have possessed?

The importance of the early and methodical development and culture of the intellectual faculties of man; the influences which habits formed, and knowledge attained in early life, (through a general and judicious system of education,) cannot fail to exert, not only upon individual happiness, but upon the political institutions of our country; have been too frequently the topics of discussion among the learned, the wise and the eloquent of the land, to render it necessary or proper for me to delay you by further comments upon the subject. I recommend a careful review of all existing statutory enactments, relative to the system of education heretofore adopted in the

state, and especially relative to that part of it, which concerns the broad basis of the whole-the common schools.

I know of no section of the Union, in which the subject of education, (comprehending a system of common schools,) has engaged more the attention of the public authorities, or for a longer time, or more successfully, than in Connecticut. And appreciating very highly the benefits to be derived from longtried experience, I respectfully lay before you some well reasoned reports made to the legislature of that state, exhibiting the present condition and the leading features of their system. I am not in favor of a literal and too servile adoption of the legislation of other states; our system should, in general, be our own, and be made to accord with whatsoever may be peculiar in our circumstances, or in the condition of society But considering the success which has attended the efforts of our fellow citizens of that state, in the great cause of education, I have supposed that an attentive examination of their greatly perfected plans, might suggest important improvements in our own. That our system is susceptible of amelioration in many particulars, I have little doubt; while at the same time, it is proper to remark, that in this, as in all other matters of legislation, no innovation should be made, but with great caution, and the more especially, because its establishment has been so recent, that its merits can scarcely yet have, in all things, been fully tested. For reasons, however, which heretofore I have had the honor to communicate to your immediate predecessors, and which I propose again to advert to, I do not hesitate to recommend, that a more equal and just mode of taxation for the sustainment of common schools, be substituted in lieu of the existing provisions of the law in that respect. And also, that the fiscal arrangements and pecuniary affairs of the system be either separated entirely from the other more intellectual functions of the superintendent of public instruction, or else, that by some other appropriate modification of the law, the existing powers and duties of the superintendent, relative to pecuniary affairs, may be made more entirely subject to the direct control of the head of the financial department.

The revenues necessary for the erection of school houses, and the sustainment of the system generally, are derivable, first and principally, from a course of taxation provided for by existing laws. The entire plan upon which this course of taxation is founded, seems to me obnoxious to the most serious objections. The legislation of last year, though beneficial, in no wise removed the evil.

Every system of taxation, to be just, should be reasonable, equal and uniform. It is a proposition as notorious as it is lamentable, that the assessments of taxes for school purposes as

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