OF

GOVERNOR KENT

ΤΟ

BOTH BRANCHES OF THE LEGISLATURE

OF THE

STATE OF MAINE.

JANUARY, 1838.

AUGUSTA:

LUTHER SEVERANCE, PRINTER.

ADDRESS.

Fellow Citizens of the Senate,

and of the House of Representatives:

It is a source of great gratification that, in assuming the honorable and responsible office to which I have been elected by my fellow citizens, I can congratulate you, and them, upon the continued health we have enjoyed, and the benignant smiles of Providence upon the labors of the husbandman.

It would afford me much satisfaction if I could also congratulate you and them upon the continued prosperity of our country, and the natural and satisfactory results which have heretofore attended the enterprise, intelligence and vigorous action of the American people, in their various departments of labor. But it is a fact too obvious to be disguised, and too serious to be overlooked, that a change has come over the long continued prosperity of this people, and that a check has been given to enterprise and exertion in public works and private operations, which has produced and is producing, embarrassment, derangement and distress in the business and prospects of a large portion of our people.

It is a sad and disheartening spectacle to see a young, vigorous and strong nation, with powers and capacities of almost unlimited extent, in a time of profound peace, when all the causes of national and individual wealth were in full operation, when industry was reaping its reward, and contentment and satisfaction were the attendants of exertion-suddenly struck down from this palmy state of prosperity and happiness, to suffer all the evils of suspended action, deranged currency, general distress, commercial embarrassment and individual ruin. It is natural that men should ask and seek for the cause of such revulsions; and that they should, with the independent spirit of freemen, hold those to whom power has been delegated, responsible for their acts in producing such calamitous results.

A free and enlightened people will yield a generous confidence and rational support to the government of their choice, but they will never surrender the right to investigate fully, and judge impartially, the tendency and effect of public measures

upon the prosperity of the country. Whoever supposes or hopes that such a people will follow without hesitation or adopt without investigation, any course which may be pointed out by those in whom they have confided, simply because it originated with a particular party, will sooner or later ascertain that he has mistaken the genius and spirit of our constitution, and the character of this people.

The calm judgment of the whole people is the tribunal before which the acts of public men must pass in review; and it is a tribunal which can seldom long be deceived, and never can be corrupted.

The chaotic state of the currency of the United States is a topic of intense interest and free investigation; and while the fact is admitted by all, and the fatal effects of this derangement are obvious and uncontradicted, the cause and the remedy are subjects of immediate and pressing attention.

Without pretending to be able and skilful financiers, or capable of fathoming all the deep researches of those who are, the great mass of the people well know and remember, that six years since, this nation enjoyed a currency unsurpassed in the history of the commercial world. It united the security of the precious metals and the convenience of paper. It was convertible at any moment into gold and silver, and had obtained the confidence of the whole community. It was a currency which answered the great purposes of commercial exchange, possessing an equal and convertible value in every part of our widely extended land, and enabling sections most distant from each other to negotiate with ease and safety. When it was deemed expedient by Government to change or destroy it, all practical men admitted that we then enjoyed a safe, sound and highly convenient currency, which could hardly be improved, and might be impaired, or destroyed, by sudden changes or ill considered schemes of improvement. The events of the last year have fully demonstrated that the predictions and fears of those who anticipated evil from untried and uncertain experiments upon the currency of the country, were not the mere assertions and prophecies of zealous opponents, but the far reaching views of experienced statesmen, anxious to preserve what experience had proved salutary and useful.

It is undoubtedly true that there is a disposition in the community to attribute to the action of Government effects which are the result of other causes. But when, as in the instance before us, the General Government avowedly undertook to interfere and to change the fixed and delicate operations of the monetary system, by a new and untried experiment, with the

promise of equally favorable results, and when predicted effects have resulted from the causes in operation, it seems just and proper that the people should hold their rulers responsible for the evils which have come upon them.

I should be most happy, if it was in my power to suggest for your consideration, a course of State legislation, calculated to relieve the community and restore again a sound currency, and the regular operations of commercial intercourse. But it seems to me plain that, as the evils have come upon us by the action of the general government, we must look to the same source for the legislation which shall relieve us. A currency to answer the great ends for which it is designed, must be National in its character, and it is in vain to expect that the independent action of twenty-six different governments, can ever produce a uniform or wholesome state, without more concert of action than can ever be hoped in their legislation. The remedy for this National evil must be found in National legislation.

It is in vain, therefore, for the people to look to their State governments for relief, but their wishes and demands must be carried to the halls of Congress, where alone the power exists to remedy the evil under consideration.

I am aware that the existence of this beneficial power is denied, upon the authority of men high in office; but I cannot yield my assent to propositions which regard government as created merely for its own sake, and destined mainly to collect revenue, in a currency of its own, to enable it to carry on its operations and pay its officers. Government, as Republicans understand it, is created not as an end, but as a means of advancing the interests, maintaining the rights, and protecting the property and the persons of the people; and those who are the incumbents of its offices are not a privileged class, for whose benefit and support exactions are made upon the people, but agents to carry forward and foster the great objects it has in view, the prosperity and happiness of the whole community. It is peculiarly unfortunate, after a long series of experiments upon the subject, without doubt or hesitation, when these experiments have failed, and the old institutions are broken up, and we are in the midst of doubt, confusion and embarrassment, and are looking with anxiety for relief to our National government, that those who administer it should be unexpectedly doubtful of their authority, and scrupulous of using the means in their power, and that those doubts should be carried to the extent of proposing a separation between the government and the people in the matter of currency. It is in the power