Hon. Alexander J. Groesbeck, Governor of Michigan Clarence M. Burton, M. A., Detroit, President William F. Murphy, S. T. D., Detroit, Vice President William L. Jenks, M. A., Port Huron William L. Clements, B. S., Bay City Claude H. Van Tyne, Ph. D., Ann Arbor EXECUTIVE OFFICERS George N. Fuller, Ph. D., Secretary Percy H. Andrus, Ass't Secretary Marie B. Ferrey, Curator PREFACE HIS volume includes the principal messages of governors Cass, TH Porter, Mason and Woodbridge, covering the period from 1824 to 1841 inclusive. Only certain minor messages have been omitted, which seemed hardly important enough to print; such are the vast majority announcing or recommending appointments, veto messages in which no reason for veto is given, and messages of transmittal. All mes sages of this sort, however, in which the Governor has made important comment, have been included. The value of such a compilation is obvious. It is of course not primarily for the special student. The researcher will naturally go to the originals, of which fairly complete sets are accessible in several Michigan libraries. Moreover, for research purposes the messages are often less important than other materials contained in the volumes from which the messages are taken; as, for example, the general proceedings of the legislature, reports of the various departments, boards, commissions, and institutions, the numerous committee reports, and particularly the documents and communications transmitted by the executive. Rather, it would seem, the principle value of a compilation like this is to the general public, in the knowledge which executive messages may give respecting the personalities of the governors, the problems of their administrations and the progressive development of the commonwealth. The messages are mainly of two classes, those delivered during the regular sessions of the legislature and those communicated at special sessions. The chief sources are the House and Senate Journals and the volumes of Executive Documents. The messages have been arranged in strict chronological order. As a given message may be found in more than one place, the source from which it is taken has been indicated at the head of the document. It frequently happens that in different sources the spelling, punctuation and capitalization vary; indeed these features are found to vary materially in the course of a single document; hence the messages have been transcribed literally, except in cases of obvious typographical error. Jan. 2, 1925 George N. Fuller |