said State." To avail ourselves of the benefits of this grant, legislation on your part will be necessary.

The State is prohibited, by the Constitution, from embarking in any work of internal improvement, but provision can be made to fix definitely the lines of the several roads, to select the lands, and to grant them upon such terms as your wisdom shall dictate, to regularly organized companies, to aid them in the construction of the roads. The completion of railroads upon these lines is of the highest importance to the State, as it would add greatly to the population, wealth, activity and commerce of every section, but especially would it aid in the development of the rich resources of the northern portion of it, in which, it is believed, richer and more valuable supplies of copper, iron, and lumber are to be found, than in any other part of the United States, and perhaps in the world.

VILLAGE CHARTERS.

Quite a proportion of the volume of the Session laws of the last and preceding Legislatures, is made up by the enactments of charters for villages.

To save your time to the important public matters to which your attention will be called, I recommend the adoption of a general law, by which all villages can become incorporated. A great saving of expense would also be made in printing and otherwise, if such a course should be adopted.

JUDGE OF PROBATE.

The compensation to the Judges of Probate in the several counties is made up by fees, taxed upon the estates administered upon, before them. Great complaint is made of the excessive costs which are attendant upon the transaction of that kind of business, mostly borne by a class of persons but poorly able to pay such expenses. I submit to your judgment whether it would not be better to fix a salary to the office of Judge of Probate, proportionate to the population of the several counties, and that until the meeting of your successors the fees collected by them be paid into the County Treasury, and an accurate statement thereof reported to the Board of Supervisors. Such a course would furnish data for any future legislation which might be deemed necessary in relation to the fee bills of that office.

SUPREME COURT.

The Constitution provides, Art. VI, Sec. 2, that "after six years, the Legislature may provide by law for the organization of a Supreme Court, with the jurisdiction and powers prescribed in this Constitution, to consist of one Chief Justice and three Associate Justices, to be chosen by the electors of the State." It is further provided that the judges of the Supreme Court shall be so classified that but one of them shall go out of office at the same time, and that their term of office shall be eight years. It is presumed that the intention was to provide for constituting this tribunal, whenever the growth and condition of the State, should so multiply the business of the Circuit Courts, as to give them ample employment. There is reason to believe that such a period has now arrived. Aside from this pressing consideration, the establishment of a Supreme Bench, wholly independent of the Circuit Courts, is a marked benefit, admitting of no question. The rights of the public, the interests of suitors, and the requirements of justice, are concurrent in pointing to the wisdom and expediency of this step.

The commencement of a new judicial term of the Circuit Courts, is deemed to be a fit period for the constitution of an independent Supreme Court, so that the election of Judges thereof, may proceed at the same time with that of the Circuit Judges, and that the terms of office, respectively, may correspond, so far as is practicable, under the Constitution.

The testimony of the Circuit Judges, of the bar, and the evidence furnished by the dockets and calendars of the Circuit Courts, especially in the first, second, third and fifth circuits, unite upon the point that the Judges respectively, find ample employment for the whole of their time between the active duties of the circuits and the necessary chamber duties, and in investigation necessary to the decision of questions of practice, interlocutory motions, and final decisions; while in the seventh and eighth circuits, a large portion of the time of the Judges is taken up by necessary travel through regions of country where the means of conveyance are both slow and laborious.

Section II, of the Article of the Constitution above referred to, provides that a term of the Circuit Court shall be held, at least twice in each year, in every county organized for judicial purposes, and four in each year, in all counties containing ten thousand inhabitants. The rapid

increase of the population of Michigan, within the past four years, has thrown many of the counties above the limits of ten thousand inhabitants, and has increased the duties of the Circuit Judges correspondingly. A glance at the official Census of 1850, compared with an estimate to be obtained by approximation, from the popular vote of November 4th, 1856, shows that the following counties have risen above the limit of ten thousand inhabitants, viz.: Allegan, Barry, Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, Ionia, Lapeer, Ottawa, Saginaw, Shiawassee and Van Buren, whereby the duties of the Circuit Judge of the fifth circuit have been increased by two additional terms in each year, in Allegan, Eaton, Van Buren; those of the Judge of the eighth circuit, by two additional terms, in each of the counties of Barry, Ionia, Ottawa and Clinton; those of the Judge of the fourth circuit, by two additional terms, in the county of Ingham; those of the Judge of the seventh circuit, by two additional terms, in each of the counties of Lapeer, Saginaw and Shiawassee. In addition to the above, the following new counties have been organized for judicial purposes, since the adoption of the present Constitution, each requiring two terms of the Circuit Court, annually, viz.: Sanilac, Montcalm, Oceana, Grand Traverse, Newaygo, Cheboygan, Manitou, Gratiot, Midland, Mason and Manistee. It would seem then, that an intelligent regard for the character of the jurisprudence of the State, the prompt, thorough, and just enforcement of law, both civil and criminal, call alike for the establishment of an independent Supreme Judiciary, agreeably to the provisions of the organic law of the State.

Reports of the decisions of courts of last resort, in all countries, are among the recognized tests of relative advancement, civilization and enlightenment. These Reports become interchanged between the different States, and they are consulted, wherever the Common Law of England is the standard. The value of legal decisions, as adjudications making the application of general principles, to cases arising, depends wholly upon the learning, research, and legal skill of the tribunal which originates them, and they are esteemed of authority, or the reverse, in proportion as they evince these qualities. Just and intelligent decisions are constantly adding to the great common stock of legal knowledge, while crude, hasty and weak opinions do but "darken counsel, by multiplying words without wisdom."

While as a State it is well to cherish a just and proper regard for the

standing of the Supreme Judiciary in the community at large, yet, our first and most urgent duty is to the People of Michigan, to secure to them the blessings of a pure and intelligent administration of public justice, in order to both of which, it is requisite that the Court of last resort should be left entirely free, to devote their time, and their full abilities, to the discharge of those duties alone, which properly belong to a Supreme Judicial tribunal.

REPRINT OF LAWS.

I have been notified by the Secretary of State that the session laws for each year since 1846, are out of print. The rapid settlement of the northern part of the State, and the organization of new townships, has created an unexpected demand for them, and no further copies can be supplied. It is believed that before the meeting of the next Legislature, one hundred, or one hundred and fifty additional townships will be organized. It would be difficult, if not impossible for their township officers and magistrates to transact business without access to the statutes. I submit for your consideration whether in this exigency provision ought not to be made for the collection and arrangement of the laws now in force, and for their publication.

BANKS.

An act to authorize the business of banking, was passed by the last Legislature, but as it did not reach me until after their adjournment, I had no opportunity to state the reasons which induced me to withhold my signature and approval.

Like most new States, ours has been settled by an active, energetic and enterprising class of men, who are desirous of accumulating property rapidly. It is an incident to the settlement of all new countries, from which our State is not exempt, that there is a deficiency of capital to facilitate the conduct of its business, and a vague notion prevails that credit can be made to supply this deficiency. Whenever an opportunity has been obtained, a class of restless borrowers have resorted to banking, with the vain hope that the necessity of capital could thus be supplied. Improper means are resorted to, to force into circulation a large amount of paper currency by the establishment of banks remote from places of business, and by exchanging or otherwise obtaining a circulation remote from the place of redemption.

The people of Michigan have been made to feel keenly and bitterly the inevitable results of these schemes, and it is no matter of surprise that the laboring and producing classes, those who create the wealth, believe that rather than be swindled periodically by fraudulent banks, they would be far better off with no banks at all. A want has undoubtedly been felt by our commercial men for bank facilities, and their business has frequently been restricted because they could not obtain them, but it is a question whether this inconvenience to a few, has not been more than overbalanced by the sound currency which the many have received in exchange for their labor or their produce. It is a noticeable fact, that the last two years are the only ones in the history of this State, in which the people have not been swindled by fraudulent banks. You will undoubtedly be told that the business wants of many localities in this State require the establishment of banks, and will be urged to pass a bill to authorize them to go into operation. If so, I trust you will concur with me in the propriety of providing such safeguards as will secure the community against bankruptcy and fraud. In this most important matter, they have a right to look to you for protection.

It is urged in favor of the establishment of local banks that a depreciated currency would be thereby driven away, and a sounder take its place, but this is against all experience.

Banks do not desire a large circulation in their immediate vicinity, and they frequently become the agents of putting into circulation a depreciated or fraudulent currency, remote from the place of redemption. To guard against this, I would respectfully suggest if you should frame a bill, that all banks be prohibited from paying out any but their own notes from their counter, and the establishment of a system similar to that voluntarily entered into by the banks in New York, by which all balances are frequently settled. This would require all banks to send home for collection all the notes of others which they had received on deposit or in the payment of debts, and would enable each to obtain in the immediate community in which it was situated such a circulation as its credit and character would entitle it to. One of the great evils experienced, when bank paper constitutes the chief circulation, is its constant fluctuation. Distant rumors of the curtailment of banks at the centres of commerce create a panic, and other banks begin to withhold