erty must in an eminent degree be regarded as held subject to the right of the state to take and apply it to public uses; but the public are often despotic, and listen impatiently to objections to its demands that have no other support than simple justice.

In another class of cases the rights of citizens to their property, and to the full use and enjoyment thereof have been abridged, and in many cases destroyed, by the acts of persons, done in the name of the public, without even an admission of a right in the sufferer to demand compensation.

The cases to which I refer are those of injuries inflicted upon the owners of property on streets and highways that are obstructed by the construction of railways and other public works, whereby the property is made more difficult of access, or rendered in some other respect less convenient, and its marketable value depreciated.

In these instances the property of the citizen is not "taken for public uses," nor is it damaged in any appreciable physical sense, but it is made less convenient and useful, and the owner of such property is made poorer, by the act of others done under public authority; and yet it is probable that the judicial tribunals, when called upon to interpret and apply the language of the 13th section of the Bill of Rights, will hold, that the owners of property thus affected are not entitled to compensation for injuries that will be adjudged merely consequential.

In the nature of things much must be left, in the application of the laws, to the courts, but the General Assembly will find it judicious and proper to determine the true comprehension of the word "damaged," as used in the Constitution.

The Constitution also secures to the owners of property taken for public uses, the right to demand that the compensation to which they are entitled shall be ascertained by the verdict of a jury, but this right can not be made effective without fit and appropriate legis

lation.

VIII. I have deemed it my duty to mention, as one of the subjects that demand immediate legislative action, that of making further appropriations for the completion of the new State House.

I am aware of the fact that, near the close of the late session of the General Assembly, a considerable degree of opposition was manifested to the further prosecution of the work upon the new State House in Springfield; but the fact that such opposition, however formidable, exists, does not relieve the Governor from the obligation imposed upon him by the Constitution, of giving to the General Assembly information of the condition of the State, and to recommend such measures as he shall deen expedient.

In my biennial message I said, that "before the present session of the General Assembly expires, it will be satisfied of the necessity of the early completion of the new State House;" and apprehensive that the inconveniences that would be experienced by the members for want of proper accommodations might influence them to make excessive appropriations, I thought it proper to add, "but it will also discover that the appropriations demanded will swell to an amount that will severely tax the patience of the people. The only means for raising money, permitted by the Constitution, is taxation; and appropriations for the

new State House, whatever may be the necessity for its early completion, ought to be kept within such limits as that they will not be too burdensome to the tax payers of the State."

When the General Assembly convened, on the 4th day of January, 1871, no one anticipated opposition to judicious appropriations for the prosecution of the work upon the new State House; and the feeling that the public interests demanded such appropriations was so general, that a bill providing for the expenditure of six hundred thousand dollars in the prosecution of the work passed the Senate by a vote nearly unanimous, was sent to the House of Representatives, where it was approved by an appropriate committee and its passage recommended.

I am pursuaded that no proposition is clearer than that the public interests demand that an appropriation be made, and that the work upon the new State House be prosecuted with the utmost vigor. Already nearly four years have elapsed since the work was commenced, and the sum of eleven hundred thousand dollars has been appropriated for its prosecution, by several Acts of the General Assembly; and, in addition to the value of the lands conveyed, without cost, to the State, for a site, the sum of nine hundred and seventy thousand and thirty-five dollars has been expended upon the building now in process of construction. If appropriations are made by the General Assembly at the present session, to carry on the work, there is no doubt that in less time than has been already expended in its construction the State House will be completed, and ample accommodations provided for all branches of the government.

I do not suppose that there is any disposition, on the part of any considerable portion of the people of the State, to suspend the work upon the new State House, to await the result of a contest for the removal of the seat of government from Springfield. The great body of the people are eminently practical, and feel but little interest in the disputes that have arisen, or that may hereafter arise between different cities and towns, as to the location of the seat of government. They understand very well that Springfield is geographically very nearly the centre of the State; that with the rapid extension of the railroad system the facilities of travel are so increased and improved that many other towns and cities, that are now or that soon will be railroad centres, are quite as easy of access from all parts of the State, and that Chicago, the great center of the whole railroad system of the Northwest, though upon the very extreme border of the State, is, from the extent of its railroad connectons, most accessible of all. Indeed, while there are many places in the State that offer nearly equal advantages for the location of the seat of government, it cannot be supposed that the people will consent to waste the million of dollars already expended, and the four years of time already consumed in the prosecution of the present building, without the slightest hope of advantage.

The General Assembly, at the session of 1867, appropriated the sum of four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to be expended in the erection of the new State Honse, and the Legislature of 1869 appropriated the further sum of six hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the same object, and the Constitutional Convention, by the 33d section of the 4th article of the Constitution, limited the appropriations on ac

count of the capitol grounds and the new State House, to three millions and five hundred thousand dollars; and there are no sufficient reasons for believing that the sum thus limited will not be entirely ad. equate for all purposes. It therefore seems to me that after the positive acts of two General Assemblies, in making appropriations for the prosecution of the work upon the State House, and the evidence of the acquiescence of the people, afforded by their votes upon the new Constitution, that there is no reasonable ground for further controversy, and the people of the State ought not now be forced into a profitless dispute that, like all local and sectional controversies, will arouse prejudices, hinder and obstruct necessary legislation, and, when ended, leave behind them nothing but smoldering passions and unsatisfied re

sentments.

Nor are these the only evils produced by controversies such as it is proposed to organize in respect to the location of the seat of government. The inhabitants of the county of Sangamon and the city of Springfield claim, and perhaps justly, that they have expended the sum of five hundred and twenty-seven thousand dollars either to induce the original selection of that city as the seat of government, or prevent its removal; and it is understood that some of the citizens of Springfield have also undertaken to procure additional land for the enlargement of the State House grounds, at a probable cost of seventy-five thousand dollars; and it is also understood that more than one hundred enterprising and responsible gentlemen of Peoria are ready to concede to the State a most beautiful and eligible site for a State House, in or near the city of Peoria, if the State will accept it for that purpose, and they offer to pay the State a large sum of money as an inducement to the removal of the seat of government to that beautiful and enterprising city; and if this question is to be considered as an open one, no doubts are entertained but that other towns and cities will be tempted to make offers correspondingly large. So that the excitement will extend to all parts of the State, and the subject will take control of the public mind to the serious prejudice of all other public interests.

No practice that has been openly tolerated by the Legislature of this State is more erroneous and unwise in principle, or more vicious and corrupting in practice, than that of accepting gifts and donations from counties, cities, towns and individuals, as inducements for the selection of such localities for the establishment of public institutions, or the erection of public buildings. If any place offers such superior advantages and facilities as will make its selection as the seat of government advantageous to the public interests, no additional inducements can, with justice, be required; and if any place proposed is unsuitable for the purpose, no more pecuniary offers should be allowed to influence its selection; and, what is more important still, the people of the State ought not to burden any community with the whole or any part of the cost of constructing public buildings for the use of the State.

It must be expected that when localities undertake to assume the burden of performing such general public duty, it is done with the expectation of profit, and my observation is, that in all cases the profit goes into the pockets of the shrewd and speculating, and the bur

dens assume the form of taxation, and are thrown upon the shoulders of those who toil.

The State of Illinois is now happily free from debt, and it is far more able than any of its over-burdened subdivisions, or any number of individuals, to purchase sites and construct all needful public buildings; and while my views of the policy of re-locating the seat of government are entertained in strict subordination to the public will, such is my experience of the evils of accepting gifts as inducements for the location of public institutions, that no measures which contemplate such contributions from any county, city or town can, by any possibility, receive my approval. Before concluding this branch of the subject, it seems to be due to the State House Commissioners, that I should express my continued confidence in their integrity and fidelity to the interests of the State.

After the close of the late session of the General Assembly, the Commissioners of the new State House, in view of the fact that some doubts had been expressed as to the quality and sufficiency of the work already done upon the building, requested me to appoint a commission, to be composed of skillful and disinterested persons, to examine the character of the materials and workmanship done under their supervision. My first impression was to accede to their wishes; but having satisfied myself, by observation and consultation with many practical builders, that no well founded objection exists, either to the qual ity of the work done, or to the materials used in the building, I finally declined to do so. It is due to my own character as the Chief Executive of the State to say that if my observations or investigations had developed any evidence of unfaithfulness, on the part of the Commissioners, in the discharge of their duties, I should not have hesitated to apply the proper correction.

IX. By the report of the Trustees of the Insane Hospital at Jacksonville, made before the commencement of the late session of the General Assembly, the liabilities of the institution up to and including the 30th day of November, 1870, amounted to the sum of fortyfour thousand five hundred dollars and three cents, but from the error of including the first day of December, 1870, in the account, and applying the appropriation of twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars made for the support of the institution for the quarter closing February 28, 1871, the actual indebtedness was reduced to the sum of twentytwo thousand dollars and three cents, but by this application of the appropriation, the institution was left without means for the payment of its current expenses for the period between the first day of December, 1870, and February 25, 1871.

These facts were, no doubt, well understood by the General Assembly, and an appropriation was made for the support of the institution for the quarter ending February 28, 1871, thus placing upon the statute books two appropriations, amounting in the aggregate to the sum of forty-seven thousand five hundred dollars, to pay the current expenses of the institution for the same quarterly period.

After the passage of the last bill, demand was made upon the Auditor to draw his warrant for the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, being the amount last appropriated, the amount appropriated by the

act of 1869 having been previously drawn from the treasury, when the Auditor, with my approbation, decided that when appropriations are made of different sums, and by different laws, to the support of any of the state institutions for the same period, he was bound to hold that the last appropriation was intended by the legislature to supercede the other, and that he could only pay to the trustees the difference between the amount of the first and the last appropriations.

The legislation needed therefore is only to authorize the payment of the sum necessary ($22,500) to discharge the liabilities of the trustees of the Hospital, and such a law does not increase, but only changes the appropriations made at the last session.

The amount of the deficiencies in the appropriations for the support of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, and an explanation of its origin, will be found in the special report of the Trustees of that institution, which will be laid before the General Assembly.

Deficiencies like these must be provided for, though I may be allowed to express the hope that they will not hereafter occur.

X. The revenue laws, as I am aware, received a considerable degree of attention at the late session of the General Assembly, and I have no reason to doubt that bills were nearly matured that would, if passed, have sufficiently provided for the defects that actually exist in the statutes now in force that relate to that subject. But one act passed by the legislature reached my hands; but that was, in my judgment, so manifestly prepared to meet a special case, and yet in other respects was so dangerous, that I felt constrained to withhold from it my approval.

Whatever else by way of amendment or improvement in the revenue laws may be properly postponed, there is an urgent necessity for legislation in respect to the exemption of property from taxation.

By the third section of the ninth article of the Constitution, it is provided that the property of the state, counties and municipal corporations, both real and personal, and such other property as may be used exclusively for agricultural and horticultural societies, for schools, religious, cemetery and charitable purposes, may be exempted from taxation; but such exemption shall be by general law.

Already I am informed of differences of opinion as to whether the provision of the Constitution above quoted, by its own force operates to annul all laws heretofore in force exempting property from taxation, or whether such general and special laws remain in force until repealed by legislative action.

The amount of property exempt from taxation under the operation of the laws referred to is very great, and many of the exemptions are of doubtful policy, and such laws should be so clear as to be subject to no doubtful construction.

1 again ask the attention of the General Assembly to the demand for legislation to make existing laws conform to the requirements of the fourth section of the 9th article of the Constitution. For want of legislation it is exceedingly doubtful whether there can be any sales of property made for the non-payment of municipal and other local taxes, or for special assessments.