since this Territorial Government was established, and their character, show the importance of the provision that they "shall be submitted to Congress" for its action upon them.

Excessive legislation is an evil of the greatest magnitude; and rapid changes in the laws are injurious to private rights and to the public interests. Mr. Jefferson said- the instability of our laws is really a very serious inconvenience. I think we ought to have obviated it by deciding that a whole year should always be allowed to elapse between bringing in a bill and the final passing of it. It should afterwards be discussed and put to the vote without the possi bility of making any alteration in it; and if the circumstances of the case required a more speedy decision, the question should not be decided by a simple majority, by a majority of at least two thirds of both houses."

The act establishing the government of Wisconsin, in the third section, requires the Secretary of the Territory to transmit annually on or before the first Monday in December "two copies of the laws to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, for the use of Congress."

The sixth section provides that "all laws of the Governor and Legislative Assembly shall be submitted to, and, if disapproved by the Congress of the United States, the same shall be null and of no effect.

These provisions, it seems to me, require the laws to be actually submitted to Congress before they take effect.

They change the law by which this country was governed while it was a part of Michigan. That law provided that the laws should be reported to Congress, and that they should be in force in the district until the organization of the general assembly therein, unless disapproved of by Congress."

The opinion of my predecessor, which was expressed to the first Legislature assembled after the organization of this Government, in his message delivered at Belmont on the 26th day of October, 1836; fully sustains this view of the subject which I have presented. He said "We have convened under an act of Congress of the United States establishing the Territorial Government of Wisconsin, for the pur

pose of enacting such laws as may be required for the government of the people of this Territory, after their approval by Congress." But the amount of the public debt does not appear to be limited to the sum of thirty-nine thousand dollars. It may be increased by various items, with the enumeration of which I shall not at this time trouble you, with the exception of one hundred thousand dollars, incurred on account of the Milwaukee and Rock River Canal. The Legislature authorized the Governor to negotiate a loan for this amount, and to issue bonds therefor, in the name of the Territory, bearing seven per cent. interest, by which the canal lands became pledged for their redemption. But if there are not enough of these lands sold to meet the payments, or the purchasers do not pay for their land as stipulated, it is manifest that the Territory will be compelled to provide the means to meet them by a general tax upon the people.

There is not in the Executive Office any evidence that my predecessor negotiated the loan according to the law; but it appears that he issued bonds to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars, and delivered them to one man to give to another in Ohio, who was authorised by a power of Attorney to sell them; but where the money is for which they have been sold, or what has become of them, I am unable to inform you. There is no evidence in this office that my predecessor required any security of either of the persons to whose custody they were entrusted; and I submit to you whether some proceedings ought not to be instituted to protect the territory against a loss: either for the recovery of the money or the bonds, or against the person who issued them.

The monopolies which have been created within this Territory, by acts of incorporation granting exclusive privileges to certain individuals, have, from their number and character, justly excited alarm in the minds of all men who are friendly to equal rights, and the establishment of such institutions as are most favorable to democracy. These combinations of political power and wealth, these petty aristocracies-the offspring of the last four years-have been planted in almost every neighborhood; and although they may now give temporary benefits to a few individuals, we may expect the time will

soon arrive when they will yield only bitter fruit for the people. Many of them appear to have been granted to favor particular persons, by creating a value for their property over that of their neighbors, or by thus distinguishing it to render it more saleable.-They are incorporations to aid speculation.

Your attention is respectfully invited to all the acts of incorporation which have been passed, that all such as are not lawfully in existence may be repealed without delay.

The acts incorporating villages are liable, in addition to another objection. The act of Congress declares "That the legislative power shall be vested in a Governor and a Legislative Assembly;" and again, "That this Legisiative power of the Territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation." Also, "That the judicial power shall be vested in a supreme court, district courts, probate courts, and in justices of the peace." These village charters authorise the corporators to exercise a portion of these powers which it is believed cannot be delegated.

Also, by the 7th section of that act, the Governor, with the advice of the Council, is required to appoint "all civil officers," except "township and county officers, who (with the exception of Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs and Clerks of Courts) shall be elected by the people." The officers of these corporations are not made "township and county officers," and therefore not made elective according to the act of Congress.

The several Banks which have been established, have heretofore received the attention of the Legislature; but whether the people of the territory have been benefitted by their destruction and the introduction of foreign depreciated paper, are questions now with them. It is my duty to ask your attention to the state of the currency, that adequate provision may be made, if in your power, to restore it to a healthy condition. The exchange which is paid for eastern or southern paper, is a tax upon the industry of the country, and is never repaid by an increased price for our productions when they reach the market.

Considering the unsound condition of all the banks of the United States, whose notes are brought to this country for circulation, it

seems to me that an effort ought to be made to secure specie and the notes of specie paying banks for a circulating medium, by prohibiting the use of depreciated bank paper, and the buying and selling of it within the limits of the Territory. The effect of this would be to compel a bank which desires to enjoy the privilege of furnishing the people of the Territory with paper for circulation, to keep it at all times of the value of specie within our borders. Unless this is required, our citizens have no security for the bills which they are compelled to take daily in the course of their business; and they are generally unacquainted with the solvency of the institutions which have issued them.

The right to protect the circulation of coin, and to prevent the use of false, valueless or spurious paper for currency, belongs to this as to every other government. I do not perceive why this prohibition which is suggested would not be as proper and effectual, as the prohibition to pass counterfeit notes. A note of a suspended bank is worth no more at its own counter than if it were a counterfeit note; and no state has a right to impose upon another irredeemable paper, unless she guarantees its payment ultimately. A note which is not payable by law, and paid on demand, is not the representative of gold or silver. If it promises to pay, and is not paid, in what respect is it better for circulation, than a counterfeit note ?

It will be for you in your wisdom to determine whether under these regulations, it is of greatest advantage to Wisconsin to use the notes of those banks which are chartered by the States with whom our trade is chiefly prosecuted, in preference to those of an institution which may be hereafter created by herself, whose circulation shall be based upon specie, and whose privileges shall be so few and so closely guarded that the public interests will be entirely protected.

But in no case, in my opinion, ought a bank note to be allowed to circulate, when its value, either from the course of trade, or the unsoundness of the bank, is less than the sum which it falsely promises to be worth. It is known to be impossible to retain specie for circulation in any country where depreciated paper money is used. No one can seriously doubt that specie ought to constitute the basis or the chief medium of circulation within this Territory; and that

all paper should be be convertible into specie or its equivalent here. If the productions of the country are not of sufficient value to pay the debt which our merchants contract abroad, our specie must be taken to liquidate the balance, or to purchase at a premium, drafts which are at par at the place where the merchant is indebted. The Land Offices of the United States also continue to drain a large portion of the specie from circulation, which is either transported to more favored places for use, or kept in the coffers of Government months and sometimes years before it is again returned to the hands of the people.

Industry, economy, and an increase of our domestic manufactures are the surest means which can be employed to remedy the evils of which all except money brokers-those leeches upon the currencyare now complaining. If the people will resolve to abandon for the present the use of all foreign productions, they will place themselves in a position where they will be able to demand and obtain the best money for their own, and permanently secure for their country, a sound currency, and for themselves individually, wealth and happiness,

For the purpose of encouraging the growth of wool, I would respectfully recommend that a law be passed to exempt all sheep and their fleeces from taxation for a term of years, and that such other provision as is required may be made, that wool may soon become one of the staple productions of Wisconsin. The cost of the transportation of a pound of wool to New York or Boston is but little more than that of a pound of flour, pork and beef, while its value in market is five times greater than either.

It is well ascertained that the sheep which are fed upon the high prairies, increase in size and improve in health, and that their fleeces are more weighty than those of sheep which are confined to the pastures of the Eastern and Middle States. The extensive and rich prairies of the Wisconsin Ridge and its branches, and upon which there is now no prospect of settlements being formed, we may expect, if the proper encouragement is given, will be occupied in a few years with flocks of sheep capable of supplying all the manufactories of woolen goods in the United States with wool.

And I avail myself of this occasion to propose, that a system of