year;and so of the other lands and sections in their years. This
course might be better than to sell all the land at once, as by
the first sale and the application of its proceeds, confidence
would be inspired, which would likely make the lands remain*
mg advance in price, beyond the interest lost by the delay.—
The first sale, will ascertain the amount of money to be appli-
ed to the first section, and by division, to each mile; until
which takes place, safety requires that no contracts ought to be
made. The amount of money capital created by the sale,
would also point out the required loan, which should be equal
to the credits on the land, subject to be extinguished by the
annual payments due on the same. Prudence would require
the loan, to be always less than the securities or capital stock
en hand. These securities or stock, will be equal to six per
cent, stock, and may be at any time easily exchanged for mo-
ney. To effect this, negotiable collateral obligations may be
taken from the purchaser, corresponding with the terms ot
the land certificate and required loan. The above is but the
outlines of that system which, it is deemed most expedient to
adopt, under all the many circumstances with which the land
is. environed. If we sell these lands upon nearly, or quite the
same terms on which government lands are disposed of, they
must be expected to command about the same price. But
terms like those recommended, which amount to a loan of
the purchase money, enabling the purchaser to make the differ*
4



L2«]

cnt payments out of the land itself by his own labor, are en-
forced alike, by the individual benefits they will confer, and the
public interest they must improve.

By the operation of the plan suggested, monied combinations
and monopolies will be checked, and a fair competition will
take place between them and those who expect to become citi-
zens, and to cultivate the soil they bid for. — Upon the supposi-
tion, that from the Lake to the Ohio river, the whole extent
of this road, is two hundred and thirty miles, there will be a-
bout one hundrecLand fifty thousand acres of select land, dona*
ted by treaty, to be applied to its improvement, and this sold at
only two dollars per acre, would enable us to realize the sum
of three hundred thousand dollars. The average per mile, twelve
hundred and eighty dollars. This amount or less, will make
a clay turnpike, besides good strong wooden bridges over the
Streams; if we may make an estimate according to the pro-
positions submitted, for cutting and grubbing the national road
in this State, which only averaged two hundred and twenty
dollars per mile, and the grading proportions were equally low
in proportion. To your wisdom the whole is submitted.

ROLLER OR WHEEL ROAD.

I shall lay before you a paper containing Mr. John Gardners
invention of the Roller, or Wheel Road. You will be pleased
with the ingenuity and plausibility of the scheme of the inven
tor, if you are not disposed to ascribe to him the credit of ma-
king an imposing hrprovement upon the known facilities for
transporting goods by land or water. If the theory of the in-
ventor will stand the test of practical experiment, its rank will
be exalted, in the scale of invention.

WABASH AND ERIE CANAL.

After the adjournment of the last General Assembly,in com-
pliance with their resolutions, on the subject of the canal, I
forthwith procured a copy of the same to be mailed for the Ex-
ecutive of the state of Ohio; and alsodirected a like copy, to-
gether with other documents which were thought necessary,
to be transmitted, to the commissioner of this state, appointed
to negotiate with the commissioner of the former state, on the
subjects of the necessary definitive adjustment, contemplated
by the two states. It is understood, that they have agreed up-
on certain conventional stipulations, the nature of which will
be developed to the separate Legislatures by the commission-
ers themselves. It is wished, that they had been concluded
upon the basis of reciprocity; and with an eye to the speedy



â„¢<A* ASTATBLraRARy



[27 J

commencement, the vigorous prosecution and successful consummor
lion of the enterprise in hand. If this could have been effected,
at the same time guarding against future collisions between the
two states and preserving to us a reasonable interest in the grant,
the negotiation would have been hailed as an achievement
worthy of the most agreeable recollection. How far the state
canal commissioners(one of whom it became my duty last spring,
until your meeting, to appoint, in the room of Robert John,Esq.
resigned) have succeeded within the past season in making selec»
tions of the canal lands and in giving identity to the canal route,
they will shew to you by their own report — plats of the same,
shewing the intersections of the state land with what belongs
to the United States, having been made out and forwarded this
fall to the General Land Office, no doubt remains but that the
government lands, as also the whole purchase of 1 826, will be
brought into market in the spring. According to the letter to
me, of the commissioner of the General Land Office, they would
have been offered for sale this fall but for the want of the plats
mentioned.

Presuming that after much discussion and long reflection, the
public mind, has taken a favourable turn towards this canal,
if it can be completed in a reasonable period, and without deep
state involvement, and after your approval of the arrangement
made with Ohio, the momentous question which must arise, is,
as to the means — the Archimedian lever of all such colossal en-
terprises, — without appealing directly to the pockets of the
people; than the pressure of additional burdens upon whom,
nothing will sooner prostrate effectually the desirable work. —
The real friends of this communication, if their aim is ultimate
success, should stand undivided, in looking to that sort of legislation,
that kind of system — that unsophisticnted policy, which by its
own influence and effective power — unaided by state finance — •
will lay the foundation for producing the entire means, either
now or at a more distant day, fqr its most safe, most certain and
irrepealable reliance against the fluctuations of a mutable pub-
lie opinion. The most of the substantive outlines of such a sys-
tem, have been delineated, in the remarks already submitted on
the subject of the lands granted for the Michigan and Ohio
road, . so that repetition here would be useless. The last
Legislature have acted happily on the good idea, in authorising
the sale of the school section?, except that they did not extend
indulgence to purchasers far enough, to embrace the full scope
$f its advantages. The high price many of the school sections
^avesold for, is an eloquent and convincing commentary on the
principle. The sale of the canal lands lying in Indiana, for



128]

twenty annual payments, drawing interest from the day of satej
and requiring the interest of all the payments, unpaid, with
the payments due, to be paid in advance, annually, as well ae
the first payment; regulated so as to preserve the land against
contingeucy, forfeiture and waste, and to secure the prompt
payment of principal and interest — will, it is confidently be-
lieved, create six per cent, stock enough — having the best in-
demnity, to cover a loan, equal to the estimated cost of all that
part of the canal line, which lies in this State. If any other
device can be brought forward which promises, by its own in-
ternal evidence, to do more than this, let it be received.

The assumed distance of the canal, from the Ohio line to the
mouth of Tippacanoe river, is 128 miles, and the quantity of
land to be applied to its improvement, is 640 sections, or 409,-
000 acres. These lands, upon the credit named, considering
the advantages of soil, climate and water communication,
and other valuable appendant properties, may be considered
low at the estimate of $2 50 per acre, on an average. At this
price, they will create a capital of upwards of one million of
dollars, if sold now. The canal Commissioners estimate the
128 miles of canal, at $1,081,970, which is thought to be too
high. Thus it may be seen that a stock, bearing interest cor-
responding with successive loans as they are needed, may be
created by periodical or simultaneous sales of these lands, as
may be thought most advisable, rather exceeding than falling
short of the complete cost of the canal. It is contended by
some, that the next best plan to this, is the one which is presen*
ted by a report of the canal committee of the House of Re-
presentatives, at the last session, now spread upon the journals;
— by a reference to which it will be seen that the scheme there
recommended, contemplated the completion of the canal by
the year 1835, together with the sale of the whole of the lands
in the mean time, and the expenditure of all its proceeds, at
the expiration of the time; besides, leaving a debt of six hunr
<Jred and thirty one thousand, nine hundred and seventy dollars
upon the shoulders of the people, without any tangible resour-
ees to discharge it, but a recourse to their private purses and
to the tolls and water privileges. Comparison here, would be
useless. This work might be finished by the year 1 835, and
this alarming and ruinous debt avoided ; if it be thought expe-
dient to commence operations at all before something more
definite shall have been fixed upon for the Ohio section. When-
ever the time shall arrive for a commencement, the summit
section, opening a limited commerce, should be first put under
contract. From this point, as fast as resources accumulate, it



[29]

should be continued down the valley of the Maumee to the
foot of the rapids, and down the Wabash as low as Lafayette
or lower. The growing importance of this town would justify
such a result, and render it very probable. The necessary
length ot this communication, requires my remarks on this inter-
esting matter, to be very general. A confidence in your intel-
ligence leads me to suspect, that you anticipate all the various
details requisite for so great an undertaking; and that you will
have no difficulty, unassisted by unauihorised dictation, in or-
ganizing them into a material element of practical experiment.

Before we agree to sell the canal lands to the highest bidder
for cash in hand, it will be proper to look well to consequences.
To sell the land for canal purposes, will amount to a pledge to
the General Government, and to the purchaser, to go on with
the work or be liable to the one for its value, and to the other, if
we fail, for damages. And if cash sales should produce no more
money, than what the Commissioners have supposed, $500,000
- — making the required loan of $500,000 more, too great for
the ability or courage of the State afterwards, or so great, as
to dissuade the legislature from authorising a loan \then, indeed,
the State will be in almost an inextricable dilemma — without
a canal, and bound to refund, after all the trouble and expense,
incurred, to the United States, and to pay damages to the pur-
chaser. In this picture there is reason for alarm.

If this Legislature shall ratify the treaty which has been
concluded between the two States, and if my information is cor-
rect with respect to some of its provisions, the inducement
must be much increased, to make the most out of the gra;.t of
land which it is susceptible of producing by selling on a long
credit, by the great length of time which is to transpire before
funds will be in demand. For, from information on which reli-
ance may be placed, it appears that the State of Ohio is not
bound to complete the Ohio section in less time than fifteen
years from the first of January next. Before that time shall
expire, the approved plan of sales, may be made to accumulate
from the interest alone, without interrupting the principal
6tock,an amount, to cover a great portion of the estimated cost
of the Indiana part. But if the treaty requires the State of
Indiana to cede all the lands which she holds in Ohio, for canal
purposes, to that State, in some short time hence, by which
Ohio will be enabled to sell them and use the proceeds for ma-
ny years, without payinginterest and without being then at last
bo*nd,absolutely and unconditionally, to perform the work, but left
at her option, either to do so, or pay back the money which the
land shall have sold for; — it will become matter of serious re-



[30]

flection tor this body, whether the treaty is such as will meet
the views and interests of Indiana. The land to be ceded to
the state of Ohio, at two dollars and fifty cents an acre, will be
worth about four hundred thousand dollars. If, in the course
of the next fifteen years the state of Ohio should become con-
vinced that the Wabash and Erie canal, would withdraw from
her other canals a potion of western commerce, and have a
tendency to diminish their profits, or be in any respect injuri-
ous, she will have but to adopt the alternative afforded her, of
refusing to operate on the Ohio section, and refund to the state
of Indiana, the money for which the land might sell, which
must be paid in such an event, by the latter state, to the United
States. In what better situation then, does such a trea y place
Indiana, than before it was made? How will be affected by it
the interest of Ohio? She may 6btain the use of several hun-
dred thousand dollars, for the term allowed her to cut her part
of the canal. Not having seen the treaty, I cannot speak with
•ertainty; and am at a loss for information as to when it looks
to the commencement of the work by Ohio; but it is presumed,
that the act of Congress requiring a beginning in five years,
kas not been overlooked.

Lest some remarks in this address, on the subject of the Ca-
nal, and recommending on certain terms, a sale of the canal
lands, may be understood to be offered to induce the acceptance
of the Treaty, it is proper for me to add, that they are intended,
vnly to be considered, upon the happening of that contingency.
If, with such provisions of doubtful policy, the treaty should be
ratified, the question of ways and raeam, will then be fairly be-
fore you. But pressed as we are by necessity, for this important
Ink in the chain of national improvement, which promises also
to be so useful a channel for the commerce of the country, my
»wn assent to postpone without certainty in the end, for fifteen
years, the long looked for benefits expected from it, would (with-
out further effort to do better) be given with melancholy reluc-
tance. Nor could any of us, without poignant regret, see this
valuable grant revert back to the United States. Rather than
think seriously of such a result, your foresight, your prudence,
your desire for the honor of the state, would prompt you to me-
morialize Congress again, to authorize the state to change the
proposed canal into a. Rail Way^ or even a turnpike road on the
canal location. There could remain little doubt but that, in this
way, the grant might be preserved. It is the immediate ex-
pense of a canal and the idea of competition that alarms Ohio.
A single railway would cost only but a little more than half of
whatis the climate of a canal, as they might be constructed in



[31]

Indiana with durable timber mostly. I have seen some esti-
mates as low as $6200 per mile.

Whatever may be the fate of the Wabash and Erie canal, I
take pleasure in assuring you, that no part of the failure to en*
list Ohio in it, within a less period than is stated, is ascribable to
Major Sullivan, our commissioner, whose talents and zeal toon*
tain a better compact for the state have been conspicuously ex»
erted on the occasion.

WABASH AND WHITE RIVER OBSTRUCTIONS.

To enable the State to remove the obstructions in these val-
uable rivers, the friends of the Wabash and Erie Canal, and of
Steam-boat navigation on the Wabash and White Rivers, would
doubtless gratify a majority of the people in the state of Indiana,
by uniting in a memorial to congress, for a grant of the public
lands adequate to the accomplishment of the object. The re-
moval of the falls in the Wabash and the improvement of the
White Rivers by means of the public domain, may be sustained
by the same reasoning, which led to the grant to open the ca-
nal. For the one is indispensable to the other. If the state
goes on with her c a nal, she must improve the rapids in the Wa-
feash, or cut a canal around them for the passage of all kinds of
boats. No doubt is entertained but that steam boats may tra-
verse the White rivers if they are well improved, through hun-
dreds of miles of our territory ; and that the seat of government,
will ere long be visited by these messengers of Fulton's immor-
tal genius.

NEW MILITIA SYSTEM.

Whatever is novel and is intended to supplant established
usages, however confirmed by prejudice or replete with hoary
error, has in a majority of cases, subjected the innovator to un-
envied notoriety. As to the modifications which will be submit-
ted under this head, it is not intended to claim any indulgence
for their author for not being aware of the fate that awaits him.
A conscientious conviction that itis my duty, uninduced by any
latent consideration, to a dvise such a partial revision of the Mi-
litia Laws of this state, as is called for by the advanced progress
of the principle of toleration, and by the intelligence and tac-
tics of the illustrious age we live in, will not, even by counting
the chances of its success, permit me to be silent. Experience,
which is the test of all human organic laws and regulations,
offers her objections to the impolicy and inutility of repeating
so frequently and unsuccessfully, attempt upon attempt, to in-
struct the great mass of the people in the art of war. The
chivalric reputation of our brave countrymen and the military
science have both been lowered in this respect, by unremitting



[32]

efforts to perform impossibilities. Our existing militia laws*
commit violence upon the rights of conscience, as well as im-
pose penalties on poverty, by exacting equipments and servi-
ces which many of the people are not able to perform. Instead
of this, whilst aiming at efficiency of organization, the nobler
purpose should be to adapt it to imperious circumstances, and
to produce a reconciliation to it, amongst all the people — a-
mongst all denominations and opinions. This must be done, if
general submission and obedience to the laws, are to be expect-
ed. It should be a first concern with the statesman, to lop off
from the institutions of his country, every obnoxious feature, in
any degree tending to beget the opposition of the citizen or that
is regarded with indifference, or calculated to diminish his ven-
eration and affection for the policy of the land in which he lives.
It is proposed, in times of peace, to comprise the militia into
twn classes, to be called the active and the sedentary. Let the
Miiitia of the state remain enrolled and organized as they now
are, with all the officers, to be called the sedentary. Require
them to meet once a year at the time of the regimental muster,
without equipments, except officers, for the purpose of report-
ing their strength; and to hold themselves in readiness for hos-
tile emergencias, most of whom being infantry. Require their
officers to assemble and drill frequently. Extract from the pre-
sent sedentary militia, by voluntary enlistment, about ten thou-
sand men, which would be about every fourth or fifth man in
the state, to be called the voluntary militia. This corps is in-
tended to be well disciplined and should be required to appear
frequently in service. From each regiment of about eight
hundred men, raise four companies of volunteers — an artillery
and cavalry of about fifty men each; and an infantry company
of one hundred men, and a rifle company of about the same.
Allow them to elect their own officers, independent of the seden-
tary; and besides their company musters and attendance at the
regimental parade, provide for exercises in the school of the bat-
talion. Require that the public arms shall be exclusively dis-
tributed to the voluntary militia, to stimulate them to duty. If
the required number, should not volunteer in each regiment re-
sort to draft; if too many turn out, determine by lot who shall
be taken of those who can be relied upon. Let the voluntary
corps report their strength, as in other cases. Besides giving
the United States arms to the voluntary corps, exempt offi-
cers and soldiers from working on roads, serving on juries and
from a poll tax. On the other hand require the sedentary mi-
litia to work as many days on the public highways in their pro*
per districts, as the active militia are required t© perform milr*



[33 J

tary service, in addition to what is now called for by law from
each citizen. Those who are conscientious against beraing
arms will, as a matter of course be ranked with the sedentary
militia, and their strength may be reported in the manner pro-
vided by the present law, without requiring them to appear in
public to report it. The above presents the skeleton of a plan,
which, with its appropriate details, would bring into existence a
bulwark of defence against hostile incursion, combining the
double advantages and saiety of the "citizen soldier''' with the
^scientific discrplinarian."

The warmest and bravest blood and flower of the state,
would be splendidly displayed in the voluntary rank, which ad-
ded to their skill in tacticks, must constitute an intrepid pha-
lanx of irresistible soldiery. Our portion of the two hundred
thousand dollars, annually expended by the United States, for
arming and equiping the militia, will "on this plan at no very
remote period, supply this part of the militia with arms, if they
are carefully preserved; but to ever supply the whole is as hope-
less as it would be a waste of treasure. Such a system as
this, will also bring to pass, the pleasing consequence of setting
at ease the consciences of a very exemplary, peaceable, indus-
trious and moral denomination of people in the state called
"FRIENDS," who are honestly opposed to war preparation.
It is believed that this is the only mode by which they can be
constitutionally relieved; and it is recommended more for its
own excellence than to secure any special privilege at the pub-
lic expense. Nor can this arrangement loose any of its attrac-
tions in consequence of the hundred thousand days labour it
would authorise you to apply on the public roads, essential in
an improved state, to the public good, in war or peace. Now
should you approve of these suggestions, it will then be worthy
of consideration, whether you will carry them into effect by a
state law, or recommend them to the favourable notice of the
general government, whose right it is to legislate on this sub-
ject, concurrently with the state.

Independent battalions are called for, as a necessary and just
accommodation to the people of new counties and detached
settlements.

AGRICULTURE MECHANICS AND THE ARTS.

The farmer's interest should be made a matter of special en-
quiry. He who gives support to every other occupation and
profession, commercial or mechanical, — he whose drudgery in
its culture, provides the materials which shield our infirm bod-
ies from the inclemencies of the seasons — he who nourishes the sol-
dier while he perils in the battles of his country — he whose incorrup-
5



r 34 j

tible fidelity in times of severest trial, is proof against the most se
ductive temptations, deserves alike your countenance and efficient aid.
Besides exempting from tax, lands cultivated in hemp, tobacco and
other neglected productions of profit, an adequate approriaption for pre-
miums to be distributed as prizes for the best specimens of whatever
you consider most useful in any of the arts, sciences and professions,
will be found in experiment, most encouraging to our various branches
of industry, and stimulating to the slumbering capability of every de-
partment of genius or labor. If the encouragement here content
plated, should make any considerable impression upon the common
chest, the deficit may be replenished by the imposition of a duty or
tax upon all spiritous liquors which may be found in the State for con-
sumption. By this plan of creating! a fund the two fold object will be
accomplished of encouraging the cause of temperance in the use of