^ BUTLER AGAIN REFUTED. T > THE F7^ C T S ABOUT STATE EXPENDITURES. * iWossacl)usctts, anh j^ow S'lc is ®oumicb. ADDRESS OF ALEXANDEE H. RICE, DBLIVEBED AT THE llATIEICATION MEETING IN FANEUIL HALL, THURSDAY, OCT. 10. BOSTON : REi'UBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE. 1878. 9^ £ixciianfe West. Bee. Hlftt. 800. ADDRESS HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR. Fellow-citizens, felloto- Republicans, honest men of all parties and of all opinions, assembled here, — We have gathered hi this venera- ble hall, consecrated to patriotic and sacred associations and mem- ories, to pass together in evening in considering some of those important questions which affect the character and welfare of the nation at large, the peace and happiness of our own homes, the prosperity of our industries, and the renown of this gi-and old Commonwealth which we so fervently love. (Applause.) It is something of a heritage to be an American citizen. One feels it to be so when he stands within the precincts of Faneuil Hall, and opens his mind and his heart to the associations of this place. It is also a lofty privilege to be a citizen of Massachusetts. THE GLORY OF THE OLD COMMONWEALTH. We remember that it was Massachusetts who first received upon her A-irgin soil the Puritan and the Pilgrim, who established here the principles which underlie all American civilization, and out of w^hich has grown much of the fame, of the happiness, and of the prosperity, which we of New England claim. We feel it farther to be a privilege to be a citizen of Massachusetts, as we take in here ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR RICH. •And elsewhere the iiispiratiou ■which comes out of her devdioping history. Ever since the dawn of civil society here, her record has beeu a proud and honorable one, gratifying to her own people, the pride of the couutr}", and, to a greater or less degree, the admu'a- lion of mankind. Why, what have we on our light hand and on our left hand, in these war-ploughed summits, but the memorials of ilie patriotism, the valor, and the heroism of the men who followed u few generations after the founders? And what are the gory }iUiins and valleys that lie behind us but so many impeiishable altars from which arise the ins})iratiou of sacred memories, the incense of patriotism to the God of piety, of patriotism, and of justice? (Applause.) So too, fellow-citizens, not only in war but in peace, not onl}- in martial but in social and in civil achieve- ments, have wc much in our history* to be proud of. Those men who laid the foundations of societ}' here began an imperishable structm-e. They appreciated full}' the inestimable and the indis- pensable value of learning and of Aiitue as the foundation of any civil organization that they might erect upon them. And what have we in Massachusetts as the result? THE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. Let us see what sort of a Commonwealth this is that wc live in. Do you not know that provision has been made here for the edu- cation of every child in the State, irrespective of rank, birth, or of condition, and that we have to-day, as the fruitage from the seeds Ihatwere earl}- planted, more than three hundred thousand children in our 5,700 public schools? We have schools above those thus enumerated. All the towns, as you remember, of a large number of inliabitants, maintain liigh schools. Above them we have the normal schools, including the Normal Ail School, which has espe- cial reference to the industry of our people. "Wc have our seven colleges and universities, with theh' schools of law, of medicine, of thcolog}' ; our schools of science, our schools of technology. Then also we have throughout the length and breadth of the Com- monwealth, wherever people are gathered, the churches, with their ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR RICE. Pl)ires pointing lieavenwaid, signif3"ing to all who are with us, and all Avlio come to us, that ours is a Christian civilization ; and that we thus still combine Christianit}' and learning together, and so maintain them as the only sure safeguards of the civil and social order which has been planted here, and which we are desirous and determined to maintain. Then also we have in this Massachusetts, institutions great in variet}', for the destitute and afflicted, not only in the towns, but we have also institutions supported at the public expense on the part of the State, representing every sort of need that humanit}- in its varied forms requires. We have hospitals for the sick and the insane, we have almshouses for the poor, we have prisons for the criminals, and then we have beneficent insti- tutions of every sort, kind, and variety' ; so that there shall be no fraction of humanity, however forlorn or desperate, that is inca- pable of taking care of itself, that shall not be suitably provided for at the public cost. Then we have, over and above all these eleemosynary and reformatory institutions, more than 450 public libraries, 127 of which alone have nearl}^ a million volumes. 150 of these libraries are free, and are so many peoples' universities for adult and juvenile self-educators ; notable among them is the magnificent free librarj' of this city, with its attractive reading- rooms, 350,000 volumes, and annual circulation of 1,400,000 among our resident population. Then also we have 22,000 manufacturing establishments in Massachusetts, employing more than 8280,000,000 capital ; and the value of our productive industr}', independent of our farms, is more than $525,000,000 annually ; and including the products of our farms, the combined labor of our people, the sum value of the productive industry of this Commonwealth of 1, GOO, 000 peo- ple, amounts to nearly the round sum of $600,000,000 per annum, or equal uearl}- to $2,000,000 for each working-day in the year. More than tliis, who does not know that Massachusetts has been nuidc illustrious also by the splendid examples of genius and atttiinment in other and the higher pursuits of life ; in the earl}- and daring and successful commerce which carried the flag, ex- tended the enterprise, and spread the fame of her "merchant- ADDJiESS OF GOVEHKOn JUCS. princes" to the utmost seas? "What skill have her people shown in invention, and in the amplification of facilities for multiplying the forms of cmplo^-ment ! How long and brilliant the catalogue of statesmen and philanthropists ; of divines eminent in origi- nality, piety, and learning ; of scholars profound in all ])ranches of human knowledge ; of poets, philosopliers, physicians, advocates, jurists, novelists, historians, and ornaments of every department of classical and polite literature ! THE PROSPERITY OF MASSACHUSETTS. My fellow-citizens, I say that you cannot find an area of 7,800 square miles on the face of the earth, that is peopled by a popula- tion that enjoys larger civil, social, and domestic comfort and happi- ness, and, on the whole, prosperit}', than is enjoyed b}^ the people of this ancient and well-endowed Commonwealth. (Applause.) No matter who it is that carps at Massachusetts, no matter who it is that talks about her industry declining, about her honors wan- ing, or about her prosperity failing, about her manhood degenerat- ing, or her standard of progress lowering in the sky one foot : it is a falsehood. (Applause.) The State never had more solid pros- perity than it has to-da}' ; it was never more inspired by lofty and reputable ambitions and aspirations than it is to-day. It never had a keener sense of public honor than it has to-day ; and it never had a bolder, braver, more virtuous, more industrious, more prosperous population, a population equal to any emergency and prepared on ever}' occasion, public or private, to maintain the honor of the Com- monwealth and the safety and welfare of its people. (Applause.) But, fellow-citizens, there are those who challenge Massachusetts on these points, — who would have us believe that she is a misgoverned State, that she has been running to waste, that she has been lading out, and who tell us that her prosperity is gone. I think any man who assails the people of Massachusetts, any man who impugns the government of Massachusetts, any man who would stain in the estimation of the country the fail- fame ajid renown of the State of Massachusetts, ought to be one, to say th« least, ADDltESS OF aOVERKOtt HICK who is enclovved with more than common intellectual gifts, and more than common moral virtues. (Applause.) Least of all should it be an}' man, whoever he is or whatever his vocation or his name may be, who seeks to defame his State, who seeks to belittle its people, who seeks to slander its government, who, in one word, seeks to pull down the character and fame of Massachusetts, to a lower level, in order to make himself of passing respectability. (Great applause and cheers.) I think I know the character of Massa- chusetts men and women better than to suppose for a moment that they propose to surrender the honor of their State, the custody of its institutions, or the conducting of its government, at the com- mand of an}' such individual or class of individuals, be they many or be they few. This is the kind . of Commonwealth that we inhabit, if I under- stand it aright ; and its preservation is what we are contending for in this campaign. THE STATE DEBT. Now, then, fellow-citizens, I want j-ou to bear with me while I sa}' a Uttle about State matters. Ver}^ likely 3"ou expect me to occup}' a portion of this evening in talking about them. I shall try to avoid egotism as far as I can. I shall try to avoid dealing with any man or an}' body of men unjustly ; but I am going, if it be possible for me to do it, to vindicate the adminis- tration of the government of this State during the last three years, and for the last twenty years. (Great applause.) There never was a baser slander, there never was a blacker falsehood told, than that the government of this Commonwealth, in the last three years, or in the last twenty-five years, has not been honorable and honest and humane. (Applause.) It is said that the debt of the State has been increased. Well, so it has. I desire to cover up nothing, and I shall shield nobody if I know it ; but I want the truth, and the whole truth, to be known. (Applause.) So far as I am concerned, and those associated with me, I am prepared here and now and everywhere to stand by your verdict, 8 ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR RICE. nnd lliat of tlio people of Massachusetts, upon the government of tlic Coinmomvcnlth. (Applause.) In 1861, in the beginning of tlml year, tb • debt of the State was a httle less than 87,000,000, — $G, 700,000. And it grew through subsequent j'ears, so that on tlic first day of January, 1876, it amounted to $33,866,000. "\\'cll, tliat is a very large increase. It covers a period of fifteen years. Now, there are some things in this world that are of more "N jtlue than uione}'. Libcrtj' is worth more than money, the main- tenance of law is worth more than monc}', the public honor and the j)ublic faith are worth more than money. Fidelity to one's countr}' in the hour of that countr3''s danger is worth more than money. (Ai)plause.) Massachusetts gave of her proudest and best, — the blood of her sons, and the labor of her daughters, took desolation into her famiUcs ; and she gave §16,500,000, of this very increase of the public debt for these objects, and for the l)rcscrvation of the Union. That was the testimony- of her ai)pre- tiation of the value of the libert}' and safety of this country, and her interest in having them sustained. (Applause.) Is there a man, is there a woman, in this assembly, or in this Commonwealth, Avho would sell the golden histor3' of Massachusetts for sixteen mil- lions of dollars? her war history? Wlij', fellow-citizens, do you not know how soon her sons started when the call came for troops? Scarcoh" a day i)assed before there was a regiment in arms in front of the State House, equipped and read}' for war. They went instantly, and thus excited the admiration of ever}' State through which the}' passed.; they shed their blood on the way for the defence of the capital of the nation ; and they were followed by thousands and tens of thousands of their comrades. On e\ cry battle-field, wherever the conflict was fiercest, there were the sons of Massachusetts, vindicating the principles of their fathers ; there they were oflTering their lives in devotion to the liberties of their country. So they went, so they fought, and so they per- ished by tens of thousands ; but they left a line of historic glor}', which all the carpers, all the cowards, all the rebels, and all the falsifiers on earth, can never obliterate to the end of time. (Great n])l)Iau8C.) While the brothers, the sous, and the fathers were in ADDRESS OF GOYEENOIt BICK the field, bearing arms and putting their bodies between tlicir country and the guns of the enemy, the people of IMassachusetts at home were pouj-ing out their money liberally and freely in all work for the army. The}' were willing to be taxed to maintain the honor of the State, and the support of the sons who were on the battle-fields fighting for the honor and the institutions of the land. In this war sixteen millions of 3-onr public debt was made, now reduced to eleven miUions of dollars. (Applause.) If anybodj wants to take that back, I will be ashamed of him forever as a Massachusetts man. (Applause.) THE HOOSAC TUN^4EL. Well, we are not in perpetual war, thank Heaven, in this country. We live in a most remarkalile age. It is an age of development ; it is an age of progress, the world over ; it is an age which puts the fire of life into American enterprise, a determination not to be out- done, either in the field or in peaceable pursuits of commercial times. There was a great work commenced a quarter of a century ago in this State of Massachusetts, — a work which has become widcl}' known. To some it has an unsavory- mention ; but, after all, it is one of the grandest and one of the nol)lest achievements that was ever accomplished b}' the engineering skill of this or of any other country. I mean the Iloosac Tunnel. The Hoosac Tunnel has cost $17,000,000. There it stands. Nobody has ever brought any charge against the constructors or managers of that work, that it was not properly and ftiithfuU}' done, or that monc}' which has been j'car after yeav appropriated for carr^-ing on that work lias been diverted to private advantage or improper purposes. It is a magnificent monument, costly though it be, of the enterprise and audacious daring of this people. There was the great and growing West, with its teeming acres, raising grain and food enough to feed almost the whole civilized world. Ever}^ thing indicated that there would be gi'cater and greater prcssiu-c to the Atlantic seaboard, of the products of these States rushing to the markets pf New England and Europe. Competition was strong between 10 ADDIiESS OF GOVERNOR RICE. all the Atlantic cities for the business of these great Western States. The genius of Massachusetts, and the enterprise of the business men of Massachusetts and of this cit}' of Boston, con- ceived the idea of making a parallel railroad to the Hudson River, expecting thcreb}* that a larger amount of this export business might be brought to the city of Boston, and that we might have an additional line of communication with the great grain States of the "West. The tunnel, as I said, cost 817,000,- 000. Well, they built a bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Louis, which cost §13,000,000, On the other continent they ran a tunnel through Mont Cenis, which cost 612,500,000 in gold ; and there is another tunnel in progress, if it is not completed, at St. Gothard, which has cost a like sum in gold to build, at the lower price of European labor : so 3"0u see, fellow-citizens, that, great as this undertaking was, it has had its following among other enter- prising people in our own and in foreign lands. What is the result? We have the tunnel built. I am not prepared to sa}' that I would undertake it, if it had not been undertaken at all, even in the hght of to-da}" ; but I will saj' this : that, if we sink the monc}' that has been invested in it as an investment, we ought, in- stead of crying over and lamenting what has been done, to set our- selves vigorous]}' at work to get out of the tunnel in commercial value what we have sunk as an investment. So it is, the tunnel is accomplished ; and there it stands, in its magnificent grandeur, an eternal monument of the courage, the skill, and the commercial enterprise of our people. It is a per- fect piece of work. It will not need reconstruction. It is built for all time. Like all other works of human hands, it will un- doubted!" need repairs ; but the investment is substantially' ended. Trains oi :ars are to-day, and every da}' and every night, running baek and lorth in increasing numbers, bearing increasing volumes of trade to this State, thereb}' giving value to the harbor improve- ments upon which the State and the city have expended so large a sum of monc}', and inviting to this port, as possessing attractive and perhaps superior advantages to the steamship Unes of Europe which ai-e seeking for American business. The volume of busi- ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR RICE. 11 ness over the tunnel is increasing fort}'^ or fifty per cent per an- num. I expect the tunnel will in time develop a line of cities and towns along the borders of its connections from Boston to the Hud- son line, in number, size, and thriftiness commensurate with those along the line of the Boston and Albany Eailroad, and that without injury to the latter' s business. At the time the tunnel was under- taken, if I remember rightl}-, we had but one steamship in a fort- night, or ten daj-s, between Boston and Liverpool. Now, if I mistake not, Mr. Collector, we have six or seven steamers per week, — one a da}', — and the number increasing, for which thanks are largely due to that liberal and well-managed road, the Boston and Albany. There is ever}^ indication, fellow- citizens, that this is to become one of the largest exporting places on the Atlantic sea- board ; and one of the contributors to this now increasing prosper- ity is to be the much-maligned Hoosac Tunnel. Let me sa}^ that this is the one unimproved trunk line that is open to new connection between the Atlantic States and the great West. There is ever}' indication, at tliis moment while I am talk- ing, that this line wiU be extended into the valley of the Mohawk River, and bring us into direct communication with the Erie Canal and its vast business, until in course of time other communications will very likely be built across the State of New York, giving Boston a new line, a direct and special communication between our own harbor and the great grain-growing States of the "West. So much for the Hoosac Tunnel. The entire railroad debt to-day is represented by the round sum of $17,000,000, a portion of the cost of the tunnel having been paid. OTHER LARGE EXPENDITURES. And let me say, that, besides the war and the railroad d^bts, there are but $4,700,000 of the State debt to be accounted for. That money, like the rest, has been expended in the j'ears past ; and I speak with entire freedom, because none of these works have been undertaken since I held any office whatever under the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It has been my duty and my 12 ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR RICE. privilege to carr}' out to the best of m}- abilit}', with the best regard to the public treasur}', with the best regard to honest ad- ministration, with the best regard to ever}' man's doing his dutj* in his place, — it has been m}' duty to sec that this mone}', appropri- ated for works undertaken, has l)een properl}' expended and honest- ly disbursed, and that the work has been Aiirl}- and faithfully done. Now, then, the balance of this monej' has been expended parti}' in building a new asylum for the insane, at Danvers. That, also, is under criticism. The Danvers Lunatic Hospital has cost in round numbers about Si, 500, 000. That is a very large sum of money. I am not prepared to say that I think it expedient to spend that large sum of money in the erection of a hospital to accommodate the number of patients yrhich that institution will accormnodate ; but let me remind you of this one thing, that, after you have expended all the criticism that can be made upon that building, it still stands here on the soil of Massachusetts, one of its representative institutions, the grandest structure of its kind in the world provided for any such purpose. There has not been a dollar of money that has been misappropriated, or that has gone into the pockets of any individual, or into the hands of any clique or ring of speculators or fraudulent association. The money has been appropriated by the Legislatures in consecutive years, under- standing what they were doing. The money thus appropriated has been honestly and legitimately expended. The plans of this building took the first prize at the Philadelphia "World's Exposi- tion, leading all other competition throughout the world, as being the best for a lunatic-hospital in any country whatsoever. And so it stands to-day. Great as it is, costly as it is, still it is a monu- ment of the munificence of the people of Massachusetts, an evi- dence of the outpouring of their generosity and of their humanity toward the most forlorn, the most desolate, and the most pitiable cf any class of human beings. In the reclassification of inmates in our hospitals, the highest class and wealthy lunatics, now in pri- \ate hospitals, will no doubt seek Danvers, and relieve the State of much of the cost of its administration. What has been said of that may be said in a like degree of the new lunatic-hospital at "NVorces- ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR RICE. 13 ter. A million of dollars has been expended at Concord for the new State Prison. Well, we have had a fire and an escape from the State Prison since it was built. I do not know that I should advo- cate the location of a State Prison at Concord ; I do not know that I would adopt the plan of the State Prison that was built in Concord : but understand this, fellow-citizens, that all these public works were authorized and ordered bj^ successive Legislatures of Massachusetts, — by Legislatures chosen out of the people of Mas- sachusetts, and representing the average intenigenco of the popula- tion of Massachusetts, and what, in their estimation, they can afford to do, and representing also what they desire to do ; and I am not here to call in question the wisdom of the Legislature, much less the wishes of the people of this grand old Commonwealth. (Ap- plause.) Now, then, so far as the State Prison is concerned, I have Aisited the institution, within the past ten daj's, in company with a distinguished foreign ambassador who is spending a few weeks in Boston, representing one of the most intelligent and numerous of the nations of the earth, and one which, during the last quarter of a century, has made as much progress in civilization and humanity as an}- nation whatsoever. He expressed his wonder and surprise at the building and the methods of administration. He said to me, "Where are the garrison? where are the soldiers that keep this place and prison in order? " I said to him, " Even our prisoners do not want to be subject to a garrison in time of peace : the}' are well-behaved prisoners." — " Well," he said, " in all m}' travel over the world, and in my observation of public institutions in an}- countr}-, this is the finest prison and the best- administered that my eyes have ever rested upon." Fellow- citizens, that is the testimony of a distinguished foreigner in regard to that new and costly State Prison. Then the same dis- tinguished gentleman went to the Woman's Prison at Sherborn, in the immediate vicinity of South Framingham, which has cost about 8300,000 ; and I wish ever}' man and ever}- woman in this assem- bl}' might go to the Woman's Prison, and sec for themselves what this last step forward in the civilization of INIassachusetts is. That institution was the outcome of an advance in humane thought. It 14 ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR RICE. was believed that the time had come when women might be sepa- rated from men in penal institutions, when we might la^- bj' the rigors of chastisement and punishment, and when attention might be given more especially to the reformation of this class of women prisoners. And it was the thought of many, also, that the prison might be ofl3cered in part, possibl}' wholly, b}' persons of their own sex. So it devolved upon the present administration, to determine the question whether it ought to be officered by women entirely', or parti}'' by men and partly by women. It devolved largely upon me, among other great and novel cares, to determine that question. After thinking the matter over, carefully consider- ing the resources of this da}- in efficient women, — women who have the boldness and the courage to undertake, and have the piety and fidelit^'to achieve, — I believed the time had come when it was justifiable, nay, when it was demanded, that the experiment should be tried of appointing every officer of the prison, from high to low, from the ranks of women. And now we have the onl}' State Prison in the world, so far as I know, that is officered entirel}'' b}'^ women. There is not a man in the prison from one end of it to the other. (Applause.) And if j'ou want to know how the experiment suc- ceeds, go up there, and sec nearh' five hundred criminals, some of them the ver}* worst characters that we have ever had in our houses of correction or in our prisons, and behold them in a state of per- fect subordination, officered and controlled aud directed entirely by three or four noble women and their assistants. The same distin- guished gentleman said to me, as he was walking through the prison, " AVhere is the force, where is the power, that controls and orders and governs this great and novel institution? I see no f