MESSAGE
'' '' $ OF
GOVERNOR AARON V. BROWN
TO THE
Silt': ''
TENNESSEE LEGISLATURE,
AT ITS
OCTOBER SESSION, 1847.
NASHVILLE.
a . C . S n ET A.R D , rKINTEK, UNI ON OFFIC*.
1847.
MESSAGE.
Gentlemen of the Senate
and of the House of Representatives:
Assembled as you how are, as the representatives of the peo-
pie, you cannot rfa.il to observe, in the circumstances which sur~
round you, increased cause of giatitude and reverence to that
Supreme Being, who presides over the destinies of Nations.
The two past years have been signalized by unnumbered
blessings and benefits. The labor of the husbandman has been
rowned with abundance, whilst fair and remunerating price*
have been received for the rich productions of his fields; our
commerce has been greatly increased, and our domestic indus¬
try of every variety has flourished in the most remarkable de¬
gree. Tranquility and good order have been maintained, and the
supremacy of our laws acknowledged throughout all our bor¬
ders.
In the full enjoyment of these blessings, to which may be add-
od that of almost uninterrupted good health, the people of Ten¬
nessee have been steadily advancing in knowledge, in virtue,
and indeed in all the elements of national greatness. It must be
a pleasing duty to serve such a people, and a delightful task to
add any thing valuable to the legislation of such a noble State.
When the reports of the various branches or departments of the
State Government shall have been made to you, I doubt not that
you will find, that all the duties of them have been performed
with a promptitude and fidelity in perfect harmony with the
other pleasing circumstances under which you have assembled.
The benevolent institutions of the State, (the Lunatic Asylum*
and those for the education of the Blind, the Deaf, and the Dumb)
will be found to have realized, in a good degree, the expectations
of the public. They will, however, continue to appeal to the no¬
blest sympathies of our nature for still further advancement and
promotion.
The sale of the Lunatic Asylum and its location in the coun¬
try, for reasons which will be communicated in another forrti^
4
have not been effected; and I recommend a reconsideration and
amendment of the law directing its sale. During the past two
years, I have many reasons to believe, that the institution has
been well and faithfully managed, especially the female depart¬
ment of it, which has been superintended by a lady of singular
energy, skill and ability for such a station. ,
From the Penitentiary, I anticipate a very satisfactory report
to you. The convicts generally have been in the enjoyment of good
health, and have manifested no spirit of rebellion or disobedience.
The Keeper, his deputy and the other officers, having great skill
and experience in such matters, seem to have blended the stern
rigor of discipline with all the kindness, and humanity which
such a situation will admit of. The greater portion of the
efficient labor of the convicts, has been directed to the building
©fthe State Capitol, under the law directing it so to be done; a
most beautiful edifice is slowly rising up, likely to attract the ad¬
miration of the country and to outstrip in magnitude, conve¬
nience, durability and elegance, the capitol of any other State
inthc Union.
I have no reason to recommend any change in this policy,
nor any material ones in the details of the law on this subject.
There is no subject upon which I desire to hold communion
with you more freely than on that of Education.
Our Universities and Colleges are, in the general, meeting the
just expectations of their friends. Some new ones have beeii
recently established in the State, founded chiefly, if not entirely,
on the enlightened liberality of individuals, which promise soon
to rival their older predecessors in the diffusion of a sound and
wholesome intelligence.among the people. Among these it may
not be considered invidious to mention the one at Lebanon,
whose rising reputation gives fine promise of its future useful¬
ness to the State.
Our county academies may also be said, in the general, to be
doing well; but beside all these, we must have a full and com¬
plete system of common or primary schools, dispensing their ben¬
efits to all those whose means do not enable them to send off their
•hildren to distant seminaries of learning.
No system can be compared to this latter description of schools*
They secure to the great mass of society an education, if not
highly finished and polished, yet commensurate with the every
day wants and necessities of the people. We should never re¬
lax our exertions on this subject until we could send the gratify¬
ing intelligence abroad, that not one native born son or daughter
«f Tennessee could be found who could not read the Scriptures
•F Divine Revelation, and likewise the laws and comjtitution of
5
the country.. How such a blessed andhappy result is to be ob¬
tained is a question constantly addressing-itself to the' friends of
education throughout the land. That Legislature which shall
he able to answer. it.«in.the establishment of such a system with
adequate funds to support it, will have well entitled themselves
to the gratitude of the present, and the blessings of future gen¬
erations.
For the reasons formerly given by me to your immediate pre¬
decessors, I cannot recommend a present resort to taxation, until
by some unequivocal expression of public sentiment, it is made
manifest that such a measure would be cheerfully acquiesced in.
However it might answer ,a valuable purpose,to authorize such
counties, whose population might be willing to do so, to levy and
collect a school fund,for their own county purposes, to be applied in
the same manner as the other school funds furnished by the States
and the propriety of such a law is respectfully submitted, both as
to its constitutionality and expediency, to your, consideration.
Such legislation should be carefully guarded both as to its
amount and application.
If but a few counties should set the example of self taxation
for so noble an object, the beneficial effects resulting from it
might open the way to its imitation by other counties, until public
sentiment, although slowly and cautiously developed, might de¬
mand the measure as one of general policy, eminently calculated
to improve the minds, and elevate the morals of the whole com¬
munity. . ;
If, however, the wisdom of your honorable bodies should find
insurmountable objections to this limited and experimental mode
of eliciting, an expression of public opinion, I know of no better
plan, than to husband the resources of the State Bank, and by
establishing a sinking fund of adequate amount, finally absorb,
our outstanding liabilities and leave the wdiole capital and funds
of that institution amounting to several millions of dollars,
as a permanent endowment of common schools. Taxation is
therefore the immediate and direct mode of establishing the sys¬
tem. Through the agency of the bank is the more remote and
contingent one, and the wisdom of the Legislature must decide
between them, or devise a better one than either.
With a mind fondly lingering oyer this subject, and unwilling
to leave it, I beg permission to trouble you with another suggest
tion in ai(j of those already made.
We have no "Superintendant of Public Instruction." The ex¬
amples of other states, and the very nature and importance of the
gubject would seem to rebuke the omission. Even if such aa
officer were of temporary appointment, with no power over the
funds, he might be of great advantage in rousing up and direct-
6
ihg the sleeping energies of our people. He should be a man
•minent for his attainments in science, and for his devotion to
the moral and intellectual welfare'of the rising generation. He
should commune freely with the learned and the pious of the
land. He should visit every county in the State!. He should or¬
ganize county committees of such zealous and patriotic citizens
as might agree to visit the school districts of their respective
counties, and by suitable appeals and lectures impart new vigor
and energy to the present system. He should'excite the acting
school commissioners of each county to renewed exertions in rais¬
ing and increasing the present school fund by voluntary individ¬
ual subscription. In short, such a man, by traversing the State,
addressing his fellow citizens at suitable times and places, and
finally reporting to the Legislature a full account of his labors,
and the result of his best opinions, might well render a service
to the cause of education, which would outweigh a thousand
fold, the $1500 or $2000 which might be paid him. It cannot be
neCessary in this communication to elaborate the duties and ad¬
vantages of such an officer, and I suggest fiis creation, because
I earnestly desire you to do everything—I had almost said any
thing—for the advancement of So great and so good a cause.
The laudable anxiety exhibited by your predecessors to foster
and encourage internal improvements in the State, gives assu¬
rance that that subject will engage much of your attention.—
Through the agency of the committee (members of the Legisla¬
ture) appointed by the Legislature in 1843, and that of the com¬
missioner appointed at the last session, settlements have been
made with the several internal improvement companies,'by which
all difficulties in the intercourse between the State and the com¬
panies have been obviated, The solvent and insolvent compa¬
nies have been ascertained. With the former nothing remains;
to be done, but to receive the dividends due' the State, semi-an¬
nually, on the first of January and July, Vhilst from the latter,
nothing is'tobe expected. I therefore regard the continuance of
a special agent as a mere collector of the State's dividends, as
an unnecessary expense, as thO duty could be performed by the
cashier of the Bank of Tennessee, of by the Treasurer of the
State. The officers of all the companies from which the State
Will receive dividends, reside in or so near to Nashville that the
payments could be so made without trouble or difficulty. The
cashier or treasurer, however, should be required to file state-
agents with the comptroller exhibiting the receipts or disburse¬
ments df the' roads, together with the duplicate receipts of the
cashier or treasurer for the inspection and approval of the inter¬
nal improvement board. ' The duty df collecting dividends du-
*mg the last year has been performed by the Secretary of State,
together With the other duties pertaining to his appointment as
commissioner, which have now ceased, for which he was allow¬
ed five hundred dollars as an addition to his salary, the continu-*
ance of which, I look upon as an unnecessary expense, as the
there collection of dividends can be performed by the treasurer
or cashier of the Bank without additional compensation.
The completion of the Georgia railroad to Chattanooga, an
event now soon to be expected, will constitute a new and impor¬
tant era in the Commercial and agricultural history of the east¬
ern portion of our State. It unlocks the door, which for so many
years has been closed against the profitable exchange of her min¬
eral and agricultural productions with the other States, which
eUrround her. If nothing more were done, her people might well
exult in such a vast improvement in their condition. But the
Hiwassee Railroad, extending, as it will, the benefits of this im¬
provement to a much higher point on the Tennessee, at Knoxville
makes the completion of the whole line a niatter of intense,
and almost vita! interest to the Whole of that large and inter¬
esting portion of the State. We have now good reason to ex¬
pect the completion of this latter portion of the road. The com¬
pany has been newly organized, its old liabilities have been,"to
a'considerable extent discharged, and the present excellent "di-
rectory have exhibited a laudable determination to push forward
the work With vigor and earnestness. ^
Prom Knoxville if a well built McAdamised road extending
in the proper direction to the Virginia line, could be constructed,
''and''the".principal obstructions in the Tennessee river could be
removed to the flourishing village ot Kingsport, East Tennessee,
reposing amid her lofty mountains, would be surpassed by no
portion of our State in the abundant means of wealth and
general prosperity.
If these grand projects cannot be carried on successfully by
individual capital and enterprise, it will devolve upon you! to
determine whether any and how much assistance can be furnish-r
ed by the State. The objects are of sufficient importance to en¬
gage in their behalf as full a share of State encouragement as
her present liabilities and means would render prudent, and to
this extent ! earnestly recommend the subject to your attention.
In.middle' Tennessee we are every day receiving the richest
rowhi'ds from many of the improvements already made. The eye
strikes at once on the map and traces out the many great roads
Stretching across the State, and centering at Nashville, a conve¬
nient point of the navigation °f Cumberland. So too, it
8
glances along another road striking from Columbia, situated iir
the very heart of this middle region, and terminating on the Ten¬
nessee in its northern sweep through the State. Further north
is to be seen a fine road coming in from Kentucky, terminating
at Clarksville, and destined to contribute largely to the prosper¬
ity of a beautiful town now rapidly improving and bidding fair
to become one of the most important commercial places in the
State. Still the most superficial observer cannot fail to perceive
the immense advantages to be derived by an extension of the
Georgia road from Chattanooga to Nashville—advantages not to
Chattanooga or Nashville alone, nor to the counties through
which it would pass, but to almost every county in the Middle
portion of the State. This truth is every day becoming more
manifest, in the increased anxiety every where displayed in fa¬
vor of its construction. The corporation of Nashville has been
authorized by the popular vote of the city, to subscribe for half a
million of the Stock, and many individuals of acknowledged sa¬
gacity and shrewdness in all that relates to the profitable invest¬
ment of theil; funds, are known of, who intend to embark fVeely
in the enterprise. In connection however with this work, the
improvemement of the Cumberland ought not to be lost sight of.
A charter to individuals for this purpose was granted at the last
session of the General Assembly, singularly defective in some
of its provisions. I earnestly recommend its supervision and
amendment in such a manner as to insure the speedy removal
of those obustrctions so detrimental to the commerce and trade
of the middle portion of the State. When the Chattanooga and
ftashville Railroad shall have been completed and the obstruc¬
tions in the Cumberland, the Elk, the Duck and the Caney Fork,
shall have been removed, it would be difficult to find any region
in the world possessing more advantages than Middle Tennessee.
With a soil remarkable for its fertility—a climate happily ex¬
empt from the sickness of the South, and the intense protracted
eold of the North—a population proverbial for its industry, sobri¬
ety, and enterprise—-with an easy accessibility by her roads and
rivers to the markets of New Orleans and through her proposed
railroad to those of Charleston and Savannah, she may well
challenge comparison with the most favored regions of the
Union.
The Western District of our State is happily sitpated, in refer¬
ence to natural facilities for carrying off her agricultural pro¬
ductions. Lying nearly in a square, she is surrounded on three
aides by two of the noblest rivers in the world, whilst the Hat-
chee, the Forked Deer, and the Obion all navigable for small
boats, penetrate into many of her richest and most populous
9
counties. Aprpject has however been started in the south pro
posing to extend to her further.facilities by thp construction of a
railroad from,Mobile to the Mississippi near the mouth of the
Ohio. ,
The engineer, Mr. Lewis Troost, son of the accomplished Ge¬
ologist of the State, gives the following description of the route
and the surface of the country over which it is proposed it should
Pass:— _ , _ v .
"Commencing at the city of Mobile, the route projected is "in
nearly a north direction, diverging slightly to the west, on the
comparatively level lands dividing the waters of the Mississippi
from those of the Tomhighy end Tennessee rivers, through the
■ south-western portion of Alabama, the eastern and northeastern
of Mississippi, the Western District of Tennessee, and the southi
west corner of Kentucky to the Mississippi river, at or near the
junction of the Ohio. At this point it is suggested to cross the
Mississippi river by p steam ferry; similar to that over the Sus¬
quehanna on the line of railroad betweendPhiladelphia and Bal¬
timore, and to extend the road on the west bank of the Mississipp-
to the city of St, Louis, ,
"The distance from Mobile to the junction of the Mississippi
and Ohio rivers on this line, would be about four hundred and
forty miles, and from the mouth of the Ohio to the city of St.
Louis, abotit one hundred and fifty miles, making the total dis¬
tance from the city of St. Louis to the city of Mobile, equal to
about five hundred and ninety miles.
"A glance at the map of the States through which this route is
projected, will indicate that from Mobile to the mouth of the
Ohio, there is not a, river or stream of any magnitude to cross,
and that on the west bank of the Mississippi river up to the city
of St. Louis, there is only one river, the Mardmec, to overcome.
In the present communication it is proposed to say nothing of
that part of the route between the city of St. Louis and the mouth
of the Ohio. There can be no doubt that as soon as a continuous
line of railway , exists from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico to
the Mississippi,-at the junction of the Ohio, the citizens of St.
Louis, anxious to partake of the advantages of railroad communi¬
cation, will be ready to meet it with a railroad lrom their city to
the west bank cf the Mississippi.
"St. Louis is the great depot of the vast productions of the up¬
per Mississippi and Missouri. She receives and distributes sup¬
plies fpr an immense amount of territory, exceedingly fertile in the
production of articles which must be transported to markets oth¬
er than those afforded at home. Her navigation to these mar¬
kets is at all times dangerous, interrupted frequently by the shift-
10
ing of channels and the accumulation of snags, and for weeks in
the winter season entirely closed by ice. Her interests will, at
00 distant period, even if they do not now, point out the necessity
of having constant intercourse with the south, uninterrupted
by low water, by ice, or by the numerous dangers of river nav¬
igation.
"For eighty or one hundred miles, the country north of Mobile,
through which the railroad will pass is described to be a com¬
paratively level sandy region, very favorable for railroad mak¬
ing, and covered with yellow pihe of matchless height andsrait-
ness, affording timber of excellent quality in sufficient quantities
to construct the road in its progress through it.*
"Thence through Mississippi and - Tennessee and Kentucky,
where the line will runy the natural surface of the soil is said-to
pffer no obstacles to obtain a strait route of easy grades, without
heavy excavations or embankments. The character of the gra¬
ding will be of the easiest description, there being no rock to
encounter except at the northern termination of the route, near
the Tennessee and Ohio rivers. Through the eastern part of
Mississippi the route Will pass over prairies from five to ten miles
wide, and from twenty to thirty miles long. From surveys made
for railroads through the western district of Tennessee, the natu¬
ral level of the country is represented to offer so many desirable
routes in this respect, that the chief difficulty will, perhaps, be in
selecting the most favorable. Parallel to the Mississippi and
Tennessee fivers are two ridges of highlands, on either of wrhich
the road might be located to advantage.
"The main line can be made to form a junction With the Ten¬
nessee river at or hear Savannah, or at Perryville, which i§ in
the vicinity of extend ve beds of iron are. At either place it would
intercept the trade of the vallies on both sides of the Tennes¬
see river, which How has to perform a tedious voyage around
by the Tennessee, (Mho, and Mississippi rivers,mf from four to
five hunered miles before* it arrives at'the' same parallelof lati¬
tude as the point of departure. From either Perryville Or Sa¬
vannah, at the great elbow formed by the Tennessee river, a
branch might be made to Nashville, avoiding altogether the
Cumberland Mountains, which present many obstacles of a se¬
rious kind to any other approach to Nashville from the sea-ports
on the South Atlantic coasts. This branch to Nashville will
form a link of the great chain of hail roads How being projected
to connect the Eastern and Middle with the Southern Stares, bv
running a fine'of railroads to the sptith and east of the Ohio fiver,
and of which the Baltimore and Ohib railroad is the commence¬
ment with a better sea-port for her purposes, and by far over a
II
flaore favorable route than by the route she is now seeking to
establish, via Chattanooga. That this branch to Nashville, con¬
sidered as a part of a line which must be, formed at no distant
*day to connect the Northern, Eastern and Middle and Southern
States together, is of great importance, there can be no question,
when it is considered that it will run t hrough some of the richest
agricultural portions of the Union. ;
"Through the Western District of Tennessee are inexhaustible
beds of marl cropping out at the surface. This valuable material
for agricultural purposes will form a great article of transport.
"There is no route for a railroad in the Union, to compare with
this. Here is a main continuous line of'440 miles in length, run¬
ning, without crossing navigable rivers or mountains, through
the richest portions of three-of the most productive States, where
they are in a great measure, deprived of all kinds of communica¬
tion, terminating at one end at a desirable sea-port, and at the
other where it can command the trade and travel of eight states
and the western territories, with lateral branches extending by
short distances into the riehest and most varied agricultural and
mineral regions, which, although passing through different
State government, will be governed througheut by the same
laws, subject to the same institutions,, and will be under the
same management and responsibility."
If this Mobile project he too vast for early or eventual execu¬
tion, the sagacity of those, who Have charge of it, will not fail to
discover how much better it would be to make the northern ter¬
minus on the Tennessee river, where it makes its great bend
• through the State than to permit it to fail altogether. This
would reduce its magnitude to a size entirely practicable, and be
to the city of Mobile scarcely less profitable. To that point at
01* below the town of Waterloo, the Tennessee iseasily avigable
^ at all seasons of the year .by most of the steamboats that ply on
- our western waters. Such a terminus would therefore he per¬
fectly accessible to all the commerce of the Cumberland, the
,Ohio, the .Mississippi, and Missouri, which might seek an outlet
through the Bay of Mobile. Much of the Western District would
still be deeply interested in , its success, and the State would
doubtless aid and encourage the project presented in either form,
: by all the means which could at any time be fairly and justly ap¬
propriated to its advancement.
The present period however is much more favorable to the ex¬
ecution of internal improvements by the -enterprise and capital
of individuals, than by the direct appropriations of the States.
There are but few of them, who have not, on former occasions,
'.either,for banking or improvement-purposes, contracted as large
12
a public debt, as they now have any ability to meet. < This is cer¬
tainly so with regard to the State of Tennssee. So far, she has
been entirely able to save herself from the reproach of havi'g
failed to meet her liabilities. A proper sense of pride, justice. a id
honor should restrain her from now creating against herseli •» y
new liabilities which she may have no means of meeting, even ;.>r
the accomplishment of the most inviting projects of prospec ive
usefulness. On the other hand, the people, unlike the States, are
less involved in debt at this time, than at any recent period.—
They have been blessed generally with good crops for several
years, which have commanded remunerating prices. Other pur¬
suits are understood also to have been eminently successful, so
that all classes of the community have more ability than usual
to patronise and encourage all safe and profitable projects that
may be presented
It is to this individual ability, and to the well known sagacity
of our people, prompting them readily to engage in all safe and
profitable investments, that we ought mainly to look, at. least for
the present, for the further extension of our system of Internal
Improvements.
In the discharge of the various duties which devolve upon you,
none will require more earnest investigation and patient delib¬
eration, than those connected with the important interests which
the people have in tbe successful management of the Bank of
Tennessee. You cannot exercise too much care in looking into
its present condition and its past management, with the view of
discovering any defects that may exist in its present organiza¬
tion, and of devising the best measures for increasing its useful¬
ness and prosperity. When it went into operation, it was re¬
garded by many as an experiment which would inevitably ter¬
minate disasterously at an early day. The absence of the grand
conservative principle of individual interest was the alleged cap¬
ital defect in its organization on which these predictions were
besed of its early failure. To this suggestion it was answer¬
ed, that the combination of the interests of Internal Imprdve-
ments, and Education with Banking,'would furnish a substi¬
tute for individual interest equally efficacious; in securing a
faithful and successful administration of its affairs. The exper¬
iment has now been on trial for nine years, a period sufficiently
long to enable you to form a reliable opinion as to the probable
success or failure of the experiment.
If a careful investigation into its past operations and its pres¬
ent condition, shall satisfy you that it has failed to accomplish in
a reasonable degree the important objects of its creation, and
that it is destined unavoidably to end in ruin and disaster, it will
13
bbcdine your irnperious duty to avert the threatened Mow by an
immediate provision for the gradual settlement and liquidation of
its affairs. If on the contrary, such an investigation shall pro¬
duce the convictfon, that the experiment has proved reasonably
successful, and that the public interest would be promoted by its
continuance^ the duty of exerting the utmost possible vigilance
in guarding it against future mismanagement and misfortunes,
will devolve upon you. , ,v • ... ,
Without assuming to pass sentence on the wisdom of estab¬
lishing the Bank at all, or of uniting in one system the interests
of banking, internal improvement and education, I have no hesi¬
tation in announcing to you that my investigations into its past
transactions aud its present condition, have disclosed to my mind
no satisfactory reasons for recommending its discontinuance'and
abandonment.5 So far as the Bank was designed to furnish a
sound and safe circulating medium, it must be admitted that ithas
been thus far entirely successful. Its influence in mitigating the
pressure of the pecuniary embarrassments which have prevailed
during several years of its existence has been universally ac¬
knowledged.
The friends of education have abundant cause to be well
-pleased with its promptness and fidelity in the fulfilment of its
obligations to Common Schools and Academies, whilst the pres¬
ent high credit enjoyed by our State securities fully attests its suc¬
cessful management of that branch of our financial affairs which
has devolved upon it. Within the last nine yearsi the Bank has
paid anv aggregate sum of more than two millions of dollars.
Which has been appropriated by the State in diffusing the benefits
of education and in the payment of the accruing interest on her
debt. 'Wi'thiih'the' same period thenett profits of the institution
have fallen but little short of two millions of dollars, showing
an annual Average profit of two hundred and sixteen thousand
dollar?], an amount equal to nearly eight per cent on its actual
capital.
These results would seem to go very far towards proving that
the experiment has been successful, and must have a strong ten¬
dency to dissipate the.fears of those who have looked to its fail¬
ure as inevitable—unless it shall be found upon investigation,
that the losses sustained have been unreasonably large.
In the examination of this point, it will become material to as¬
certain, at what period of time the largest portion of the losses
have occurred, and if it shall be found, as it is believed to be true,
that they occurred at an early period, and before cert ain impor¬
tant amendments were made to the charter, and that very little
has been lost since that time, it will rather furnish a reason for an
14
increased diligence in seeking for other defects, than for the total
abandonment and annihilation of the system. The main ground
on which it has been maintained that the Bank has been unsuc¬
cessful in accomplishing the objects of its creation, is furnished
by the fact that its annual profits are not sufficient, to meet the
annual payments required to be made. This 'objection should
have but little weight, if the burdens imposed upon it are unrea¬
sonably great, and that this is the case will admit of no doubt,
when it is recollected that the payments required to be made an¬
nually, amount to about two hundred and seventy thousand dol¬
lars—an amount equal to more than nine per cent on its actual
capital.
Ip coming to the conclusion that the Bank ought not to be dis¬
continued and wound up under existing circumstances, (what¬
ever my opinions about Banks of paper Issue may be.) I have not
failed to be duly impressed by the unavoidable pressure in our
monetary affairs, which would be produced by the withdrawal of,
so large a portion of our circulating medium, as is now furnished
by it, and by the collection of so large an amount of debts as are
due to it. This pressure might be greatly mitigated, but could,,
not be entirely avoided by adopting a liberal policy iq the grad¬
ual liquidation of its affairs^ nor have I overlooked the difficulties
and embarrassments which would be encountered in providing
the means of meeting the liabilities imposed upon the Bank du¬
ring the timerepuired for its lipuidation.
Influenced by these considerations, I cannot recommend the dis¬
continuance of the Bank, "but instead thereof, your attention is
most earnestly invited to the investigation of such measures as
shall promise to increase its profits, and render them sufficient to
meet its liabilities. In view of the fact that for several years past,
the profits made at most of its Branches have been greater than
those made at the principal Bank in proportion to the capital re¬
spectively employed by them, I submit to you whether the three
Branches now in a state or process of liquidation, may not be ad¬
vantageously restored. In making this suggestion, it is proper for
me to remark that it is founded 011 information not possessed at
the formed session of the General Assembly, and is not intended
as a condemnation of the Act by which these branches were dis¬
continued—that act might well be justified under the impressions
which prevailed at the time of its passage.
It is now believed however that the progress made in settling
their affairs will shew that these impressions were materially er¬
roneous, and that the losses sustained ought not tp predjudice the
claims of those interested to the restoration of these Branches-
being fully satisfied from a careful view of the character of the
15
population interested, the anxiety which exists amongst them
for additional, banking facilities,, (whilst the present form of the
banking system continues,) and the increasing commercial in¬
terests at each of the places; I am constrained to recommefid ta
you that these, branches be restored. In connection with this
subject, I feel it also my duty to call your attention to the claims
of the city of Memphis to an increase of its banking facilities!
The rapid growth, of this flourishing city, based upon its impor¬
tant commercial interests and advantages, would indicate it as
one of the most eligible points in the State fo,r profitable banking,
and under this conviction, if you determine in favor of the con¬
tinuance of the principal Bank, I recommend the establishment
of a Branch or Agency of the Bank of Tennessee at Memphis,
with such capital as can be advantageously furnished by the in¬
stitution. But I cannot indulge the hope that the adoption of
these suggestions, would enable the Bank to increase its profits
to such an extent as would meet all of its liabilities—the neces¬
sity would therefore still exist for an investigation of the best
means of diminishing the present liabilities of the Bank. These
liabilities at present amount to about two hundred and seventy
thousand dollars annually, whilst the annual average profits
heretQfore have been about two hundred and sixteen thousand
dollars.
By an act passed in 1844, the Treasury is required to make up
the deficiency unavoidably occuring on account of the inability
of the Bank to make .profits sufficient to meet the liabilities
chargable upon it. I submit to you whether a sinking, fund could
not be set apart by the Treasury, without any increase of taxa¬
tion to be annually vested in the purchase of State Bonds at
their current value, as a meajis of gradually reducing the liabil¬
ities of the Bank to a sum that would not exceed the amount'of
its profits. This suggestion will receive additional weight from
the consideration, that under existing circumstances, the deficien¬
cy may be permanent and therefore constitute a permanent drain
upon the Treasury. It is believed that a sinking fund of pne
hundred thousand, dollars furnished by the Treasury for five
years, would so far reduce the State debt, and consequently the
liabilities of the Bank, as would enable the institution after that
time to meet all the burdens ifnposed upon it.
It gives me great pleasure to express to you the belief, that
the Bank has been faithfully and satisfactorily managed during
the last two years.
The report of the President and Directors will contain all the
information necessary to enable you to understand its present
condition and to devise the proper measures for rendering it
16
more useful and profitable in future, whilst it will exhibit a very
large increase of profits duripg the last two years.
Since the last session of the General Assembly* a war has been
declared toexist between the United States and the Republic of
Mexico. The circumstances which led to this declaration* were
such as to. extort it from the Congress of the United States
by an almost u'nanimous vote; Abolitionary Fanaticism alone
stood out against it. Every Representative from Tennessee* of
both political parties voted for it. Ten millions of money, and
authority to call into the public service fifty thousand volunteers
for the purpose of prosecuting the war to a safe 'and honorUb]e
peace were voted by Congress and placed in the hands of the
President. Under this Act a requisitioni Was made on' this
State on the 10th of May, 1846, for one regiment of cavalry or
mounted men and two regiments of infantry or j-ifleraen. "
On the receipt of this requisition I issued my proclamation
dated 21th May, 1846, apportioning the call equally and fairly
among the three grand divisions of the State.' It was nobly re¬
sponded to. Instead of three thousand, stbout thirty thousand
rushed forward with eager anxiety to engage in 'the service
of their country^ The call Was met sb promptly,v that the
troops assembled in advance of the arrival of any officer of the
United States, either to muster them into the service, or to make
those usual advances of money so necessary to troops, suddenly
called on to leave their homes on so long apd distant an expedi¬
tion. To remedy this circumstance I appointed suitable officers
to inspect and muster them into service ip their reSpcctiy'e quar¬
ters of the State, rather than subject them to the uncertainty
of being rejected after they had gone to distant plaees'of ren¬
dezvous. ' " ' ■
To make a suitable advance of money to each officer and
soldier, to defray all the expenses incident to their encampment
at Knoxville, Nashville afid Memphis, and also to subsist the
East Tennessee troops in their match to the latter city, required
the negociation of large sums of money. • > 1 /
The Union and Planters' Banks, with a patriotism which
cannot be too highly extolled, promptly stepped forward and pro¬
posed to lend any sum of money, not exceeding one hundred
thousand dollars each, which mi^ht be demanded by theocca-
siou. With out any law authorising me to borrow mofney for
this or any other purpose, but unwilling to submit to any delay,
I took the responsibility of negociating with the Union Bank for
some sixty or seventy thousand dollars, which Were applied to
the above objects of expenditure. So soon however, as our
troops were gone, and the state of my official business Would
7
allow of it, I repaired to Washington City whilst every item
of expenditure was fresh in my recollection and those of my
officers, and'presented my accounts for settlement and I am hap¬
py to say that they were promptly but thoroughly examined and
allowed by the proper Department, with perhaps the single ex¬
ception of interest, for which no existing law^of Congress was
supposed to provide, but which I doubt not, will be hereafter
adjusted satisfactorily to the Bank. It is with pleasure there¬
fore, that I inform you that in going beyond the law, and as-
usming the responsibility of raising this sum of money as the
Chief Magistrate of the State, no debt was incurred by which
the State can be in any wise injured.
The advances that made this unauthorized negociation neces¬
sary, were indispensable to the comfort of the Troops. Volun
teers suddenly called to leave their homes on such a" campaign
could not well afford to epuip themselves out of their own pri¬
vate means, and to support themselves in their respective en¬
campments until the arrival of the officers of the United States,
who had no idea of so prompt and early a movement, for such
had been unknown before in the volunteer service of the United
States^ nor could the East Tennessee volunteers, suddenly called
on to march four or five hundred miles to Memphis, be expected
to be prepared-with ready means of their own to bear their ex¬
penses.
But whilstT took on myself as the Executive of the State to
make this negociation, I endeavored to consult the most rigid
economy and to make only such accounts as the United States
would recognize as just, and to appoint only such officers as they
would think to be absolutely necessary. Under this view of a
just and proper economy, I left the troops, (except those of East
Tennessee, on account of their distance,) to subsist themselves
on their travel from their respective neighborhoods to the places
of rendezvous, precisely as is done by the laws and regulations
of the United States. But I established encampments at Knox-
ville, Nashville and Memphis, for the reception of them, as fast
as they should arrive, where they were attended to by one or two
suitable officers, and supplied with the same rations as are allowed
by the United States to their own troops. These arrangements
I am happy to believe, proved entirely satisfactory, not only
to the United States, but to the troops themselves, with perhaps
a solitary exception, which, as it relates to my Executive action
in carrying out a requisition on the State is here submitted to
your consideration.
On the 6th June, 1846, I received the following communica¬
tion, fecently found, after diligent search, and which I had
2
18
supposed mighthave been thrown aside as not important to be
preserved:
" Camp. Brown, June 5th, 1846.
" To the Hort. A. V. Brown, Gov't, <$0.
" Dear Sir : Oi^to-morrow evening I will have the honor of leading ninety-
four of the gallant sons of Giles county to an encampment on Brown's creek. By
the request of the company, I have the honor to ask of you the favor of se¬
lecting tis a proper and judicious place of encampment, where we can have wa¬
ter and rest on Sunday. We have camp equipage and a wagon, and will be
prepared to take care of ourselves in Soldiers' style. We expect to be ready to be
mustered into the service on Monday morning.
"I have the honor to be, very respectfully,
" Your obedient servant and friend,
(Signed) «MILTON A. HAYNES, i
" Captain Giles County Mounted Riflemen."
This communication was not addressed to me as a private
individual—it was addressed to me as Governor of the State,
and delivered to me at my office as such. It spoke nothing of
one night, but of several nights, and the greater part at least of
two days.
It made no allusion to going at all to the general encampment.
It asked no privilege of camping on my grounds, nor did it in
the slightest degree, form, or manner, call up thequestion of my
individual hospitality. It avowed the intention to encamp on
Brown's creek, a small stream of excellent water directly on fhe
road, which had borne that name from the earliest settlement of
the country, and on which I had no lots or grounds at all.
Regarding it, therefore, as an application to me as the Executive
of the State, for the selection of a public and additional encamp-
mentfc to the one already at Nashville, I returned the following
answer, in accordance with the advice of the Adjutant General
of the State arid of, my own sense of duty and propriety:
" Nashville, June 6th, 18,46.
" I have no opportunity to procure an , encampment in the neighborhood you
mention, and no officers to send to attend you. My encampment is at Nashville
at the Race Track, where some of the troops are yet encamped, where yob and
company can have provisions and horse-feed provided."
" Jn haste, yours, &c.
(Signed) ^ «AARON V. BROWN."
This reply was predicated on the idea, that to furnish, as I
had done* the three encampments at Knoxville, at Nashville, and
at Memphis, with suitable officers to attend them, was all that a
just sense of economy, and the practice in all such eases, both in
and out of thq State, would allow of; besides, I was by no means
confident that the United States would settle the accounts made
at two separate encampments so near Nashville.
No other- volunteer company had received any suph special
accommodation, and I desired to mete out the same ^measure of
19
justice,to all. To avoid all difficulties and complaints, and to
enable thfe company to reach a better and more Comfortable en¬
campment than it was possible to furnish at Brown's Creek,
I threw open the doors of my general encampment and invi¬
ted them, by a march of an hour longer, to partake, with their
brother soldiers, ofjts ample supplies and accommodations.
I lay, thes$ precise facts before you, that they may go upon
the permanent records of the country, repelling, as they do, every
idea of Executive inhospitality to these brave and gallant men.
To my Quartermaster General, George W. Rowles, and to
Major General Brazelton, and to Inspector General Coe, and
Major General Hays, I am under, and the volunteer service of
the State is under, many obligations for the promptitude, skill,
and energy with which they conducted the operations in the re¬
spective divisions of the State.
Iti the transactions of the middle portion of the State, I can¬
not withhold from Maj. Gen. Bradley, and Adjutant General
Turner, equal expressions of gratitude for the services which
they rendered. ,
fuEarly in the month of June, the three regiments, (two only
wily organized) vtfere handed over to the United States. They
era 11 i do wer and chivalry of the State, The sons of those
worthy sires who, under Jackson, Carroll, and Coffee informer
day$, had shed< so much lustre around the name of Tennessee.
Would these, their descendants, prove themselves worthy of
such illustrious ancestors?
I did not doubt it-—no one doubted it—they went forth in a just
cause, Not one pf them felt that it, was an unjust one, or they
would not have gone. They went forth, and on every battle
field, at Monterey, at Vera Cruz, at Cerro Gordo, they perform¬
ed deeds of heroic valor,- worthy of Tennessee in the proudest
days of her glory. But it was not on the battle field alone,
that your regiments bore your banner so high and so proudly.
In the toilsome march; beneath the burning sun; in the pestilen¬
tial encampment; every where, and under all circumstances,
your volunteers well sustained the honorof the State. In behalf
of our whole people, I recommend the strongest expression of
public gratitude and admiration for their heroic Services, and
that-a full register of the names of every soldier of the three
regiments be made out and safely deposited in the new cap-
itol, when completed, that posterity may know who they were
that contributed so largely to the honor and glpry of tfie Com¬
monwealth. Let the State contribute largely to the erection of
so lofty monument to the memory of those who fell either in bat¬
tle or by disease, in the prosecution of a war, which could not
20
have been avoided without a sacrifice of national honor, dignity,
and character.
But the patriotic devotion of our fellow citizens has been tested by an¬
other Requisition, recently made for two more Regiments of Infantry
from the State. It is with no common degree of pride that I announce
the pleasing fact to you, that notwithstanding the rriany appeals tnade
to the people of the States, through a portion of the public press, and the
debates and discussions of the past summer, against the justice, pro¬
priety and necessity of the Mexican war, the chivalrous sons of Ten¬
nessee have responded to the call with a noble enthusiasm.
Five companies Were called for by my Proclamation from each Major
General's division in the State, thereby giving, as on the former occasion,
a fair and equal chance to the citizens of every portion of the State.
Many more companies reported themselves than could be selected to
fill the Requisition, whilst many others were known Qf who were in a
forward state of completion, when the time arrived for making selections.
It cannot, I hope, be considered invidious to mention that Fast Tennes¬
see was peculiarly chivalrous en the occasion, having furnished nqt only
the five companies called for, but tendered ten other companies besides,
composed of her brave and hardy sons. The officers of the U.-iteif
States having learned, by experience, something of the promptitude
and celerity with which, the citizen soldiers of Tennessee always rush to
the standard of their country, have promptly repaired to the State to
aid in carrying out the movement, exempting the Executive from much
of the lal or and responsibility of a former occasion. The volunteers are
now on their way to their respective encampments at Nashville and
Memphis, where they will be regularly organized into Regiments and
passed over to the command and service of the United States, If the
war continues, the whole community cannot but feel the deepest in¬
terest in the future destination and fortunes of these brave and gallant
men. The career' of their predecessors in this war has been so distin¬
guished—for their patience under fatigue, for their ready obedience to
the commands of their officers, for their undaunted courage in the face of
the enemy—that it would be difficult to emulate their bright and glorious
example. But I hazard nothing when I asure you, that these Regiments
will go forth nerved to new energies by that high example, and firmly
resolved, living or dying, to add new lustre to the name and character
of Tennessee.
But at the moment when I am writing down these proud and pleasing
assurances, the news may be brought to us tliat a treaty has been made,
terminating the war between the two nations. I should hail with rap¬
ture and delight the return of the bright and beautiful Goddess ofPeaee,
at whose shrine the American people have always delighted to wor-
ship. Her return would be the rv >-3 welcome, because she will doubt¬
less bring with her th.-.t wi.s [ever demanded—^indemnity for th©
past, security or 'he future." This was all that the Admnistration a
Washington—the .President and his friends in Congress, and rnrougn-'
21
out the Union—all that the Commanding General, in his Proclamation iri-
the earliest stages of the war, ever demanded. The territory she is
expected to bring will be stained with no blood unjustly shed, in the
proud and lustful spirit of conquest. She will bring it as the only in-
dettinity Mexico can offer against the expenses we have incurred in the
prosecution of a war, which Mexicoherself was the first to proclaim, and
first to commence. A war originating in Mexico's unjust attempt to rec¬
onquer ^territory which had been, under all the forms of o'ur Constitution,
made one of the States of the Union; a war which she wantonly and
wickedly provoked by an invasion of that part of Texas lying east of the
Lower Rio Grande, to which our title extended (whatever might be
said of the Upper Rio Grande) without a shadow of doubt. But I cannot
Shut my eyes to the great fact, that there are many persons, of this State
and elsewhere, who, in anticipation of a result such as we arts now con¬
sidering, have labored hard to convince the people that, if indemnity in
land against the expenses of this war, and for the purpose of paying the
millions that are due to our citizens, should be willingly offered by Mex¬
ico, such an indemnity should be scorned and rejected. Whether the in-
fatuatipn of party will persist in such doctrine remains to be seen. But
I . most Earnestly recommend to this General Assembly, never to adjourn
upfif you have instructed your Senators and requested your Represen¬
tatives not to vote against a treaty of peace, or refuse the necessary appro¬
priation^ to carry it into effect, only because it may contain a cession of
territory to the United States. Indemnity against the war* I hold to be
clearly right—Mexico hersfelf, I doubt not, Will «o consider it. Shall
the U..v States reject the indemnity because it may be in land, and not in
money? She has not the latter to pay, arid the former constitutes her
only' remaining resource. It will therefore be indemnity in land, or noth¬
ing—I repeat in Land or nothing* What wise or sensible man in the
management of his private affairs, would x-eject a payment in land, when
his debtor had no other resource left with which to satisfy his de¬
mand? The plea that our country is large enough already, takes no ac¬
count of the future millions of freemen; who are to inhabit it. ' The nat¬
ural increase of our own population—the amazing emigration to the Uni¬
ted' States, from the-starring < and oppressed nations of the old World—
the genius, industry, and enterprise of the Anglo-Saxon race—all tinite
in demanding that our country should be extended from ocean to ocean
widened out in all her borders, whenever it can be done consistently
with the dictates of national honor, and justice. Such an opportunity
will now he offered freely to us, arid perhaps for the last time in the his¬
tory of our country.
The, pretext that any new accession of territory, may endanger the per¬
petuation of our glorious Union, is only a shallow device for alarming the
timid and deceiving the ignorant.
The same cry was raised when Louisiana, extending from the Gulf to
the Northern Lakes was acquired—the same when Missouri was admitted
—when Florida was purchased—when Texas neither conquered nor
purchased, walked into our Union by sovereign compact and agreement.
22
The Union dissolved!! dissolved by the: growth and enlargement of our
free and happy Republic!! No. It grows stronger and stronger by it, the
very elements of perpetuation being increased in the exact proportion of
its contemplated magnitude. <»The spirit of modern abolitionisna, if it
existed at all in the early days of the Republic stood rebuked by the
compromises of the Constitution. It stood equally rebuked in the Mis-
souri Compromise, which was but a virtual continuation of that of the
Constitution. So it will be in the extension of the same line on, Jatitude
36° 30' through the newly acquired territory of California. ;What a
beautiful harmony in our national action would then be exhibited! Our
Revolutionary Fathers in adjusting the proportion of free,and,slave holding
States, substantially fixed it on latitude ol 36° 30". The next generation
(for the Revolutionary one had nearly disappeared,) then extended that
line through the newly acquired territory from France, and no\y it js pro¬
posed (and to this I give my assent, and earnestly reccommend that you
give yours) to extend this same line still westward, through the territory
which may be ceded to us by Mexico,to the shores of the Pacific. This be¬
ing done, the great strife and contention about slavery., we may hope, will
be settled and ended forever. Then no "Wilmot Proviso" will break
upon our repose, like a fire-bell by night. . The line of separation will be
fixed. All men would, understand k and conform to it, in the formation
of States. Nor need the conscientious and sincere friend of the black
race, (for there are many such) be in the slightest degree apprehensive
that slavery, though permitted to exist south of that line, would ever be
in fact estab* lished in any one State of California. The character of
the country---the nature "of its resources-fthe insecurity of such property
on a variety of accounts, would deter any slave-holder from taking that
description of property with him. The question about slavery, there¬
fore, loses much, if not all, its practical importance in relation to tha
territory now to be acquired from Mexico, as has been truly said by one of
our greatest Statesmen, and said too, at a most auspieious moment for the
peace and harmony of our country. The Union, therefore, I hold to be
in no danger from any new accession of territory. I believe that, under
the Providence of God, it is destined to last and endure forever, stretch¬
ing, like the beautiful rainbow of Hope and of Promise, until it bespans
this whole continent. .
A vacancy has occurred in the Supreme Court, by the resignation
of Judge Reese, now on file, t® take effect from the first day of the pre¬
sent month, whichplaces it in the power of the General Assembly to fill
it, without the intervention of the Executive. 'Another vacancy occurred
in the 4th Judicial Circuit, by the death of Judge Cannon, which Was
emporarily filled by the appointment of George W. Rowles, Esq.
Vacancies in the 4th, 8th, and 10th solicitorial districts have been filled by
the appointment of Mr. Joseph E. Pickett, of Carthage; Mr. J. P. Campbell,
of Columbia; and Mr. T. P. Scurlock, of Jackson; whope commissions
will expire with the close of the present Legislature. Mr. Nelson, regi¬
ster of the mountain district, having resigned, the vacancy was filled
by the appointment of Mr. J. H. Minnis, and, subsequently, on his re*
23
signation, by the appointment of Mr. J. F. Brown, of Sparta.
It will also be your duty to elect a Senator to Congress, to supply
the place of the Hon. Spencer Jarnagin, whose term of service expired
on the fourth of March last. I need not anticipate, by a single remark,
tho caro with which you will select some individual, eminent for his
ability and patriotism, to fill this exalted station, at a crisis so important
to the honor and welfare of the nation.
I have now presented to your consideration, all the subjects which I
desire tq present before you, and close this communication with the sin-
core and confident hope that your deliberations may be distinguished for
their harmony, and may result in the advancement of the best interest
and welfare of the State,
1 have the honor to be,
Your obedient servant,
AARON V* BROWN.
Executive Office, Oct'r, 1847.