In order to carry out the provisions of the 25th Sec. of the act incorporating our , I would recommend the immediate organization of the . Comprising, as it does, the entire military power of our , with a provision allowing any citizen of to unite by voluntary enrollment, early facilities should be afforded the Court Martial for perfecting their plan of drill, rules, and regulations. Nothing is more necessary to the preservation of order, and the supremacy of the laws, than the perfect organization of our military forces, under a uniform and rigid discipline, and approved judicious drill; and to this end I desire to see all the departments, and cohorts of the Legion put in immediate requisition. The Legion should be all powerful, panopled with justice and equity, to consummate the designs of its projectors—at all times ready, as minute men, to serve the in such way and manner as may, from time to time, be pointed out by the Governor. You have long sought an opportunity of showing your attachment to the state government of —it is now afforded: the Legion should maintain the constitution and the laws, and be ready at all times for the public defence. The winged warrior of the air perches upon the pole of American liberty, and the beast that has the temerity to ruffle her feathers should be made to feel the power of her talons; and until she ceases to be our proud national emblem we should not cease to show our attachment to . Should the tocsin of alarm ever be sounded, and the Legion called to the tented field by our Executive, I hope to see it able, under one of the proudest mottos that ever blazed upon a warrior’s shield—Sicut patribus sit Deus nobis; as God was with our fathers, so may he be with us—to fight the battles of our country, as victors, and as freemen: the juice of the uva, or the spirit of insubordination should never enter our camp,—but we should stand, ever stand, as a united people—one and indivisable.

I would earnestly recommend the construction of a wing-dam in the , at the mouth of the ravine at or near the head of Main street, and the excavation of a ship-canal from that point to a point terminating in a grand reservoir on the bank of said , east of the foot of said street, a distance of about two miles. This would afford, at the various outlets, the most ample water power for propelling any amount of machinery for mill and manufactoring purposes, so essentially necessary to the building up of a great commercial city in the heart of one of the most productive and delightful countries on earth. I would advise that an agent be immediately appointed on behalf of the city corporation, to negotiate with eastern capitalists for the completion of this great work, on the most advantageous terms, even to the conveyance of the privilege for a term of years. This work finished, and the future greatness of this is placed upon an imperishable basis. In addition to the great advantages that will otherwise accrue to the and country by the construction of this noble work, it would afford the best harbor for steam-boats, for winter quarters, on this magnificient stream.

The public health requires that the low lands, bordering on the , should be immediately drained, and the entire timber removed. This can and will be one of the most healthy cities in the west, provided you take prompt and decisive action in the premises. A Board of Health should be appointed and vested with the usual powers and prerogatives.

The Governor, Council of Revision, and Legislature of , should be held in everlasting remembrance by our people—they burst the chains of slavery and proclaimed us forever free! A vote of thanks, couched in the strongest language possible, should be tendered them in our corporate capacity; and, when this is done, , our first noble city of refuge, when we came from the slaughter in with our garments stained with blood, should not be forgotten.

As the Chief Magistrate of your I am determined to execute all state laws, and city ordinances passed in pursuance to law, to the very letter, should it require the strong arm of military power to enable me to do so. As an officer I know no man; the peaceful unoffending citizen shall be protected in the full exercise of all his civil, political, and religious, rights, and the guilty violater of law shall be punished, without respect to persons.

All of which is respectfully submitted.