ago. A panic was then at its height, and a crisis was imminent. The Bank of England was forbidden to issue notes of a denomination less than five pounds. But at this moment the government removed the restriction temporarily, and the Bank proceeded to issue several millions in one pound notes. Specie immediately flowed into its vaults, the small notes. taking the place of metallic currency among the population; and the result was immediate and permanent relief. This circumstance also illustrated the usefulness of generally restricting the issue of small bank-notes.

The Usury Laws.

In this connection I wish to call your attention to the propriety of making some change in our usury laws. In the year 1818, a very able committee appointed by the British House of Commons, made an elaborate report, recommending a modification of the usury laws. But so strongly were the people opposed to the measure, that more than twenty years elapsed before any favorable action to that end was adopted. At last in 1839, a law was enacted by Parliament exempting bills of exchange and promissory notes not having more than twelve months to run, from the operation of these laws; and for twenty-one years this enactment has been satisfactory to the British public. Might not a similar statute prove equally useful and popular in this Commonwealth, tend to

retain capital at home, and prove in the end a great relief to borrowers of money? Such a change in our legislation respecting usury could hardly be called an experiment, when in making it we should follow the cautious example of England after its long and satisfactory experience by a people who so much resemble ourselves.

Mutual Insurance Companies.

The principle of Mutual Insurance is one which should be preserved and cherished, but the methods and operation of the institutions for mutual insurance cannot be too cautiously inspected. Those institutions solicit and receive the confidence of many thousands of people who trust in them to the extent of many millions of dollars, for indemnity against loss by the perils of fire; and these people rely upon the quality of the charters which you grant, and upon the efficiency of your legislation in this regard. I respectfully invite your attention to existing defects in the method of laying and collecting assessments by these institutions, and to the need of providing efficient means to compel the imposition and levy of assessments when they become necessary for payment of losses. The subject of exercising control over the form of the policies issued by these companies, also deserves consideration, for they are often burdened with conditions so numerous and intricate

that intelligent and careful business men are misled by their terms, so that having supposed themselves effectually insured, they awake to a knowledge of their mistake only after a remedy has become impossible.

Public Charitable Institutions.

The reports of the Board of Education and from the various public institutions and commissions established for charity to the poor, for the relief and cure of the diseased, and for the correction and reform of criminals, will present in detail the Educational, Charitable, Sanitary and Penal Statistics of the Commonwealth. They concern matters which demand and shall receive the diligent supervision of the Executive Department throughout the year.

The obligation of a government to protect the persons and property of its subjects, enjoins the duty of taking care of those who are unable to take care of themselves. The child should be taught, the insane should be guarded, the deaf, the dumb, and the blind should be cared for, and the idiot should be remembered and protected. I commend to your especial care all our benevolent institutions, and I should be glad if the list could be enlarged by adding one for the cure of inebriates.

Capital Punishment.

The punishment of offenders is perhaps the gravest responsibility of civilized society, and in modern times

the utmost attention of the sincerest thinkers and observers has been bestowed upon the philosophy and the phenomena of crime. In order that the laws may be both just and humane, it is necessary that detection and punishment shall be speedy and sure, and also that prevention and reform shall be secured in the largest measure. The progress of civilization steadily diminishes crimes of violence, and also steadily discourages punishments of a violent, cruel, or sanguinary character. The infliction of the penalty of death as a punishment for crime will one day be discontinued among civilized men. Already, philosophers, jurists, and statesmen, in large numbers, possessed of the most comprehensive experience of human affairs, and clothed with the highest authority, have pronounced against it; and it will initiate a new era in the progress of Massachusetts when she shall conform her penal legislation to the most enlightened principles of criminal jurisprudence, and consult her truest safety by its abolition. Whenever that event shall occur, whether as a private citizen, or in a public capacity, I shall respect the intelligence and assent to the policy by which it will be accomplished.

Practical Scientific Institutions.

The wise foresight which has secured such large provision for the education of the children of the Commonwealth, enjoins us to use all reasonable means to promote the spread of useful knowledge, and espe

cially to facilitate such practical scientific instruction as shall elevate while it invigorates the industrial

arts.

A favorable opportunity is now afforded to advance this desirable object by setting apart a suitable portion of the Back Bay lands for the accommodation and collocation of institutions devoted to practical branches of art and science. In this connection, the views and wishes of the Boston Society of Natural History, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and the Institute of Technology have already to some extent been presented to the Legislature, and will, it is understood, be submitted to you during your present session, in detail. The valuable contributions which the two first named societies have rendered, the enlarged sphere of usefulness which under these new conditions they would be enabled to fill, and the material benefits which the proposed Institute of Technology is adapted to confer, are considerations which commend the purposes of the petitioners to the favorable attention of all friends of education and industry, and will, I doubt not, receive at your hands such liberal appreciation as they deserve.

Boston Harbor and Back Bay.

The preservation of the harbor of Boston against deterioration, is a subject of grave concern; and I trust that any measures which may be proposed to you, possibly affecting it, will be vigilantly scruti