there is not in the world a people of equal numbers, all of whom enjoy to-day so many of the necessaries and of the comforts of life as are enjoyed by our people. In our own State our cause of complaint is not that we have not enough of the necessaries of life, but that we cannot get high enough prices for what we can spare of our superabundance; not, that we have not food, but that we cannot sell to advantage food we do not need!

True, we will, and We have to do but one thing

We must give up the idea of

But we will have to pay heavy taxes. it is equally true we can. and that thing we must do. money making to a great extent until this war is over. We must be content to devote to the preservation of the country a portion of all the surplus we have been accustomed to lay up in years gone by. We may be required to return to customs and expedients for many years abandoned. We may be compelled to do as our fathers and mothers did, clothe ourselves as they did with the products of their own farms and their own hands. What then? Our men will be none the less brave, loyal, and loving; our women none the less true-hearted, loving and beloved. We may be required to do and may do all these things and yet suffering and want still be far from us. We may be required to do and may do all these things, and yet will not have done nearly so much as our fathers did to hand down to us the rich inheritance we are now striving to transmit unimpaired to our children. And if required, will we not do it promptly and cheerfully?

There may be amongst us a few men who know no impulse of patriotism, have no love of country, and can see nothing

but sordid gain! There may be amongst us a few others who, blinded by prejudice engendered by former political strife, cannot forget that the Government is guided in this struggle for its life by the hands of political opponents, and who would rather see it perish than have it saved by their hands, who will cry peace when there is no peace, and who will endeavor to turn us from the prosecution of this war by continually dwelling upon and exaggerating the misfortunes it has brought and will bring upon us. But these men are few in number and weak in influence. The great mass of our people see clearly and know well that no peace can be permanent which is made by compromising with armed rebels, and which will leave our present territory divided between jealous and hostile nations by such boundaries as it must be, if not preserved in its integrity.

I cannot close this address without paying a well deserved tribute to the brave men who represent our State in the great army collected to do battle for our country. We may well be proud of them. We here as officers, and all our people as citizens, should feel that there is much for us to do to maintain that high reputation they have won for our State.

Trace the Iowa First on their weary way to Springfield; see them ragged and hungry but cheerful and ready; listen to their marching song as it rolls along the column, lending new vigor to themselves and their tired comrades; hear their fierce shouts and witness their daring deeds on the field where Lyon fought and fell; witness the heroic spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice with which the Iowa Third at Blue Mills, attacked, and the bravery with which they fought the enemy

in overpowering numbers to delay that enemy's retreat until expected reinforcements could arrive. See the Iowa Seventh on the bloody field of Belmont, heading the attack and covering the retreat; witness the cheerful endurance, the untiring energy, the indomitable valor of all our troops whenever and wherever tried, and who does not feel proud that he too is an Iowan? We owe these gallant men much. The rank and file of our Regiments have never been surpassed. I doubt very much if they have ever been equaled. There is not a company in any of our Regiments which does not contain in its ranks men who, in intelligence and moral worth, are the peers of any man who hears me. They have left behind them the comforts and endearments of home, their business, their friends, their all, and have taken their places as privates in the ranks, with nominal pay, and almost without a hope for honor and distinction. This is patriotism, and I repeat it, "to these men we owe much." It is due to them, at least, that all shall be done that our circumstances will allow, to promote their health and comfort, and I doubt not you will see to it that the debt is paid.

When the war commenced, many of us hoped that by this time it would have been completed, or that at least we would be able to see the beginning of that desirable end. But we have been disappointed. The rebellion had greater strength than we had supposed. Obstacles have arisen that we had not anticipated, and the end is not yet. But these things should not discourage, and I am glad to say they have not discouraged us. As the greater strength of the rebellion has been developed we have promptly furnished the greater needed strength to put it down, and if need be

Iowa can yet send forth many Regiments as brave, as loyal, and as true as those that have already gone. As obstacles have arisen they have been met as brave men meet them. They have been trampled upon, and we have passed on. And now, when as it seems to us here that all things are ready, we are waiting patiently, but with beating hearts, for the day when the great battle shall be fought-listening intently, and oh! how anxiously, for the battle shout "God for the right," which will on that day roll over that battlefield from the brave men who will be privileged there to rally around our dear old flag and strike in its defense, and trusting humbly and confidently that because they will strike for the right, the God of Battles will give us the victory.

[SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD]

SPECIAL SESSION MESSAGE

SEPTEMBER 3, 1862

From the Journal of the House of Representatives, p. 4

EXECUTIVE OFFICE, IOWA, September 3d, 1862.

Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives: You have been convened in extraordinary session to consider some questions vitally affecting the public welfare, which, in my judgment, require your immediate action.

When you closed your last regular session, the belief

pre

vailed very generally that the strength of the rebellion against the General Government had been broken, and your legislation upon some questions of great public interest was controlled by that belief. The lapse of time has shown that belief to be erroneous, and a change of legislation on those questions has therefore become necessary.

The provision made for our sick and wounded soldiers, and for their return to their homes on furlough, will, under existing circumstances, prove wholly inadequate. The largely increased number of our soldiers that will be shortly in the field, and the great length of time they will be exposed to the danger of disease and the casualties of battle, will render absolutely necessary a large increase of the fund provided for their care and comfort. The extraordinary expenses of my office have also been and will probably continue to be largely increased, in consequence of the new demands that have been and may be made upon the State.