ADDRESSES IN THE SENATE CHAMBER.

HON. HENRY FRALICK, PRESIDING.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :-The pleasant duty has been assigned to me to preside over the meeting in this hall, at this fiftieth anniversary of the admission of Michigan as a State into the Union.

It has been deemed appropriate to celebrate the day in commemoration of the event. Eminent citizens, from various walks of life, have been selected to gather up and put into permanent form not only the 'general history of the State and the current events affecting it, but also the details of its history, and the progress of its important branches, which will undoubtedly hereafter form a part of the State's history.

I have the honor of now introducing to you the oldest Governor, United States Senator, Circuit and Supreme Judge, Bank Commissioner and Legislator of the State, now living-all embraced in one man, who has ably, honestly and most worthily filled all of said offices with the highest credit to himself and benefit to the State, the Hon. Alpheus Felch, who will now address you on the executive branch of the government.

EXECUTIVE.

HON. ALPHEUS FELCH.

The region of country now embraced within the limits of the State of Michigan has not always reposed beneath the American flag or enjoyed the benefit of a republican or popular form of government. Since Europeans first attempted to colonize the northern part of the continent, Michigan has been subject to the jurisdiction of two of the great monarchical thrones of Europe, and has owed allegiance and submitted to the edicts of both in France and England have successively held it in its grasp, and each, for a time, has ruled its destinies. From the earliest encroachment of the French upon American soil in the first part of the sixteenth century it was claimed as a part of that vast

region of country extending from the Gulf of the St. Lawrence to the region of the great lakes, and thence finally by the valley of the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. Michigan constituted but a small portion of that vast territory, and during the French dominion had only a small population, yet the power of the French monarch was extended over it and, under the name of New France, it was subject to his arbitrary authority. By the fortune of war between France and England this territory passed from the possession and jurisdiction of the former into that of the latter in 1760. Another revolution was yet to follow, and the fate of war was again to transfer this fertile and beautiful country to the jurisdiction of another national power. At the termination of the revolutionary struggle in 1783, Great Britain ceded it to the United States, and in July, 1796, the American authorities acquired full possession. Thus for more than two hundred years the flag of France floated over the land, and for thirty-six years that of Great Britain, and each of these nations in turn dictated and administered its laws; and now for more than ninety years the Stars and Stripes have been the proud emblem of our nationality, and our laws have had their origin in the will of the people.

In looking into the history of the executive authority and of those who have administered it here, we necessarily direct our attention to the period of French domination.

The Governors, Lieutenants, Generals, or Viceroys, who performed the duties of the executive officer in Canada, then embracing the present domain of Michigan, as usually given by our historical writers, were twenty-five in number, commencing with Champlain and continuing to the cession of the country to Great Britain. These all held their commissions from the King of France and governed in his name and by his authority. The instructions accompanying their commissions varied little in substance and gave most ample and arbitrary power. They were to command and govern both by sea and land; to ordain, decide and cause to be executed, all that they should judge proper for maintaining, keeping and preserving the places put under their power and authority; and for this purpose they were authorized to commission all officers whatsoever, whether for affairs of war or of justiciary or police, and to prescribe all laws, statutes and ordinances, subject, of course, to the good pleasure of his majesty. Certain powers were to be exercised with the advice of prudent

and capable persons, but these persons were selected by the Governor himself, and the King, across the broad waters of the ocean and harassed by the business of the kingdom, and usually engaged in the fierce wars of the period, was neither readily approached nor able or willing to listen to complaints. It is not too much to say that the executive power which was committed to these governors over the population of Canada was broad enough to render possible the most arbitary, unlimited and irresponsible despotism with which any country was ever scourged. In the early portion of this period the exercise of these powers did not fall upon the territory now within the boundaries of our State. This region of country was then, with the exception of nomadic Indians, without inhabitants. The first white men came in 1641, but with the exceptions of a few persons connected with the missions, there were no white settlers within the territory until the founding of Detroit by Cadillac in 1701. From that time until 1760, when the jurisdiction passed from the French to the English, the population gradually increased, chiefly by immigrants from the Colony of Quebec. These French immigrants were generally harmless and innocent peasants, but among them were some of fine acquirements and good business ability. They were devoted Catholics, enthusiastic adorers of "beautiful France," and ardent devotees to the King. They settled around and in the immediate neighborhood of the mission and the fort. No people ever had within their own bosoms so rich a fountain of perpetual pleasure. Always overflowing with hilarity, full of jokes and sport of every kind, wild in their simple amusements and lovers of music and of their own soul-stirring songs, none seemed so happy or so thoughtless as they; but when the scene changed and they knelt in their devotions before the cross, the solemnity of the service seemed to banish every worldly thought and kindle within their bosoms the fire of the most ardent saintly devotion. It is impossible now to ascertain how many there were of these French settlers during the time while they were subject to the Canadian authority. The number reported in 1800 was only 551, but forty years had then passed since their country's jurisdiction and officers had been withdrawn, the fur trade and traffic in goods had been interrupted and had largely passed into the hands of the English, and the missions had lost their pristine prosperity. It is, therefore, altogether probable that many of the settlers had

returned to their old homes before the census was taken, or rather estimate made. The Governor residing at Quebec had had during this period little or no direct interference with the settlers in this remote portion of his jurisdiction, but committed their charge chiefly to the commandants of the military posts. These exercised general superintendence as well of the settlers outside the forts as of the soldiers within. Questions of legal rights, both as to person and property, were most frequently adjusted by the kindly interposition of the priest, and, when this failed, by the decision of the commandant. There appears to have been no regularly organized courts, no sheriff, no jail apart from the garrison, nor do the records show that during the period of French jurisdiction there was a justice of the peace or an alcalde, and jurors were entirely unknown. Not an order, law or edict was, during that whole time, published in print, for there was not a printing press in all New France. Nearly all authority, civil and political, was merged in the military, and the settler quietly submitted to the dictates of the commandants. The executive power committed to the military commander was not, however, limited to the wellbeing or the private interests of the settlers. The commandants' authority extended to all matters of intercourse with the Indian tribes, requiring the utmost vigilance, prudence and wisdom, and sometimes a resort to deadly and bloody combat. He watched and, in a manner, superintended the great occupation of the fur trade, enforced the conditions under which it was carried on by the companies licensed to monopolise it, and punished individuals who infringed upon their privileges. He exercised the high prerogative of granting the King's domain to settlers, and, although these grants or permits were technically not permanently valid without the approval of higher authority, they have come down to us as the basis of title to many a valuable city lot and many a beautiful farm on the Detroit, the Rouge, the St. Clair and the Raisin rivers. After all, it does not appear that the exercise of the executive power of the government in this lake-encompassed portion of Canada while under the domination of the French, although in itself arbitrary and with no available check to despotism, was used with unnecessary severity or unwisdom, or that the settlers felt it to be in any regard oppressive or cruel. Yet under such a system, with trade monopoly and onerous feudal conditions attached to grants of land, with a hostile and cruel foe

surrounding them, with little encouragement from the supreme government, it is no wonder that the immigration was small and the colonial settlement, although in a most beautiful and fertile region, weak and unthrifty.

In the list of twenty-five persons who exercised the office of Governor during the French domination, few are named who are known to history. Two of them, however, were so connected with the early settlement of the country and its colonial affairs that they should never be forgotten. The first of these is Samuel de Champlain, who was Lieutenant General and Viceroy of Canada in 1612. In youth he served in the French navy, and in 1603, under a commission from Henry IV., came to America. He established the city of Quebec in 1608. He went six times to France in the interest of the Colony. He held the office of Viceroy for twenty-three years and yielded it only with his life. He explored the region of the St. Lawrence, ascended the Ottawa and journeyed thence to the eastern shore of Lake Huron; and coasting along the shore of Lake Ontario he passed on to Lake Champlain, and was the first white man whose eyes beheld that sparkling water-gem to which his own name is now most appropriately given. He was an ardent friend of Christianity and aided in establishing many missions. He was a friend of education, and under his patronage a college was established at Quebec, the city of his residence. He was in warm affiliation and friendship with the Huron, Algonquin and other neighboring tribes of Indians, and in their interest he more than once led them to war against the Iroquois, who were the avowed enemies of the French. An active and intelligent man, never tiring in the service of the King or the colonists; true as steel to the interests of both, he was a model pioneer of civilization and a builder worthy to pose as the founder of a new empire.

The next man of note was Count Frontenac. He was twice appointed Governor and served in that capacity from 1672 to 1682, and again from 1689 to 1699. Under him the forts at Michilimackinac and Sault Ste. Marie were established. He was active in exploring the country and extending the French interests in the region of the great lakes and in conciliating the numerous tribes of Indians who roamed over it. He was once removed on unfounded charges made by his enemies, but the alarming condition of affairs with the hostile Indians made his