"An excellent and appropriate document—short and comprehensive—and, as it should be, devoted wholly to State affairs."
The Cincinnati Commoner, ultra Democratic, declared:
"The message is brief, but full of wisdom, and deserves the study of every citizen."
The correspondence of 1871 from the executive office reveals letters like these:
"I long since, in conversation, announced my wish and purpose to withdraw from the race for important positions in public affairs. I meant this announcement to apply both to the office I now hold and the senatorship. That purpose remains unchanged."
A letter of May 5th, to a distinguished New York journalist, says:
"Your article on the Ohio governorship is of course satisfactory to me, but you will not object to two corrections. I have not been and shall not be a candidate for re-nomination. I probably could without effort have been renominated, but usage and personal inclination were against it. The more serious error is: You omit to name the Republican candidate who is nearly certain of the nomination and election. General Edward F. Noyes, of Cincinnati, a brave and popular soldier, who lost a leg in the Atlanta campaign; an eloquent and attractive speaker, and a gentleman of integrity and purity of character, will, I think, without question, be nominated. He is the sort of man you would support heartily if you lived in Ohio."
On the 6th of October, 1871, Governor Hayes delivered the striking address we give below, on the occasion of the inauguration of the celebrated Davidson fountain, in Cincinnati. This fountain, in design and execution, is a work of art of extraordinary merit.
Fellow-Citizens:
It is altogether fitting that the citizens of Cincinnati should feel a deep interest in the occasion which has called together this large assemblage. It is well to do honor to this noble gift, and to do honor to the generous giver. This work lends a new charm to the whole city.