Longfellow's lines in praise of the Catawba that grows on the banks of the Beautiful River gives to the Catawba a finer flavor, and renders the Beautiful River still more beautiful. When art and genius give to us in marble or on canvas the features of those we admire or love, ever afterward we discover in their faces and in their characters more to admire and more to love.
This work makes Cincinnati a pleasanter city, her homes more happy, her aims worthier, and her future brighter.
But this fountain does not pour out its blessings for Cincinnati or for her visitors and guests alone. Cincinnati is one of the central cities of the Nation—of the great continent. It is becoming the convention city. Witness the National assemblies in the interest of commerce, of industry, of education, of benevolence, of progress, of religion, which annually gather here from the most distant parts of America. This monument is an instructor of all who come. Whoever beholds it will carry away some part of the lesson it teaches. The duty which the citizen owes to the community in which, and by which, he has prospered, that duty this work will forever teach. No rich man who is wise will, in the presence of this example, willingly go to his grave with his debt to the public unpaid and unprovided for. Many a last will and testament will have a beneficent codicil, suggested by the work we inaugurate to-day. Parks, fountains, schools, galleries of art, libraries, hospitals, churches—whatever benefits and elevates mankind—will here receive much needed encouragement and support.
This work says to him who, with anxious toil and care, has successfully gathered and hoarded—Do not neglect your great opportunity. Divide wisely and equitably between the few who are most nearly of your own blood, and the many who in kinship are only a little farther removed. If you regard only those reared under your own roof, your cherished estate will soon be scattered, perhaps wasted by profligate heirs in riotous living, to their own ruin, and you and your fortune will quickly be forgotten. Give a share—pay a tithe to your more distant and more numerous kindred—to the general public, and you will be gratefully remembered, and mankind will be blessed by your having lived!
Many, reflecting on the uncertainty of the future, will prefer to see their benefactions distributed and applied while they are still living. Regarding their obligations to the public as sacred debts, they will wish to pay as they go. This is commendable; perhaps it is safest.
But at some time and somehow the example here presented will and must be followed. All such deeds are the parents of other similar good deeds. And so the circle within which the blessings flowing from this fountain are enjoyed will forever grow wider and wider, and the people of distant times and places will rejoice to drink, as we now do, healthful and copious draughts in honor of its founder.
Here, this matchless structure will link together, in perpetual, grateful remembrance, the names of Tyler Davidson and Henry Probasco! Ever honored be those names in the city they have so greatly honored!
The message of Governor Hayes, on retiring from office at the close of his fourth year, calls attention to the encroachments upon the rights and interests of the people by railway corporations, and discusses at length the important subject of securing economy, efficiency, and purity in the administration of the local governments of cities and towns. For its able discussion of these and other subjects, this message of 1872 commends itself.
Fellow-Citizens of the General Assembly:
The finances of the State government are in a satisfactory condition. The balance in the State treasury on the 15th of November, 1870, was $766,038.10; the receipts during the last fiscal year were $5,241,184.91; making the total amount of available funds in the treasury during the year ending November 15, 1871, $6,007,223.01.