But the evidences of sorrow yet visible on every hand remind us that this good name has been earned at a fearful cost. Some of the brightest names which adorn the annals of the war are ours; and citizens of Iowa are numbered among the noblest of the fallen heroes.

Our average population during the war has not exceeded 700,000, and of this we have furnished one ninth to the national armies. The aggregate of the quotas assigned to this State, under all calls for the war since the first regiment was organized, being reckoned at their equivalents in three years' men, amount to 70,825, and the number claimed by us to have been furnished upon these quotas is 73,240. Not included in this statement are the First Regiment of Infantry, 962 men, furnished under the three months call of April, 1861, 12 two years' recruits, 3,689 one year recruits and 3,857 one hundred days' men, which last were a volunteer offering by the State, and independent of all calls, making a total aggregate of 78,059 These figures are not strictly accurate, but are as nearly so as they can be made from the data at our command. On account of discrepancies between the credits given by the War Department and our own records, much difficulty was experienced in obtaining proper credits for all that we claimed, but the accounts were finally so far adjusted in January, 1865, pending the previous December call, that, in consideration of our general promptness, and by special request, I procured a relinquishment of all further demands against the State under that and prior calls, although quite a number of the sub-districts were still delinquent.

men.

By the Act of Congress passed in March, 1863, the enrollment. of the national forces was made by sub-districts, consisting of townships and wards, and each sub-district thus designated was required to furnish the full amount of the quota assigned it, without reference to the county in which it was situated. The accounts of quotas and credits were kept, through the Provost Marshal's department, with sub-districts only, counties being disregarded. This was the method resorted to by the Government to compel each community to bear its own share of the common burden, in due proportion to its enrolled military strength. Many entertain the opinion that while the State was apparently in advance of all calls, a draft was ordered against it. This opinion is erroneous. But one draft was ever ordered for men in this State,

and this was under the July call of 1864, and in the delinquent sub-districts only. This being in accordance with the express requirement of the law, it was unavoidable while any ward or township was delinquent.

In this connection I deem it proper to state that, notwithstanding the grave differences of political opinions entertained, my efforts to procure enlistments under the several requisitions were, with rare exceptions, cheerfully and cordially seconded by the leading men of all parties. There were, however, on the other hand quite a number of inhabitants in different parts of the State, who, when the probabilities of compulsory enlistments became imminent, suddenly abandoned their homes and expatriated themselves. These persons should be known of all men, and held up to perpetual scorn. The citizen who, in the hour of his country's peril will flee beyond the reach of law to avoid the performance of military duty, is an unworthy subject of the government, and should be rendered forever incapable of enjoying the rights and privileges of citizenship.

During the last year of the war the regiments from this State being assigned to so many departments of the army, became dispersed over almost the entire theatre of military operations. This created the neeessity of an increased amount of sanitary assistance, and imposed additional labor and responsibility upon the Executive department. Every practicable effort was made to secure proper attention to the wants of our sick and wounded soldiers, and, if any were neglected, it was in most cases because of their remote and isolated situation, or the misconduct of U. S. Surgeons and other government officers entirely beyond our reach. Of the $40,000 appropriated at the last session for extraordinary expenses of the Executive office and relief of sick and wounded soldiers, up to the close of the last fiscal term $26,500 have been expended, of which $3,500 were for claims unpaid under the preceding appropriation, leaving the sum of $13,500, undrawn up to that date.

ARSENAL.

I desire to urge upon your attention the necessity of immediately erecting a building for the safe-keeping of ordnance stores belonging to the State, and the preservation of our military records. The last General Assembly appropriated $5,000 for the construction of

an Arsenal at Des Moines, and directed the Adjutant General to commence the building, provided the necessary grounds for that purpose could be procured without expense to the State. The advance in prices so far increased the value of labor and materials beyond the estimate upon which the appropriation was based, that the Adjutant General deemed it advisable to defer the work for the farther consideration of the General Assembly.

We have now under our control about 18,000 stands of arms and several pieces of artillery, besides a large amount of ordnance stores, which can only be preserved from deterioration by having a suitable building in which to place them. In addition to this, the importance of a safe depository for the records of the Adjutant General's office must not be overlooked. These records contain the original rolls and all the documents of various kinds pertaining to the enlistment, service and discharge of Iowa soldiers, the destruction of which would be an irretrievable loss to the State. We now have none but rented buildings for this purpose, costing about $1,000 annually, and without any adequate security against fire. A fire-proof building of sufficient capacity for all these purposes could be erected at a moderate cost, and it should be done without unnecessary delay.

MILITIA.

Early in the summer of 1864, General Orders were promulgated as contemplated by the law enacted at the last session, for the or ganization of the State Militia. Hostile Indians on the plains and guerrilla bands in Missouri threatening our Southern and NorthWestern borders and the preparations of a treasonable order in the State to offer forcible resistance to the Draft, necessitated the distribution of a large quantity of arms and ammunition to the militia. In many localities conspiracies were formed for securing the control of companies by excluding men of known loyalty, and having them commanded by persons chosen from the treasonable organization mentioned. I therefore appointed committees of prominent gentlemen in nearly all the counties to assist in the formation of companies that would be loyal and reliable, and I also directed that to such companies only were commissions and arms to be issued. Notwithstanding the opposition interposed to these pre

cautionary measures, they were successful in preserving almost uninterruptedly the tranquility of the State.

The only serious outrage was perpetrated in Poweshiek County, in October, 1864, by a company styling themselves "Democrat Rangers." Captain John L. Bashore and Josiah M. Woodruff were brutally murdered by members of this company, while engaged in the execution of orders from the Provost Marshal of the Fourth District. The facts connected with this atrocious affair are fully set forth in the report of the Adjutant General for 1865 to which your attention is respectfully invited.

Having thus presented you with such matters as I deem most important for legislative consideration, I cannot close this communication without congratulating you upon the activity everywhere displayed in recovering from all effects of the recent struggle for the preservation of the Union. Where in all history has any nation developed such wonderful energy and power? The foreigner who now visits our shores will hardly discover in the general thrift and quietude of the country the traces of that gigantic contest which so amazed the civilized world. With no intermission in the exercise of its sovereign authority, either on land or sea, except the brief usurpations of the insurrectionary States, or any material diminution in the vast measure of its foreign commerce, our country has continued to advance, in all the essential elements. of national greatness, with a steadiness and rapidity unsurpassed even during the periods of profound tranquility. Terrible and bloody, beyond all precedent, as the conflict was, it may not, under GOD's disposing Providence, have been unproductive of wholesome results. For, notwithstanding the unparalleled expenditure of life and treasure incurred in its prosecution, and the thousands of hearthstones made desolate, the sacrifices of the war have intensified the attachment of the American people to the Government of their fathers, and secured the involuntary respect of other nations for the exalted qualities it has developed in our National character.

Although unable at this juncture to adequately comprehend the influence of this gigantic struggle upon the ultimate destiny of the Republic, yet we may clearly discern that our gratitude is eminently due to the Divine Ruler of Nations for graciously sustaining our Government through its perils, in guiding our armies to victory, in preserving the Nationality of our people, and in His

own good time delivering our land from the horrors of continued war. Deriving wisdom from the instructive lessons of the past, let us calmly devote ourselves to the future, remembering that posterity has a claim upon our efforts, and that the great work of this generation remains to be completed.

WILLIAM M. STONE.