When the following Senators answered to their names: Messrs. Brown, Carr, Hamer, Mayo, Mothersead, Morin, McFarland, Rains, Richardson, Robinson, Rogers, Rowland, Stevenson, Wilson, and Wood-15. Absent-Messrs. Blow, Carson, Frost, Gullet, Harris, Hedgpeth, Holmes, Irwin, Kitchen, Morris, Peery, Rannels, Sharp, Sims, Vernon, Price, Watkins, and Ziegler-18. A quorum not being present, The Senate adjourned until 2 o'clock in the evening. EVENING SESSION. Senate met pursuant to adjournment. The roll having been called, and a quorum of the Senate not being The Senate adjourned until 10 o'clock, A. M. to-morrow. TUESDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 20, 1857. Senate met pursuant to adjournment. Prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr. Lougheed, Chaplain of the Senate. On motion of Mr. Rains, John S. Waddell, Senator elect from the Twenty-Seventh Senatorial District, in the place of the Hon. William Price, resigned, came forward, presented his credentials, was qualified and took his seat. The President ordered a call of the roll, When a quorum was found present. The President laid before the Senate, an abstract of the votes cast for Governor at the special election, held on the 3d of August, 1857. Also, a list of Senators elected at special elections, held on the first Monday in August, 1857, to fill vacancies in the Nineteenth General Assembly. On motion of Mr. Ziegler, Resolved, That, as a mark of respect to the memory of our late Secretary, the Hon. William D. McCracken, and our appreciation of his worth, that the Secretary's desk be draped in mourning, and that the Senators and officers of the Senate wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. On motion of Mr. Carr, The Senate proceeded to the election of a Secretary, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Mr. McCracken. Nominations being in order, Mr. Carr nominated Mr. Benjamin F. Hesser. Mr. Rains nominated Mr. J. A. Holliday. No other nominations being made, and the roll of the Senate being called, there appeared, For Mr. HESSER-Messrs. Brown, Carr, Carson, Frost, Gullet, Hedgpeth, Mothersead, Morris, McFarland, Richardson, Robinson, Rogers, Rowland, Sims, and Ziegler-15. For Mr. HOLLIDAY-Messrs. Hamer, Harris, Holmes, Mayo, Morris, Rains, Sharp, Stevenson, Waddell, Wilson and Wood-11. Absent-Messrs. Blow, Irwin, Kitchen, Peery, Rannels, Vernon and Watkins. Mr. Hesser, having received a majority of all the votes cast, was declared duly elected Secretary of the Senate; was qualified, and entered upon the discharge of the duties of his office. The President laid before the Senate, the following communication from the Chaplain of the Senate: To the Honorable President of the Senate: I have the honor of being the medium of the presentation of this beaufully bound Bible, to your honorable body, from the American Bible Society, solicited by myself Very respectfully. On motion of Mr. Robinson, L. D. LOUGHEED. Resolved, WHEREAS, The Rev. L. D. Lougheed, Chaplain of the Senate, has presented to this body a copy of the Holy Scriptures, therefore, Resolved, That, in accepting the same, we return to the reverend donor, our sincere thanks, for a gift equally appropriate to his ministeral character and his official position; and unite with him in the hope that our deliberations and public services, as well as our private lives, may ever be regulated by the sacred precepts of the inspired volume. Message from the House of Representatives, by a member : MR. PRESIDENT:-I am instructed by the House of Representatives to inform the Senate, that the House has elected the Hon. James Chiles, Speaker, and is ready to proceed to business. Mr. Frost offered the following resolution, Resolved, That the House of Representatives be informed, that the Senate is organized and ready to meet in Joint Session, at 2 o'clock, P. M., and proceed to count the votes for Governor of the State of Missouri. Mr. Wilson offered the following substitute to the resolution, Resolved, That the Senate will, if agreeable to the House of Representatives, meet in the Hall of the House, this day, at 2 o'clock, for the purpose of counting the votes cast for Governor at the late special election. On motion the resolution and substitute were passed over informally. Message from the House of Representatives by Mr. Britton Chief Clerk: MR. PRESIDENT-I am instructed by the House of Representatives to inform the Senate, that the House has appointed a committee, consisting of Messrs. Darnes, Graves and Harbin, to act jointly with a committee on the part of theSenate, to wait upon the Governor, and inform him that the General Assembly are ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to make. On motion of Mr. Robinson, Resolved, That the President of the Senate be, and is hereby requested, to lay the abstract of votes for Governor before the two Houses of the General Assembly, when they shall meet together for the purpose of counting the votes. On motion of Mr. Carson, Resolved, That a committtee of three, on the part of the Senate, be appointed to join the committee of the House, to wait on the Governor and inform him that the two Houses are now organized, and ready to receive any communication he may have to make. The Chair appointed Messrs. Carson, Richardson, and Waddell, the committee under the foregoing resolution. On motion, the Senate adjourned till 2 o'clock, P. M. EVENING SESSION. The Senate met pursuant to adjournment. Mr. Carson, from the committee appointed to wait on the Governor, reported that they had performed that duty, and received for answer, that he would make a communication at 2 o'clock, to-day. The President then laid before the Senate the following communication from the Governor : GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. Gentlemen of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives : At your adjournment in March last, I did not anticipate that circumstances would arise which would impose upon me the duty, in obedience to the Constitution, of recommending to your consideration other measures for the promotion of the welfare of the State, than those indicated in the last Message. The country then seemed to be in a condition of general prosperity. Our currency was apparently sound. Commerce seemed to be active and confined to healthful channels. Manufacturing enterprise was vigorous and confident. Agriculture, the basis of all material prosperity, promised to yield abundant returns; and individual diligence and labor reaped their fair reward. There was nothing to hetoken the crisis. which has come upon us. Our railroad enterprises, it was hoped, would move steadily on to completion, abundant means having been provided by the liberality of the General Assembly; and our banking institutions, it was believed, would furnish a sound circulation, adequate to the commercial and industrial wants of our people. Nothing could exhibit the fallacies and dangers of a credit and banking system, carried beyond their legitimate limits, more clearly than the present state of affairs, compared with the confident anticipations indulged in by every class of the community, up to the very moment when the storm burst upon the country. Although we have experienced similar things at various periods during our existence as a confederacy, we were, in this instance, as we ever have been, prone to forget the calamities of the past, and to hope against hope for the future. The results are as natural and necessary as the results of known physical causes, depending upon the operations of immutable laws. There are limits within which the banking system may not only be safe, but beneficial; and until we provide the appropriate means for confining them within these limits, we may expect periodical convulsions, similar to the one under which we are now suffering. They would not be so lamentable, if the ruin arising from them was visited only upon those whose misconduct has produced them; but, unfortunately, they generally escape, and shift the burthen upon the shoulders of the producing and laboring classes. To us, the most disastrous consequence produced, has been the check given to our railroad system, and the evident deterioration of the credit of the State. Our prospects are so dependent upon these, that the pre condition of things, in my opinion, imposes upon us serious and importa duties. The first of these is, to take such judicious and decisive measures as will secure, beyond all question, the honor and credit of the State; the second, to devise such amendments to our railroad system as will enable the compan es to secure what has been done, and ultimately to complete these important works; and the third is, to place such additional guarda upon the banking system as will confine it within legitimate limits, and tend to expel from our borders all depreciated paper. In the measures tending to these ends, all of us are interested-the people at large, the stockholders in the roads, and the stockholders in the banks; and I will not presume that any one will be so wanting in patriotism and public spirit, as to oppose them. What is done, I hope can be done with the cordial concurrence of all concerned. To effect the objects contemplated, several distinct steps ought to be taken. Some of them are exclusively and absolutely within the power of the General Assembly, and some may require the assent of the railroad and banking companies. To appreciate them, they must be enumerated and considered separately, and as a whole; for they have their several merits, as well as a mutual dependence upon each other. They are as follows, viz: 1st. That no moe State bonds should be issued and sold at ruinous rates of discount. That a tax should be levied, which, with the surplus revenue, and the twe 2d. and three per cent. funds, would be sufficient to cover the whole amount of interest on the bonds of the State. 3d. That the State should have a representation in the several boards in proportion to the amounts of the bonds she has now or may hereafter issue in aid of the roads. 4th. That in future the bonds of the State should be disposed of by an agent appointed by the Executive, and acting under the supervision of the Governor, the Auditor and Treasurer, and the proceeds thereof delivered to the officers of the companies. 5th. That the Board of Public Works should be armed with such additional powers as will enable them to penetrate into all the details of the management of the roads, and to exercise a salutary influence upon, and supervision over them. 6th. That some one of the banks in the city of St. Louis should be made a clearing house, in which all the banks and branches shall keep a sufficiency of means to protect their issues at par value. 7th. That all the banks should be required to publish their weekly statements, on the same day; and to show the amount due to depositors, and the amount of their discounts, in addition to the items now required by law to be published. 8th. That it shall be the duty of the bank commissioners, whenever a bank or branch bank fails to redeem its circulation at the counter of the clearing house, to close the said bank or branch bank in the manner now provided by law. Some of these measures are exclusively within the competency of the General Assembly, others may require the assent of the companies. I will not believe that measures so just and necessary will meet with opposition from them. It is due to the people of the State, who have so liberally extended a helping hand to the roads, and such liberal charters to the banks, as well as to the character of the stockholders and directors of the companies, that no opposition shall be made to an arrangement so fair and equitable. That no more bonds should be issued and sold, at the present ruinous rates of discount, I presume will hardly be doubted by any one. The recent sacrifices of them in the eastern market, when it is known everywhere that our resources are ample, and our character without a blemish, it seems to me, are sufficient to satisfy the whole community that this should be our line of policy. The levy of a tax to provide for the payment of the interest on State bonds, is absolutely indispensable to protect the credit of the State, whatever may be the future policy of the Government and the companies in the further prosecution of the work. In the present embarrassed condition of the finances of the country, the ability of the companies to meet the interest may be doubted by capitalists, but with the fund proposed to be set apart, confidence will be inspired. That the State should have a representation in the boards of directory in proportion to the amount of bonds issued or to be issued, I am very certain is not only just, but the only measure which can give satisfaction to the people. None of the private stockholders in these enterprises would be willing to invest their means in any undertaking, in the management of which they could have no voice. The people of the State should exercise this common prudence, and there is no ground for finding fault with them for it. Recent occurrences have warned us of the imprudence and folly of permitting our bonds to be hawked about and sold at ruinous rates of discount. Arming the Board of Public Works with additional powers, whilst it will inspire more public confidence, cannot be objectionable to the parties interested in the roads. The measures recommended in relation to our banking system are |