t be removed in a hundred days.
Had Judge Thurman and his aids concentrated the fire of their batteries
upon the suffrage redoubt--the weak point in their adversaries'
lines--they would probably have gained a sweeping victory. As it was,
Thurman carried the Legislature, and secured a seat in the United States
Senate. General Hayes was elected by the small majority of two thousand
nine hundred and eighty-three votes, running somewhat ahead of his
ticket.

He was inaugurated as Governor of Ohio, in the rotunda of the Capitol,
January 13, 1868. On that occasion, in the presence of the Legislature
and judicial departments of the State Government, and a large concourse
of citizens, he delivered the following inaugural address:

_Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives, and
Fellow-Citizens:_

The duty devolved on the governor by the constitution of
communicating by message to the General Assembly the condition of
the State, and of recommending such measures as he deems
expedient, has been performed at the present session by my
predecessor, Governor Cox, in a manner so thorough and
comprehensive that I do not feel called upon to enter upon a
discussion of questions touching the administration of the State
government.

I can think of no better reward for the faithful performance of the
duties of the office which I am about to assume than that which, I
believe, my immediate predecessor is entitled to enjoy,--the
knowledge that in the opinion of his fellow-citizens of all parties
he has, by his culture, his ability, and his integrity, honored the
office of Governor of Ohio, and that he now leaves it with a
conscience satisfied with the discharge of duty.

I congratulate the members of the General Assembly that many of the
questions which have hitherto largely engaged the attention of the
law-making power, and divided the people of the State, have, in the
progress of events, either been settled, or, in the general
judgment of the people, been transferred for investigation and
decision to the National government. The State debt, taxation, the
currency, and internal improvements, for many years furnished the
prominent topics of discussion and controversy in Ohio. In the year
1845 the State debt reached its highest point. It amounted to
$20,018,515.67, and in the same year the total