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28 new administration, I have no doubt, means to do no less, but will endeavor to do more.

Upon these things we may all congratulate ourselves; but even under such happy circumstances we should not permit our optimism to carry us so far as to think that everything is, and will remain, just as it ought to be.

As to our material prosperity, we ought to see to it that the spirit of enterprise and speculation do not run away with our judgment. Perhaps we are already going at a rate of speed which taxes the whole endurance of our energies. We are inclined to boast of the soundness of our money system; but we should take care that we may not find ourselves some day with a quantity of silver money on our hands with will drive out our gold, and leave us with all the disadvantages of an inferior currency in the great commerce of the world. We should consider that our excellent banking system, which is, in a business point of view, one of the most valuable legacies of the war,—in fact, the best banking system this country ever had, and, I think, the best which any country has to-day,—will be of no less value to the business of the country in prosperous times than in times of depression, and should not be lightly jeoparded for some comparatively trifling and apparent advantage. In this respect the best policy emphatically is, to let well enough alone.

As to the formerly hostile sections of the country, I am sure the number of those in the North