I hear it said, now and then, Mr. President, that the profession of the educator is not progressing as are many other vocations, or that the schoolmasters and mistresses of twenty-five or fifty years ago were more proficient or competent than are those of to-day. Against such thoughtless or reckless assertions, I put the convincing fact of these midsummer schools, in which the teachers of Kansas assemble to study, to compare notes, and to be instructed in the best methods of instructing others. Men and women capable of such devotion to their work as these meetings illustrate, need no excuse or defense. And these are the men and women I am now to welcome to the capital. I discharge the duty assigned me, Mr. President, with sincere pleasure. Very few, if any, of the meetings held in this room are composed of people who occupy so important a place in the every-day work and growth of the State as do those now assembled here, and none, I am sure, represent a more useful or honorable calling. Teachers of Kansas, I believe you understand these facts. I believe you appreciate, in full measure, the dignity and importance of your vocation, and that you are striving, earnestly and laboriously, to fit yourselves for its great duties and vast responsibilities. I trust your sessions will be alike pleasant and profitable, and that you may one and all return to your work refreshed and benefitted by this fraternal intercourse with one another. In this faith and in this hope, I greet you, and most cordially welcome you to the capital of the State. THE GOVERNORS OF KANSAS. Second Inaugural Address, delivered in Representative Hall, Jan. 9th, 1887. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I heard a gentleman say recently: “I have known all the Governors of Kansas.” I asked: “How many Governors has Kansas had?” He thought a moment, and replied: “Nine.” I presume a very large majority, even of those best informed in the political history of the State, would make the same wrong reply. For Kansas has had sixteen real and four acting Governors, and since its admission into the Union the State has had ten. I am glad the committee having charge of the ceremonies to-day did not forget this fact, and so did not omit to invite the Hon. Nehemiah Green, who was Governor of Kansas from November 4, 1868, to January 11, 1869.