Amendment to “A Bill Supplemental to An Act to Incorporate the Subscribers to the
Bank of the State of Illinois,” [22 December 1835]1
Sec[Section] 52 The said corporation shall, at the next session of this General Assembly, and at each subsequent general
session, during the existence of it's charter, report to the same, the amount of debts
due from said corporation, the amount of debts do due to the same, the amount of specie in it's vaults, and and an account of all lands held then owned by the same, and the amount for which such lands have been taken: and
moreover, if said corporation shall, at any time neglect or refuse, to submit it's
books, papers, al and all and every thing necessary to a full and fair examination of it's affairs,
to any person or persons appointed by the General Assembly for the purpose of making
such examination, the said corporation shall forfeit it's charter.
<Page 2>
[ docketing
]
16
[ docketing
]
Lincoln's amendmt[amendment] to Bank bill
1Abraham Lincoln wrote the text of this amendment.
On December 8, 1835, Governor Joseph Duncan presented his annual message to the General Assembly. On December 9, the House of Representatives passed a resolution referring the portions of the message regarding the State Bank of Illinois to the Committee on Finance. On December 14, John D. Whiteside from the Committee on Finance reported HB 12 in the House. The House then referred the bill to the Committee of the Whole. The
Committee of the Whole discussed the bill on December 16 and proposed amending the
bill by striking out the third section, which the House rejected by a vote of 20 yeas
to 28 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting yea. On December 18, the House approved an
amendment adding the words “reserving to the state the right to repeal this section, whenever
the public interest may require the same” to the third section. The House then voted
to engross the bill and read it a third time, by a vote of 36 yeas to 12 nays, with
Lincoln voting nay. On December 22, Abraham Lincoln proposed this amendment to the bill. The House rejected the strikeout proposed by Lincoln. The House rejected
a proposed amendment to Lincoln’s amendment that would have stricken everything after “taken,” by a vote of 15 yeas to 34 nays,
Lincoln voting yea. The House also rejected a proposed amendment that would have added a proviso to the third section, by a vote of 11 yeas to 39
nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House passed the bill as amended on December 22.
On January 4, 1836, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on Finance. On January 9, the Committee on Finance
reported back the bill with amendments to the first and third sections, the Senate approving both amendments. On January
12, the Senate passed the bill as amended. On January 13, the House referred the bill
and the amendments from the Senate to the Committee on Finance. On January 14, the
Committee on Finance reported back, recommending concurrence in the amendments from
the Senate. The House then rejected a proposed amendment to the Senate amendment,
striking out “50” and inserting “30” in lieu thereof, by a vote of 20 yeas to 29 nays,
with Lincoln voting nay. Also on January 14, the House approved the amendments of
the Senate, by a vote of 28 yeas to 19 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. On January 16,
the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 8-23, 25, 43, 73, 74, 108, 124-26, 302, 312-13, 321-22,
345, 358; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 95, 140, 169, 194, 222-23, 241, 267, 280.
Handwritten Document, 2 page(s), Lincoln Collection, Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL).