Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Mar.[March] 2, 1839.

AN ACT authorizing a survey therein named.
1

Route to be surveyed.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly,2 That the Board of Public Works shall, so soon as convenience will permit, detail a competent engineer to survey a route commencing at or near the point where the present location of the Central railroad crosses Drury’s creek, in Jackson county; thence, via Frankfort, in Franklin county, Mount Vernon, in Jefferson county, and Salem, in Marion county, to a point on the present location of the aforesaid railroad at or near Vandalia. Said Board shall also detail a competent engineer to survey another route between the same starting and terminating points, to pass at or near the Coal-banks, on Muddy; thence through Pinckneyville, in Perry county, Nashville, in Washington county, and Carlyle, in Clinton county.

Full reports to be made.

Sec. 2. Said engineers shall make full and complete reports of the surveys of said routes, respectively, to the Board of Public Works, who, upon a full examination and comparison of the relative merits of the two said routes, and the present location, with a view to the interest of the State, shall determine which of the three shall be the permanent location of the said Central railroad.

Provisions of act effected speedily.

Sec. 3. The provisions of this act shall be carried into effect as speedily as possible; but, while the same are in progress, the work on the said Central railroad shall proceed as though this act had never passed.

Approved, March 2, 1839.

1An unknown Senator introduced Misc SB 5 in the Senate on or before February 22, 1839. The Senate passed the bill on February 22. On February 28, the House of Representatives struck out all after the enacting clause and adopted an amendment. The House passed the bill as amended. On March 1, the Senate concurred in the House amendment. On March 2, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 3, 1838 (Vandalia,IL: William Walters, 1838), 482, 563-64, 588, 601; Journal of the Senate of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 3, 1838 (Vandalia, IL; William Walters, 1838), 383, 468, 475-76, 495, 501.

2On February 28, 1839, the House of Representatives struck out all after the enacting clause and adopted an amendment. Abraham Lincoln wrote this amendment, but John Crain introduced it into the House.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 3, 1838 (Vandalia,IL: William Walters, 1838), 563-64.