Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 6, 1835.

AN ACT relative to an Appropriation from the avails of the Gallatin County Saline Lands, for the benefit of Randolph County.
1

Certain act repealed.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That so much of the first section of “An act appropriating a portion of the avails arising from the sale of the Saline lands in Gallatin county, to internal improvements,” approved, 16th February, 1831,2 as makes it the duty of the county commissioners’ court of Randolph county to expend the appropriation made said county, on a certain road therein named, be, and the same is hereby repealed; and the said commissioners shall appropriate the same towards the construction of bridges in the said county of Randolph.

This act to take effect from and after its passage, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.

Approved, Feb. 6, 1835.

1John Thompson introduced HB 111, originally titled “A Bill in Relation to the Money Heretofore Appropriated to the County of Randolph out of the Avails Arising from the Sale of the Gallatin Saline Lands to Internal Improvements, Approved February 16th 1831,” in the House of Representatives on January 13, 1835. The House passed the bill on January 16. On January 20, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on January 26 with sundry amendments, in which the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the bill as amended. The Senate amended the title so as to read, “A Bill relative to an Appropriation from the Avails of the Gallatin County Saline Lands, for the Benefit of Randolph County.” On January 27, the House referred the bill, Senate amendments, and amended title to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on January 28 without amendment, recommending concurrence in the Senate amendments. The House concurred in the Senate amendments and amended title. On February 6, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 233-34, 299, 308, 394, 402-403, 414; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 265, 287, 327, 378, 436, 441, 453; Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 381, 397, 411.

2Improving the means of transportation was one of the most vexing problems facing Antebellum Illinois. Funding the construction of roads, bridges, dams, and other public works proved challenging for the Illinois General Assembly. One of its early gambits was to petition Congress to allow the state to sell portions of the Saline Reserve Lands, using the money realized from the sale for public works. To this end, in February 1831, the General Assembly passed a resolution asking Congress to allow the state to sell 20,000 acres in Gallatin County. Anticipating congressional approval, the act in 1831 appropriated the proceeds from the sales to various counties in the State. Section one listed the recipients county by county. Randolph County was to receive $400, and the General Assembly authorized the County Commissioners Court to spend $250 to repair the road leading from Kaskaskia to St. Louis, and $150 to repair the bluff near Prairie du Rocher on said road. Congress approved the General Assembly’s request, and as of January 1841, agents had paid $9,956.50 into the State Treasury from such land sales. Of this sum, the state had distributed $8,408.08 to sundry counties, including Randolph.
“An Act Appropriating a Portion of the Avails Arising from the Sale of the Saline Lands, in Gallatin County, to Internal Improvement,” 16 February 1831, The Laws of Illinois (1831), 12-16; U.S. House Journal. 1830. 21st Cong., 2nd sess., 14 February, 302; “Report of the Committee on the Salines and Saline Lands,” 12 January 1841, Illinois Senate Reports. 1840. 12th G. A., 219.