Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 11, 1835.

AN ACT to amend an act appropriating a portion of the avails arising from the sale of the Saline Lands, in Gallatin county, to Internal Improvement: approved, February 16, 1831.
1

Certain appropriations removed.

How applied.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the sum of four hundred dollars, appropriated by the act to which this is an amendment,2 to the county commissioners’ court of Wayne county, to be expended, two hundred dollars to build a bridge across Elm river on the mail route from Fairfield to Maysville, and the other two hundred dollars to repair the State road3 from Fairfield to Albion, be, and the same is hereby appropriated to the improvement of the State road from Fairfield to Leech’s mills4 on the State road from Fairfield to Albion, and if there should be any surplus after making said road a good and sufficient one, the same is to be applied to the improvement of that part of the State road lying between Fairfield and Salem in said county of Wayne.5

Appropriation to Edwards county heretofore made, removed.

How applied.

Sec. 2. The sum of one hundred dollars, part of the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars appropriated by the act to which this is an amendment, to the county commissioners’ court of Edwards county, to be expended in discharging the debts of said county, be, and the same is hereby appropriated to be expended by the said county commissioners’

<Page 2>
court of Edwards county, in improving the State road in said county, leading from Albion to Mount Carmel, and one hundred and fifty dollars, the balance of said sum, heretofore appropriated as aforesaid, be, and the same is hereby appropriated to be expended by the county commissioners’ court of said Edwards county, for the purposes of internal improvement in said county.6

Appropriations to Green county, how applied.

Acts repealed.

Sec. 3. That all appropriations made to the county of Green from the sales of Saline lands, (except three hundred dollars appropriated to build a bridge across Apple creek near Hayden’s mill,7) shall be subject to the order of the county commissioners’ court of said county, and the said county commissioners are hereby authorized to expend the sum of three hundred dollars of the aforesaid appropriations to aid in building a bridge across Macoupin creek at or near Thomas Rattan’s mill, and a further sum of three hundred dollars, to be expended in building a bridge at or near Henry Tegarden’s mill, across Macoupin creek, and the remainder of said appropriations shall be disposed of in such manner as the county commissioners may think proper.8 All acts and parts of acts coming within the purview of this act are hereby repealed.9

Approved, Feb. 11, 1835.

1Henry J. Mills introduced SB 49 in the Senate on January 6, 1835. On January 7, the Senate tabled the bill. The Senate passed the bill on January 27. On January 28, the House of Representatives referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 3 with amendments. The House referred the bill and proposed amendments to another select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 5 without amendment, recommending concurrence in the select committee’s proposed amendments. The House concurred, but referred the bill to another select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 6 with an amendment, in which the House concurred. The House passed the bill as amended on February 7. The Senate concurred in the House amendments on February 9. On February 11, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 412, 417-18, 472, 498, 526, 530, 532; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 193, 200, 315, 352, 465, 472, 484, 486; Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 384, 406.

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 therefrom for public works. To this end, the General Assembly passed a resolution asking Congress to allow the state to sell 20,000 acres in Gallatin County. Anticipating congressional approval, the General Assembly passed the 1831 act that appropriated the proceeds from the sales to various counties in the state. Section one listed the recipients county by county. Congress granted its permission to sell the 20,000 acres, 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.
“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.

3State roads were those public roads established or designated by the General Assembly and usually crossed county lines. Only the General Assembly could establish, alter, or abandon state roads, until 1840 and 1841, when the General Assembly gave counties the authority to alter or to abandon state roads upon petition by a majority of voters in the area of the change.
An Act concerning Public Roads, sec. 9; An Act Authorizing Commissioners’ Courts to Alter, Change, and Relocate State Roads; An Act concerning Public Roads.

4Samuel Leech built and operated the mills under authority from the General Assembly in an act passed in the same session.

5In March 1837, the General Assembly passed an act repealing this first section. As of January 1841, Wayne County had not received its promised $400. In a report to the Senate, Levi Davis, auditor of public accounts, affirmed that Wayne County would receive its appropriation out of money realized through future sales.
“An Act Appropriating a Portion of the Avails Arising from the Sale of the Saline Lands, in Gallatin County, to Internal Improvement,” 15; “Report of the Committee on the Salines and Saline Lands,” 12 January 1841, Illinois Senate Reports. 1840. 12th G. A., 219.

6As of January 1841, Edwards County had not received its promised $250. In a report to the Senate, Levi Davis, auditor of public accounts, affirmed that Edwards County would receive its appropriation out of money realized through future sales.
“An Act Appropriating a Portion of the Avails Arising from the Sale of the Saline Lands, in Gallatin County, to Internal Improvement,” 15; “Report of the Committee on the Salines and Saline Lands,” 12 January 1841, Illinois Senate Reports. 1840. 12th G. A., 219.

7In January 1835, the General Assembly passed an act making this appropriation.

8The original 1831 act only appropriated $300 to Greene County, to be used at the discretion of the County Commissioners Court.
“An Act Appropriating a Portion of the Avails Arising from the Sale of the Saline Lands, in Gallatin County, to Internal Improvement,” 14.

9The House of Representatives amended the bill by adding this third section. It also moved the repealing clause from the end of the second section and placed it at the end of the third section.