Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 12, 1835.

AN ACT relating to the Sale of the Gallatin Saline Lands.
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Commissioners appointed to select 5 thousand acres of Saline lands.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Leonard White, Daniel Wood and John E. Hall, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to enter upon the Saline Reserve in Gallatin county, and select any quantity of land, not exceeding five thousand acres of land, and if there are any lands selected by the former commissioners which shall interfere with salt making at said Saline, or which is not now likely to sell, the same shall be relinquished by the aforesaid commissioners to an amount not exceeding the said

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five thousand acres. The said commissioners shall, before entering upon their duties, take an oath before some justice of the peace faithfully to discharge the duties enjoined upon them by this act.

Shall report to the commissioner of sales.

Sec. 2. When the said commissioners shall enter upon the duties of their said office, and relinquish old selections and make new ones in lieu thereof, they shall report the same to the commissioner of sales of Saline lands, noting in their said report, the description of lands relinquished and those selected in lieu thereof, making, by separate reparate reports, a distinction between a change of lands in the first and second sections.

Shall not make any selections within any lease.

Sec. 3. The said commissioners shall not be authorized to select any lands within any lease, unless the lessee shall relinquish any incumbrance he may have, by virtue of his lease to the said land so selected, in which case the said commissioners shall return the same along with their report, to the commissioner of sales, and all lands to be re-selected under this act, shall be sold free from the incumbrances of any lease.

Persons residing on lands so selected.

Sec. 4. All persons who have settled on any of the said lands that may hereafter be selected under the provisions of this act, and shall be in the actual occupancy of the same at the period when this act takes effect, shall be entitled to the right of purchasing the same at any time previous to the same being offered for sale, as is hereinafter provided, at the minimum price; and also, all persons shall be entitled to the same right, who shall have made permanent and valuable improvements thereon, tending towards husbandry, or who shall be the owner or occupier thereof at the time this act takes effect: Provided, That no one shall be entitled to purchase more than eighty acres under the pre-emption right herein granted.

Pre-emption claimed by two or more, how decided.

Sec. 5. In all cases where claims to the right of pre-emption shall be made by two or more to the same tract of land, the same shall be decided by the third section of an act, entitled “An act concerning the Gallatin county and Vermilion county Saline lands,” which said section is hereby revived and continued in force for the purpose aforesaid; but in all cases, the preference shall be given to the actual settler.2

Duty of commissioners of sales.

Sec. 6. After the said commissioners shall have made their report to the commissioner of sales, it shall be his duty to advertise the same for sale in some public newspaper, at least four weeks previous to the day of sale, and on that day offer the same as lands having been heretofore offered for sale.

Commissioners in their selection shall not interfere with salt making.

Compensation.

Sec. 7. The commissioners named in the first section of this act, shall not, in their selection of land, interfere with

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the manufactory of salt; but shall, in all cases, consult the interest of the State and of the present lessees, as far as making salt is concerned. They shall be allowed the same compensation as other commissioners heretofore have been allowed, to be paid by the commissioner of sales.

Part of act repealed.

Sec. 8. That the fourth section of an act, entitled “An act to amend an act concerning Saline Reserves, a Penitentiary, and the improvement of certain navigable streams,” approved, December 12, 1828, be, and the same is hereby repealed.3

Compensation of commissioners of sales.

Sec. 9. The commissioner for selling the lands authorized to be sold in the Gallatin county Saline Reserve, shall hereafter receive as compensation for his services, and in full compensation for office rent, clerk hire, books, stationery and transportation of the money, five per cent. upon all moneys received by him in the sale of said lands. Said five per cent. to be deducted out of the money so received by him in payment for said lands.

Approved, Feb. 13, 1835.

1Levin Lane introduced SB 100 in the Senate on January 29, 1835, and the Senate referred it to a select committee. On February 3, the select committee reported back the bill with an amendment, in which the Senate concurred. The Senate referred the bill to the Committee of the Whole. On February 10, the Senate discharged the Committee of the Whole from further consideration of the bill and referred it to a second select committee. On February 12, the select committee reported back the bill with an amendment, in which the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the bill later that day. On February 13, the House laid the bill on the table until July 4, 1835, by a vote of 26 yeas and 14 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting yea. The House apparently reconsidered and passed the bill. Also on February 13, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 557-58, 563, 572-73; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 368, 411, 478-79, 508, 516, 526, 531-32.

2The third section of that act provided that in the case of contested pre-emption claims, the commissioner would consider their claims and decide which could claim the land. If either party desired it, the commissioner could summon a six-person jury to decide the matter.
“An Act concerning the Gallatin County and Vermilion County Saline Lands,” 2 March 1833, Revised Laws of Illinois (1833), 548-49.

3Section four of that act appropriated $500 for the improvement of a road crossing the Cash River bottom in Alexander County.
“An Act to Amend and Continue in Force the Act Entitled ‘An Act concerning Saline Reserves, a Penitentiary, and the Improvement of Certain Navigable Streams’ Approved 15th February 1827,” 19 December 1828, Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1829), 142-43.