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Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Illinois that our Senators be instructed and our representatives in congress be requested to use their best exertions to ^procure the ^ passage of a law authorising the members of the several State legislatures in the united States to have the privilege
of franking letters and news papers to and from the citizens of the counties or districts
they resp-
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ectively represent, during the Sessions of the ^respective^ State legislature.2[ docketing
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1John T. Stuart introduced the resolution in the House of Representatives, and the House adopted it, on December 16, 1834. On December 18, the Senate tabled the resolution.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 125; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 106, 110.
2From 1776, members of Congress, the President, the Vice President, cabinet officers, and postmasters enjoyed the
franking privilege, which entitled them to free postage (for official business) of
letters, newspapers, and documents. Congress never extended that privilege to state
legislators. In 1833, the Post Master General of the United States had published a
report detailing widespread abuses of the franking privilege, and notification of
the report appeared in Illinois newspapers and may have played a role in the debate
surrounding these failed resolutions.
James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 10 vols., (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899), 10:375; Illinois Senate
Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 61-62, 86, 129; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 4 May 1833, 2:6; 20 December 1834, 3:3.
Handwritten Document, 2 page(s), Folder 278, GA Session: 9-1,
Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL)