Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Jan.[January] 16, 1836.

AN ACT concerning the publication of the Laws and Journals.
1

Duty of Secretary of State.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the Secretary of State shall deliver to the public printer, within ten days after the adjournment of each session of the General Assembly, copies of all laws and joint resolutions passed by such General Assembly, and which may be required to be printed. The secretary of state shall hereafter superintend the printing of the journals.

Duty of Secretary of Senate and Clerk of H. R.

Sec. 2. The journal of each house of the General Assembly, shall hereafter be kept in well bound books. The secretary of the Senate, and clerk of the house of representatives, shall furnish to the public printer, every morning

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during each session of the General Assembly, a copy of the journal kept by them respectively, of the day preceding the last day’s journal; and the said secretary and clerk shall, within ten days after the adjournment of each session of the General Assembly, deposite the original journal kept by them as aforesaid with the secretary of state.

Binding.

Sec. 3. Hereafter the binding of the laws shall be completed within seventy-five 2 days from the time the copies are delivered to the public printer by the secretary of state.

Public Printer failing to comply shall forfeit six per cent.

Sec. 4. If the public printer shall fail to print the laws and journals within the time limited by law, or if he shall fail to have the laws bound within the time limited, it shall be the duty of the secretary of state, to state in the certificate which he is required to give to such printer, the time at which such laws and journals should have been printed, and the time at which the binding should have been completed, and the time at which the said printing was completed; and the Auditor shall thereupon deduct from the price of such printing, if the failure be in the printing, or if the failure be in the binding, deduct from the price of such binding, six per cent. per week, on the price of the printing or binding, as the case may be, and issue his warrant on the treasury, for the sum due such printer, after making the deductions aforesaid.3

Approved, Jan. 16, 1836.

1On December 10, 1835, the Senate adopted a resolution instructing the Committee on Finance to inquire into the printing and publishing of the laws and journals of the first session of the Ninth General Assembly. In response to this resolution, Adam W. Snyder of the Committee on Finance introduced SB 17 in the Senate on December 16. On December 18, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary reported back the bill on January 1, 1836, with an amendment, in which the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the bill as amended on January 4. On January 16, the House of Representatives amended the third section by striking out the word “sixty” and inserting in lieu thereof the word “seventy-five.” The House then passed the bill as amended. On January 15, the Senate approved the House amendments. On January 16, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 227, 268, 289, 314, 341, 346, 359; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 14, 46-47, 60, 144-45, 165, 239, 258, 268, 280.

2On January 13, 1836, the House of Representatives amended the bill by striking out the word “sixty” and inserting in lieu thereof the word “seventy-five.”
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 314.

3Section one of an act passed in 1835 empowered the public printer or printers to print the laws and journals of the General Assembly. Section four required the public printer to print the laws and journals for the then-first session of the Ninth General Assembly within three months after receiving copies of the same. Journals for succeeding sessions were to be printed within twelve days of adjournment, and laws from succeeding sessions were be printed within forty days of adjournment. Failure on the part of the public printer or printers to meet these deadlines would result in forfeiture of six percent of the public printing contract.