Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

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

AN ACT supplemental to “an act, to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the State of Illinois.”
1

Bank to sell capttal stock.

Notice.

Profits.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That it may be lawful for the State of Bank of Illinois, to sell or vend at public auction, the capital stock provided for in the second section of the act to which this is a supplement, at any place or places to be designated by said bank or corporation, within the limits of this State, having given four week’s notice prior to such sale, in at least four of the public papers printed within this state; and the profits arising from such sales, shall belong exclusively to the bank, upon the conditions as provided in the third and fourth sections of this act.

Additional branches.

Sec. 2. There may be established in addition to the branches or offices of discount and deposite, now provided

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for in the 8th section of the act to which this is a supplement, any number not exceeding three, at the option of said bank.

Additional time.

Sec. 3. The corporation shall have fifty days in addition to the time now allowed in the 25th section of the act to which this a supplement, for the redemption of its notes and evidences of debt, as provided for in the above recited section.2

Corporation to enter into contract with the Governor.

Sec. 4. The corporation or bank, shall not be entitled to the benefits or provisions of this act, until the said corporation, in consideration thereof, shall have entered into contract with the Governor of the state of Illinois, to redeem the loan, commonly called “the Wiggin’s Loan,” made by authority of the state, on the 29th day of January A. D. 1831, together with the interest which may hereafter accrue on said loan.3

Approved, Jan. 16, 1836.

1On December 8, 1835, Governor Joseph Duncan presented his annual message to the General Assembly. On December 9, the House of Representatives passed a resolution referring the portions of the message regarding the State Bank of Illinois to the Committee on Finance. On December 14, John D. Whiteside from the Committee on Finance reported HB 12 in the House. The House then referred the bill to the Committee of the Whole. The Committee of the Whole discussed the bill on December 16 and proposed amending the bill by striking out the third section, which the House rejected by a vote of 20 yeas to 28 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting yea. On December 18, the House approved an amendment adding the words “reserving to the state the right to repeal this section, whenever the public interest may require the same” to the third section. The House then voted to engross the bill and read it a third time, by a vote of 36 yeas to 12 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. On December 22, Abraham Lincoln proposed amending the bill by striking out the previous amendment to the third section and by adding a fifth section. The House rejected the strikeout proposed by Lincoln. The House rejected a proposed amendment to Lincoln’s amendment that would have stricken everything after “taken,” by a vote of 15 yeas to 34 nays, Lincoln voting yea. The House also rejected a proposed amendment that would have added a proviso to the third section, by a vote of 11 yeas to 39 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House passed the bill as amended on December 22. On January 4, 1836, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on Finance. On January 9, the Committee on Finance reported back the bill with amendments to the first and third sections, the Senate approving both amendments. On January 12, the Senate passed the bill as amended. On January 13, the House referred the bill and the amendments from the Senate to the Committee on Finance. On January 14, the Committee on Finance reported back, recommending concurrence in the amendments from the Senate. The House then rejected a proposed amendment to the Senate amendment, striking out “50” and inserting “30” in lieu thereof, by a vote of 20 yeas to 29 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. Also on January 14, the House approved the amendments of the Senate, by a vote of 28 yeas to 19 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. On January 16, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 8-23, 25, 43, 73, 74, 108, 124-26, 302, 312-13, 321-22, 345, 358; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 95, 140, 169, 194, 222, 241, 267, 280.

2In the original act incorporating the State Bank of Illinois, the General Assembly allowed the Bank ten business days to redeem its notes in specie upon demands from clients. However, the pressure caused by the Panic of 1837 and Illinois’ failed system of internal improvements forced the Bank to suspend specie payments for longer than the extended sixty days, which forfeited its charter. In 1840, the legislature reinstated the Bank’s charter.

3In 1831, the General Assembly had authorized borrowing $100,000 from Samuel Wiggins to replenish the school fund, from which the legislature had borrowed to pay state expenses, and to redeem State Bank of Illinois bank notes, which the state had purchased at a heavy discount and which became due in 1831 at face value in specie.
Reg Ankrom, Stephen A. Douglas: The Political Apprenticeship, 1833-1843 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2015), 79-80.
On December 30, 1836, the General Assembly adopted a resolution requesting the governor to report if the bank had fulfilled the provisions of this section. The General Assembly received a response from Governor Joseph Duncan on January 2, 1837.