Whereas, by an act to incorporate the town of Alton, approved February 16th, 1833, among other things, it was enacted that an election should be held on the first Monday in March, next thereafter the passage of said act of incorporation, by the then board of trustees of said

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town, at which all voters qualified should be entitled to vote either for or against said charter or act of incorporation;2 and whereas, it was not known to the inhabitants of said town, that said act had been passed until after the first of March, 1833; and whereas the inhabitants of Alton after said date, and so soon thereafter as said act was made known to them and the proper notices were given, accepted said charter as therein prescribed; and whereas, doubts have arisen that said charter does not confer any powers and authority on the trustees of said town, elected under said charter, by reason of the informality in point of time, when the same was accepted by the people; Therefore,

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the said charter of the town of Alton, and the amendments thereto,3 accepted by the people of Alton as aforesaid, be and the same is hereby declared to be legally and properly accepted by the inhabitants of said town, according to the spirit and meaning of said act of incorporation, of which this is an amendment, as declared in the fifteenth section of said act. And it is hereby declared, that all the official acts heretofore done, and which may and shall hereafter be done by the trustees of Alton, elected under the provisions of said charter, shall be as valid and binding in law and equity, upon said trustees as such; and upon all persons coming within the purview and meaning of said act of incorporation, as if said charter had been accepted according to the strict letter and declaration of said act.

Sec. 2. That the trustees of the town of Alton are hereby authorized and empowered to borrow any sum of money, not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars,4 at such rates of interest as to them shall seem meet and expedient, from time to time, as shall be necessary for the purpose of improving said town, according to the wants and interests of the inhabitants thereof, and to mortgage or pledge, by bond, bond and mortgage, deed of trust, assignment, or otherwise, under the signature of their president, with the corporate seal of said town affixed thereto. All or any of the revenues that may hereafter arise or accrue to said town, from taxation on real or personal estate, from wharfage, from granting licenses to merchants, or from any other source of revenue whatever, within said town of Alton, for any term of years, as to the said trustees shall seem expedient, to pay off and liquidate the principal and interest of any loan that may be made for the purpose aforesaid.

Sec. 3. That the trustees of the town of Alton shall

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hereafter be required to keep all public roads in good order and repair, within one mile from the limits or boundaries of said town; and also, to keep in good order and repair all public roads leading through said town, and for that purpose the said trustees shall have the exclusive right to call upon every male person in Alton, over the age of twenty-one years, and under the age of fifty years, being residents of said town, to perform three days labor on said roads annually, or to pay into the town treasury the sum of seventy-five cents for each and every day that said residents shall refuse to labor as aforesaid; and in case of non-payment or refusal to labor, the trustees shall have power to sue for and collect the same, as now provided, under the provisions of the general road law;5 and that after the due performance of the labor aforesaid, or payment of the penalty aforesaid, said residents shall be exempt from any other taxation under the power and authority of the county commissioners of Madison county, by virtue of the provisions of the general road laws of the state of Illinois.

Sec. 4. That the trustees of the town of Alton shall be required from and after the passage of this act, to provide for, and take care of, all paupers within the limits of said town; and to accomplish this object, the said trustees shall have the exclusive right, power and authority, to license all ferries, taverns, merchants, auctioneers, pedlars, grocers, theatrical and other shows and performances, within the limits of the town of Alton.

Sec. 5. That hereafter, all elections for trustees or other officers of the town of Alton shall be by ballot, at such time or times, as the said trustees shall by ordinance direct.

Sec. 6. The trustees of the town of Alton are hereby empowered and authorized to establish elementary or common schools, wherein reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, grammar, and other useful branches of English education may be taught, and for this purpose said trustees are authorized and empowered to purchase lots, erect buildings or school houses, and suitably to furnish the same, in such parts of the town as may by them be deemed most convenient and beneficial to the citizens thereof; Provided, That not more than one house shall be erected for every seven hundred and fifty inhabitants; and to procure suitable teachers for the same. And said trustees, or persons appointed by them, shall visit said schools quarterly, and report to the town at their annual meeting to be held for that purpose, the state of morals, discipline, and progress in learning in said schools. And the said trustees are hereby empowered to assess upon the real estate of said town the sum necessary to purchase lots and erect the buildings necessary for such purpose, and to assess a

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tax on personal property, sufficient to raise the necessary sum of money for the support of said schools, which assessment shall not exceed one quarter per cent. and constitute a fund exclusively for the support of common schools. The trustees of said town are hereby empowered by ordinance, to direct whatever may be necessary to be done for successfully carrying into operation the provisions of this section.6

Sec. 7. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after the time that said act shall be accepted by a majority of the votes given by the voters of said town, at an election to be held for that purpose, previous to which election at least ten days notice shall be given by the president of the trustees of Alton, to be published in at least two of the public newspapers published in said town; Provided, The election shall be had before the first day of December, in the year of our Lord 1837.7

Approved 2d March, 1837.