Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force 17th Dec.[December] 1836.

AN ACT to provide for receiving a distributive share of the surplus revenue of the United States on deposit.
1

State of Illinois consents to receive upon deposite al sums of money which is or may become due her from the U.S. under the act of congress, approved, 23d June, 1836.

The faith of the State pledged to comply with the provisions in said act.

Treasurer of State authorised to receive the money from the U.S. and give certificate.

Sec.[Section] 2. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, That the State of Illinois does hereby consent, and agree to receive, upon deposite from the United States, all sums of money to which the State of Illinois is or may be entitled under and according to the provisions of an act of the Congress of the United States, entitled “an act to regulate the deposites of the public money,” approved on the twenty-third day of June one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six. And the faith of the State is hereby irrevocably pledged to comply with and perform all the conditions and provisions contained in the said act, in relation to receiving and refunding the said money; and the treasurer of this State 2 is authorised to receive from the United States the said sums of money3, and to execute certificates of deposite for the same, in such forms and with such conditions as is required by the act of Congress aforesaid.

Sec. 2. This act shall be in force from its passage.4

Approved 17th Dec., 1836.

1Richard B. Servant introduced SB 2 in the Senate on December 13, 1836. On December 14, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee of the Whole and made it the order of the day for December 15. On December 15, the Senate discharged the Committee of the Whole from further consideration. The Senate rejected an amendment to the bill by a vote of 8 yeas to 28 nays. The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 35 yeas to 2 nays. On December 16, the House of Representatives amended the bill by striking out the words “in specie.” The House approved the amendment by a vote of 54 yeas to 32 nays, with Abraham Lincoln calling for the votes and voting nay. The House further amended the bill by striking out the words “Governor for the time being,” and inserting in lieu thereof the words “Treasurer of this State.” The House approved this amendment by a vote of 81 yeas to 5 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House passed the bill as amended by a unanimous vote, with Lincoln voting yea. On December 16, the Senate concurred with the House amendment deleting reference to specie by a vote of 22 yeas to 17 nays, and the amendment substituting the state treasurer for the governor by a vote of 26 yeas to 13 nays. On December 17, the House and Senate adopted a resolution stipulating that money received must be paid in specie. On December 17, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and act became law. On December 24, the House and Senate adopted a resolution calling on the governor to send a certified copy of the act to the secretary of the treasury.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Tenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at a Special Session of the General Assembly, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, July 10, 1837 (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 54, 56, 57-59, 66, 68, 70-71, 72-73, 76, 122; Journal of the Senate of the Tenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at a Special Session, Begun and Held in Vandalia, July 10, 1837 (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 39, 56, 64, 68-69, 72-73, 74, 78, 108, 111-12.

2On December 16, 1836, the House of Representatives amended the bill by striking out the words “Governor for the time being,” and inserting in lieu thereof the words “treasurer of this State.”
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 57-58.

3On December 16, 1836, the House of Representatives amended the bill by striking out the words “in specie.” On December 17, the House and Senate adopted a resolution restoring reference to specie.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 57, 70-71, 72-73; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 72-73, 78.

4“An Act to Regulate the Deposites of Public Money,” or the Deposit Act for short, was a compromise plan to create a national banking system in the aftermath of Andrew Jackson’s veto of the re-charter bill for the Second Bank of the United States. Section thirteen made provision for the disbursement of federal surplus revenue to the states. All money in the treasury on January 1, 1837, in excess of $5 million was to be deposited with the states in proportion to their representation in the House of Representatives and Senate. States were to receive the money in four installments: in January, April, July, and October 1837. In return, states were to give the secretary of the treasury negotiable certificates of deposit which the secretary could sell and which, if sold, would bear interest at five percent annually. Illinois received disbursements of $477,919, $142,327 of which was used to construct railroads as part of the Illinois Internal Improvement System, and the remainder invested in the capital stock of the State Bank of Illinois and the Bank of Illinois.
Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson and the Bank War (New York: W. W. Norton, 1967), 170-71; “Report from the Secretary of the Treasury,” December 27, 1839, in Public Documents Printed by the Order of the Senate of the United States (Washington, DC: Blair and Rives, 1840), v. 2, no. 14, 69-70; “An Act to Regulate the Deposites of Public Money,” 23 June 1836, Statutes at Large of the United States, 5:55.