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Resolved by the house of Rep the senate concurring herin that our senators in congress be requested and our representatives instructed to use their influence to procure
the passage of a law to allow members of the general assembly of this state to pass letters[,] Documents[,] or communications free from postage as members of congress do, where it may be said by the person that his intentions are purely for diffusing
information to the common people of this state2
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Free of postage
1On January 4, 1837, Benjamin S. Enloe introduced the resolution in the House of Representatives, and the House adopted it. On January 5, the Senate tabled the resolution until December 1, 1837.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 172-73, 181; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 158.
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. Abuse was rife under the system, prompting charges of corruption and
misfeasance, and Congress briefly abolished the privilege after the Civil War, only
to reinstate it after a few years. In 1834, the Senate considered a similar resolution, but it stalled in the Committee of the Whole, and it tabled a similar resolution coming out of the House of Representatives.
James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 10 vols., (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899), 10:375
Handwritten Document, 2 page(s), Folder 495, GA Session 10-1, Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL) ,