Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Dec. 19, 1838.

AN ACT making partial appropriations.
1

Duty of auditor, members, speakers, clerks and assistants, enrolling and engrossing clerks, and door keepers.

Sec[Section]. 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the Auditor of Public Accounts be, and he is hereby, required to draw his warrant on the treasury, for the sum of one hundred dollars, to each member of the General Assembly, and a like warrant to the Speaker of each House, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and Assistant Clerks of each House, to each of the Enrolling and Engrossing Clerks, and door-keepers of both Houses.2

Approved, December 19, 1838.

1Wyatt B. Stapp from the Committee on Finance, which included Abraham Lincoln, introduced HB 16 in the House of Representatives on December 13, 1838. The House passed the bill on December 18. The Senate concurred on the same day. On December 19, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 80, 95, 97, 109, 115; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 77, 78, 91, 95.

2As proscribed by an 1827 Illinois law, members of the Illinois General Assembly earned $3 for each day of the legislative session, and the speakers of both houses earned $4 per day. All members, including speakers, also earned an additional $3 for every twenty miles of travel from their homes to the statehouse. The secretary of the Senate and the clerk of the House earned $5 per day; the enrolling and engrossing clerks of each house earned $4 per day; and the door keepers of each house earned $3 per day. Those salaries remained constant throughout the time that Abraham Lincoln served in the legislature.
“An Act Regulating the Salaries, Fees and Compensation of the Several Officers and Persons therein Mentioned,” approved 19 February 1827, The Revised Code of Laws of Illinois (1827), 203; “Fees and Salaries,” approved 3 March 1845, Revised Statutes of the State of Illinois (1845), 238.