Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

An act directing a resurvey & location of all that part of the Central Rail Road South of Vandalia.
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Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the Board of Commissioners of Public Works, are hereby directed to cause ^that^ all further progress in the contracts for the grading, masonry & bridging of that part of the Central Rail Road, south of Vandalia, be stayed, until a full survey & examination can be had for a more direct route for said road, commencing at Vandalia, in Fayette county; & passing through Salem, in Marion county; Frankfort in Franklin County; Mount Vernon, in Jefferson County; ^Frankfort, in Franklin county;^ Vienna in Johnson County; & terminating at such a point on the Ohio River, below the Grand Chain, as shall appear to said Board most for the interest of the State.

Sec. 2. If upon such survey & examination it shall appear, that a road of equal capacity with the one already located, can be constructed upon the route hereby directed to be surveyed, the total cost of which shall be less than the cost of the road as at present located, by the whole amount already expended on said located line, together with all reasonable allowances for damages, then, & in that case, said Board shall forthwith proceed to construct said road on the route hereby directed to be surveyed.

Sec. 3. If upon such survey & examination it shall appear, that the road, as at present located, will be less expensive

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than upon the route hereby directed to be surveyed, then, & in that case, the said Board shall proceed to construct the said road on its present location.

Sec. 4. In the event of the route being changed, or any part thereof, the Board of Commissioners of Public Works shall pay to the contractors for the execution of said work, so changed, the full amount due said contractors, ^under their contracts,^ upon said contractors executing a release, absolving the State from all liability, either on account of said change, or by reason of the suspension of the work; which release shall be filed in the office of the Board of Commissioners of Public Works.

This act shall take effect from & after its passage.

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An Act, Directing a resurvey & location of all that part of the Central Rail Road South of Vandalia.

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[02]/[15]/[1839]
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[02]/[15]/[1839]
Indefinitely postponed

1On January 22, 1839, James Copeland in the House of Representatives presented the petition of citizens of Johnson County, requesting a relocation of the Central Rail Road south of Vandalia. The House referred the petition to a seven-person select committee to which it had referred other petitions on the same subject. In response to this and other petitions, Copeland of the aforesaid select committee introduced HB 220 in the House on January 28. On February 18, the House refused to engross the bill for a third reading.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 3, 1838 (Vandalia,IL: William Walters, 1838), 255, 296, 416-17, 427.