In force, Feb.[February] 23, 1839.
AN ACT to provide for a loan for canal purposes.
1
Additional sum may be borrowed, not over $4,000,000.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That in addition to the loans heretofore authorized to be made for the purpose of aiding in the construction of the Illinois and Michigan canal, there shall be borrowed, for the purpose aforesaid, a sum not exceeding four millions of dollars, for a term not exceeding fifty years, and at a rate of interest not exceeding six per cent. per annum, payable yearly; the payment of interest and reimbursement of principal to be made at such place, within or without the United States, and in such currency, as may be agreed on.
Gov.[Governor] to execute bonds.
Bonds, how signed.
Sec. 2. The Governor of the State is authorized and required to execute bonds for and in behalf of the State, for any sum or sums of money which may be borrowed under the provisions of this act, in the English or any foreign language, stipulating for the payment of the interest and principal, within or without the United States, in such currency as may be agreed on by the contracting parties; which bonds shall be signed by the Governor, countersigned by the Auditor of Public Accounts, and the impress of the great seal of State shall be affixed thereon by the Secretary of State.
Sec. 3. The State doth hereby agree and irrevocably pledge its faith to provide sufficient resources and means with which to pay the interest accruing upon said bonds as it becomes due and payable, and to reimburse the principal when the same becomes due; and doth hereby irrevocably pledge, as security for this purpose, all the lands heretofore granted or which may hereafter be granted to the State of Illinois by the United States to aid the State in the construction of said canal; and the said canal with all its appurtenances, and the revenue arising from the use of said canal, and every branch or part thereof, subject to the liens heretofore created upon the lands, canal, and revenues aforesaid, as well as all premiums which may be obtained from the sale of bonds and certificates of stock created by this act; and the rents, issues, and profits, which may in anywise accrue to the State from the lands and premises herein pledged, as well as from water privileges upon the line of the canal.
Name of bonds.
Sec. 4. It shall be deemed a good execution of the power to borrow to sell the bonds herein authorized to be made; and the said bonds shall be so framed as that they shall be in form and substance certificates of stock, and shall be called the “Illinois and Michigan Canal Stock.”
Agent to sell.
Sec. 5. When bonds shall have been executed as required by this act, The Governor is authorized to constitute and appoint a suitable agent or agents to sell and transfer the same, and vest the said agent or agents with full power to take all proper means and measures for the sale and transfer of said bonds.

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Sec. 6. All money obtained under the provisions of this act shall be kept and used according to the provisions of the law now in force in relation to the canal fund.
Sec. 7. The right is reserved to the State to sell any of the lands pledged by this act, and the proceeds of sales to be applied exclusively to the payment of interest upon canal loans, or to expenses of constructing the canal.
No bonds to be sold for less than par.
Sec. 8. No bonds shall be sold under the provisions of this act for less than their par value.
Sec. 9. In contracting for loans under the provisions of this act, provision shall be made for the reception of the money by the State in sums of one hundred thousand dollars, as the same may be wanting for expenditure upon the canal.
Approved, February 23, 1839.
1On January 18, 1839, Senator William Thomas introduced SB 93 in the Senate, The Senate then laid the bill on the table and ordered it to be printed. On February 4, the Senate amended the bill. On February 7, the Senate passed the bill by a voice vote. On February 18, the House of Representatives referred the bill to the Committee on Canals and Canal Lands. On February 21, the Committee on Canals and Canal Lands reported the bill favorably without amendment, and the House passed the bill by a vote of 47 yeas to 19 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting yea. On February 23, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
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), 367, 427, 467, 488; Journal of the Senate 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), 186, 236 272-273, 292, 375-376, 393, 406.

Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Eleventh General Assembly (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1839), 168-69, GA Session: 11-1,