Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

ILL. LEGIS. ) SENATE. ( 11th ASSEM.

January 19, 1839.
Read twice, laid on the table, and ordered to be printed
MR. Thomas, from the Committee on Canals and Canal Lands, introduced the following
BILL
For an Act to amend the several laws in relation to the Illinois and Michigan canal.

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4 Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly,
That the sales of canal lands and town lots heretofore authorized by law shall be regulated as
follows: The terms of sale shall be, that each purchaser shall pay, at the time of sale, ten per
cent. on the amount of the purchase, and shall be bound to pay an interest of six per cent. per
annum upon the balance at the end of every year for twenty years, at which time the princi-
pal shall be paid. The lands and lots heretofore valued shall be revalued before being offered
for sale under the provisions of this act; and if the sales of lands selected for sale under the
provisions of the act entitled “An act to provide for the sale of certain canal lands and for other
purposes,” approved on the twenty-first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-
seven, shall not amount to four hundred thousand dollars within three months from the termi-
nation of the last public sale thereof, the commissioners are authorized to select other lots of
land under the provisions of said act, and after valuing them as required by law, offer them
for sale upon the terms herein provided, and continue to make selections, valuations[,] and sales,
after the expiration of three months from the termination of the last sale, until the sales shall
amount to the aforesaid sum of four hundred thousand dollars.
Sec. 2. In all sales of lands and lots under the provisions of this act, the following conditions
shall be annexed, and shall compose part of the contract:
1. That the purchaser will not appropriate or use the lot or land so as to reduce its value by
means of the use thereof.^Yours T T^

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35 2. That on failure to make payment of interest and principal, according to the terms of sale,
all rights acquired by the purchaser, and the money paid, shall be forfeited to the State.
3. That payments upon purchases shall be made at Chicago, Ottawa, or Lockport, as may be
provided by law, to the person or persons who may be authorized to receive the same.
4. That timber upon land purchased shall not be sold, except upon being converted by the
owner of the land into furniture or machinery, and shall be used only, with this exception, for
ordinary farming or agricultural purposes upon the land of the purchase.
5. That a violation of any one of the conditions of sale shall work a forfeiture of all rights
acquired by the purchaser.
6. That a lien shall exist in favor of the State, as well upon all improvements, buildings and
machinery which may be made or placed upon lands or lots, for the payment of the purchase
money and interest, as upon the said lands or lots.
^(^7. That the State may waive the rights growing out of a forfeiture of the lands or lots, and
coerce payment of the purchase money, and compel the purchaser to receive the title.^)^
8. That in case of forfeiture of any lot or land for non-payment of interest or principal of
purchase money, or for any violation of the conditions of sale, the purchaser shall be liable to
pay the difference between the price for which the land may be subsequently sold and the
price agreed to be paid by such purchaser: Provided, That such difference shall have been oc-
casioned by any act of the purchaser, or shall be a consequence resulting from improper use of
the premises, or any part thereof.
9. That no buildings or fixtures shall be removed from any lot or land sold under the pro-
visions of this act, without the consent of the Board or State.
10. That no stream of water passing through the canal lands shall pass by the sale so as to
deprive the State from the use of such water, if necessary to supply the canal, without charge
for the same.
11. That the State, the Board of Canal Commissioners, the agents of each, and all contractors
acting under the authority of the Board or State, shall have a right of way over and upon said
lands, in the construction and use of the canal, free from charge: Provided, That purchasers or
owners may select the ground on which roads for the uses aforesaid shall pass, if there be no-
road at the time of purchase.
12. Lands situated upon streams which have been meandered by the surveys of public lands

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10 by the United States, shall be considered as bounded by the lines of those surveys, and not by
the streams. ^x^
Upon the terms and conditions specified in this act, the Board shall execute the laws here-
tofore enacted authorizing sales of canal lots and lands, notwithstanding the time limited for
those sales may have expired.
Sec. 3. Purchasers of canal lots and lands shall be entitled to certificates of purchase from
the Treasurer of the Board, upon making the first payment of the purchase money, which shall
contain a description of the lot or land purchased, and specify the terms of sale and the condi-
tion upon which purchasers will be entitled to patents; which certificate shall be surrendered to
the Board when full payment of the purchase money is made, and purchasers shall, upon such
surrender, be entitled to final certificates, which are required to be given by the thirty-seventh
section of the act entitled “An act for the construction of the Illinois and Michigan canal,” ap-
proved on the ninth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six; and such final
certificates may be given to assigns or transfers, upon making proof of assignments and trans-
fers, as required by the act entitled “An act in relation to the title of school and canal lands,”
approved on the sixteenth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven; and
patents shall issue upon all final certificates to purchasers, their heirs or assigns, as required by
the above recited acts; and purchasers of lots and lands heretofore sold shall be entitled to
certificates under the provisions of this section.
Sec. 4. Certificates of the purchase of canal lots and lands shall be evidence of title in the
purchaser, his, her or their heirs or assigns, except as against the State or a patent.
Sec. 5. The authority conferred upon the Board of Commissioners of the Illinois and Michi-
gan canal to make rules and regulations from time to time in respect to persons employed about
the canal, shall extend to authorize the Board to require each contractor to furnish to the
Board, quarterly or monthly, ^(^a roll containing the names of all persons employed in the execu-
tion of contracts during the preceding quarter or month, as the case may be, the date of em-
ployment, the rate of compensation per day or month, the kind of employment, the term of
employment, the amount due for services rendered or materials furnished, and the time or day
of payment, and the date at which any person may have left the service, which shall be verified
by the affidavit of the contractor furnishing the same, and filed and preserved by the Board.
The Board shall also have power to require contractors to furnish, at the time of furnishing

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2 the rolls aforesaid,^)^ satisfactory evidence ^by the oath of one or more persons or otherwise^ that the persons employed have been paid for their ser-
vices to the date of the previous payment; and in default of furnishing said evidence, to with-
hold payment upon estimates until the same is furnished. ^x^
Sec. 6. In case any person whose name appears on the roll required to be made and fur-
nished by the foregoing section, shall obtain a judgment against the contractor for services ren-
dered upon the canal, and the contractor shall not, within twenty days, pay such judgment, the
Board is hereby authorized to pay the same; and such payment shall be a valid set-off against
any claim of the contractor upon his contract, or for any services rendered the Board or the
State.
Sec. 7. In making payments to contractors, the Board is authorized to deliver checks upon the
Bank in which the canal fund shall be deposited, in such amounts as may suit the convenience
of the contractor; the checks shall be signed by the President of the Board, countersigned by
the acting commissioner, and made payable to the order of the treasurer; and upon making
payments the treasurer shall take duplicate receipts containing a descriptive list of the checks
delivered, one of which shall be filed with the secretary of the Board, and the other retained
by the treasurer, and the secretary shall make weekly reports to the Bank of the delivery of
such checks, giving in such report a description thereof.
Sec. 8. The checks being signed by the president and acting commissioner, shall remain in
possession of the secretary under the direction of the Board, and shall be delivered to the treas-
urer when required for use, who shall execute a receipt to the secretary, containing a descrip-
tive list of the checks delivered.
Sec. 9. At the end of every month, or oftener if deemed necessary, the Board shall examine
and settle the accounts of the treasurer, and make entries on the books of the secretary showing
the true state of the accounts, and the acting commissioner shall settle the accounts with the
Bank in which the canal fund may be deposited every three months, upon which settlement
the Bank shall be entitled to credit for the amount of checks returned to the said commis-
sioner; which checks, when returned by the Bank1, shall be delivered to the secretary of the
Board, and may be again used by the treasurer in making payments, upon the terms and in the
manner required in the first instance, and no money shall be drawn from the Bank except upon
checks executed and delivered as required by this act: Provided, That no check shall be made
under the provisions of this act upon any Bank out of this State.
Sec. 10. In making estimates of the amount and value of work executed upon contracts,
regard shall be had in fixing the price or value, as well to the work to be performed as that exe

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13 cuted, and the price shall bear a rateable proportion to each, and the amount to be retained
from contractors as security for their performance, shall have relation to the amount and value
of work to be performed, as well as to that executed; and in all cases of payments upon esti-
mates, the amount retained shall be graduated and reduced in the proportions following: At
every alternate estimate, one-half of the amount retained at the previous estimate shall be paid
until the contract shall be more than half completed; after which time the first payment shall
include one-half of the whole amount retained upon previous estimates; and at every alternate
estimate thereafter, three-fourths of the amount retained at the previous estimate may be paid,
until the completion of the contract.
Sec. 11. Contractors who feel themselves aggrieved by the estimates or measurements of en-
gineers, may apply to the Board to order a new measurement, and such application shall be
granted upon condition that in case the second estimate does not exceed the first, the con-
tractor shall pay the cost of making the second estimate; and in such case the measurement
shall be made by a different engineer from the one who made the first.
Sec. 12. In order to afford facilities to contractors, the Canal Commissioners may purchase
and keep on hand for their use, provisions, powder, tools, iron[,] and steel, upon the plan hereto-
fore adopted, and deliver such articles in payment of estimates at the cost thereof.
Sec. 13. When contracts have been or may be forfeited or abandoned by contractors, the
Canal Commissioners may, in accordance with the practice, make new contracts without adver[-]
tising for proposals, provided the price does not exceed the estimates of the engineer.
Sec. 14. Town lots and land valued and offered for sale by the Board of Canal Commissioners,
and not sold at public auction, may be purchased at their valuation at any time within three
months after being offered at public sale, the sale to be made by the secretary of the Board, and
the treasurer to give a certificate of purchase upon receiving a certificate of the deposite of
the amount of purchase money in one of the Banks in this State. But no one person or com-
pany shall be permitted to purchase, at private sale, more than three lots, not more than three
hundred and twenty acres of land, nor shall any such sale be made, except to persons who in-
tend bona fidely to improve and occupy the lot or land purchased; and every purchaser, before
being permitted to purchase at private sale, shall make and file with the secretary of the Board,
an affidavit in the words following: “I, A. B. do swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I de-
sire to purchase the (here insert the description of the lot or land) for the purpose of improv-
ing and occupying the same bona fidely, that the purchase is not for the uses of, nor in trust for,
any person or persons whatever except for myself.”

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2 Sec. 15. The Board of Canal Commissioners shall proceed to the construction of the canal
diverging from the main trunk of the Illinois and Michigan canal through the Saganaskee
swamp2 and Grassy lake, to intersect the Calumet river at the most practicable point, the sur-
vey of which was authorized by the fourth section of the act entitled “An act to amend the
act entitled ‘An act for the construction of the Illinois and Michigan canal,’ approved January
9th, 1836,” approved the 2d of March, 1837, whenever they shall be notified that the State of
Indiana has commenced the construction of a corresponding work to connect her system of
internal improvement with the Illinois and Michigan canal; and the cost of such construction
shall be paid out of the canal fund. The said canal shall be deemed and considered as part
and parcel of the Illinois and Michigan canal, and the laws and regulations adopted with ref-
erence to the construction thereof, the duties of Canal Commissioners, the making and execu-
ting contracts, shall be held and deemed applicable to the canal directed to be constructed by
this act.
Sec. 16. Each judge of a circuit court of any county through which the canal passes, is au-
thorized and required to appoint a Board of assessors, not exceeding six in number, under
the provisions of the act recited in the fifteenth section of this act, and to fill all vacancies
which may occur in said Board; the powers and duties of the Board, and the qualifications of
the members thereof, shall be the same as those provided in the act aforesaid, but no more than
three of said Board shall be authorized to act upon any one case.
Sec. 17. No damage shall be allowed to any person for the use of water in any river or
stream, the bed of which, or some part thereof, does not belong to the claimant, nor for the use
of water in any stream whether navigable or not, if the boundaries of the land through which
it passes are fixed by land marks, and not by the stream itself.
Sec. 18. Islands and inundated lands situated within the limits of sections of lands granted
to the State by the United States, shall be deemed, occupied, and held as canal lands.
Sec. 19. Purchasers of canal lots and lands may pay the amount due upon the purchase at
any time, and receive final certificates from the treasurer, as herein provided.

[ docketing ]
K Fayette County

[ docketing ]
F
F
F
F F.

1Referenced Bank could not be positively identified.

2That Ausaganaskee Swamp, also called the Saganaskee Swamp or Slough, is located between the Calumet and Des Plaines Rivers southwest of Chicago in Cook County.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1 2 3 4	Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the sales of canal lands and town lots heretofore authorized by law shall be regulated as follows: The terms of sale shall be, that each purchaser shall pay, at the time of sale, ten per cent. on the amount of the purchase, and shall be bound to pay an interest of six per cent. per annum upon the balance at the end of every year for twenty years, at which time the princi- pal shall be paid. The lands and lots heretofore valued shall be revalued before being offered for sale under the provisions of this act; and if the sales of lands selected for sale under the provisions of the act entitled “An act to provide for the sale of certain canal lands and for other purposes,” approved on the twenty-first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty- seven, shall not amount to four hundred thousand dollars within three months from the termi- nation of the last public sale thereof, the commissioners are authorized to select other lots of land under the provisions of said act, and after valuing them as required by law, offer them for sale upon the terms herein provided, and continue to make selections, valuations[,] and sales, after the expiration of three months from the termination of the last sale, until the sales shall amount to the aforesaid sum of four hundred thousand dollars. Sec. 2. In all sales of lands and lots under the provisions of this act, the following conditions shall be annexed, and shall compose part of the contract: 1. That the purchaser will not appropriate or use the lot or land so as to reduce its value by means of the use thereof.^Yours T T^
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5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35	2. That on failure to make payment of interest and principal, according to the terms of sale, all rights acquired by the purchaser, and the money paid, shall be forfeited to the State. 3. That payments upon purchases shall be made at Chicago, Ottawa, or Lockport, as may be provided by law, to the person or persons who may be authorized to receive the same. 4. That timber upon land purchased shall not be sold, except upon being converted by the owner of the land into furniture or machinery, and shall be used only, with this exception, for ordinary farming or agricultural purposes upon the land of the purchase. 5. That a violation of any one of the conditions of sale shall work a forfeiture of all rights acquired by the purchaser. 6. That a lien shall exist in favor of the State, as well upon all improvements, buildings and machinery which may be made or placed upon lands or lots, for the payment of the purchase money and interest, as upon the said lands or lots. ^(^7. That the State may waive the rights growing out of a forfeiture of the lands or lots, and coerce payment of the purchase money, and compel the purchaser to receive the title.^)^ 8. That in case of forfeiture of any lot or land for non-payment of interest or principal of purchase money, or for any violation of the conditions of sale, the purchaser shall be liable to pay the difference between the price for which the land may be subsequently sold and the price agreed to be paid by such purchaser: Provided, That such difference shall have been oc- casioned by any act of the purchaser, or shall be a consequence resulting from improper use of the premises, or any part thereof. 9. That no buildings or fixtures shall be removed from any lot or land sold under the pro- visions of this act, without the consent of the Board or State. 10. That no stream of water passing through the canal lands shall pass by the sale so as to deprive the State from the use of such water, if necessary to supply the canal, without charge for the same. 11. That the State, the Board of Canal Commissioners, the agents of each, and all contractors acting under the authority of the Board or State, shall have a right of way over and upon said lands, in the construction and use of the canal, free from charge: Provided, That purchasers or owners may select the ground on which roads for the uses aforesaid shall pass, if there be no- road at the time of purchase. 12. Lands situated upon streams which have been meandered by the surveys of public lands
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36 37 38 39 40 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	by the United States, shall be considered as bounded by the lines of those surveys, and not by the streams. ^x^ Upon the terms and conditions specified in this act, the Board shall execute the laws here- tofore enacted authorizing sales of canal lots and lands, notwithstanding the time limited for those sales may have expired. Sec. 3. Purchasers of canal lots and lands shall be entitled to certificates of purchase from the Treasurer of the Board, upon making the first payment of the purchase money, which shall contain a description of the lot or land purchased, and specify the terms of sale and the condi- tion upon which purchasers will be entitled to patents; which certificate shall be surrendered to the Board when full payment of the purchase money is made, and purchasers shall, upon such surrender, be entitled to final certificates, which are required to be given by the thirty-seventh section of the act entitled “An act for the construction of the Illinois and Michigan canal,” ap- proved on the ninth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six; and such final certificates may be given to assigns or transfers, upon making proof of assignments and trans- fers, as required by the act entitled “An act in relation to the title of school and canal lands,” approved on the sixteenth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven; and patents shall issue upon all final certificates to purchasers, their heirs or assigns, as required by the above recited acts; and purchasers of lots and lands heretofore sold shall be entitled to certificates under the provisions of this section. Sec. 4. Certificates of the purchase of canal lots and lands shall be evidence of title in the purchaser, his, her or their heirs or assigns, except as against the State or a patent. Sec. 5. The authority conferred upon the Board of Commissioners of the Illinois and Michi- gan canal to make rules and regulations from time to time in respect to persons employed about the canal, shall extend to authorize the Board to require each contractor to furnish to the Board, quarterly or monthly, ^(^a roll containing the names of all persons employed in the execu- tion of contracts during the preceding quarter or month, as the case may be, the date of em- ployment, the rate of compensation per day or month, the kind of employment, the term of employment, the amount due for services rendered or materials furnished, and the time or day of payment, and the date at which any person may have left the service, which shall be verified by the affidavit of the contractor furnishing the same, and filed and preserved by the Board. The Board shall also have power to require contractors to furnish, at the time of furnishing
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11 12 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2	the rolls aforesaid,^)^ satisfactory evidence ^by the oath of one or more persons or otherwise^ that the persons employed have been paid for their ser- vices to the date of the previous payment; and in default of furnishing said evidence, to with- hold payment upon estimates until the same is furnished. ^x^ Sec. 6. In case any person whose name appears on the roll required to be made and fur- nished by the foregoing section, shall obtain a judgment against the contractor for services ren- dered upon the canal, and the contractor shall not, within twenty days, pay such judgment, the Board is hereby authorized to pay the same; and such payment shall be a valid set-off against any claim of the contractor upon his contract, or for any services rendered the Board or the State. Sec. 7. In making payments to contractors, the Board is authorized to deliver checks upon the Bank in which the canal fund shall be deposited, in such amounts as may suit the convenience of the contractor; the checks shall be signed by the President of the Board, countersigned by the acting commissioner, and made payable to the order of the treasurer; and upon making payments the treasurer shall take duplicate receipts containing a descriptive list of the checks delivered, one of which shall be filed with the secretary of the Board, and the other retained by the treasurer, and the secretary shall make weekly reports to the Bank of the delivery of such checks, giving in such report a description thereof. Sec. 8. The checks being signed by the president and acting commissioner, shall remain in possession of the secretary under the direction of the Board, and shall be delivered to the treas- urer when required for use, who shall execute a receipt to the secretary, containing a descrip- tive list of the checks delivered. Sec. 9. At the end of every month, or oftener if deemed necessary, the Board shall examine and settle the accounts of the treasurer, and make entries on the books of the secretary showing the true state of the accounts, and the acting commissioner shall settle the accounts with the Bank in which the canal fund may be deposited every three months, upon which settlement the Bank shall be entitled to credit for the amount of checks returned to the said commis- sioner; which checks, when returned by the Bank1, shall be delivered to the secretary of the Board, and may be again used by the treasurer in making payments, upon the terms and in the manner required in the first instance, and no money shall be drawn from the Bank except upon checks executed and delivered as required by this act: Provided, That no check shall be made under the provisions of this act upon any Bank out of this State. Sec. 10. In making estimates of the amount and value of work executed upon contracts, regard shall be had in fixing the price or value, as well to the work to be performed as that exe
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3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13	cuted, and the price shall bear a rateable proportion to each, and the amount to be retained from contractors as security for their performance, shall have relation to the amount and value of work to be performed, as well as to that executed; and in all cases of payments upon esti- mates, the amount retained shall be graduated and reduced in the proportions following: At every alternate estimate, one-half of the amount retained at the previous estimate shall be paid until the contract shall be more than half completed; after which time the first payment shall include one-half of the whole amount retained upon previous estimates; and at every alternate estimate thereafter, three-fourths of the amount retained at the previous estimate may be paid, until the completion of the contract. Sec. 11. Contractors who feel themselves aggrieved by the estimates or measurements of en- gineers, may apply to the Board to order a new measurement, and such application shall be granted upon condition that in case the second estimate does not exceed the first, the con- tractor shall pay the cost of making the second estimate; and in such case the measurement shall be made by a different engineer from the one who made the first. Sec. 12. In order to afford facilities to contractors, the Canal Commissioners may purchase and keep on hand for their use, provisions, powder, tools, iron[,] and steel, upon the plan hereto- fore adopted, and deliver such articles in payment of estimates at the cost thereof. Sec. 13. When contracts have been or may be forfeited or abandoned by contractors, the Canal Commissioners may, in accordance with the practice, make new contracts without adver[-] tising for proposals, provided the price does not exceed the estimates of the engineer. Sec. 14. Town lots and land valued and offered for sale by the Board of Canal Commissioners, and not sold at public auction, may be purchased at their valuation at any time within three months after being offered at public sale, the sale to be made by the secretary of the Board, and the treasurer to give a certificate of purchase upon receiving a certificate of the deposite of the amount of purchase money in one of the Banks in this State. But no one person or com- pany shall be permitted to purchase, at private sale, more than three lots, not more than three hundred and twenty acres of land, nor shall any such sale be made, except to persons who in- tend bona fidely to improve and occupy the lot or land purchased; and every purchaser, before being permitted to purchase at private sale, shall make and file with the secretary of the Board, an affidavit in the words following: “I, A. B. do swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I de- sire to purchase the (here insert the description of the lot or land) for the purpose of improv- ing and occupying the same bona fidely, that the purchase is not for the uses of, nor in trust for, any person or persons whatever except for myself.”
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 1 2 1 2	Sec. 15. The Board of Canal Commissioners shall proceed to the construction of the canal diverging from the main trunk of the Illinois and Michigan canal through the Saganaskee swamp2 and Grassy lake, to intersect the Calumet river at the most practicable point, the sur- vey of which was authorized by the fourth section of the act entitled “An act to amend the act entitled ‘An act for the construction of the Illinois and Michigan canal,’ approved January 9th, 1836,” approved the 2d of March, 1837, whenever they shall be notified that the State of Indiana has commenced the construction of a corresponding work to connect her system of internal improvement with the Illinois and Michigan canal; and the cost of such construction shall be paid out of the canal fund. The said canal shall be deemed and considered as part and parcel of the Illinois and Michigan canal, and the laws and regulations adopted with ref- erence to the construction thereof, the duties of Canal Commissioners, the making and execu- ting contracts, shall be held and deemed applicable to the canal directed to be constructed by this act. Sec. 16. Each judge of a circuit court of any county through which the canal passes, is au- thorized and required to appoint a Board of assessors, not exceeding six in number, under the provisions of the act recited in the fifteenth section of this act, and to fill all vacancies which may occur in said Board; the powers and duties of the Board, and the qualifications of the members thereof, shall be the same as those provided in the act aforesaid, but no more than three of said Board shall be authorized to act upon any one case. Sec. 17. No damage shall be allowed to any person for the use of water in any river or stream, the bed of which, or some part thereof, does not belong to the claimant, nor for the use of water in any stream whether navigable or not, if the boundaries of the land through which it passes are fixed by land marks, and not by the stream itself. Sec. 18. Islands and inundated lands situated within the limits of sections of lands granted to the State by the United States, shall be deemed, occupied, and held as canal lands. Sec. 19. Purchasers of canal lots and lands may pay the amount due upon the purchase at any time, and receive final certificates from the treasurer, as herein provided.