Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Mar.[March] 2, 1839.

AN ACT concerning the town of Naples.
1

Branch road abandoned.

Duty of Board of Public Works.

Compromise with contractors.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the Branch railroad and appendages thereof, authorized by the Board of Public Works, from the Northern Cross railroad to the town of Naples, be, and the same is hereby, abandoned; and the Board of Public Works elected at the present session of the General Assembly be, and they are hereby, required to adopt such measures as will secure from waste and injury all public property and materials appertaining to said branch and appendages, and make such disposition of said materials and property as they may deem the interests of the State require, and to effect such a compromise with the contractors thereof as they may deem justice demands, and will be most conducive to the interests of the State.

Act repealed.

Sec. 2. That the act, entitled “An act to construct a railroad from Naples to Jacksonville,” approved February 18, 1837, be, and the same is hereby, repealed.

Approved, March 2, 1839.

1James Allin introduced this bill to the Senate on February 20, 1839. The Senate laid it on the table on February 23, taking it back up on February 27. The next day, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 18 yeas and 14 nays. The House of Representatives rejected the bill on March 1, by a vote of 29 yeas and 33 nays, Abraham Lincoln voting nay. Later that day, the House took up the bill again and passed it by a vote of 34 yeas and 28 nays, Lincoln again voting nay. The Council of Revision approved the bill on March 2 and the act became law.
Journal of the House of Representatives (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1838), 559, 576, 580; Journal of the Senate (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1838), 369, 389, 439-40, 455, 491, 511.