In force, 18th Jan.[January] 1840.
AN ACT to compensate certain witnesses.
1$2 per day for attendance
$2 for 20 miles travel
Proviso
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That there be allowed to each witness, summoned by the House of Representatives at this session of the General Assembly, the sum of two dollars for each day such witness was compelled to attend, and two dollars for every twenty miles necessary travel, to, and from the Seat of
Government.2 And the Auditor shall issue warrants in favor of each individual, the number of days and miles being
sworn to, before any qualified person, by the individual presenting such claim, or
proved by any credible witness: Provided, That witnesses, summoned while at the Seat of Government, shall not be allowed mileage.
This act to be in force from and after its passage.
Approved, January 18th, 1840.
1On January 10, 1840, Representative Edwin B. Webb introduced HB 119 in the House of Representatives, and the House passed the bill. On January 11, the Senate passed the bill. On January 18, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1839. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 149, 158-59, 196, 200, 205; Illinois Senate Journal. 1839. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 101, 102.
2There was a substantial debate in the Senate on January 11, 1840, over the per diem, with proposed amounts ranging from $1.25
to $3. Ultimately, they settled on the bill’s original per diem of $2.
Illinois State Register, 18 January 1840, 2:3.
Printed Document, 1 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Eleventh General Assembly, at their Special Session (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 46, GA Session: 11-S,