Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

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Sec[Section] 1 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, Represented in the General Assembly That county commissioners Courts may grant licenses to keep groceries for a term not exceeding one year, upon the following conditions; first, the applicant shall pay into the county Treasury for the privilige granted, a sum not less than twenty five dollars nor exceeding one hundred ^and fifty^ dollars2, in the discretion of the Court; secondly, that the applicant shall execute a bond with security as hereinafter required.

Sec. 2. A grocery shall be deemed to include all houses and places where spirituous or vinous liquors are retained by less quantities than one quart.

Sec. 3. Every person who shall not have a legal license to keep a grocery, who shall barter, exchange[,] or sell any wine, rum, brandy, gin, whiskey or other vinous, spirituous or mixed liquors by a less quantity than one quart, shall, on conviction, be fined for every offence ten dollars.

Sec.4. No license shall be granted unless the applicant for the same shall first give bond to the Governor of the State of Illinois for the use of the county where the license is granted, with good security in the sum of five hundred dollars, to be approved by the Court granting the same, that such applicant shall at all times keep a quiet and orderly house and observe all the laws

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and ordinances which are or shall be made or be in force relating to grocery keepers in this state.

Sec. 5. In case the county Commissioners’ Courts shall consider the bond given as aforesaid, has been broken and the conditions thereof violated, it shall be their duty to put the same in suit, and suits may be maintained on said bonds in an action of debt or covenant, and the Jury may assess such damages for the breach of said bond as shall to them seem proper, so that the same does not exceed the amount set forth in the bond.

sec. 6. The one hundred and twenty-eighth section of the criminal code shall be construed to extend to grocery keepers; and in case any licensed grocery keeper shall be convicted of keeping a disorderly house under the provisions of the one hundred and twenty-fifth section of the criminal code, it shall be the duty of the court to add to the sentence provided in said section that his or their license is revoked, and such person so convicted shall not be again licensed to keep a grocery for two years. And in all cases of judgment under the provisions of the sixth section of this act for breach of the bond therein required, the Court may add to the judgement that the license of the grocery keeper shall be revoked.

Sec. 7. An act entitled “an act regulating tavern and grocery license,” approved March 2^d 1839, is hereby repealed.

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H. R.

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N^o 32

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A Bill for an act concerning Groceries.

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58.

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[01]/[13]/[1840]
to be re-Engrossed.

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[01]/[18]/[1840]
Engrossed

1Joseph Naper introduced HB 32, originally titled “A Bill to Repeal ‘An Act Regulating Tavern and Grocery Licenses, ’” in the House of Representatives on December 19, 1839. Representatives offered a substitute, and the House referred the bill and proposed substitute to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary reported back the bill on December 26 with a substitute, titled “A Bill for an Act Concerning Groceries,” recommending its passage. Abraham Lincoln offered an amendment, which the House adopted, striking out the third section , and the words “and trustees of incorporated towns,” wherever they appeared. The House refused to amended the first section by adding a proviso by a vote of 39 yeas to 39 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House tabled and rejected substitutes, respectively. The House concurred in the Committee of the Judiciary’s amendments as amended by a vote of 48 yeas to 29 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. On January 13, 1840, the House amended the first and third sections, rejecting a proposed substitute. The House rejected an amendment adding an additional section by a vote of 34 yeas to 42 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. On January 27, the House passed the bill as amended by a vote of 52 yeas to 29 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House informed the Senate of the bill’s passage, but the latter took no action.
Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Called Session, Begun and Held at Springfield, December 9, 1839 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1839), 62, 85-87, 114, 162-63, 201, 262; Journal of the Senate of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Called Session, Begun and Held at Springfield, December 9, 1839 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1839), 189.

2On January 13, 1840, the House of Representatives added “one hundred and fifty dollars.”
Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Called Session, Begun and Held at Springfield, December 9, 1839 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1839), 162.