Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That it shall be the duty of the commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan canal to sell so much of the canal lands and lots, the present year, as may be required to pay the interest on loans made for canal purposes; sales made under this act shall be conducted and under the same restrictions as required by the act to which this is an amendment: Provided, however, If the commissioners shall be of opinion the interest of the State requires more than ten per cent. to be paid at the time of sale, they shall state in their advertisements the amount that will be required to be paid at the time of purchase.

Sec. 2. Where timber land is selected for sale, it shall be the duty of the commissioners to divide it into small lots, not to exceed forty acres in one lot, and to require one fourth of the purchase money to be paid at the time of purchase, and the balance to be paid in three annual instalments, with six per cent. interest, paid in advance for the first year. Sales made under the provisions of this act shall be subject to the same forfeitures and restrictions as required in the several acts authorizing the sales of canal lands.

Sec. 3. There shall be one principal engineer, who shall have a salary of two thousand dollars per annum; there shall be one resident engineer, who shall have fifteen hundred dollars per annum; there shall be seven assistant engineers, who shall each have a salary of one thousand dollars per annum. And the engineers aforesaid shall not receive any other compensation for their services, under any pretence whatever: Provided, that the work on the canal progresses. But it shall be the duty of the board of canal commissioners to discharge such assistant engineers, whenever said work is suspended.2

Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the commissioners, when any person or persons claim damages that they may have sustained, by the construction of the Illinois and Michigan canal, to settle with any such person or persons for the damages they may have received, and pay the same: Provided, If the commissioners are of opinion the claim is too high, and the claimant will not take a fair compensation, they shall call the appraisers as required in the act to which this is an amendment, and they shall proceed, as required in said act. Said appraisers shall receive a reasonable compensation, not to exceed five dollars per day, for their services, for the time necessary to perform the duties required of them as such appraisers, and shall be paid out of the canal fund.

Sec. 5. That the board of public works of this State, whose appointment is provided for in a bill, entitled “An act to provide for the settlement of debts and liabilities incurred

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on account of internal improvements, in the State of Illinois,” shall be, and they are hereby, authorized to employ not exceeding four assistant engineers, at a salary not exceeding one thousand dollars per annum.

Sec. 6. That the compensation of the chief engineer, whose appointment is provided for in the bill referred to in the preceding section, shall be two thousand dollars per annum, any bill or law to the contrary notwithstanding.

Sec. 7. The act passed February 27, 1839, entitled “An act to provide for a loan for canal purposes,” is hereby so changed as to authorize the interest upon bonds hereafter sold under the provisions of said act to be paid semi-annually.

Sec. 8. The Governor, Auditor, and Treasurer of this State, shall settle the accounts of the several agents employed by the Governor, within the last year, to negotiate canal loans, or to convey funds from eastern cities to this State, and allow them respectively, a compensation of five dollars a day for the time occupied by them in the performance of those services; except in case where a different agreement has been made with them by the Governor; and if any such agent has retained a greater compensation than herein allowed, he shall be required to refund the overplus, and the same shall be added to the canal fund: Provided, That no person shall be entitled to receive from the State a per diem compensation for services performed in two or more different capacities at the same period of time.

Sec. 9. Should there be no funds on hand to meet the liabilities of the State to the contractor, for labor done on the Illinois and Michigan canal, at the estimate to be made on the first of March next, it shall be the duty of the commissioners of said canal to issue their checks to contractors for such amount as may be found then due, as now provided by law, and payable whenever funds have been deposited for that purpose, bearing an interest at the rate of six per cent: Provided, That this provision shall not extend to estimates made after said first day of March next: Provided, also, That in no case shall such checks be issued for a smaller amount than one hundred dollars.3

Approved, February 1, 1840.