On February 20, 1841, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for the appointment of a select committee of seven members to report on the best means to pay interest on the state debt and for continuation of work on the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The House appointed a select committee of nine representatives, of which Abraham Lincoln was a member. On February 23 the select committee, pursuant to the resolution, issued majority and minority reports, which the House tabled. Cyrus Edwards of the aforesaid select committee introduced HB 290, which accompanied the majority report. The House tabled the bill and ordered 150 copies printed. On February 24, the House took up the bill, placed it in the orders of the day, and tabled it. On February 26, the House took up the bill, and Lincoln moved to strike out all after the enacting clause and to insert a substitute. The House concurred with Lincoln’s substitute by a vote of 41 yeas to 32 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House ordered the bill engrossed as substituted by a vote of 42 yeas to 34 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. On February 27, the House amended the nineteenth section, but rejected an amendment to strike out all after the ninth section by a vote of 35 yeas to 36 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House passed the bill as amended by a vote of 37 yeas to 33 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. On February 27, the Senate indefinitely postponed further consideration by a vote of 18 yeas to 17 nays. The Senate ceased consideration largely thanks to a spirited denunciation of the bill by William J. Gatewood, who described the bill’s provisions as “monstrous.” Gatewood compared the canal commissioners with the East India Company, assuring his fellow senators that passing the bill would severely hamper the liberties of the people.