Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

ILLINOIS
LEGIS. H. R. 12th ASSEM.
2d SESSION.

FEBRUARY 4th, 1841.
Laid on the table, and 150 copies ordered to be printed.
BILL AND AMENDMENT.
A BILL
For “An act to provide for the payment of interest on the State debt.”

Sec. 1.
2
3
4
5
sec. 2.
2
3
sec. 3.
2
3
4
5
6
sec. 4.
2
3 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly,
That the Governor be authorized and required to issue, from time to time, such amount of
State bonds, to be called the “Illinois interest bonds,” as may be absolutely necessary for the
payment of so much of the interest upon the State debts as there may be no other
means of paying.
Said bonds shall bear interest at the rate of per cent. per annum,
payable half yearly
and be reimbursable in years from their respective issuing.
That the State’s portion of the revenue hereafter arising from the tax upon all lands
which were not taxable in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty, is hereby set apart as
an exclusive fund for the payment of interest upon the said “Illinois interest bonds,” and the
faith of the State is hereby irrevocably pledged, that said fund shall be applied to that object, and
to no other, except at any time there shall be a surplus thereof, in which case such surplus
shall become a part of the general or common funds of the Treasury.
That hereafter the sum of thirty cents for each one hundred dollars worth of all taxa-
able property, shall be paid into the State Treasury, and no more than forty cents for each one
hundred dollars worth of such taxable property shall be levied and collected for county purposes.

<Page 2>

Mr. PECK, from the committee on Finance, to whom the foregoing bill was referred, reported the same back with the following

AMENDMENT:

Amend the bill, by striking out all after the word “shall,” in the second line from the bottom of the third section, and substitute the following: “be set apart and appropriated for the payment of interest upon the public debt.”

Add the following sections to the bill:

sec.
2
3
4
5
sec.
2
3
sec.
2
3
4
5
6
sec.
2
3
4
sec.
2
3
4
5
sec.
2
3
It shall be the duty of the county commissioner’s clerk, to furnish the assessor, in addi-
tion to the list furnished by the auditor of public accounts, with a list of all lands which he may
know to have been entered and purchased of the General Government more than five years, at
the time such list is made out, and it shall be the duty of the assessor to assess the same, as other
lands are assessed.
Hereafter no lands shall be assessed by any assessor at a less value than four dollars
the acre: Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the valuation
of any lands at a higher rate than four dollars the acre.
After the first Monday of August next, there shall be but one assessor for any one county,
who shall be elected by the voters of the county, on the first Monday of August next, in the
same manner as other county officers are elected; such assessor to hold his office for two
years, and until his successor shall be elected and qualified, whose duty it shall be to take the
oath or affirmation and perform all the duties required to be performed by any of the revenue
laws of this State.
The collectors of the several counties shall pay into the State treasury, on or before
the first Monday in February, annually, all taxes collected by them for the use of the State, de-
ducting therefrom their commissions for collection, any thing in the 22d section of “an act con-
cerning the public revenue,” approved, Feb. 26th, 1839, to the contrary notwithstanding.
That all venders of goods, wares, and merchandize, resident pedlars, individual bank-
ers and money lenders, shall be required to keep a full and correct account of the various kinds
of goods received for sale, and the amount of monies loaned by them each year, commencing
on the first day of March next, the amount of goods received and the amount of money loaned
to be returned by them to the assessor, in each month of March thereafter.
All lands and town lots which were sold to the State of Illinois, for the taxes of the
year 1839, and all lands and town lots which may hereafter be sold to the State for taxes at any
sale for taxes, in any county of this state, shall be regularly assessed for state and county tax an-

<Page 3>

5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
sec.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

<Page 4>

10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42

<Page 5>
43
44
45
sec.
2
3
4
5
sec.
2
sec.
2 nually, and the amount of tax so assessed shall be annually reported to the auditor of public
accounts, by the clerks of the county commissioner’s courts of the proper counties, the said
clerks specifying particularly each tract of land or town lot, and the amount of state and county
tax assessed thereon; and it shall be the duty of the auditor of public accounts to enter upon a
book, to be provided for that purpose, all lands and town lots which were sold the State for
tax of 1839, or which may hereafter be sold to the State for taxes, together with the amount for
which the same were sold, and the amount of all taxes which may be annually thereafter
assessed upon said lands or town lots; and the owner or owners of such lands or town lots shall
have the right to redeem the same at any time within five years from the date of sale, by paying
into the State Treasury the amount for which the same were sold, and all taxes subsequently
assessed thereon, with six per cent. per annum upon each year’s tax. In case the owner or
owners of such lands or town lots shall not redeem the same within five years from the date of
sale, the said lands or town shall be absolutely forfeited to the State of Illinois, and all right,
title, and interest of such owner or owners in and to such lands or town lots, shall be transferred
to and be vested absolutely in the State of Illinois, to be disposed of in such manner as the Le-
gislature may by law direct. In no case shall any lands or town lots which may have been sold
to the State for taxes of the year 1839, or which may hereafter be sold to the State for taxes,
be advertised by any collector or sold for non-payments of taxes, unless the same shall have been
redeemed, as hereinafter provided; and when any such lands or town lots shall be so redeemed,
it shall be the duty of the auditor to notify the clerk of the county commissioner’s court of the
proper county of said redemption. For reporting to the auditor of public accounts the annual
assessments of taxes upon said lands and town lots, as in this section provided, the said clerk shall
be allowed two cents for each tract of land and town lot contained in said report, to be paid out
of the State Treasury.
The following fees and compensation shall be allowed to the several per-
sons and officers hereinafter named for services rendered under the provisions of the
revenue law, viz: To each assessor a sum not exceeding two dollars per day, for every day
necessarily employed in the performance of his duty, one half to be paid out of the
State Treasury and the other half out of the county treasury: to county treasurers, for
receiving and paying out the county revenue, two per cent. upon all monies paid out: to
clerks of county commissioner’s courts for making out lists of taxable lands, for the assessors,
and lists of lands assessed for taxes for the collectors, two cents for each lot or tract of land con-
tained in each of said lists, to be paid out of the county treasury: to collectors for collecting and

paying over taxes, ten per cent. upon the first five hundred dollars of State tax, and ten per
cent. upon the first five hundred dollars of county tax which they may collect, and six per cent.
on all sums over that amount; and when taxes are collected by the sale of personal property,
collectors shall be allowed for advertising and selling ten per cent., to be collected from the sale
of said property: to sheriffs, for each deed made out by them for lands sold for taxes, twenty-five
cents, to be paid by the person receiving such deed: to printers, for publishing advertisements
for the sale of such lands for taxes, six cents for each lot or parcel of land contained in such ad-
vertisement, to be paid out of the State Treasury, and reimbursed to the State as hereinafter
provided. The printer or printers shall be required to transmit by mail, two numbers of each pa-
per containing such advertisement, to the clerks of the counry commissioners’ courts of the several
counties in this state, two numbers to the Sheriff of each county in the state, two numbers to
the auditor of public accounts, and two numbers to the treasurer, to be by them filed and pre-
served in their respective offices. Each sheriff shall post one of said newspapers on the door
of the post office at the county seat of his county, and each clerk shall pot one on the door of the
court house of his county, or on some conspicuous place inside of said court house, the other num-
ber he shall file and preserve in his office—one copy of said paper shall also be transmitted to
each of the clerks of the circuit courts, subject to examination by any person who may desire
to examine the same. In the advertisement of lands for sale for taxes, letters and figures may
be used as they have heretofore been, to denote townships, ranges, sections, parts of sections, and
town lots, the year for which taxes are due, and the amount of tax and costs. The following
fees shall be allowed and taxed as costs on each tract of land or town lot, against which judg-
ment shall be rendered and shall be collected by the Sheriff, upon a sale of such land or town lot
in the same manner of the principal, viz: to the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts, for re-
cording sales of lands for taxes, transmitting lists of sales to the auditor of public accounts,
and making out certificates of purchase, twenty-seven cents for each tract of land and town lot
sold: to the clerks of the circuit courts for receiving and recording the collector’s return, ten cents
for each tract of land and town lot contained in said return: to the sheriffs, six cents for each
tract of land and town lot sold for taxes: for the printer’s fee, six cents on each tract of land and
town lot sold for taxes to be paid into the State Treasury. The foregoing fees, amounting in
all to forty-nine cents, shall be taxed as costs against each tract of land or town lot advertised
for sale for taxes, and no other fees shall be allowed or shall be taxed as costs, than are in this act
expressly granted and allowed. In all cases where lands shall be sold to the State for taxes,
the same fees shall be allowed and paid by the State as when sold to individuals. The 62d

section of the act entitled “an act concerning the public revenue,” approved, February 26, 1839,
and the 8th section of the act amendatory thereto, approved, Feb. 1, 1840, be and the same
hereby repealed.
The clerks of the county commissioners’ courts, shall hereafter, when they report to
the auditor of public accounts the aggregate amount of State tax assessed annually in their
respective counties, also report the aggregate valuation of real estate, and the aggregate valua-
tion of personal property, also how much upon each hundred dollars worth of property has been
assessed for county purposes in their respective counties.
That the library of any person who shall not be a physician or an attorney at law
shall be exempt from taxation.
That the time for making assessments under the revenue law of this State, is hereby
extended until the first day of June in each year.

<Page 6>

[ docketing ]
188 H R

[ docketing ]
Peck
Bill to provide for the payment of intst[interest] on the public debt

[ docketing ]
Edwards

[ docketing ]
Ord. Eng.[Ordered to be Engrossed]

[ docketing ]
ord 2

[ docketing ]
ref^d to Com of Nines

[ docketing ]
com dis[committee discharged]

[ docketing ]
9 13 29

sec. 2 3 4 5 sec. 2 3 sec. 2 3 4 5 6 sec. 2 3 4 sec. 2 3 4 5 sec. 2 3	It shall be the duty of the county commissioner’s clerk, to furnish the assessor, in addi- tion to the list furnished by the auditor of public accounts, with a list of all lands which he may know to have been entered and purchased of the General Government more than five years, at the time such list is made out, and it shall be the duty of the assessor to assess the same, as other lands are assessed. Hereafter no lands shall be assessed by any assessor at a less value than four dollars the acre: Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the valuation of any lands at a higher rate than four dollars the acre. After the first Monday of August next, there shall be but one assessor for any one county, who shall be elected by the voters of the county, on the first Monday of August next, in the same manner as other county officers are elected; such assessor to hold his office for two years, and until his successor shall be elected and qualified, whose duty it shall be to take the oath or affirmation and perform all the duties required to be performed by any of the revenue laws of this State. The collectors of the several counties shall pay into the State treasury, on or before the first Monday in February, annually, all taxes collected by them for the use of the State, de- ducting therefrom their commissions for collection, any thing in the 22d section of “an act con- cerning the public revenue,” approved, Feb. 26th, 1839, to the contrary notwithstanding. That all venders of goods, wares, and merchandize, resident pedlars, individual bank- ers and money lenders, shall be required to keep a full and correct account of the various kinds of goods received for sale, and the amount of monies loaned by them each year, commencing on the first day of March next, the amount of goods received and the amount of money loaned to be returned by them to the assessor, in each month of March thereafter. All lands and town lots which were sold to the State of Illinois, for the taxes of the year 1839, and all lands and town lots which may hereafter be sold to the State for taxes at any sale for taxes, in any county of this state, shall be regularly assessed for state and county tax an-
<Page 3>
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 sec. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 <Page 4> 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 <Page 5> 43 44 45 sec. 2 3 4 5 sec. 2 sec. 2	nually, and the amount of tax so assessed shall be annually reported to the auditor of public accounts, by the clerks of the county commissioner’s courts of the proper counties, the said clerks specifying particularly each tract of land or town lot, and the amount of state and county tax assessed thereon; and it shall be the duty of the auditor of public accounts to enter upon a book, to be provided for that purpose, all lands and town lots which were sold the State for tax of 1839, or which may hereafter be sold to the State for taxes, together with the amount for which the same were sold, and the amount of all taxes which may be annually thereafter assessed upon said lands or town lots; and the owner or owners of such lands or town lots shall have the right to redeem the same at any time within five years from the date of sale, by paying into the State Treasury the amount for which the same were sold, and all taxes subsequently assessed thereon, with six per cent. per annum upon each year’s tax. In case the owner or owners of such lands or town lots shall not redeem the same within five years from the date of sale, the said lands or town shall be absolutely forfeited to the State of Illinois, and all right, title, and interest of such owner or owners in and to such lands or town lots, shall be transferred to and be vested absolutely in the State of Illinois, to be disposed of in such manner as the Le- gislature may by law direct. In no case shall any lands or town lots which may have been sold to the State for taxes of the year 1839, or which may hereafter be sold to the State for taxes, be advertised by any collector or sold for non-payments of taxes, unless the same shall have been redeemed, as hereinafter provided; and when any such lands or town lots shall be so redeemed, it shall be the duty of the auditor to notify the clerk of the county commissioner’s court of the proper county of said redemption. For reporting to the auditor of public accounts the annual assessments of taxes upon said lands and town lots, as in this section provided, the said clerk shall be allowed two cents for each tract of land and town lot contained in said report, to be paid out of the State Treasury. The following fees and compensation shall be allowed to the several per- sons and officers hereinafter named for services rendered under the provisions of the revenue law, viz: To each assessor a sum not exceeding two dollars per day, for every day necessarily employed in the performance of his duty, one half to be paid out of the State Treasury and the other half out of the county treasury: to county treasurers, for receiving and paying out the county revenue, two per cent. upon all monies paid out: to clerks of county commissioner’s courts for making out lists of taxable lands, for the assessors, and lists of lands assessed for taxes for the collectors, two cents for each lot or tract of land con- tained in each of said lists, to be paid out of the county treasury: to collectors for collecting and paying over taxes, ten per cent. upon the first five hundred dollars of State tax, and ten per cent. upon the first five hundred dollars of county tax which they may collect, and six per cent. on all sums over that amount; and when taxes are collected by the sale of personal property, collectors shall be allowed for advertising and selling ten per cent., to be collected from the sale of said property: to sheriffs, for each deed made out by them for lands sold for taxes, twenty-five cents, to be paid by the person receiving such deed: to printers, for publishing advertisements for the sale of such lands for taxes, six cents for each lot or parcel of land contained in such ad- vertisement, to be paid out of the State Treasury, and reimbursed to the State as hereinafter provided. The printer or printers shall be required to transmit by mail, two numbers of each pa- per containing such advertisement, to the clerks of the counry commissioners’ courts of the several counties in this state, two numbers to the Sheriff of each county in the state, two numbers to the auditor of public accounts, and two numbers to the treasurer, to be by them filed and pre- served in their respective offices. Each sheriff shall post one of said newspapers on the door of the post office at the county seat of his county, and each clerk shall pot one on the door of the court house of his county, or on some conspicuous place inside of said court house, the other num- ber he shall file and preserve in his office—one copy of said paper shall also be transmitted to each of the clerks of the circuit courts, subject to examination by any person who may desire to examine the same. In the advertisement of lands for sale for taxes, letters and figures may be used as they have heretofore been, to denote townships, ranges, sections, parts of sections, and town lots, the year for which taxes are due, and the amount of tax and costs. The following fees shall be allowed and taxed as costs on each tract of land or town lot, against which judg- ment shall be rendered and shall be collected by the Sheriff, upon a sale of such land or town lot in the same manner of the principal, viz: to the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts, for re- cording sales of lands for taxes, transmitting lists of sales to the auditor of public accounts, and making out certificates of purchase, twenty-seven cents for each tract of land and town lot sold: to the clerks of the circuit courts for receiving and recording the collector’s return, ten cents for each tract of land and town lot contained in said return: to the sheriffs, six cents for each tract of land and town lot sold for taxes: for the printer’s fee, six cents on each tract of land and town lot sold for taxes to be paid into the State Treasury. The foregoing fees, amounting in all to forty-nine cents, shall be taxed as costs against each tract of land or town lot advertised for sale for taxes, and no other fees shall be allowed or shall be taxed as costs, than are in this act expressly granted and allowed. In all cases where lands shall be sold to the State for taxes, the same fees shall be allowed and paid by the State as when sold to individuals. The 62d section of the act entitled “an act concerning the public revenue,” approved, February 26, 1839, and the 8th section of the act amendatory thereto, approved, Feb. 1, 1840, be and the same hereby repealed. The clerks of the county commissioners’ courts, shall hereafter, when they report to the auditor of public accounts the aggregate amount of State tax assessed annually in their respective counties, also report the aggregate valuation of real estate, and the aggregate valua- tion of personal property, also how much upon each hundred dollars worth of property has been assessed for county purposes in their respective counties. That the library of any person who shall not be a physician or an attorney at law shall be exempt from taxation. That the time for making assessments under the revenue law of this State, is hereby extended until the first day of June in each year.