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Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, That we highly disapprove of those sales of the State Bonds, in which the State has been required to receive in payment local bank bills, or any funds other than
the legal currency of the country; and that in an equal degree we disapprove of those
sales made on a credit, in which the State has been bound to pay interest on the bonds before the receipt of the consideration
for which they were sold.
Resolved, That the authority given by R. M. Young and J. Reynolds, agents of the State of Illinois, authorizing John Wright & Co. to sell or negotiate Illinois State Bonds at £91 per cent., was in direct contravention of the laws of Illinois. That said agents, in granting such authority, transcended the powers vested in
them by the State, and that any such sale or negotiation will be and is void.
Resolved, That the Secretary of State be directed to forward by mail a copy of the foregoing
resolutions to Messrs. John Wright & Co. Bankers, Covent Garden, London.
1On January 29, 1840, Edwin B. Webb of the joint judiciary committee of the House of Representatives and Senate, appointed to examine all contracts made for the sale of state bonds, submitted to
the House the committee’s report and introduced the resolution, which the committee
urged the House to adopt. The House tabled the report, only to re-consider that vote.
The House refused to the table the report by a vote of 32 yeas to 56 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting yea. The House tabled an amendment by a vote of 52 yeas to 33 nays, with
Lincoln voting nay. The House proceeded to vote on the first paragraph of the resolution
clause by clause. The House adopted the first clause by a vote of 67 yeas to 17 nays,
with Lincoln voting nay. The House adopted the last clause by a vote of 76 yeas to
8 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House adopted the second paragraph by a vote
of 54 yeas to 30 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House adopted the last paragraph
by a vote of 53 yeas to 30 nays, with Lincoln voting nay.
Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State
of Illinois, at Their Called Session (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1839), 275-77.
Printed Transcription, 1 page(s), Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Called Session (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1839), 275