Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

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Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the Auditor of Public Accounts be required to report to this House a full statement of the quantity of lands designated as saline reserve lands, that has, under the various acts of this State, been authorized to be made sale of, separately and distinctly, agreably to different acts granting the sale of the same; and the amount of monies which has been realized by each particular act granting the sale of Saline Reserve Lands: likewise, what particular counties and objects, the monies heretofore realized from Saline Lands, have been appropriated thereto: Also, what quantity of unsold Lands, belonging to each particular reserve, and that said report give the date of the payment of the money to each county and object as regularly specified in the different acts authorizing the same.2

1On December 15, 1836, Achilles D. Dollins introduced the resolution in the House of Representatives, and the House adopted it. On December 21 , the auditor of public accounts issued a report in response to this resolution. The House tabled the report and ordered 2,000 copies to be printed.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 55, 87-88.

2The General Assembly enacted three general laws selling portions of the Saline Reserve Lands and appropriating the proceeds to counties for public works.In 1827, the General Assembly petitioned Congress for permission to sell 30,000 acres in either Gallatin County or Vermilion County. An area on the Vermilion River in Vermilion County was eventually selected for sale, and the General Assembly, anticipating congressional approval, enacted a law in 1829 establishing the mechanism for the sale and appropriating the revenue received therefrom. In February 1831, the General Assembly passed a resolution asking Congress to allow the state to sell an additional 20,000 acres in Gallatin County. Anticipating congressional approval, the General Assembly enacted legislation appropriating the proceeds from the sales to various counties in the state. Each law represented early efforts to fund public works as part of the Illinois Internal Improvement System.
“An Act concerning the Saline Reserves, a Penitentiary, and the Improvement of Certain Navigable Streams,” 15 February 1827, The Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1827), 353-60; “An Act Providing for the Sale of the Vermilion Saline Reserve, and Appropriating the Avails Thereof,” 19 January 1829, The Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1829), 143-49. “An Act Appropriating a Portion of the Avails Arising from the Sale of the Saline Lands, in Gallatin County, to Internal Improvement,” 16 February 1831, The Laws of Illinois (1831), 12-16;