Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

1
Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, That it is not the true policy of the United States to establish an Independent Treasury or Sub-treasury system, nor collect and disburse the public revenue in specie, to the exclusion of the notes of specie paying banks.

Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives be requested, to vote against any law or resolution having for its object the adoption of the Independent or Sub-treasury system in any form whatever.

Resolved, That it is inexpedient to consume the time of the Legislature, and waste the money of people, in acting on resolutions which merely involve national politics.2

1John Henry introduced the resolution in the House of Representatives on January 22, 1839. The House refused the table the resolution until July 4 by a vote of 43 yeas to 45 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting nay. Representatives offered an amendment opposing the charter of a national bank, and the House adopted an amendment that broaden that amendment to include a national banking institution of any form by a vote of 57 yeas to 32 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House rejected an amendment that affirmed a national bank a potential threat to republican government by a vote of 43 yeas to 45 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House adopted an amendment amending the original resolution by adding a paragraph opposing the charter of a national bank by a vote of 46 yeas to 42 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House again refused to table the resolution until July 4 by a vote of 42 yeas to 45 nays, with Lincoln calling for the vote and voting nay. The House adopted an amendment stating that it was inexpedient to spend time of resolutions involving national politics by a vote of 51 yeas to 38 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House then considered Henry’s resolution, with Lincoln calling for a division of the question, so as to take a vote on the first two paragraphs alone. The House adopted the first clause of the first resolution by a vote of 46 yeas to 40 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House adopted the rest of the paragraph by a vote of 58 yeas to 29 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House adopted the second paragraph by a vote of 46 yeas to 40 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House rejected the paragraph opposing a national bank by a vote of 43 yeas to 43 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House rejected the third paragraph by a vote of 43 yeas to 44 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. On January 25, the Senate tabled the resolution. On January 28, the Senate adopted the first two paragraphs of the House resolution by a vote of 22 yeas to 16 nays. It rejected the last paragraph by a vote of 15 yeas to 25 nays. On January 30, the House adopted the Senate amendment by a vote of 46 yeas to 43 nays, with Lincoln voting yea.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their First Session (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1838), 257-63, 264, 299-300, 308, 309, 310-12, 347; Journal of the Senate of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois (Vandalia, IL; William Walters, 1838), 212, 221, 239.

2On January 22, 1839, the House of Representatives amended the original resolution by adding this paragraph.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their First Session, 260.