Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

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1. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Illinois, That we view, with deep regret, the policy2 exercised by the General Government, in causing the deposites of public moneys, collected in the State of Illinois, to be made in Banks without the same.

2. Resolved, That as citizens of Illinois, and representatives of the people thereof, we have confidence in the solvency and safety of our own banking institutions.

3. Resolved, That while we deplore the distracted condition of the

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country, in relation to the vexed questions of policy and law as to the proper mode of safe-keeping of the revenues of the General Government, we cannot view with composure the continual drain upon our circulating medium, caused by the proceeds of sales of public lands being deposited in Banks of other States, thereby giving those Banks a decided advantage over our institutions and our citizens.

4. Resolved, That we have no hesitation in declaring that the policy and practice of depositing the revenues of the General Government, collected in this State, in the Bank of Missouri, is at war with our best interests; the more especially so since we see that the public moneys are still deposited in Banks to some extent.

5. Resolved, That we consider submission, on the part of our public functionaries in and out of Congress, to the practice of withdrawing from our State the revenues collected here, and depositing them to the support of another banking institution in a neighboring State, as a humiliating surrender of the rights of our citizens, and their claims to equal justice, protection, and support.

6. Resolved, That while we accord, most willingly and cheerfully, whatever advantages may arise to other States from the deposites of revenue collected therein, we are not willing to yield to them the advantages derived from revenue collected in our own.

7. Resolved, That our Senators be instructed, and our Representatives be requested, to use the influence which their station gives them, to change the present system of calling out of the State the revenues collected therein, no mater by what rule or regulation the same be countenanced and supported.

1William J. Gatewood introduced the resolution in the Senate on December 19, 1838. On December 20, the Senate tabled the resolution and ordered it printed. On January 4, 1839, the Senate adopted the resolution by a vote of 25 yeas to 13 nays. On January 5, the House of Representatives referred the resolution to the Committee of the Whole. On January 16, the House discharged the Committee of the Whole from further consideration. The House took up the resolution, refusing to amend by striking out all except the second paragraph by a vote of 40 yeas to 45 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting nay. On January 17, the House rejected a substitute resolution by a vote of 43 yeas to 45 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House amended the first paragraph by striking out the word “partiality,” and inserting in lieu thereof the word “policy,” by a vote of 54 yeas to 34 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. Upon the motion of Lincoln, the House tabled the resolution as amended until July 4 by a vote of 46 yeas to 42 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, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 3, 1838 (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1838), 172-73, 220, 221, 230-32; Journal of the Senate of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 3, 1838 (Vandalia, IL; William Walters, 1838), 90, 97, 130, 132-33.

2The original resolution employed the word “partiality;” the House of Representatives substituted “policy” on January 17, 1839.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 3, 1838, 231.