Amendment to “A Bill for the Payment of Interest on the Public Debt,” [8 December
1840]
1“And provided further, That the Fund Commissioner shall not be authorized to pay interest upon any bonds
sold for which a consideration has not been received by the State whenever such bonds shall be found in the hands, custody, power or possession of
the original purchasers or contracting powers.”2
1On December 8, 1840, Abraham Lincoln in the House of Representatives proposed this amendment to a bill. In the morning session on December 10, the House apparently adopted this amendment
by a vote of 43 yeas to 42 nays, with Lincoln voting yea, but in the afternoon session,
Speaker of the House William L. D. Ewing reported that the Journal had incorrectly recorded the vote, and the actual tally
was 45 yeas to 42 nays. Legislators did not include any of the language of this amendment
in the bill that passed the General Assembly and the act that became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 90, 98-99, 100.
2The House Journal indicated that the House passed this amendment, but the Illinois State Register and Sangamo Journal reported otherwise. The State Register reported the amendment failed by a the
vote of 44 yeas to 44 nays, and the Sangamo Journal recorded that it failed by a vote
of 40 yeas to 44 nays.
Illinois State Register (Springfield), 18 December 1840, 2:1; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 15 December 1840, 2:7.
Printed Transcription, 1 page(s), Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Twelfth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, At Their Second Session Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 90.