Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 1 [1824-Aug. 28, 1848].

Bill Amended in Illinois Legislature
Relative to the Building of a State House at Springfield1Jump to section

[July 19, 1837]

SEC 1 Be enacted by the People of the state of Illinois represented in the General Assembly: That no money shall hereafter be drawn from the Treasury of the state for the purpose of erecting a State House, except such as may hereafter be paid into the said Treasury, by the citizens of Springfield, according to the provisions of a certain bond now on file in the Treasurer's office, executed by said citizens for the payment of fifty thousand dollars, to be applied to the erection of a State House, or otherwise

SEC 2. All moneys that have heretofore been drawn from the Treasury by the acting commissioner, for the purpose of erecting a State House at Springfield shall be refunded so soon as the first instalment of the bond above mentioned becomes due.

Annotation

[1]   AD, I-Ar. The amended bill as written by Lincoln was reported on July 19 from a select committee to which had been referred a bill entitled ``An act to repeal certain laws relative to the permanent location of the seat of Government of the State of Illinois, approved Feb. 25th and March 3rd, 1837.'' The original bill had been introduced by W. L. D. Ewing, representative from

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Fayette and Effingham counties. When Ewing's bill was amended by ``striking out all after the enacting clause,'' it was then referred to the select committee, from which emerged Lincoln's amended version, calculated to quiet the opposition in the House but with little chance of passing the Senate. Upon passage of the bill as amended, Lincoln moved to amend the title to read ``An act relative to the building of a State House at Springfield,'' which was done. The bill died in the Senate.