Annotation
[1] Angle, pp. 123-28, taken from St. Louis, Missouri, Intelligencer, March 9, 1854. Robert Smith of Alton represented the ``State policy'' group opposed to the Atlantic and Mississippi Railroad. (See Lincoln to Gillespie, February 11, supra.) On February 23, the legislature granted the Atlantic and Mississippi authority to begin construction, but as Lincoln's opinion indicates there were flaws in the railroad's organization. The State Supreme Court upheld the act of February 23 as remedying any supposed defects in the original organization.