History of Springfield, Illinois, its attractions as a home and advantages for business, manufacturing, etc. Pub. under the auspices of the Springfield board of trade, by J. C. Power.

iTS ADVANTAGES FOR MANUFACTURING. 31
Canton and Piketon Railroad Compa- directly from the State treasury. More
ny, capital $250,000; approved March 3, than nine millions of this sum was for
1837; re-chartered Feb. 26, 1839. railroads.
Jonesboro and Mississippi Railroad At the same session private laws were
Company, capital $50,000; approved enacted, chartering joint stock companies
March 3, 1837. with authorized capital stock, to the
Galena'Railroad Company, capital amount of nearly $8,000,000, making an
$500,000, with authority to increase it to aggregate of about $30,000,000, involved
$1,000,000; approved March 3, 1837. in efforts to legislate railroads into existTamaroa and ivississippi Railroad Com- ence in the State of Illinois before their
pany, capital $200,000; was approved time. The $20,000,000 of authorized
March 3, 1837. stock to corporations, resulted in but lit.
Wabash and Indiana Railroad Compa- tle loss to the State or the people, as few
ny, capital $1,000,000; was approved of the companies ever organized, and
March 4, 1837. those that did generally fell still born.
Chester, Nashville and Pinckneyville The greatest loss from this source was the
Railroad Company, capital $300,000; useless mass of legislation.
was approved March 4, 1837. This gigantic system of internal imSpringfield and Beardstown Railroad provements was inaugurated when the
Company, capital $200,000; was approved county was but sparsely settled, and beMarch 4, 1837. fore it was in a condition to export anyWebster, Ottawa and Kishwakee Rail- thing that would command money. The
road Company, capital $500,000, with au- people imagined themselves rich, because
thority to increase it to $1,000,000; was the whole United States, east, west, north
approved MIarch 4, 1837. and south, was flooded with irredeemable
Chicago and Michigan Railroad Com- paper money. It was thought there would
pany, capital $1,000,000. be no difficulty in negotiating loans to
NET RESULTS OF TWO YEARS' LEGISLATION, carry forward the public works.
Western farmers are accustomed to such It has been suggested that the only
enormous crops that they soon become reason why the General Assembly of Illicareless, and leave as much in harvesting, nois did not, at that time, build an Insometimes, as would be thought a fair sane Asylum, and resolve that its memcrop in other parts of the country. In bers should become inmates of it, was becollecting the information with reference cause it was not believed there were
to the early legislation in Illinois for rail- enough sane men belonging to their honroads and other internal improvements, orable body to run the new institution.
I have endeavored to be more careful than Soon after the law was enacted, certithe farmers; but where legislative bodies ficates of internal improvement stock
have yielded such luxuriant crops, I may were readily taken, contracts let, and
have overlooked some of the laws. The work commenced at various points, in all
net result, so far as my investigation goes, parts of the State. Millions of dollars
is something like the following: were squandered in this way before the
The capital authorized to joint stock autumn of 1837, when the great financial
companies by the Legislature of Illinois, crash, which commenced in the eastern
from January 17, 1835, to February 27, cities, swept over the whole United States,
1837, was $12,450,000, chiefly to railroad and the internal improvement system of
companies. Illinois went down, leaving the State in
The internal improvement act of Feb- what was thought, at the time, to be
ruary 27, 1837, appropriated $10,200,000 hopeless bankruptcy.