396 



ILLINOIS. 



Resolved, That we, the representatives of the peo- 

 ple of the State of Illinois, in Constitutional Con- 

 vention assembled, do hereby recommend to our 

 representatives in the Congress of the United States, 

 and request of them, that they labor to secure the 

 removal of the national capital to some point in the 

 Mississippi Valley. 



A minority of the Committee on Federal 

 Eelations made a report expressing their dis- 

 sent from the views set forth by the majority, 

 and recommending the following as an article 

 of the constitution : 



The General Assembly shall not ratify any amend- 

 ment to the Constitution of the United States until a 

 general election for members of the General As- 

 sembly shall have been held, after such amendment 

 shall have been proposed by Congress to the Legis- 

 latures of the respective States. 



Arguments of considerable length were de- 

 livered on the right of the State to interfere 

 with provisions of the Federal Constitution 

 respecting the ratification of amendments, and 

 the article was rejected by a vote of 22 to 83. 



The work of framing the constitution having 

 been finished, a schedule was appended pro- 

 viding for its submission to a vote of the people, 

 at an election to be held on the first Saturday 

 of July. Besides the vote on the instrument 

 as a whole, and on the sections already men- 

 tioned as separately submitted, a distinct ballot 

 was to be taken on the portion of the article 

 on corporations relating to railroads, on the 

 article entitled "Counties," that entitled 

 "Warehouses," and on the question of requir- 

 ing a three-fifths vote to remove a county-seat. 

 The constitution, if adopted, was to go into 

 operation on the 8th of August, and the Gov- 

 ernor and Secretary of State were required to 

 make the apportionment for members of the 

 Legislature, founded on the census of 1870, 

 provided it should be ascertained before the 

 23d of September, otherwise the State census 

 of 1865 was to be used. Provision is made for 

 holding the first election under the constitu- 

 tion in conformity with its requirements, so 

 as to set all the machinery of government 

 throughout the State, local as well as general, 

 in full operation under the new system. 



The special election at which the vote was 

 taken on the constitution, and the various pro- 

 visions separately submitted, was held on the 

 2d of July, and the result is fully set forth in 

 the following proclamation of the Governor : 



STATE OF ILLINOIS, DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 

 Pursuant to the provisions of section eleven of the 

 schedule of the constitution adopted by the people of 

 the State of Illinois, on Saturday, the second dav of 

 July, A. i). 1870, 1, John M. Palmer, Governor of the 

 State of Illinois, do hereby proclaim that, on the 

 twenty-seventh day of July, A. D. 1870, the official 

 abstracts of the vote cast on the said second day of 

 July, A. D. 1870, by the electors of the several coun- 

 ties of the State of Illinois, for and against the adop- 

 tion of the proposed new constitution of the State of 

 Illinois, and for and against the adoption of the sev- 

 eral articles severally submitted therewith, were 

 duly canvassed by the Secretary of State, Auditor, 

 and Treasurer of the State, in my presence, and that 

 the result of said canvass was as follows : 



For the new constitution, there were 134,227 votes. 



Against the new constitution, ;here were 35,443 votes. 



For the sections relating to railroads in the article en- 

 titled Corporations, 144,760 votes. 



Against the sections relating to railroads, in the article 

 entitled Corporations, 23,525 votes. 



For the article entitled Counties, 136,815 votes. 



Against the article entitled Counties, 31,644 votes. 



For the article entitled Warehouses, 143,533 votes. 



Against the article entitled Warehouses, 22,702 votes. 



For a three-fifths vote to remove county-seats, 127,077 

 votes. 



Against a three-fifths vote to remove county-seats, 

 41.417 votes. 



For the section relating to the Illinois Central Eailroad, 

 147,032 votes. 



Against the section relating to the Illinois Central Kail- 

 road, 21.310 votes. 



For the section relating to minority representation, 

 99,022 votes. 



Against the section relating to minority representa- 

 tion, 70,080 votes. 



For the section relating to municipal subscriptions to 

 railroads or private corporations, 134.114 votes. 



Against the section relating to municipal subscription 

 to railroads or private corporations, 34,061 votes. 



For the section relating to the canal, 142,540 votes. 



Against the section relating to the canal, 27,017 votes. 



And it further appearing from said abstracts that 

 a majority of the votes cast was for the adoption of 

 the proposed constitution, and for all the several 

 articles separately submitted therewith : 



Now, tnerefprCj I, John M. Palmerj Governor of 

 the State of Illinois, do further proclaim that on and 

 after the eighth day of August, A. D. 1870, the afore- 

 said constitution, and the articles submitted there- 

 with, will become the supreme law of the State of 

 Illinois. 



In testimony whereof, I have hereto set my 

 hand and caused the great seal of State to 

 [SEAL.] be affixed. Done at Springfield, this 27th 

 day of July, A. D. 1870. 



JOHN M. PAL1IEK. 



The four additional judges of the Supreme 

 Court were chosen at the same election, and, 

 when the court met and organized on the first 

 Tuesday of September, it was composed of the 

 following justices, the first three of whom 

 held over from the old judiciary: Chas. B. 

 Lawrence, Chief Justice ; Pinkney H. Walker, 

 Sidney Breese, Anthony Thornton, John M. 

 Scott, Benjamin K. Sheldon, and "William K. 

 McAllister. 



The apportionment of the members of As- 

 sembly among the different districts of the 

 State was announced by Governor Palmer on 

 the 24th of September. It was based on the 

 Federal census of 1870, which allowed one 

 representative to every 16,530 inhabitants, and 

 in accordance with this ratio the one hundred 

 and fifty-three members allowed to the Lower 

 House were distributed among the ninety-seven 

 representative districts. 



The Republican State Convention met at 

 Springfield on the 1st of September. The State 

 officers to be nominated were : Member of Con- 

 gress at largo, Treasurer, Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction, and two Penitentiary Com- 

 missioners. The convention named for these 

 places, in the order in which they are enumer- 

 ated, General John A. Logan, General Erastus 

 H. Bates, Newton Buteman, Elmer A. Wash- 

 burn, and Caspar Butz. The platform adopted 

 was as follows: 



Resolved, That we view with pride and gratification 

 the great and glorious record of the Republican party, 



