396 



ILLINOIS. 



of shingles, 431.261,000 ; of lath, 143,847,000. 

 The shipments of lumber were 522,113,000 feet ; 

 of shingles, 401,815,000; of lath, 102,609,000. 



The receipts of high-wines foot up 41,660, and 

 the shipments 50,681 barrels. The number of 

 gallons of high-wines manufactured was 1,966,- 

 304. 



Next in importance to the grain-trade of 

 Chicago is that of live-stock, as the statistics 

 show the arrival of 2,199,563 head of cattle,- 

 hogs, sheep, and horses. Of this number 328,- 

 938 were cattle, 1,697,243 hogs, 171,901 sheep, 

 and 1,481 horses. The shipments of cattle were 

 202,264 ; of hogs, 756,762 ; of sheep, 45.409 ; of 

 horses, 256. 



The educational interests of the State are 

 amply sustained by liberal, permanent funds, 

 and schools are well conducted, affording ex- 

 cellent facilities for all classes. An Orphans' 

 Home has been, established for the reception of 

 indigent orphans and half-orphans of soldiers 

 from the State of Illinois, who either died or 

 were disabled in the service of the Union army. 

 The pupils are entirely at the charge of the in- 

 stitution, and those of the proper age receive a 

 common-school education. This is a State in- 

 stitution, put by law on a permanent footing 

 by liberal appropriations from the Legislature, 

 and supported by the donations of many chari- 

 table citizens. 



The financial condition of the State is highly 

 satisfactory. With a population of two and a 

 half millions, the State debt is only $7,622,000, 

 of which sum $790,000 is a war debt. The im- 

 mense revenues of the State will soon cancel 

 these liabilities without any burdensome taxa- 

 tion. 



There was no general election during the 

 year. County officers only were chosen. The 

 political standing of the Legislature is as 

 follows: Senate Republicans, 16; Democrats, 

 9. House Republicans, 62; Democrats, 23. 



In July the Supreme Court of the State de- 

 cided a case of importance. Some time ago 

 J. R. Jones, United States Marshal for the 

 Northern District of Illinois, and two of his 

 deputies, were sued by Madison Y. Johnson, of 

 Galena, for false imprisonment in having arrest- 

 ed the plaintiff under an order from President 

 Lincoln, on the 28th of August, 1862, carried 

 him to the State of New York, and there held 

 him in confinement for about two months. 

 The defendants pleaded the order of the Presi- 

 dent, the treasonable conduct of the plaintiff, 

 etc., and the plaintiff demurred. The court in 

 which the action was brought overruled the 

 demurrer, and entered judgment for the defend- 

 ants. This decision the Supreme Court over- 

 rules, on the authority of the decision of the 

 Supreme Court of the United States in the case 

 of Milligan, in which the court was unanimous 

 in the opinion that in the absence of any law 

 of Congress authorizing military arrests in dis- 

 tricts remote from the scenes of actual war, 

 and where the civil courts were open, such ar- 

 rests were illegal. 



The portion of the decision which will most 

 strongly challenge attention is that in which 

 the court hold that the indemnifying acts of 

 Congress of March, 1863, and May 11, 1866, 

 are unconstitutional. These acts make any 

 order of the President, Secretary of War, or 

 any commanding military officer for the arrest 

 or imprisonment of any person, during the re- 

 bellion, a defence for the officer making the 

 arrest. The court say that it is "the duty of 

 Congress to indemnify out of the public treas- 

 ury any person who has been compelled to pay 

 damages for any act performed by him in good 

 faith, under the command of the President, for 

 the purpose of suppressing the rebellion ; " but 

 assert that a retrospective act of Congress can- 

 not deprive any person, illegally arrested prior 

 to the passage of the act, of his vested right to 

 damages. The court also held that while the 

 matter of the special pleas was no bar to the 

 action, yet on the trial the defendants might 

 be permitted to prove the facts alleged in them 

 in mitigation of damages, and for the purpose 

 of rebutting the presumption of malice. 



The act of the Legislature for erecting a new 

 capitol at Springfield was pronounced uncon- 

 stitutional by the .Superior Court. This deci- 

 sion was reversed by the Supreme Court in 

 October, one of the justices dissenting. 



The existence of coal in Illinois has long been 

 recognized and regarded ns one of the promi- 

 nent among the varied products of the State. 

 In the early history of its development, it was dif- 

 ficult to receive a public sanction of its merits, 

 even as a common fuel, but time and a more 

 intimate knowledge of its properties by use 

 have demonstrated that generally as a fuel it is 

 good, and in some instances cannot be sur- 

 passed by the best Eastern coals. The presence 

 of pyrites of iron and sulphur and other impuri- 

 ties in too large quantities had* induced the 

 general belief that Western coals, in their native 

 state, could not be used for smelting. 



Recently extensive beds of coal have been 

 discovered, equal to the best anthracite for 

 smelting purposes. In three successive lists, 

 it was found to melt the same quantity of ore 

 in a little more than half the time required by 

 anthracite, while in every instance the quality 

 of the iron produced was as good as that pro- 

 duced by any other coal. This coal can be fur- 

 nished at prices much below those now paid for 

 anthracite coal, and it will greatly redound to 

 the benefit of the iron interests on the one hand, 

 and the consuming public on the other. 



Illinois has few works of internal improve- 

 ment. The Illinois and Michigan Canal is the 

 only one of importance. The Legislature made 

 a large appropriation for enlarging it, but the 

 work has been postponed. 



The total receipts from tolls on the Illinois 

 and Michigan Canal during the past navigation 

 season' have been $66,432.31, against $70, 740.38 

 in 1866, leaving a deficit, as compared with 

 last year, of $4,308.07. The falling off in re- 

 ceipts is to be attributed to the low stage of 



