ILLINOIS. 



427 



due and payable at the pleasure of the State 

 $357,442.06. The remainder, $195,300.06, is 

 payable after January 1, 1880. If the Legisla- 

 ture should provide for the payment of school- 

 fund-interest orders out of the general revenue 

 fund, as was formerly done, the Illinois Central 

 Railroad fund would more than suffice to pay 

 all the principal of the bonded debt of the 

 State by January 1, 1881. 



The municipal debt of the State, in the ag- 

 gregate, is $51,811,691. The largest part of 

 this debt has been incurred in making useful 

 and necessary local improvements, and is repre- 

 sented by valuable municipal property. About 

 30 per cent, of this total of municipal debt rep- 

 resents the railroad-aid debt of the municipali- 

 ties of the State. The Constitution of the State 

 now forbids all counties, cities, or other mu- 

 nicipalities from making subscriptions to capi- 

 tal stock or donations in aid of any railroad or 

 private corporation, and further forbids the in- 

 curring of any indebtedness to an amount, in- 

 cluding existing indebtedness, in the aggregate 

 exceeding 5 per cent, on the value of the taxa- 

 ble property therein. 



The expense to the State of the railroad dis- 

 turbances of 1877 has been estimated at $86,- 

 880.25, of which $67,752.21 is due to the Na- 

 tional Guard, $10,379.53 to the railroad com- 

 panies for transportation, and $8,748.53 is the 

 total expense for subsistence and quartermas- 

 ter's stores. 



The legal rate of interest in the State has 

 often been changed. An act of March 2, 1819, 

 made the rate 6 per cent, per annum, but de- 

 clared any rate lawful for the payment of which 

 an express contract had been made. The Re- 

 vised Statutes of 1833 legalized any agreed rate 

 up to 12 per cent, per annum. The Revised 

 Statutes of 1845 authorized the collection of 

 6 per cent, and no more. In 1849 it was made 

 lawful to stipulate, by written contract, for the 

 payment of 10 per cent, per annum for the use 

 of money loaned, and in 1857 this provision 

 was extended to all contracts. It is now pro- 

 posed to fix the rate at 8 per cent. 



The following amendment to the State Con- 

 stitution was submitted to the voters of the 

 State at the election in November : 



The General Assembly may pass laws permitting 

 the owners of lands to construct drains, ditches, and 

 levees for agricultural, sanitary, or mining purposes, 

 across the lands of others, and provide for the organ- 

 ization of drainage districts, and vest the corporate 

 authorities thereof with power to construct and main- 

 tain drains, ditches, and levees, and keep in repair 

 all drains, ditches, and levees heretofore constructed 

 under the laws of this State by special assessment 

 upon the property benefited thereby. 



The design of this amendment was to make 

 the State Constitution possess a power which 

 its framers supposed had been placed in it pre- 

 vious to an adverse decision of the Supreme 

 Court. All the legislation for the object in- 

 tended was thus set aside. There had been 

 already extensive works commenced and nearly 

 completed which could not be finished or kept 



in repair. The reason why the amendment 

 was urged was, that the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment had reported that 1,800,000 acres of 

 swamp lands could thus be reclaimed. These 

 lands were estimated to be worth $12,869,286, 

 and when reclaimed they would be valued at 

 $52,958,603, being an increase of $40,089,317. 

 It is supposed that in two years, by ordinary 

 ditching, etc., there can be rescued from water 

 and put under cultivation at least 1,100,000 

 acres of as good and productive corn land as can 

 be found in the State, and equal to an addition 

 of 45,000,000 bushels of corn, or 2,000,000 to the 

 number of hogs produced annually in the State. 

 This 1,800,000 acres of land consists mostly of 

 swamps, bogs, and lakes, worthless in its pres- 

 ent condition for agricultural purposes, and ren- 

 dering the surrounding country unhealthy by 

 reason of its miasmatic atmosphere. It is pro- 

 posed to reclaim this land by drains and levees. 

 The amendment does not authorize any ex- 

 penditure of the public money, or any tax to be 

 levied or debt created, for the purpose, but 

 simply that the Legislature shall have the right 

 to authorize the improvement, and that the 

 land benefited shall pay -the expense. 



The assessment of the State by counties for 

 the use of the State Board of Equalization 

 amounts to $812,887,188. The progress of the 

 division of the State into small farms has been 

 quite rapid. In 1850 there were 76,208 farms 

 in Illinois, averaging 158 acres each. In 1860 

 the number had increased to 143,310, and the 

 average size reduced to 146 acres. In 1870 

 there were 202,803 farms, the average being 

 still further reduced to 128 acres. The esti- 

 mate for 1878 is 220,000 farms, of the average 

 of 120 acres. An equally noticeable feature of 

 the land ownership in this State has been the 

 number of from two- to ten-acre patches which 

 afford families a living. In 1870 there were 

 3.500 pieces of cultivated land, containing over 

 3 and under 10 acres, belonging to garden- 

 ers and fruit - growers. There were 10,229 

 pieces between 10 and 20 acres ; 53,240 be- 

 tween 20 and 50 acres ; 68,130 tracts between 

 50 and 100 acres ; 65,940 between 100 and 500 

 acres, this class being mostly farms of 160 acres. 

 In the whole State there were but 1,368 tracts 

 between 500 and 1,000, and only 302 over 1,000 

 acres. The 202,803 farms which are given in 

 the census for 1870 employed 376,441 persons, 

 the proportion of owners and their sons being 

 about 19 to 1. 



The yield of corn in 1876 was 208,112,910 

 bushels, valued at $62,992,541. In 1877 the yield 

 was 269,839,742 bushels. This was valued at 

 $77,562,879. The area of winter wheat sown 

 in 1877 was 1,729,296 acres; in 1878, 2,032,- 

 843. The area in orchards in 1876 was 338,709 

 acres; in 1877 it was 342,682, and the value of 

 the crop was estimated at $3,589,672. Accord- 

 ing to the returns by counties to the State De- 

 partment of Agriculture, the number of hogs 

 marketed in 1877 was 2,115,804; the total 

 gross weight was 535,969,071 pounds; theval- 



