ILLINOIS. 



431 



required to assist in procuring daily bread by their 

 labor, and to say that these shall not be allowed to 

 attend the schools when it is possible for them to 

 do so, is inconsistent and not in harmony with the 

 spirit of the law." 



In the cases of " Allen C. Calkins et al. vs. 

 Charles E. Cheney et al." being the suit of 

 the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago to recover 

 possession of the Christ Church property in 

 Chicago from the congregation and pastor of 

 that parish, the Supreme Court in conclusion 

 says : 



From these references to the statutes, it is clear 

 that the trustees of an incorporated religious society 

 or association do not hold the property, in the ab- 

 sence of a declared or clearly implied trust, for any 

 church in general, nor for the benefit of any peculiar 

 doctrines or tenets of faith and practice in religious 

 matters, but solely for the society or congregation 

 whose officers they are, and that they are not in the 

 discharge of their duties subject to the control of 

 any ecclesiastical judicatory. The property belongs 

 to the society or congregation, so long as the corpo- 

 ration exists ; and when it ceases to exist, the prop- 

 erty belongs to the persons or their heirs. The so- 

 ciety or congregation may not only erect a house of 

 worship on the land, but it may also "make such 

 other uses of the land, and make such other im- 

 provements thereon, as may be deemed necessary 

 for the comfort and convenience of the society or 

 congregation." If the society or congregation so 

 directs, the trustees must convey away the land and 

 property. The society or congregation appoints the 

 trustees, and may remove them and fill the vacancies. 

 It may adopt such rules and regulations in relation 

 to the duties of the trustees and the management of 

 its estate as the members may deem proper. In all 

 these things the society or congregation exercises 

 its discretion, and acts only in obedience to its own 

 sense of what is right. 



The election in the State for the year 1878 

 was for the choice of members of Congress, a 

 State Treasurer, Superintendent of Public In- 

 struction, one Clerk of the Supreme Court in 

 each grand division, one Clerk of the Appel- 

 late Court in each appellate district, members 

 of the State Legislature, and the ratification 

 or rejection of a proposed amendment to the 

 State Constitution. 



The first convention of the year assembled 

 at Springfield on January 16th, to express a 

 demand for the remonetization of the silver 

 dollar. Its constituents formed the National 

 party of the State. The convention was or- 

 ganized by the appointment of C. B. Lawrence, 

 of Chicago, as President. The following plat- 

 form was adopted : 



Whereas, By act of Congress of April 2, 1792, pro- 

 vision was made for the coinage of a silver dollar of 

 the value of the Spanish milled dollar, then current, 

 containing 37H grains of pure silver, to be the mon- 

 etary unit of the United States, and although the 

 standard weight of the said dollar, which was origi- 

 nally 416 grains, including the alloy, was in 1837 re- 

 duced to 4l2i grains, yet the quantity of pure silver 

 which it contained, and its intrinsic value, remained 

 unchanged for a period of more than eighty years, 

 during all which time the silver dollar so coined 

 continued to be the monetary unit and standard 

 measure of value for the United Stntes ; and 



Whereas, Silver and gold, concurrently, have con- 

 stituted the basis of the monetary system of all na- 



tions and peoples since the earliest period in the 

 history of civilized man ; and 



Whereas, Silver coin has always constituted the 

 chief, and frequently the only metallic legal-tender 

 currency in general use among the masses of the 

 American people ; and 



Whereas, The business and credits of the whole 

 country during almost the entire period of the na- 

 tional existence have been adjusted to this standard 

 measure of values ; and 



Whereas, All bonds of the United States by law, 

 and the terms expressed on their face, are payable 

 in coin of the standard of July 14, 1870, namely, sil- 

 ver of 412J, and gold of 25 '8 grains : therefore, 



Resolved^ That the demonetization of the silver 

 coinage of the United States was a change in our 

 monetary system so grave and radical in its charac- 

 ter, and so vitally affecting the commercial interests 

 and rights of the people, that it ought not to have 

 been ventured upon, even under circumstances most 

 favorable, until after a full, thorough, and exhaustive 

 discussion of its merits before the people; and the 

 covert scheme by which this most important mea- 

 sure was precipitated upon the country without one 

 word of discussion either in or out of Congress, and 

 the obstinate persistence with which the scheme is 

 still prosecuted, in a time of unparalleled business 

 prostration and disaster, and with the forced resump- 

 tion of specie payments in immediate prospect, dis- 

 closes a reckless disregard for the public welfare on 

 the part of its movers which merits our severest 

 censure and condemnation. 



Resolved, That one obvious purpose of the act de- 

 monetizing silver was to increase the value of the 

 Government bonds, ai-,d correspondingly increase 

 the public burden by securing the payment of those 

 bonds in gold, when by their terms, plainly ex- 

 pressed on their face, they are redeemable in coin 

 of the standard value of the United States on July, 

 14, 1870, at which date silver dollars as well as gold 

 dollars were lawful tender in payment of all debts, 

 public and private ; that, in order to secure to the 

 bondholders this advantage, to which they are in 

 nowise entitled, the people have been clandestinely 

 robbed of the legal-tender quality of one half of their 

 metallic currency, thereby greatly enhancing the 

 difficulty and the danger of the proposed resump- 

 tion of specie payments and unjustly increasing the 

 burden of every individual debtor in the nation, as 

 well as that of the nation at large. 



Resolved, That we view with just alarm the posi- 

 tion taken by the President on this question in his 

 late message ; and we have good reason to believe 

 that his judgment has been warped and misguided 

 by the bad counsels of his constitutional advisers, into 

 the adoption of a line of policy which would give 

 the bondholders an undue and unjust advantage, 

 greatly to the detriment of the people. We have 

 searched in vain through his message for any word 

 of true comfort for the struggling masses, by whose 

 labor the money must be earned to pay these bonds. 

 We regard his suggestion that, by yielding to the 

 demands of the public creditors, these bonds may 

 be exchanged for others at reduced interest, as a 

 delusion. There are two parties interested in this 

 question those who are to pay, as well as those 

 who are to receive payment. We demand that jus* 

 tice, simple justice, be done to both, by restoring 

 the old, time-honored standard measure of values 

 The burdens of government will then rest lightly' 

 upon the shoulders of a prosperous people ; but we 

 pee no hope of returning prosperity in the financial 

 policy of the President and his maladvisers. 



Resolved, That the holders of the Government 

 bonds not only have no right, legal or equitable, to 

 demand payment otherwise than according to their 

 express terms, but the Government can not, with 

 due regard to the rights of the people, waive its op- 

 tion to pay in silver or gold, and restrict itself to 

 payment in gold only ; and that when the attempt to 



