490 



ILLINOIS. 



To establish and maintain a Soldiers' and Sailors' 

 Home in the State of Illinois. Appropriates $200,000. 



To amend an act entitled " An act to provide for 

 the reorganization of the State militia, and entitled 

 1 The Military Code of Illinois.' " Appropriates 

 $245,000. 



Appropriating $528,600 for the Hospital for the In- 

 sane at Kankakee. 



To promote the science of medicine and surgery in 

 the State of Illinois. This provides that all persons 

 dying without funds to bury them shall be given to 

 medical colleges and students of medicine for dissec- 

 tion. 



Appropriating $228,555 for the Hospital for the In- 

 sane at Elgin. 



Appropriating, for the expenses of the Normal Uni- 

 versity a*t Normal, in addition to one half interest on 

 the college fund, $23,500. 



Appropriating $50,000 for the Penitentiary at Joliet. 



To protect the public from imposition hi relation to 

 canned and preserved food. This is known as the 

 " Soaked Canned Goods Bill," and provides that when 

 goods are soaked before being canned they shall be so 

 marked upon the label. 



To authorize the formation of companies for the de- 

 tection and apprehension of horse-thieves and other 

 felons. 



Making an appropriation for completing, continu- 

 ing, and displaying the Illinois exhibit at the Exposi- 

 tion at New Orleans. 



To protect persons and property from damages from 

 steam-engines on public highways. 



To revive and amend an act and certain sections 

 thereof, entitled " An act for the construction, repa- 

 ration, and protection of drains, ditches, and levees 

 across the lands of others for agricultural, sanitary, 

 and mining purposes^ and to provide for the organiza- 

 tion of drainage districts." 



Appropriating $2,B72,924 for the expenses of the 

 State government until the expiration of the fiscal 

 quarter after the adjournment of the next regular ses- 

 sion of the General Assembly. 



A joint resolution was passed creating a 

 revenue commission. This measure sets forth 

 the general inadequacy of the revenue laws to 

 secure the equal and just taxation of the prop- 

 erty of the State, and provides " that the Gov- 

 ernor is hereby authorized and directed to 

 appoint a committee of twelve men, an equal 

 number of whom shall be of the two leading 

 political parties of the State, with authority to 

 propose and frame a revenue code which, in 

 their opinion and best judgment, shall be of 

 practical execution, and shall be just to all 

 classes of property and in keeping with our 

 complicated system of business, commerce, and 

 individual or corporate avocations, and report 

 the same to the next General Assembly of the 

 State of Illinois. That said committee shall 

 meet on the first Wednesday of September, 

 1885, and shall organize by the election of one 

 of their number as chairman, and one compe- 

 tent person as stenographic clerk. That on or 

 before the 1st day of March, 1886, said com- 

 mittee shall furnish to the Secretary of State a 

 true copy of their report, which the Secretary 

 shall at once cause to be printed and distrib- 

 uted. Each member of the committee shall 

 receive for his services and entire expenses 

 ten dollars for every day employed, not to 

 exceed ninety, and the said clerk shall receive 

 six dollars a day for every day employed by 

 said committee. Said commission shall have 



power to send for persons and papers, and 

 take such testimony as they may deem proper." 



Labor Convention. The State Labor Conven- 

 tion, representing the various trades and labor 

 organizations of Illinois, met in Springfield in 

 February, and agreed upon the following de- 

 mands, " assuring our law-makers that our bal- 

 lots and demands go hand in hand " : 



The total abolition of convict contract labor. 



That better laws be provided for the better protec- 

 tion of railroad employes and miners. 



We favor the enactment of laws providing for co- 

 operative associations as distinguished from those gov- 

 erning joint-stock companies. 



We favor the enactment of a law establishing an 

 arbitration board, said board to settle all disputes be- 

 tween employer and employe", their decision to be final 

 in all cases. 



We demand the enforcement of the compulsory edu- 

 cation bill, now on our statute-books, and favor a pen- 

 alty for any violation of said law. 



We favor the enactment of a law whereby pupils 

 attending public schools shall be furnished with all 

 books, etc., required by them, free of charge; such 

 books, etc., to be furnisned by the State. 



We favor the enactment of a law establishing a 

 State printing-office for the purpose of printing all 

 books, etc., required in our pubfic schools: and also 

 to furnish all printed material needed in all State hi' 

 stitutions. 



The abolition of what is known as the conspiracy 

 or La Salle black law, and the passage of a statutory 

 enactment declaring illegal all iron-clad contracts 

 which deprive workmen of the privilege of member- 

 ship in any peacefully conducted trade organization. 



We favor the abolition of the truck system, and 

 laws providing weekly payments for work performed. 



We demand the enforcement of the eight-hour law 

 now on our statute-books, and a penalty attached for 

 any violation of said law by eitner employer or em- 

 ploye". 



We favor the enactment of a law prohibiting gam- 

 bling, etc., in the necessaries of life. 



The enactment of laws prohibiting non-residente 

 holding lands. 



We favor the enactment of laws whereby railroads 

 and water-ways shall be controlled by the General 

 Government. 



The enactment of laws providing for the inspectors 

 of workshops, factories, tenement-houses, and dwell- 

 ings, to insure the sanitary condition thereof, and that 

 rigid measures be taken for the protection of the peo- 

 ple against adulteration of food and drugs, and a pen- 

 alty attached for their adulteration. 



The enactment of an efficient apprenticeship law. 



Coal-mining. It is ascertained that the amount 

 of capital invested in the mining industry in 

 Illinois is $9,898,950, an investment exceeded 

 only by three other industries, viz., milling, the 

 manufacture of agricultural implements, and 

 meat-packing. This is about $1,600,000 more 

 than reported in 1882. Notwithstanding a con- 

 siderable increase in the number of mine-open- 

 ings, there has been a decided decrease in the 

 total output of 'the State as compared with the 

 two preceding years. The tonnage for 1884 

 was 10,109,000; in 1885 it was 9,791,874. 

 While a somewhat general business depression 

 undoubtedly operated to diminish the coal 

 product, the greater portion of the decrease is 

 traceable to the strikes in the Third and Fourth 

 Districts, which were the longest and involved 

 the greatest number of men of any strikes or 

 the year. There was a suspension in the Ells- 



