438 



ILLINOIS. 



tice, John M. Scott ; Associate Justices, Alfred 

 M. Craig, John M. Schofield, T. Lyle Dickey, 

 Pinkney H. Walker, John H. Mulkey, and Ben- 

 jamin K. Sheldon. Soon after his accession to 

 office, Gov. Hamilton appointed William N. 

 Brainard, E. C. Lewis, and Charles Strattan 

 Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners. 



Legislative Session. The Legislature convened 

 on the 3d of January, and adjourned on the 

 18th of June. On the 17th of January Gov. 

 Cullom, Republican, was chosen United States 

 Senator by a vote of 107 to 95 for John M. 

 Palmer, Democrat. Among the acts of this 

 session were the following : 



An act to revive the law in relation to the 

 Department of Agriculture, agricultural socie- 

 ties, and agricultural fairs, and to provide for 

 reports of the same; appropriating $531,712 

 for the completion and furnishing of the State- 

 House and for the improvement of the grounds, 

 and providing for the submission of the appro- 

 priation to a vote of the people at the general 

 election in November, 1884; requiring opera- 

 tors of butter and cheese factories on the co- 

 operative plan to give bonds to make report of 

 their business; dividing cities and villages sub- 

 ject to overflow and inundation into improve- 

 ment districts, and providing ways and means 

 to raise the streets, lots, and blocks above the 

 line of overflow ; another act for protection 

 against inundation and overflow, permitting 

 owners of land to construct drains for agricul- 

 tural purposes ; fixing the minimum license fee 

 at $500 for dram-shops, and $150 for malt- 

 liquors only in cities, towns, and villages, and 

 authorizing county boards to grant licenses on 

 like terms upon petition of the legal voters of 

 any town or election precinct ; governing for- 

 eign fire, marine, and inland navigation insur- 

 ance^ companies doing business in the State; 

 providing for the organization and manage- 

 ment of corporations, associations, or societies 

 for the purpose of furnishing life indemnity or 

 pecuniary benefits to widows, orphans, heirs, 

 relatives, and devisees of deceased members, 

 or accident or permanent disability indemnity 

 to members thereof ; requiring railroad corpo- 

 rations organized or doing business in this 

 State under its laws or authority, to have and 

 maintain a public office or place in this State 

 where transfers of stock may be made ; a com- 

 pulsory education act for children between eight 

 and fourteen, requiring at least twelve weeks' 

 schooling' a year. 



State Regulation of Railroads. In May the Su- 

 preme Court of the United States rendered a 

 decision in the so-called " granger " case of 

 Neal Ruggles against the State of Illinois. This 

 case arises put of the facts below set forth : 



On March 18, 1873, Morgan A. Lewis, a passenger 

 on the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy road, ten- 

 dered Neal Buggies, a conductor, eighteen cents as 

 fare tor his transportation from Buda to Neponset, six 

 miles. This was at the maximum rate of three cents 

 a mile, as prescribed by the statute. The conductor 

 demanded twenty cents, the fare fixed by the com- 

 pany. Lewis refused to pay more than eighteen 

 cents, and the conductor thereupon attempted to eject 



Mm from the car. For this act the conductor was 

 prosecuted upon a charge of assault and battery and 

 fined ten dollars and costs. The case was then carried 

 uj) through the State courts by successive appeals, the 

 railroad company sustaining the conductor and rais- 

 ing the question of the right of the State to interfere 

 with its business by fixing rates of fare and transpor- 

 tation. A decision was finally rendered in favor of 

 the State by its highest court. The railroad company 

 thereupon appealed to the Supreme Court of the United 

 States on the ground that the act of the General As- 

 sembly of Illinois, of April 15, 1871, fixing the maxi- 

 mum rate of charges for the transportation of passen- 

 gers on railroads in the State, was unconstitutional 

 and void, because it impaired the obligation of the 

 contract contained in the charters of the various com- 

 panies which were merged into the Chicago, Burling- 

 ton, and Quincy company by consolidation. 



The Supreme Court of the United States holds : 1. 

 That grants of immunity from legitimate govern- 

 mental control are never to be presumed. On the con- 

 trary, the presumptions are all the other way, and 

 unless an exemption is clearly established, the Legis- 

 lature is free to act on all subjects within its general 

 jurisdiction, as public interests may seem to require. 

 The State may limit the amount of charges by rail- 

 road companies for fares and freights, unless restrained 

 l>y some contract in the charter. 2. That in the pres- 

 ent case there is no such restraint. The judgment of 

 the Supreme Court of Illinois is affirmed with costs. 



Assessment of Property. The comparative state- 

 ment of the assessments made by local assess- 

 ors for 1882 and 1883 shows a total assessed 

 value of $750,635,758 in the former and $756,- 

 422,291 in the latter year. 



The assessment of Cook county amounted 

 to $130,547,041 in 1882, and to $138,639,806 

 in 1883. The assessments on the capital stock 

 of corporations aggregated $2,218,430. 



State Institutions. The financial record of the 

 State Board of Public Charities for the quarter 

 ended Dec. 31, 1883, shows the following ex- 

 penditures for each institution for that period : 



The April reports of the penitentiaries show 

 that on March 1st the Joliet Prison had 1,419 

 males and 22- females ; at the Southern Peni- 

 tentiary March 1st there were 555 prisoners. 



Corn - Crop. The acreage and yield of the 

 corn-crop of this State the past ten years is 

 given below : 





