384 



ILLINOIS. 



Senate on the 4th of March, 1877. There he 

 has been rated as an Independent, but acts more 

 commonly with the Democrats. He is under- 

 stood to be in favor of remonetizing silver, 

 and postponing the resumption of specie pay- 

 ments. 



The legislation of the session was unimpor- 

 tant. The following is a statement of the 

 appropriations made : 



General and deficiency appropriation bills 



State charitable institutions and Kei'orm School. 



Normal University at Normal 



Normal University at Carbondale 



Industrial University at Champaign 



Industrial University (deficiency.) 



State and County Boards of Agriculture 



Expenses of next General Assembly and State 



Government 



Completion of Douglas Monument 



Completion of Lincoln Monument 



Indebtedness of Penitentiary 



Construction of Southern Penitentiary 



Construction of Eastern Insane Hospital 



Payment of Barnard and Gowan claim 



Payment of William Head's claim 



Copperas Creek dam and Spring Lake outlet. . . 



State Horticultural Society 



Beimbursing Williamson and Jackson Counties 



for suppressing Williamson County vendetta. 

 Btate Board of Health 



1,565,068 19 

 72,887 50 

 70,887 60 

 74,500 50 

 16,060 00 

 38,000 00 



700,000 00 

 50,000 00 

 27,000 00 

 98,090 98 

 200,000 00 

 2uO,000 00 

 10,000 05 

 5,968 6T 

 51,453 18 

 4,000 00 



83,000 00 

 2,000 00 



Total $6,194,808 46 



An act was passed prohibiting the publica- 

 tion or dissemination in any way of notices 

 " with intent to procure, or to aid in procuring, 

 any divorce either in this State or elsewhere." 

 A penalty of fine or imprisonment is attached 

 to the offense. A new law relating to fire in- 

 surance was passed, of which the following 

 are the most important provisions : 



No joint-stock company shall be incorporated 

 under this act in the city of Chicago, nor shall any 

 company incorporated under this act establish any 

 agency for the transaction of business in said city, 

 with a smaller capital than $150,000 actually paid in, 

 in cash, nor in any other county in this State with a 

 smaller capital than $100,000, actually paid in, in 

 cash: nor shall any company formed under this act 

 for the purpose of doing the business of fire or in- 

 land navigation insurance, on the plan of mutual 

 insurance, commence business, if located in the city 

 of Chicago, nor establish any agency for the trans- 

 action of ousiness in said city, until agreements have 

 been entered into for insurance with at least 400 ap- 

 plicants, the premiums on which shall amount to 

 not less than $200,000, of which $40,000 at least 

 shall have been paid in cash, and notes of solvent 

 parties, founded on actual and bona-fide applications 

 for insurance, shall have been received for the re- 

 mainder ; nor shall any mutual insurance company 

 in any other part of the State commence business 

 until agreements have been eutered into for in- 

 surance with at least 100 applicants, the premiums 

 on which shall amount to not less than $50,000, of 

 which $10,000 shall have been paid in cash, and 

 notes of solvent parties, founded on actual and bona- 

 fide applications for insurance, shall have been re- 

 ceived for the remainder. No one of the notes re- 

 ceived as aforesaid shall amount to more than $1,000, 

 and no two notes shall be given for the same risk, 

 or be made by the same person or firm, except where 

 the amount of such notes shall not exceed $1,000, 

 nor shall any such note be represented as capital 

 stock unless a policy be issuedupofi-the same within 

 30 days after the organization of the company upon 

 a risk which shall not be for a shorter period than 

 12 months. Each of the said notes shall be payable, 

 in part or in whole, at any time when the directors 



shall deem the same requisite for the payment of 

 losses by fire or inland navigation, and such inci- 

 dental expenses as may be necessary for transacting 

 the business of said company ; and no note shall be 

 accepted as part of said capital stock unless the same 

 shall be accompauied by a certificate of a justice of 

 the peace or supervisor of the town or city where 

 the person making such note shall reside that the 

 person making the same is, in his opinion, pecu- 

 niarily good and responsible for the same ; and no 

 such note shall be surrendered during the life of the 

 policy for which it is given. 



An act making the silver coins of the United 

 States u a legal tender at their face value, and 

 receivable in payment of all debts, without 

 limit as to amount," was vetoed by Governor 

 Cullom, on the ground that it was inexpedient, 

 and likely to flood the State with depreciated 

 coin, and also because it was unconstitutional. 

 On the latter point the Governor said : 



The bill is repugnant to the Constitution of this 

 State and of the United States, in the fact that its 

 operation must be as to past transactions to impair 

 the obligation of contracts. This bill plainly pro- 

 poses to operate upon past contracts, and does not 

 discriminate between them and such as may here- 

 after be made. 



The Legislature evidently intended that no dis- 

 crimination should exist ; hence, in all cases under 

 this bill, if it could be upheld, subsidiary silver coin 

 might be forced as a tender upon a creditor where 

 he had no express contract for other kinds of coin, 

 and whatever might be the extent of the deprecia- 

 tion of the same, the creditor's right to demand cur- 

 rency would be taken away, and so the bill would 

 operate to impair the obligation of the contract be- 

 tween the parties. 



The bill assumes to permit an obligor who has 

 agreed in express terms in legal-tender notes to pay 

 the same in silver coin, if he chooses to do so. Such 

 a provision manifestly impairs the obligation of the 

 contract, where the silver coin is of less value than 

 the legal-tender currency. 



This bill interferes with the power of Congress to 

 regulate the value of money. The power to coin 

 money and regulate the value thereof is vested in 

 Congress as a power in solido, in effect without any 

 reserve to the States, for powers conferred upon 

 Congress, the exercise of which is not expressly pro- 

 hibited to the States, are held to be exclusive where 

 there is a direct repugnancy or incompatibility in 

 their exercise by the States. 



The power has been exercised by Congress, and 

 that body has, in effect, declared that subsidiary 

 silver coin shall, in the absence of any agreement, 

 be a legal tender or forced tender for only five dol- 

 lars. This bill declares it shall be a legal tender for 

 an unlimited amount. Congress gives to subsidiary 

 silver coin a money-value in the payment of debts 

 in sums of five dollars and not beyond. This bill 

 attempts to give it a lawful and forced value beyond 

 that amount. 



The declaration by Congress as to what should be 

 the lawful money-value of subsidiary silver, and to 

 what amount, was, by necessary implication, a dec- 

 laration tliat it should not have a different value, and 

 should not be a lawful tender for a greater sum 

 than that named in the law of Congress save as par- 

 ties might agree. There was no design in this by 

 Congress to remit the matter to the several State 

 Legislatures, nor could it perhaps have done so had 

 that been its intention. ( 



Among the other acts of the session was one 

 establishing 13 judicial circuits, and providing 

 for the election of judges in them on the first 

 Monday in August. The question of making 



