At this session of the Legislature, the first step was taken to carry the project of the Illinois and Michigan Canal into execution. To aid in its construction, Congress, in the year 1826, had donated about 300,000 acres, on the route of the proposed canal, of which a survey had already been made. Nothing was done, however, to carry the work into effect, until this session, when George Forquer, a member of the Senate, in a report remarkable for its sagacious reasoning, as well as the masterly eloquence of its language, proposed the negotiation of a loan of half a million of dollars, to begin the work with. The proposed loan was negotiated on the credit of the State, by Gov. Duncan, in 1836, and the construction of the canal commenced in the same year. During that very year, the mania for speculation in land and town lots, after having rested for several years, broke out anew, and spread all over Illinois. The dazzling example set by the people of Chicago, who, by fostering and advocating this spirit of speculation, had, within less than two years, built up and converted a village of a few houses into an elegant, industrious city of several thousand inhabitants, was well calculated to excite the surprise and amazement of the people, and to revive their old bias for speculation in real estate. Nor could the people of the Eastern States be prevailed upon to stay at home, after it had become known to them, in what a rapid manner fortunes were amassed in Chicago; but looking upon Illinois as a modern El Dorado, large numbers of them immigrated into the State, bringing their money and property with them. The example of Chicago was imitated throughout the State, lots and towns being laid out in every direction.. And since the great majority of the speculators had bought far more, than they could hope either to sell or to pay for, it occurring to their minds, that by facilitating immigration, and by attracting wealth and industry from abroad, they would soon transmute the villages into populous cities, and be enabled to sell their lots, either at once, or after a short time, they accordingly commenced agitating, with great ardor, the subject of internal improvements in the State, delivering speeches and holding public meetings, and arguing their cause with such success, that before the next winter a majority of the counties had appointed delegates, who assembled at the same time with the Legislature of 1836-1837, in order to discuss and deliberate thoroughly upon the subject of internal improvements.

and to take good care, that the system to be carried into effect "should be commensurate with the wants of the people." Pressed on all sides, the Legislature passed a law authorizing the construction of about 1300 miles of railroad, commanding, that improvements be made in the navigation of several rivers, and a large sum be paid as indemnification to the counties in which no improvements were to be made. Eight millions, to be raised by a loan, were voted for the execution of the system. A further loan of four millions was negotiated for the completion of the canal from Chicago to Peru, and boards of commissioners, superintending the construction of the works, having been established, to make the folly complete, the works were ordered to be commenced simultaneously on all the roads, at each end. Private interests, intrigues, and corruption, had been actively at work to ensure the adoption of this system. Thus it was, that the friends of the canal were made to give their consent to other improvements, in order to secure the support of their own; and thus politicians would endeavor to obtain the consent of every county in the State, by promises of roads and improvements, allowing the counties which were to be without such, the sum of $200,000 as indemnification: and thus politicians, who were anxious to have the seat of government removed to Springfield from Vandalia, would support or oppose any scheme of improvement, if they could or could not obtain votes in favor of the removal of the seat of government to Springfield in return for it.

In the spring of 1837, the banks throughout the United States suspended specie payments, the banks of Illinois not excepted. Now, since the charters of the Illinois banks, which had been made the fiscal agents for the railroad and canal, and had a large sum of public money on deposit, expressly declared, that the banks, upon refusing specie payments for sixty consecutive days, should be considered as dissolved, it being feared, that such dissolution, whenever it should take place, would necessitate the ruin of the whole improvement system, measures were proposed, and adopted, to have this unavoidable suspension of specie payments duly legalized. The people then firmly believing, that the internal improvement system, which wasted the best energy of the State, was indispensable to her welfare, no modification or alteration was made in it, but, on the contrary, loans were effected, both in Europe and America, large quantities of rail

road iron were bought up at an extravagant price, and the work, upon all the improvements, carried on with unabated energy.

In August, 1838, another election came on for Governor; Cyrus Edwards, the whig candidate, openly declaring himself in favor of the improvement system, whilst Thomas Carlin, who had been nominated as the democratic candidate for Governor, by a State convention, upon the principles of the convention system, which, introduced by the immigrants from the Eastern States, to consolidate the strength of party, was then rapidly superseding the hitherto customary election. of independent candidates, who had announced themselves as such, cautiously refrained from expressing his opinion, either in favor of, or against the improvement system. Thomas Carlin was elected Governor, and a new Legislature with him, which not only refused to abolish the system, but even authorized new loans for additional works, projected in a style of magnificence far beyond the means of the infant. State. Thus, in expectation, that the value of the lands granted by the United States for the construction of the canal, would prove illimitable, a very large and deep canal, to be fed by the waters of Lake Michigan, was proposed to be built, and portions of it were even completed. Thus canal-basins, and other works, for the improvement of navigation on the Illinois river, the execution and completion of which would have absorbed no less than ten millions of dollars, were nevertheless readily provided for. Soon, no more loans could be obtained at par, and the State bonds, notwithstanding the law rigidly enforced their payment in cash at par, were sold on credit, or at a large discount, or deposited for sale with bankers of Europe and America. The firm of Wright & Co., of London, with whom a large amount of them had been left, sold about half a million of dollars worth, and then failed, returning the residue of the bonds; at the division of whose estate, the State being obliged to share with others, received but a few shillings on the pound. In consequence of these calamities, which might have been easily foreseen, the Legislature, at a special session, in 1838-1839, found themselves obliged to discontinue the "internal improvement system." The work on the canal, however, was not wholly abandoned; a million of State bonds having been sold at some 25 per cent. discount in Europe, the fund commissioners were enabled to persevere in it, for some time after the railroads had

stopped, but were at last obliged to apply for assistance to the Legislature, in order to pay the interest due in January, 1841. As there was but little time left, until the interest was to be paid, the exigency of the case was such, that the Legislature resorted to the desperate expedient of making a new issue of bonds, to be hypothecated for whatever they would bring, which measure, had it been permanently adopted, would have involved the State in utter bankruptcy. As there were many, who objected to paying interest at all, and especially upon bonds, which had been sold for less than their full value, as expressed on their face, whilst others argued, that if the bonds had passed from the hands of the original into the hands of bona fide holders, who had purchased them at their full price, the State was bound to pay interest to the latter upon the amount of money, which each bond on its face purported to be issued for. Mr. Cavarly, with a view of making a decision on the disputed point unnecessary, introduced a bill empowering the fund commissioner to mortgage 300,000 dollars' worth of internal improvement bonds, making it incumbent upon him to apply the proceeds to the payment of all interest legally due on the debt, and leaving it for him to decide, which would be more legal, to pay interest upon the full amount of the value of the bonds, as shown on their face, or to pay no interest, except on the money, which these bonds had been sold for. Besides providing, that these interest bonds should be sold for their mere market value, the Legislature levied an additional tax of ten cents on every hundred dollars' worth of property to be pledged for the payment of the interest of these bonds, by which devices the difficulty, which the commissioners had experienced in paying the interest, was finally over

come.

In the year 1840, a large majority of the people were democrats, those formerly the so-called Jackson men; whilst their opponent political party, which, before the year 1834, had flourished under the name of "anti-Jackson," and to which many office-holders, and especially most of the Supreme Court Judges, belonged, now adopted the name of "Whigs," attempting to base the same, as did the "Whigs" of the Revolution, upon opposition to the executive power. Two important questions were submitted to the Supreme Court, the first of which was, whether Governor Carlin had a right, as he claimed to

At that time, the

have, of appointing a new Secretary of State to supersede the old one. The Supreme Court gave as their opinion, that the Governor had no such right, producing, by their decision, a general dissatisfaction throughout the country, since the democrats, who constituted a majority of the people, very plausibly contended, that the unpopular doctrine of life-officers had been sanctioned by it. The second question was, whether an alien had a right to vote. alien vote was about 10,000 strong, full nine-tenths of which belonged to the democratic party. The constitution of the State provided, that all free white inhabitants over the age of twenty-one years, who had resided in the State for six months, were entitled to vote at general, as well as at special elections. The whigs pretended, that the word "inhabitants" did not apply to any but citizens, whilst hitherto aliens, who had been in the State for six months, as well as citizens, had been allowed to vote. This question having already been made the subject of much discussion throughout the State, two whigs undertook to settle it, by agreeing on a fictitious cause, which they brought before the Circuit Court, the judge of which, being himself a whig, of course decided, that the aliens had no right to vote. When this decision became known, the democrats, well aware, that its reversion would be of vital importance to their party, since it would secure them the further support of nearly 10,000 votes, forming the balance of power in the State, carried the case before the Supreme Court, continuing it until December, 1840, after the Presidential election. The defeat, which the democratic party throughout the United States had sustained in the Presidential campaign of 1840, by the election of Gen. Harrison, having added fresh fuel to the irritation of the democrats against the whigs, the former, whilst their case remained suspended, lost no time in introducing a measure, by which the Circuit Courts, created in 1835, were to be abolished, and five additional Judges of the Supreme Court were created, all of whom were required to hold Circuit Courts in place of the Circuit Judges, who had been dismissed from office, which arrangement would have given them a majority of two to one in the Supreme Court. Although the success of the mea. sure was for a long time extremely doubtful, it finally passed in both houses of the Legislature. The result of this democratic victory was, that the appointment of the Secretary of State by the Governor was