quisite to them as individuals, and they should provide their own rooms, clerks and janitors, or themselves assume this lower class of necessary service, to the serious detriment of the more important constitutional obligations, which they have undertaken to perform, and for the due performance of which they are responsible to their oaths and to their constituents. Whether rooms, clerks, janitors or stationery are furnished, in either case it relieves committees of expense which they would otherwise be compelled to bear themselves, or the work of legislation could not be done. To whatever weight a suggestion that committees are not recognized by the constitution is entitled as an argument, it seems, therefore, to go to the whole question of providing for them either the necessary rooms, clerks and other employees, or stationery. These particulars all unite and tend to one end-the making of committees efficient and useful. Your committee see no difference in principle between these various items of expenditure; no dividing line where consistency permits one to be authorized and the other inhibited. In neither case are these things furnished to the members of this House, as individuals, but to committees, through responsible chairmen, as organized bodies of this House, for the purposes of their creation. It is the committees, in their organized form, as delegations of this House, and the business of the House, not the individual members thereof, that are the recipients. In this respect, the standing committees of this House stand on the same footing with the committee of the whole House. The latter, it is true, is a larger committee, but it is still only a committee, and performs only the work of a committee, and its action, like that of the other committees, has no effect until reported to and adopted by the House. A construction of the constitution which inhibits the furnishing stationery to the other committees, necessarily inhibits the furnishing it to this larger committee. We are not aware that it has ever been suggested that as soon as the House goes into a committee of the whole, the regular stationery of the House should be withdrawn, and that stationery for the use of that committee should be supplied by its individual members. The precedent established by the last General Assembly is otherwise. The stationery required for the use of that committee and its clerks, was by that, as by all preceding General Assemblies, supplied out of the general stationery provided for the use of the House, and for like reasons and on a similar principle, should be supplied to the other committees for use in the performance of committee work. Having regard, therefore, to the language of the constitutionto its manifest object to restrict the value of articles, and such only as might be furnished to members for their personal use, in the nature of personal perquisites and compensation, aided by the construction which it has already received, in cases involving the same principle, and the precedent established under it in cases in all respects similar-your committee are of the opinion that the constitution does not inhibit the furnishing of stationery to committees of the House for actual use in the performance of committee duties. A careful examination of the various propositions which were made in the constitutional convention in respect to the compensation of members of the General Assembly, and of the debates in the convention on the adoption of the provision of the constitution now under consideration, seems to leave no doubt as to the real intention of the framers of that provision; that it was not intended to impair the power of the General Assembly to provide for the necessities and conveniencies of legislation; but to guard the public property from being ruthlessly plundered for conversion to private uses, which, if history is not, as it is sometimes said to be, a fable, had through the corrupt practices of members of former General Assemblies, been done to such an extent as to convert the humble stipend of two dollars per day into a source of wealth, and turned our halls of legislation into a nauseous scandal and disgrace throughout the State. The wholesale plunder of the public property by individual members of the General Assembly, restrained by no existing laws or adequate practical safeguards, and only by their own will, opportunities, sense of shame or fear of exposure, the members of the constitutional convention designed to bring to an end. But while guarding against the peculations of members of the General Assembly, they also remembered that those members, on leaving home for their duties here, also left behind them relatives, friends, constituents; that their correspondence would be much increased; that many newspapers and documents must be procured and transmitted; that for these and the numerous other minor expenses of a personal nature, occasioned by their residence at the capital, the necessary means must be provided; and for which, therefore, for the want of a more certain estimate of particulars, uncertain in their nature, they fixed in the constitution the small sum of fifty dollars for each session. These, and such like things, constitute, under a variety of names, the perquisites mentioned in the constitution, and for which this fifty dollars was given. It was not given for the use of the State, nor for the use of the members of the General Assembly, in their capacity of members, but as perquisites personal to themselves, or as Judge Underwood, in the constitutional convention, substantially and appropriately expressed it, as part compensation for their services. This allowance of fifty dollars necessarily excludes members from the right to use the stationery of the State for any of the purposes above enumerated, or for any other purpose which can be fairly regarded as personal to themselves, whether as members of the General Assembly or otherwise; for to undertake to discriminate between them individually as members of the Assembly, and them individually in respect to their other relations in life, would re-create, or might do so, the enormous evil which the constitution was designed to remedy, and which a proper construction of it, aided by proper vigilance to secure its effect, will, so long as it endures, render wholly impossible without impairing or impeding the public business or legislation. Neither stationery, nor any of the numerous articles of property which, from the necessity of the case, must be supplied to the clerks and employees of this House, and to its various committees, are not supplied to the individual members, but to official bodies created for official organized labor, essential to wise legislation, and should be so supplied only on the basis of some definite official and personal responsibility, in character and honor, and in a form in which that just responsibility to duty and to the public can neither be denied or evaded. Your committee have, therefore, desired me to report back to the House the resolution referred to them for consideration, together with the following resolution as a substitute for the same, with a recommendation that said substitute be adopted by the House: Resolved, That the Secretary of State be and he is hereby authorized and directed to furnish the committees of this House, during the present session, with the necessary stationery for the use of the committees in the performance of their committee work, on the requisition of the chairman of each committee; and that the chairman of the several committees report to the House, during the session a detailed statement of the articles so furnished by the Secretary of State on his requisition, and that such reports be entered at length on the journal of the House. (Original resolution.) N. BUSHNELL, Chairman. Resolved, That the Secretary of State be and he is hereby authorized to furnish the several committees of this House, during the present session thereof, with necessary stationery for the use of such committees, upon the written requisition of the chairman of said committees. The report of the committee was concurred in, the substitute adopted, and the original resolution was laid on the table, yeas 116, nays 24—the yeas and nays being demanded by five members. Those voting in the affirmative are: Messrs. Alexander of Crawford, Alexander of Montgomery, Anderson, Armstrong of Grundy, Armstrong of LaSalle, Ballow, Barkley, Bishop of Edgar, Bishop of McHenry, Blakely, Bocock, Booth, Bradwell, Branson, Bryant, Bullard, Bushnell, Casey, Cassedy, Chambers, Collins, Condon, Connolly, Davis, Dement, Dewey, Dolton, Dresser, Easley, Efner, Ferrier, Flanders, Forth, Freeland, Freeman, Golden, Gordon, Graham, Granger, Grant, Gridley, Harvey, Hawes, Hay, Herrington, Hite of Madison, Hite of St. Clair, Hildrup, Hollenback, Inscore, Jaquess, Jackson, Jessup, Jones, Lane of Hancock, Lane of DeWitt, Lemina, Lewis, Lomax, Mann, Marsh, McGee, MeLaughlin, McPherran, Meacham, Middlecoff, Mitchell, Moore of Adams, Moose. Morrison, Neville, Oakwood, Oleson, Peltzer, Penfield. Pinnell, Pollock, Quinn, Race, Ramey, Rankin, Ray, Rice, Rogers, Savage, Sawyer, Scanlan, Scott, Senne, Shaw, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Starr, Stewart of McLean, Streetor, Stroud, Swan, Sylvester, Taggart, Thomas, Thornton, Truitt, Virden, Warner, Washburn, Wayman, Webber, Webster, Weinheimer, Westfall, Wick Wicker, Wood, Wymore, Mr. Speaker-116. Those voting in the negative are: Messrs. Carpenter, Cronkrite, Cross, Cullerton, Darnell, Dolan, Dunham, Hart, Henry, Hoiles, Hopkins, Kann, Loomis, McAdams, McDonald, Moffit, Nulton, Oberly, Orendorff, Rountree, Shumway, Snow, Soule, Stewart of Winnebago-24. Mr. Hildrup submitted the following: WHEREAS the hour of twelve o'clock, meridian, has arrived-the time appointed by law for canvass. ing the vote of this General Assembly for United States Senator; therefore, be it Resolved, That the Clerk of this House be and hereby is instructed to immediately inform the Senate that this House is ready to receive the Senate for the purpose of canvassing such vote. Which was agreed to. Mr. Moore of Marshall, from the committee on enrolled and engrossed bills submitted the following report: The committee on enrolled and engrossed bills begs leave to report that a bill of the following title has been correctly enrolled, to-wit: House bill, No. 72, for "An act extending the time for the collection of the taxes on the assessments for the year A. D. 1872, and delinquent and omitted taxes on the assessment books for said year." Mr. Moore of Marshall, from the committee on enrolled and engrossed bills, submitted the following report: The committee on enrolled and engrossed bills begs leave to report that the following bill has been submitted to the Governor for his approval, on the 22d day of January, A. D. 1873: House bill, No. 72, for "An act extending the time for the collection of the taxes on the assessments for the year A. D. 1872, and delinquent and omitted taxes on the assessment books for said year." At twelve o'clock M., the Senate, preceded by their President, entered the hall and took the seats arranged for them. By direction of the Speaker, the roll of the joint assembly was called, when the following Senators (47) answered to their names: Messrs. Baldwin, Brooks, Brown, Burke, Burns, Canfield, Casey, Castle, Crews, Cummings, Cunningham, Cusey, Donahue, Dow, Early, Ferrell, Glenn, Green, Gundlach, Hampton, Henry, Hinchcliffe, Hundley, Jacobs, Kehoe, Lee, McGrath, Murphy, Nicholson, Palmer, Patterson, Reynolds, Sanford, Sheldon. Shepard, Starne, Steele, Strong, Thompson, Upton, Waite, Ware, Warren, Whiting, Wilcox, Williamson, Yager, Youngblood-47. And the following Representatives (145) answered to their names: Messrs. Alexander of Crawford, Alexander of Montgomery, Anderson, Armstrong of Grundy, Armstrong of LaSalle, Ballow, Barkley, Bishop of Edgar, Bishop of McHenry, Blakely, Bocock, Booth, Bradwell, Branson, Bryant, Bullard, Bushnell, Casey, Cassedy, Carpenter, Chambers, Collins, Condon, Connolly, Cronkrite, Cross, Cullerton, Darnell, Davis, Dement, Dewey, Dolan, Dolton, Dresser, Dun ham, Easley, Efner, Ferrier, Flanders, Forth, Freeland, Freeman, Golden, Gordon, Graham, Granger, Grant, Grey Gridley, Halpin, Hart, Harvey, Hawes, Hay, Henry, Herrington, Hite of Madison, Hite of St. Clair, Hildrup, Hoiles, Hollenback, Hopkins, Inscore, Jaquess, Jackson, Jessup, Jones, Kann, Lane of Hancock, Lane of DeWitt, Lemma, Lewis, Lomax, Loomis, Mann, Marsh, Massie, McAdams, McDonald, McGee, McLaughlin, McPherran, Meacham, Middlecoff, Mitchell, Moore of Marshall. Moore of Adams, Moose, Morrison, Moffit, Mulvane, Neville, Nulton, Oakwood, Oberly, Oleson, Orendorff, Peltzer, Penfield, Pinnell, Plowman, Pollock Quinn, Race, Ramey, Rankin, Ray, Rice, Rogers, Rountree, Savage, Sawyer, Scanlan, Scott, Senne, Shaw, Sheridan, Sherman, Shumway, Smith, Snow, Soule, Starr, Stewart of Winnebago, Stewart of McLean, Streetor, Stroud, Swan, Taggart, Thomas, Thornton, Truitt, Virden, Walker, Warner, Washburn, Wayman, Webber, Webster, Weinheimer, Westfall, Wick, Wicker, Wood, Wymore, Mr. Speaker-145. A quorum of both houses having appeared, the Secretary of the Senate then proceeded to read the journal of the Senate, which is as follows: (Transcript of Senate Journal.) At eleven o'clock A. M., in pursuance of a joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives, the President announced as the special order the naming by the Senate of a person for Senator in Congress from this State, for the term of six years from the fourth day of March, A. D. 1873. Mr. Short placed in nomination the Hon. Richard J. Oglesby, for Senator in Congress. Mr. Cummings placed in nomination, as Senator in Congress, the Hon. Lyman Trumbull. Mr. Brooks placed in nomination the Hon. W. F. Coolbaugh. No further nominations being made, the Senate proceeded to a viva voce vote, which resulted as follows, to-wit: For Richard J. Oglesby. Those voting for Richard J. Oglesby are: 33 .16 2 Messrs. Baldwin, Burns, Canfield, Castle, Crews, Cunningham, Cusey, Donahue, Dow,Early Ferrell Green, Hampton, Henry, Jacobs, McGrath, Nicholson, Palmer, Patterson, Reynolds, Sanford, Sheldon, Shepard, Short, Steele, Strong, Thompson, Upton, Waite, Whiting, Wilcox, Williamson, Yager-33. Those voting for Lyman Trumbull are: Messrs. Brown, Burke, Casey, Cummings, Glenn, Gundlach, Hinchcliffe, Hundley, Kehoe, Lee, Murphy, Starne, Voris, Ware, Warren, Youngblood-16. Those voting for W. F. Coolbaugh are: Messrs. Archer and Brooks-2. Richard J. Oglesby having received a majority of all the votes cast, was declared by the President to be the choice of the Senate for United States Senator for the State of Illinois for the term of six years from the fourth of March, A. D. 1873. I hereby certify that the foregoing is a correct transcript of the journal of the Senate relating to the nomination of a Senator in Congress from this State for the term of six years from the fourth of March, A. 1873. D. A. RAY, Secretary of the Senate. The Clerk of the House of Representatives then proceeded to read from the journal of yesterday the action of the House of Representatives in naming a person for Senator in Congress from this State. And it appearing, from the reading of the journals of the Senate and House of Representatives, that Richard J. Oglesby had received a majority of all the votes cast in each house, he was declared by the Speaker of the House duly elected Senator to represent the State of Illinois in the Congress of the United States, for the term of six years from the fourth of March next. Mr. Donahue (a Senator) offered the following, which was adopted: Resolved, That there be appointed by the Speaker of the House, a committee of five (5) to notify the Hon. Richard J. Oglesby of his election to the Senate of the United States, for the term of six years, from the fourth day of March next. The Speaker of the House appointed as such committee the following: Messrs. Donahue and Upton of the Senate; Messrs. Rountree, Hildrup and Mann of the House. The committee retired and soon returned and reported that they had performed the duty assigned them. The Senator elect, Mr. Oglesby, appeared, pursuant to the invitation, and being introduced by the Speaker, addressed the General Assembly. At the conclusion of his address, the Senate, preceded by their President, retired from the hall. On motion of Mr. Carpenter, At 12:40 o'clock P. M. the House adjourned to 2:30 o'clock P. M. TWO-THIRTY O'CLOCK P. M. Mr. Thornton moved to take up the Senate resolution with reference to adjournment until Wednesday, January 28th; which was not agreed to. The Speaker laid before the House the following report of the special committee of the Twenty-seventh General Assembly, appointed to visit Perry Springs; which was referred to the committee on public charities and ordered printed. To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the Twentyeighth General Assembly of the State of Illinois: GENTLEMEN: At the adjourned session of the Twenty-seventh General Assembly, the following preamble and resolution were adopted, towit: WHEREAS from official reports made to this Legislature that there is a great scarcity of water at some of the State Institutions, located at Jacksonville, and that it will require large sums of money to be drawn from the State treasury to make such additions to the buildings as will make them comfortable for the inmates thereof, and to procure a sufficient supply of water for their health; therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring herein, That a committee of three on the part of the House, and two on the part of the Senate, be appointed to confer with the proprietors of Perry Springs, located in Plke county, State of Illinois, and ascertain upon what terms said place can be obtained by the State for the use of the inmates of one of the asylums at Jacksonville, and report the same to the Legislature as soon as such information can be obtained. In pursuance of the above resolution there were appointed on the part of the House by the Speaker thereof, Messrs. Landrum, Phelps and McMasters, and on the part of the Senate by the President thereof, Messrs. Reddick and Strevell, to constitute the committee. The resolution was passed late in the session, and in consequence the committee did not have an opportunity of visiting the Springs and acquiring the desired information prior to the final adjournment of the last General Assembly, and therefore the result of their observations is submitted to your honorable body. By agreement, and in accordance with an invitation from B. A. Watson, Esq., the owner and proprietor of the Perry Springs property, on the tenth day of July, 1872, the undersigned members of the committee assembled at Perry Springs, for the purposes mentioned in the resolution. Although the resolution by its terms did not require the com |