The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1847-02-05
ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE.
SPRINGFIELD, February !, Is47.

'"~ ""'"'HS NUNS o'e hoW occupied
mostly in the introduction and reading Of
petitions and bills Of a private and local
character. which can interest no one bu,
those directly interested. Both branches
of the Legislature have before them an
immense amour, Of business undlsposed
OF, and ore thing is certain, we may eth.
er look for long sessinn. or expect to
see much Of the business remain undis.
posed of a, the close Of the session, and
fear both Of these cases will occur.
The gres, business Of the session.
mean 'he superintendent bll-remains
where ii was at The commencement Of The
session. 1t is True. it has been called up
various times in both houses and as
wrote you in my last The house succeed.
ed in passing bill fixing the ratio Of rep.
RESERVATION Of the house at one repGesCn-
lalive for every 5000 inhabitants, and
one for every $1,000 in the senate. This
bill was amended by the senate and re.
turned to the house for its concurrence
the house refused to concur in the amend.
men,s made By the senate. A committee
of conference was then appointed on the
par, OF both houses who Yet have the bill
under advisemeni.
The senate to-day have had the appor.
tlonment OF the State in reference To the
State convention under consideration. and
1t has given rise to a warm debate. The
great bone Of contention consists in mis-
understanding or want Of agreement on
the part Of members, as 10 the spirit aud
meaning of that section IN the con.litu-
ton that authorizes the call Of convcn-
ton to amend and alter the constitution.
| have not the constitution before me
and cannot, therefore, give the precise
language, but it in substance reads as fol-
lows :-"Tha, the convention should "
composed of the same number of dele
gates as there are members IN the Gene
raj Assembly, who shall be chosen By
the same electors, a, The same places. and
IN like manner as the members Of the
General Assembly are chosen" Anoth.
er section Of the constitution authorizes
the census Of The State to he taken every
five years, and an apporIionmeni made
so soon as the census is completed.
There has been no apporiOnmenl made
under the census OF 1915. and the mem.
bers Of the present Legislature were cleo.
ted under the apporIionment of 1910.
The south aud part Of the middle of the
State contend that the convention must
be composed of delegates elected under
'he aPportlonmenI Of 1910, since no ap.
porlionmenl has been made under the
census Of 1915. The north contend and
admit that the convention can contain no
more members than the present General
Assembly, and lha, the delegates mus, be
elected by the same electors. &C., hu,
that this can be done under an appor,lon-
menl vet - he made on the census Of
lS45. The North will lose its numeri-
cal strength, if The former view Of the
Constitution is adopted. and the South
will lose if the latter view is carried out.
This Is, as ] have before said. the great
bone Of contention. As democrat,
say lie. US abide by the will Of the ma
jori!y.
There is report here that Mr.. Good
ing has resigned his Office, ! hope this
report is correct; as | know il would be
highly CRAFTY ing TO the great mass Of The
people in the Canal region to be relieved
of his official services, in that capacity,
as the new Canal Trustee cannot accom-
pish all that is necessary in that depart
menl for the good Of the Sla,e-in the
great work Of reuenchmen, and reform
until that band Of blood.Suckers who
have been preying upon the vitals Of the
State, and receiving high salaries with
out doing Anything for their constituent.
cy, are removed from Office. "a, 4.
The weather has been remstkabJy'
pleasant for The las, few days. we haze
had fine fall of snow. which laA made
good sleighing for the last lbreeiltsS A.
aud need hardly add ,ha, j, haSbfea
well improved by our Observation-Disclosures
fast vanishing before the mild rays 81
King Sol.
On Friday last Mr. Reddick introduced
bill aulhorz ing the board Of trustees to
donate a 10, in Ottawa To the Methodist
Episcopal Church. The bill also revses
the law Of 1899, which permiued the Ca.
nal Comm issloner To donate a lot To each
religious denomination. aud four lots to
schoos in each town layed out or To ne
layed out on the canal. !, has since
passed the Senate and is now in the
house.
Mr. Rcddick has also Introduced bill
in The senate giving gran, to Geo. II.
Norris. and Others, 10 build bridge
across the lllineis river ., Ottawa. Ii
has been read first and second time and
referred TO The committee on internal ma
vigalion.
The able and esteemed senator, Mr..
Brown, of Schuyler. has been quite I'M
well. but has again resumed his seat.
Our mutual and esteemed friends, Messrs.
Epperson, of Bureau, and Thomas, Of
Stark, are again both sick. SIGMA.