, 1870-05-03
Yesterdays Proceedings in the
Constitutional Convention.
Another Fight Over the Illinois
Central Railroad Tax.

revenue Was taken up, for tho purpose Of concur
ring with that committee In Its amendments This
for1nality mas completed In abort time,
| and the report was then taken
up for nal adoption, and here the old fight, which
occupied the Committee Of the Whole for several
days, WIS renewed With increased Etgor. 1t took
an hour and half to dispose Of the 1rsr section.
This section, 1t should be remembered, is the sub
stttute adopted By the Committee Of the Whole In
lieu OF the first section reported by tho standing
committee This section, as 1t stands, Is s2tisfac-
tory to all partes with the exception Of the LIST
clause, which is as fouows: sand all noneya de-
1iypd from said company after tho payment
Of the State debt shall be appropriated
and set apart for the payment Of the ordinary eS-
penses OF the State Government, and for no other
ru1poscs whatever" aud the entire tight Was on
the above clause. OF eusrse the delegates from
the thi1ty-Beven counties through which tho ILL.,
nois Central Railroad passes, were all uneompto-
mtsng1y hostile to the clause, while the members
from the stxty1ye other counties urged 1t with un-
divided strength. The latter finally u1umphed,
and the aect4on remained as reported There Has
pretty lively contest On the fourth section,
which e1empts States, counties aud municipal cor
porations and such property as may be necessary for
school, religious, charitable, and State and county
agricultural and horticultural fair purposes from
taxation but It was finally carried through as It
came from the committee To tho sixth section,
which pruyidcs for the right Of redemption Of
sales Of real estate for the nonpsJmeut Of ta1es,
Sir. Mednl got in an Important amendment, which
will be dlshkcd by dealers in tax titles 1t pro-
F1des that the penalties for delinquency in the pay
ment Of taxes should not exceed IS per
cent per annun. This cuts down the profits OF
TINT class Of real estate operators IS per cent.
movement, which for ttmo was successful, was
made to restore the tenth section Of the original
report, which had been stricken out in Committee
OF the Whole. The section Is IS follows:
"a All appropriations OF the State revenue shall
be from the revenue fund In general contained
tax collected Of to be collected from any locality
OF revenue shalt ever be obtained.
The 7ote vas taken On It's restoration
and declared tic-ss to q. The
President gave the casting vote In
It's favor, and 1t was declared adopted This sec-
tton, it will be perceived, Is blow atsthc tx
stealing law Of 1859, and its adoption created N
excitement among the delegates who favored that
aaw. They have majority Of the convention,
but were, at this time. caught mapping. Aesscn-
tcngers were quietly despatched tot seyera1 nem-
bcrs who were not In the hail at the time, and two
or three were brought ID. Then Nj. Abbott,
4ntet, respectable old gentleman, arose aud
moved reconsideration Of the vote
by which the section was adopted
two or three majority, and the section stricken
out Several additional sections were presented,
and voted down. Here tt looked as II the report
had been completed and ready to be sent to the
Committee Oh Revision and Adjustment: but that
Has not to be its fate At that hour the enemies
Of the nrst section we're not satised With the re-
suit and HI. Turner moved reconsideration OF
the vote By which Section / was adopted. The
vote was reconsdescd. Mr.. Gamble moved an
m $tn f{oH
ters Of one per cent Of the fund re-
ceived by the State from the Illinois Central
Railroad be paid back to the counties through
which the road passes. This proposition received
the encouragement Of only fifteen votes 3fr.
Ttncner moved to strike out the obnoxlous clause
ut the cnd Of the section, Is given above. This
wRs ngain voted down Finally Judge Bryan
moved that the section be sent to tho Committee
Schedule, with instructions submit separate
y to vote Of the people. This Was carried, md
the balance Of the report ~as sent to the Finance
Committee, and the convention adjourned. The
report wil come up again Tomorrow
morning, and probably the whole ground
win have to be fought over again. The dlsposi-
ton By the convention Of the dtst section is In no
way satisfactory to the members representing the
counties through which the road passed. IN fact,
It could scarcely be presented to them In less at
t1actlEe shape. The part Of the section most
Offensive to them L. to be submitted to q vote Of
the people with the f1st part Of the section which
Is entirely satisfactory to every member Of the
convention, and they arc thus compelled to Bwa1-
low what they most dislike for the sake Of
getting What they desire, OF reject the
whole. It is very evident that the enemies Of the
counties which seek to shnt out al, proytstons in
the new constitution which Hll1 prevent their
eventually obtaining requirement Of a certain
amonnt ~ taroo rn,1oc+aIR f-on, ..oro .....s.a
49, No., ~ 800 ao.seu .,.s,N uon. .uoss eounr
o-morEow Will deEelcp remains to be seen.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Wagner offered a resolution, this morning.
49,. ~ 1e,,s..,.. ,.. - n4olttnt'
,o.,s ous ,nt sns ae IN inafsoay'
.sxt - .a0., o.aAou, "anoa. aeaoh- "as
eeas " .tIe osueune toulnaltee- II -, tnefe1ole.
= ""... A | .o14s w .tot Jet 1ee' nnane
~ We ~. aa. aujouinneut snan take
p.aee: = uuisas uEe inaAs petAt p!osfess taan 10
oas, ~ - h1e pteulcs tnas sae tlne iof ao]oafa-
,ea. WAL oe a"a5 ocsoaa toas namea II Tue reso
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a,.aa.., na " 1s!,al h.nhfs-A coRnsc1loH, .,.,
49,. as ., n'.statn eccuon VI tue o4l ot la9nls vas
,a" ~ auop'sa " ,ae consennon II e1aen1 the
.a sastI ~ "4a.u :. "as lalnteu III Inc emca9o
,s4-a.., -,,ss al, 4. o1tu 'uose In
~. "nsu 1.Ao wa oaaa ueoucuoas oe
r.th sa,acan, 49,, ss Ummst t ~ eemluon
=. =. Tas.' a1tet uetos Aoopteot
~ 80 ~ 1e1s " NoLou u fecon-
night be construed to prevent deductions for
benefits on account Of public Improvements The
section Eas finally recommitted to the Bill OF
Rights Committee, who reported 1t back with the J
amendment stricken out It then passed .bF
stallT UNANIMOUS Fote' AS aaopted fcaua as
olio"s: :
SEC. T. fHFate properly ahal nor DC taHen or |
tamaxed for public use without jus. compeusa-
4o, ten. SaGa compeasaaon, wacn nor maze by ne
han fbrec rnHmissinnnTe .Gno,nta' - ~ - scnnrt -
lccortl, as shall be prcscrtbed by law. The Zee OF
aud taken for railroad tracks, without the con-