The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1870-06-04

shall be legalized; and we have required that
Banks shall deposit ample securities for the pro.
lection of their creditors.
RAILROADS.
| We have provided that railroads owning par.
ael or competing lines shall not be consolidated
and that majority of the directors shall be resi-.
dents Of this State We have declared railroads
to b public highways and required the General
Assembly to establish reasonable maximum
rates OF charges, and to prevent unjust discrimi.
nations and extortions. We have asserted the
right OF the State, by the exercise of the power
Of eminent domain, to subject the property and
franchises of incorporated companies to the pub
| lie use, the same the property of natursl per-
sons. We have provided against the release of
the obligation of the Illinois Central Railroad to
| the State, thereby securing te the State nearly
half million dollars annually.
STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL INDEBTEDNESS
| We have prohibited the State from contracting
Indebtedness beyond S25O,00O, without submit.
ting the law to the people. We have forbidden
the General Assembly from loanng the credit of
the State and making appropriations from the
! Treasury in aid of internal improvements, and
from paying assuming the debts or liabilities
! of any public or other corporation, association or
individual. We have prohibited county author.
tiles from assessing taxes the aggregate of which
shall exceed s5 cents per 800 valuation, except
| for the payment of Indebtedness existing at the
adoption Of this Constitution, unless authorized
by vote of the people of the county. We have
forbidden cities, counties and al! public corpora.
tlons from creating or further increasing their
| Indebtedness above five per cent. Oh the value of
the taxable property within the same and re-.
quired that at the time of mourning such in
! debtedness an annual tax shall be levied, suffi-
cient to pay the interest as it falls due, and to
| A. al.
For want of such provision in our State Con.
stitution, our counties, towns and cities have
contracted liabilities of over SjO,0OOOOO. We
have submitted a separate Article prohibiting
all municipal subscription to railroad stocks.
| FEES AND SALARIES
Under the present Constitution it was found
practically impossible to carry on the three de.
partments Of government without eva1ng its
provisions. The com Pensation allowed the Gov.
ernor, State officers Judges and members of the
General Assembly, was wholly insufficient in
times when the prices Of all the necessaries of
all the necessaries of life were increased and the
currency inflated By general and special laws
the fees of clerks and inferior officers afforded
them much greater income than the salaries Of
Governor and Judges, and in the populous coun.
ties, and In Chicago, those fees afforded com.
pensation beyond all reasonable bounds. We
have inaugurated a system by which all per.
quisites of Judges and State officers will be p.o.
| hibited. We have limited members of the Gen.
eral Assembly to 500 each per session, in addi.
ton to their per diem and mileage, in full for
postage, stpt!onery, stamps, newspapers and all
other incidental perquistes. These perquistes
amounted, at the last session Of the General As.
semby, to over $4,000, which was about $500
to sach member.
We have provided that the fees and salaries
of all officers under the Constitution shall no, be
increased or diminished during tqeir terms and
that, with few exceptions, such fees and salaries
shall be fixed before their terms commence We
have abolished all special laws in relation to
fees, and put in force the general law in such
| cases and we have required the next General
Assembly, by general uniform law, to provide
and regulate fees of all persons holding county
! offices, and their successors, as TO reduce the
same to "a reasonable compensation. in not ex.
osedlng three grades in the different counties :
and all laws fixing the fees of State county and
| township officers, shall terminate with the terms
of those in office at the meeting Of the first Gen
eral Assembly.
| We have provided that State and county off.
GERS shall be paid reasonable salaries out of the
fees collected by them and that the surplus be
paid iHto the State or County Treasury. Thus
| fees and salaries may hereafter be regulated by
! the condition OF country; and we have allowed
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
| To save ali controversy IA "a future Convention,
to amend the Constitution, we have fixed the
qualification OF its members the oath of Office
they shall take; the manner OF filling vacancies /;
and provided that amendments proposed by such
Convention, before they take effect shall be rati.
! fled by the electors of the State. As means of
avoiding the necessity and expense of such
Convention, we have provided that two.thirds of
each house ct the General Assembly may submit.
amendments TO any Article of the Const.u-
tlon; and ii ratified by the people at the sue.
ceedlng general election, such amendments shall
constitute part OF the Constitution.
Such are some of the prominent amendments
We propose. They the result of much labor,
reflection and discussion, and we are con fdent
| that in'c.e>t and inclination will induce YOU to
give them that earnest, careful and and candid
consider ,tun rhey deserve, aud that you will
/ render such decision as will promote your own
we'll beng and the future prosperity of the bow
ertul, patriotic and progressive State of Illinois
And it will afford sincere pleasure in after
years to find that efforts have in some meas.
ure, contributed to such desirable consumation.
w. II. UNDERWOOD, Chairman.
.. II. BROWNING, l.. S. CHURCH.
l.. w. Ross, j. w. ENGLISH,
JOSEPH MEDIIL, VIM. J. ALLEN,
VIM. G. GOODHuE, S S. HAYES,
WILLIAM CARY, GEO. f.. WAIT,
j. c. ALLEN, NJ. HAY.
| H. 7. II. BRoMwELI, JESSE S UILDRUp.
! EDwARDi RICE