Persons who lay off new towns, or additional lots to towns, already laid out, are required, in every instance, to make a plot or plan of such town or addition, and record the same in the office of the recorder of the proper county; by which act, the lines and divisions become established by law.

There were, until recently, no usury laws. Lately, a law was passed, prohibiting usurious contracts. Where the parties have not prescribed the rate of interest, the law fixes it at six per cent. per annum.

If the proceedings of the legislature may be considered as indicative of public sentiment, the latter may be asserted to be decidedly hostile to corporations. Applications for charters of incorporation, for various purposes, have been repeatedly rejected, although such charters have sometimes been granted. The constitution prohibits the incorporation of any banking institution, except a state bank and its branches; and it is doubtful whether any monied incorporation would at this time be tolerated.

It has been well contended, that by the aggregation of a large capital, in the hands of a few individuals, they acquire advantages over the individual trader, which enable them to oppress him, and control the market. This doctrine may be carried too far; for some purposes, corporations are necessary and beneficial, but they should be confined to such cases. There is, also, in this country, a great repugnance against allowing such companies to accumulate large possessions in real estate; or giving them powers under which they might carry on any of the operations properly belonging to a bank, espe

cially lending money, or issuing paper for general circulation, in lieu of money.

In several instances, acts of incorporation for seminaries of learning, and for religious associations, have been refused by the legislature; and one institution of learning has been incorporated, with an express provision, that no theological department shall ever be attached to it. This is another indication of public sentiment in this state, or at least of the policy of the legislature. There seems to be a great dread among the lawgivers, of religious domination, and of sectarian influence. Bills for acts to incorporate religious societies, for the single purpose of enabling them to hold a few acres of ground for their meeting-house and grave-yard, have been more than once introduced and rejected. No college, or other institution of learning, in which any one religious sect is known to have a predominant influence, has ever yet received a charter in this state; nor will any such institution ever be incorporated there, unless public sentiment shall undergo a radical change. This prejudice is deeply to be deplored. If religious denominations think proper to educate their children in their own tenets, they have a clear right to do so, and to establish schools for the purpose; it is enough for those who object to the exertion of sectarian influence upon the young mind, to withhold their support from institutions which they disapprove. The granting a charter to a literary institution, confers upon it no moral power, stamps no authority upon the tenets of the persons who control it, nor affects, in the slightest degree, any of

the rights of conscience. It merely gives to such an institution, facilities for the transaction of its financial concerns, and for the safe keeping of the funds bestowed on it, by the benevolent, for public and beneficial purposes. It gives vigor and security to its pecuniary transactions, but adds nothing to its literary reputation. In a country, where religious opinions are perfectly unshackled, and men may believe and worship as they please, it seems to be unfair, that they should not be allowed every facility for educating their children according to the dictates of their own judgment; and we doubt, whether it is not a violation, of the spirit at least, of our free institutions, to refuse to a religious society, the ordinary facilities of law, for the protection of its property, the management of its concerns, and the dissemination of its opinions. The truth is, that the best colleges in the United States are sectarian; each of them, is under the direct patronage and influence of a religious sect. No college, from which such influence has been excluded, by express prohibition, has been successful. The reason of this seems to be, that the business of education falls naturally into the hands of the clergy. It comes legitimately within the sphere of their duties. They are fitted for it by the nature of their studies and pursuits; while liberally educated men, in other professions, could only become qualified for the business of tuition, by the sacrifice of their other avocations. Those avocations are too lucrative and honorable, to be abandoned by men of talents, for the humble and precarious calling of the teacher or professor. If we depend on the

clergy to superintend and carry on the education of our youth, we must permit them to divide into sects, for they will not labor harmoniously in any other manner. It is proper, however, to remark, that this jealousy of sectarian influence, may be owing, in some measure, to the illiberality of denominational feeling. It has more than once happened, that the religious of one sect, have either indirectly opposed the applications of another denomination, for incorporation, or have witnessed their failure with cold indifference, while their divisions and cavils among themselves, have disgusted the public.

Whether the feeling which exists, has arisen out of a mistaken opinion of the tendency of corporate powers and operations, or is the result of sound political principles, we are not prepared to say; but it is very certain, that if we have erred, it has been on the safe side.

No property is now taxed by the state, for state purposes, except land. For the purpose of taxation, lands have heretofore been divided into three classes; the first of which, were taxed two cents per acre, the second, one cent and a half per acre, and the third, one cent per acre. At the last session of the legislature, the third class was abolished; so that there are now but two classes of land, which are taxed as above stated.

The land tax is payable into the state treasury, on the first day of August, in each year. If not paid on or before that day, the land is advertised for sale, in one public newspaper; and is sold for taxes on the first day of January ensuing. The price for which

the land is sold at the tax sale, is, the amount which is due on it for taxes, with interest on the same, and the cost of advertising and sale. The owner may, at any time, within two years from the time of sale, redeem his land, by paying into the treasury double the amount for which it was sold; so that the purchaser gets back his money, with the addition of one hundred per cent.

The taxes of non-residents are paid into the state treasury and applied to state purposes; the land tax of resident land owners is paid into the treasuries of the respective counties, and applied to county purposes. The state government is, of course, supported solely by non-residents. This may seem strange, until it is explained. During the last war, 'the government of the United States agreed to give to each private soldier, who should enlist for the term of five years, and who should receive an honorable discharge, a bounty of one hundred and sixty acres of land. The tract of land lying in Illinois, between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and extending north one hundred and seventy miles from the confluence of those rivers, was appropriated for the discharge, in part, of these bounties. This tract contains more than five millions of acres, and was divided, like other lands of the United States, into quadrangular townships, sections, and quarter sections. In selecting the bounty lands, the surveyors were instructed to reject such tracts as might not be considered arable. In this country, where the land is generally fine, and scarcely any unfit for cultivation, the understanding of such