CANALS.

ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN.

§ 1. Cedes the Canal to the United States and defines the terms of cession.

§ 2. Reserves to the State the right to revoke the proposition of cession at any time before acceptance. In case of acceptance directs how deed and surrender of property shall be made. Reserves to the State the right to operate the canal and control its property.

§ 3. Renders the act inoperative and void until approved by a vote of the people. Provides for submitting to vote at the general election in November, 1882,

AN ACT ceding the Illinois and Michigan Canal to the United States.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the Illinois and Michigan Canal, its right of way and all its appurtenances, and all right, title and interest which the State may now have in any real estate ceded to the State by the United States for canal purposes, be and are hereby ceded to the United States for the purpose of making and maintaining an enlarged canal and water-way from Lake Michigan to the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, and this cession is made upon the condition that the United States shall, within five years from the time this act takes effect, accept this grant, and thereafter maintain the said canal and water-way for the purpose aforesaid. In case the United States shall accept this grant, it is upon the express condition that the canal shall be enlarged in such manner as Congress may determine, and be maintained as a National waterway for commercial purposes, to be used by all persons, without discrimination, under such rules and regulations as Congress may prescribe; and the real estate aforesaid, hereby conveyed to the United States, shall be used, and the avails thereof applied, to carry out the objects of this grant, and for no other purpose, in such manner as Congress may determine.

§ 2. The General Assembly shall have power to withdraw and revoke this proposed grant at any time previous to its acceptance by Congress, but when the United States, by act of Congress, shall accept the grant and conditions provided for by section one of this act, the Governor shall immediately thereafter execute and deliver, in the name of the State of Illinois, to the United States, a deed of cession, in accordance with the provisions of this act, and shall then and there, or as soon as practicable, surrender all property mentioned in this act, to be granted to the proper authorities of the United States; and until the delivery of such deed, and acceptance of the same (together with the property conveyed) by the United States, the authority and duty of the State of Illinois to operate said canal, and control its property and appurtenances, shall in no respect be impaired.

§ 3. This act shall not take effect until it shall first have been submitted to a vote of the people of the State of Illinois at the general election to be held on Tuesday, the fifth day of November, A. D. 1882, and have been approved by a majority of all the votes polled at such election. At the said election the ballots, in so far as they relate to this act, shall be in the following form: "For the act ceding the Illinois and Michigan Canal to the United States," and when so voted, it shall count in favor of this act, but if canceled with ink or pencil, it shall be counted against this act. The returns of the whole vote cast at said election, and of the votes for the adoption or rejection of this act, shall be made and canvassed by the same officers and in the same manner as are the returns of the votes for Senators and Representatives of the State of Illinois, and if it shall appear that a majority of the votes polled are "For the act ceding the Illinois and Michigan Canal to the United States," the Governor shall make proclamation thereof, and this act shall take effect from and after the date of such proclamation; but if a majority of the votes cast are "Against the act ceding the Illinois and Michigan Canal to the United States," then this act shall be null and void.

APPROVED April 28, 1882.

JOINT RESOLUTIONS.

TO NOTIFY THE GOVERNOR OF THE OPENING OF THE SESSION.

Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring herein, That a joint committee of three on the part of the House and two on the part of the Senate, be appointed to wait upon the Governor and inform him that the two houses are now in session, pursuant to proclamation, and are ready to receive any communication he may see fit to make.

HENNEPIN CANAL.

WHEREAS, The agricultural, manufacturing and commercial interests of the Northwest, and no less those of the entire country, are largely dependent for their development upon a full enjoyment_of facilities for the transportation of products and commodities; and

WHEREAS, The two great interior water routes of transportation in the United States are those of the Mississippi river from north to south, and of the lakes, with the Erie Canal and Hudson river, from west to east; and

WHEREAS, A direct all-water connection between these two great routes is indispensable to a complete service to the interests which so imperatively demand improved and cheaper routes of transportation, since without such a connection there can be no real use by the Northwest of a water route to the East, nor by the East to the Northwest; therefore

Resolved, That the Senate, the House concurring, respectfully memorialize the Congress of the United States to authorize, provide for and direct, at its present session, an early construction of a canal for commercial purposes from Hennepin, on the Illinois river, westward to the Mississippi river, on the most feasible route.

Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives be requested, to use all possible and proper exertions to secure from the body in which they respectively serve, the passage of a bill, at the present session, ordering the immediate

beginning of the work of constructing the canal herein mentioned, and to vote liberal appropriations therefor, to the end that the said canal may be completed and opened to the commerce of the country at the earliest possible date.

Resolved,, That a copy of these resolutions, duly signed by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and attested by the Secretary of this body, be forwarded to each of the Illinois Senators and Representatives in Congress, in order that the same may be duly presented to the respective bodies in which they serve.

ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT OF AMERICAN CITIZENS IN GREAT BRITAIN.

WHEREAS, In the execution of the coercive policy now practiced by the British Government in Ireland, several American citizens have been arrested and imprisoned, without having formal charges made against them, but upon the vague allegation of being "suspects," without indictment or arraignment before any tribunal or other process of law, thus making punishment precede conviction of crime, a system in conflict with justice, repugnant to advanced civilization, and discourteous and insulting to a friendly nation; and

WHEREAS, The victims of this injustice are, in every instance, citizens who formerly were subjects of Great Britain, but transferred their allegiance to the United States, thus making it apparent that a spirit of malicious persecution, because of such change of allegiance, underlies these outrages; and,

WHEREAS, Under the constitution and laws of the United States, all citizens, native and foreign-born, stand upon an equality and enjoy equal rights, among which is the right, if charged with a violation of law in any country with which the United States holds diplomatic relations, to a speedy trial under the laws of such country, and this fundamental principle has always been asserted and maintained by our government, and is in fact the corner-stone upon which rests our marvelous national growth and development; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of Illinois, the House of Representatives concurring herein, That it is the duty of the general Government, through its Chief Executive, its Congress and its foreign ministers, to demand the speedy trial or unconditional release of those American citizens now in prison, and to declare in the most emphatic manner that the protection of the Republic shall be extended to all its citizens abroad who are not convicted of violation of law, and that the department of government, or official who fails in the discharge of such duty deserves censure, and is unworthy of the confidence of the liberty-loving and law-governed American people. Resolved, That our Senators and Representatives in Congress are hereby instructed to use their best efforts to secure, as soon as possible, such a recognition of the rights of American citizens abroad, as will be consistent with our national dignity, and avert future capricious, arbitrary or unjust interference with them.

Resolved, That copies of the foregoing preamble and resolutions be forwarded immediately to the President, and our Senators and Representatives in Congress.

Adopted by the Senate April 20, 1882.

TO THE MEMORY OF STEPHEN A. HURLBUT.

WHEREAS, The General Assembly of the State of Illinois, in common with the whole American people, have, with feelings of deep regret, learned of the sudden death of General Stephen A. Hurlbut, late Minister from the United States to the Republic of Peru; and, WHEREAS, It is fitting that we, his fellow-citizens of the State of Illinois, should appropriately express our sense of the loss which has thereby fallen upon the State and the Nation in the death of one of its greatest citizens and ablest representatives; therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring herein, That we recognize the great ability and sterling character of the late General Hurlbut, and add our tribute of respect to his memory, and our appreciation of the qualities which rendered him conspicuous as a man, a citizen and a statesman.

Resolved, That as he was always found true in every public trust, in the Legislature of the State and in the Congress of the Nation, on the field of battle, and wherever the best interests of his country were concerned, so we believe that his course in Peru was only that of a true, loyal and patriotic citizen of this great Republic, and that he was actuated by the purest of motives and controlled only by what his judgment dictated as best for the people of Peru and of the United States.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, properly engrossed, be sent to the family of the deceased statesman, with our most tender sympathy and condolence in this hour of their great bereavement.

SINE DIE ADJOURNMENT.

Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring herein, That when this General Assembly adjourn on Saturday, May 6, 1832, it shall stand adjourned sine die.

I, HENRY D. DEMENT, Secretary of State of the State of Illinois, do hereby certify that the foregoing published acts and resolutions of the second session of the Thirty-second General Assembly of the State of Illinois are true and correct copies of said acts and resolutions, filed in the office of the Secretary of State, with the exception of words or letters printed in brackets, thus [ ].

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereto set my hand and affixed the great Seal of State, at the City of Springfield, this 6th day of May, A. D. 1882.

[L. S.]

HENRY D. DEMENT,

Secretary of State.