Edwardsville Spectator

In the House of Representatives,
Jan. 24, Mr. Cook, from the committee
on the Public Lands, made the following
report.

The Committee on the Public Lands, to
whom was referred the memorial of
the Legislature of the state of Illinois,
respecting the title to the land upon
which their seat of government is located,

REPORT:

The memorialists state, that Congress
granted to the state of Illinois four sections of land, to be selected by commissioners appointed under the provision of
the 13th section of the schedule of the
constitution thereof, for the purpose of
locating thereon the seat of government of said state for twenty years; that,
in making such selection, the commissioners (with three other adjoining sections) made choice of section number
sixteen in township number six north,
range number one east, of the third principal meridian; that, by virtue of the
authority vested in them by law, the
commissioners proceeded to lay out a
town, and at great expense, have erected
a state house upon the said section number sixteen. The legislature, fearing
the title of the state to the said section
may be considered doubtful, in consequence of the grant previously made by
the United States of the sixteenth section in each township to the state, for the
use of such township, for the encouragement of learning, pray Congress to pass
a law declaring the validity of its title.
and to direct the issuing of a patent
therefor; and, also, to authorize the
state to make a selection of another section in said township, in lieu of the sixteenth, for the use of the inhabitants
thereof.

The committee, upon examining the
subject, find, that, prior to the passage
of the act, entitled "An act to enable
the people of the Illinois territory to form a constitution and state government, and
for the admission of such state into the
Union, on an equal footing with the
original states," passed the 13th April,
1818, the section number sixteen in
every township was reserved for the
maintenance of public schools within the
township. This reservation, for that
purpose, has, at no time, however, previous to the organization of a state government, been held absolutely to vest the
title thereto in the township; on the
contrary, Congress has repeatedly disposed of such section, both by granting it absolutely to individuals who, by virtue of ancient settlement thereupon,
have received donations covering their
improvements, and qualifiedly to those
to whom the right of pre-emption was
granted, who had settled upon that section in any township. Congress seems
to have acted upon the principle that a
simple reservation of land for a specific
purpose does not amount to an application of such reservation to that purpose;
but remains subject to the authority of
the reserving power, until some positive enactment declares its application
and appropriation to that object.

The sixteenth section, therefore, in Illinois was not applied to the use of, nor
vested in, the township, until it became
so by the compact entered into between
that state and the United States, a compact which forms a part of her constitution. By virtue of that compact, the
right of each township is guaranteed to
the section number sixteen, or, when it
"has been sold or otherwise disposed of,
to other lands equivalent thereto," with
the exception, however, in the opinion of
the committee, of this particular case.

By the thirteenth section of the schedule of the constitution it is provided.
"That the seat of government for the
state shall be at Kaskaskia, until the
general assembly shall otherwise provide. The general assembly, at their
first session holden under the authority
of this constitution, shall petition the
Congress of the United States to grant
to this state a quantity of land, to consist of not more than four nor less than one
section, or to give to this state the right
of pre-emption in the purchase of the
said quantity of land; the said land to be
situate on the Kaskaskia river, and, as
near as may be, east of the third principal meridian on said river. Should the
prayer of such petition be granted, the
general assembly, at the next session
thereafter, shall provide for the appointment of five commissioners to make the
selection of said land so granted; and
shall further provide for laying out a
town upon the land so selected; which
town, so laid out, shall be the seat of
government for this state for the term of
twenty years."

This provision forms a part of that
whole of which the compact above alluded to is also a part; and, inasmuch as
its terms are general, and therefore leaving the commissioners, when authorized, as they afterwards were, by Congress, to
make a selection of any four adjoining
sections, without restriction to those of
particular numbers, the possibility that
the sixteenth section might be, as it has
really turned out to be, one of the most
eligible for the purpose contemplated, it
is conceived by the committee, constitutes an exception to the otherwise general effect of the compact-a compact
which, without such exception, could not
be revoked without the mutual consent
of the state, in its constitutional character, and of the United States.

Adopting this as the correct view of
the subject, the committee conceive the
state was authorized to select the sixteenth section for the purpose to which
it is applied; and, as the grant of these
four sections is a grant in addition to the
grants previously made to the state, they
are also of opinion that it is right to
authorize the state to make a selection
of another section, within the same township, for the use of the inhabitants thereof, in lieu of the section aforesaid, which,
under such previous grant, would have
been applied to that use. They report
a bill accordingly.

A BILL confirming the location of the seat
of Government of the state of Illinois, and
for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States
of America, in Congress assembled,
That the four sections of land, including the section number sixteen, in township number six north, range number one
east, of the third principal meridian,
heretofore selected by commissioners appointed for that purpose for the seat of
Government of the state of Illinois, be,
and the same are hereby declared to be,
confirmed to, and vested in, the said
state, for the purpose aforesaid.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted,
That the governor of said state be, and
he is hereby, authorized to select any unappropriated section in said township.
for the use of the inhabitants thereof.
which shall be in lieu of the said sixteenth section.