treasury during the year 1880, were $3,200,000. The total disbursements for the same year were $3,150,000. With the State entirely out of debt, and so grand a showing in point of wealth, no reader, who is a citizen of Illinois, can contemplate the situation without feelings of pride and pleasure at the advancement the State has made.

We have stated in this connection that the State paid the debt incurred under the internal improvement system to the uttermost farthing, principal and interest, as the records of the Treasurer and Auditor of Public Accounts fully attest; yet it may seem strange that, in the face of this declaration, the biennial report of the Auditor of Public Accounts for 1882, shows, on page 84, that the claim of Macallister & Stebbins, filed May 11, 1880, for $409,168.80, styled old State debt, was dismissed by the Commission of Claims. Now that the reader may understand the nature of this decision, and the character of the claim, we quote the preamble and section 1 of an act passed by the General Assembly of 1849, approved February 10, in which it is plainly set forth how the so-called Macallister & Stebbins bonds were issued, the exact amount of money obtained on them, and the character of the settlement made between the State and Macallister & Stebbins. The title of the act reads thus:

"An act to prevent loss to the State upon the Macallister & Stebbins bonds."

The preamble is in these words:

"WHEREAS, Macallister & Stebbins, of New York, did, on the 17th June, 1841, receive of John D. Whiteside, Fund Commissioner of Illinois, eight hundred and four interest bonds, of one thousand dollars each, bearing interest at the rate of six per cent. per annum, and dated May 14, 1841, reimbursable at any time after the year 1865, upon which the said Macallister & Stebbins, about the 25th June, 1841, advanced two hundred and sixty-one thousand four hundred and sixty dollars and eighty-three cents; and whereas, the said John D. Whiteside, near the said 25th June, delivered to the said Macallister & Stebbins

thirty internal improvement bonds, of one thousand dollars each, upon which they agreed to make a further advance to the State in case it was necessary, to pay the July interest for the year 1841-but such advance never was made, as it was not required to pay said interest. About the 1st of July, 1841, the said John D. Whiteside gave to the said Macallister & Stebbins an order on Nevins, Townsend & Co., of New York, for forty-one bonds of one thousand dollars each; about the 27th day of October, 1841, the said Macallister & Stebbins received of Michael Kennedy thirty-eight thousand two hundred and fifteen dollars and forty-four cents of State scrip, which was placed to the credit of the State, as well as the thirty bonds which they received from the said John D. Whiteside, and also the forty-one bonds received from Nevins, Townsend & Co.-the three last mentioned sums, one hundred and nine thousand two hundred and fifteen dollars and forty-four cents over and above the eight hundred and four interest bonds first received by themmaking in all, the sum of nine hundred and thirteen thousand two hundred and fifteen dollars forty-four cents, which the said Macallister & Stebbins acknowledged in their account current rendered the State at the session of the General Assembly of 1842, (see report, page 197), was held as security for the two hundred and sixty-one thousand five hundred and sixty dollars eighty-three cents, actually advanced as aforesaid, that sum being but twentyeight and sixty-four-hundredths of a cent upon the dollar so as aforesaid received by them."

Section one of this act reads as follows:

"That upon the surrender to the State by the said Macallister & Stebbins, or any person authorized by them, of the eight hundred and four interest bonds of one thousand dollars each, with their coupons, hypothecated with them, on 17th June, 1841, and now outstanding against the State, and also other internal improvement bonds and scrip subsequently obtained, and amounting at the time they obtained them to the sum of one hundred and nine thousand two hundred and fifteen dollars fortyfour cents, over and above the eight hundred and four interest bonds first received by them as aforesaid, with the coupons on said bonds, and interest on said scrip from its date to the time of settlement under this act, it shall be the duty of the Governor to issue bonds of not less than one thousand dollars each, and payable after the

year 1865, bearing interest at the rate of six per cent. per annum, and payable semi-annually in the city of New York, pro rata out of the interest fund, and the balance of the interest to be paid out of the State treasury. The amount of bonds to be issued by the Governor as aforesaid to be equal to the balance remaining due the said Macallister & Stebbins, principal and interest, at the rate of seven per cent. per annum, (as per contract) upon the advance of two hundred and sixty-one thousand five hundred sixty dollars eighty-three cents, from the date of said advance up to the time of settlement under the provisions of this act. And should the said Macallister & Stebbins not surrender to the Governor all of the eight hundred and four bonds, the amount they shall fail to surrender, and being the same heretofore taken up by the State, shall be credited to the State and deducted from the amount found due from the time they shall have been taken up by the State, at the rate of twenty-six cents on the dollar: Provided, that no bonds shall be issued by the Governor as aforesaid, except upon the surrender to the State of the bonds of 1865, or of the internal improvement bonds, or of the scrip as aforesaid, to an amount which the whole amount of bonds and scrip now outstanding bear to the amount of new bonds which may be issued, upon the settlement of the account of Macallister & Stebbins-it being the intention of this bill to authorize the Governor to issue liquidation bonds at any time when an amount not less than twenty thousand dollars of the aforesaid bonds, deposited with Macallister & Stebbins, shall be surrendered by them or by their order." (See Public Laws of 1849.)

Under a supplemental act, approved February 16, 1865, the holders of the so-called Macallister & Stebbins bonds were required to surrender the same by July 1, 1865, under certain penalties, or by January 1, 1866, under other and heavier penalties. (See Public Laws of 1865.) Under this act all these bonds have been called in, and the just amount due on them paid in full; hence there is no foundation in fact for the claim filed in the name of Macallister & Stebbins, and we are more than warranted in saying that the State paid in full, principal and interest, the enormous debt incurred under the internal improvement system of 1837.

Totals..

$4,585, 045 64 $5,094, 403 84 $4, 173, 835 88 $30, 547,714 41 $28,319,099 00 $25, 198, 234 21 $97,918, 332 98

CHAPTER LVI.

SPEECH OF ROBERT G, INGERSOLL.

Nominating James G. Blaine for the Presidency, at the Republican National Convention, at Cincinnati, June, 1876.

Massachusetts may be satisfied with the loyalty of Benjamin H. Bristow; so am I; but if any man nominated by this convention can not carry the State of Massachusetts, I am not satisfied with the loyalty of that State. If the nominee of this convention can not carry the grand old Commonwealth of Massachusetts by seventyfive thousand majority, I would advise them to sell out Faneuil Hall as a Democratic headquarters. I would advise them to take from Bunker Hill that old monument of glory.

The Republicans of the United States demand as their leader in the great contest of 1876 a man of intelligence, a man of integrity, a man of well-known and approved political opinions. They demand a statesman; they demand a reformer after, as well as before, the election. They demand a politician in the highest, broadest and best sense -a man of superb moral courage. They demand a man acquainted with public affairs-with the wants of the people, with not only the requirements of the hour, but with the demands of the future. They demand a man broad enough to comprehend the relations of this government to the other nations of the earth. They demand a man well versed in the powers, duties, and prerogatives of each and every department of this governmant. They demand a man who will sacredly preserve the financial honor of the United States; one who knows enough to know that the National debt must be paid through the prosperity of this people; one who knows enough to know that all the financial theories in the world can not redeem a single dollar; one who knows enough to know that all