of the state in the lands granted by the federal government. The proposal was accepted by the legislature in consideration of a promise on the part of the syndicate to pay seven per cent of the gross income of the road into the state treasury, under which agreement the road has paid about forty millions of dollars in revenue to the state since 1855, when the Illinois lines were practically completed. From this beginning, the Illinois Central Railroad has developed into one of the biggest systems in the country, operating now nearly five thousand miles of railway; and it has served as a potent factor in the development of the state and its resources.

So it has happened that during my lifetime the railroads of the state have been developed to their present wonderful standard. Be it remembered that, at the time of my birth, there were no railroads operating in the state; today there are more than 13,000 miles of main lines in service which, with the duplication of mileage in the case of double track lines and with industrial and yard tracks, bring the total up to nearly 25,000 miles of railway tracks, or enough, if laid on the equator, to reach around the world. That, in my opinion, is not only the most wonderful advance which we have made, but it has had the most potent influence in the development of our rich resources, being virtually the handmaiden of mining and agriculture.

The thing which, in the early days, pointed to Illinois as the central or pivotal state of the territory between the Appalachian and Rocky mountains was the fact that all of the great navigable waterways of the upper Mississippi valley border or impinge upon our favored territory, including the Great Lakes, the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Ohio, the Cumberland and the Tennessee. Add to this imposing array the fact that practically all the great railway systems of the United States lead to Illinois, just as, in olden times, all roads led to Rome, and that the city of Chicago is the greatest railway center of the whole world, and it readily will be seen that in transportation facilities we easily lead in the sisterhood states. And it is our knowledge of this favored situation and our quiet confidence that it will be seen and appreciated by others that convinces the thoughtful Chicagoan that some day our city, sitting like a queen by our inland sea at the head of the richest valley in the world, will be the center of the commerce and industry of civilization.

CHAPTER XIII

THE RISE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

The life history of Abraham Lincoln is a history of the opposition in this country to the institution of human slavery. Heretofore attention has been called to the fact that the people from whom the great emancipator sprung were unalterably opposed to the institution, from whom he doubtless imbibed his early hatred of the system. Just before coming to Illinois he made a trip from Indiana down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, where he had his first view of a slave market. It is said that the sight caused him to exclaim: "If I ever get a chance I will hit that institution and hit it hard"! His emancipation proclamation in later years was the promised blow which struck the shackles from four million human beings.

Two years after his arrival in Illinois he was a candidate for the state legislature, taking a courageous stand against the proposed building of a railroad by the state on account of its great cost, and advocating instead the improvement of the Sangamon River for water borne transportation as being "much better suited to our infant re

sources." The internal improvement fever, just then waxing into its greatest strength, was enough to defeat him. After announcing his candidacy for the legislature, he enlisted for service in the Black Hawk War and was elected captain of his company. Returning from this service he reached his home in New Salem, Sangamon County, less than two weeks prior to the election, in which, although defeated, he made a very respectable showing.

The following year he was appointed postmaster at New Salem. Correspondence by mail in those days was not as common as it is now, for, with money as scarce as it then was, it cost 25c to mail a letter; and consequently Lincoln had considerable time at his disposal which he devoted to the occupation of surveying and in general study.

At the next election of members of the legislature in 1834 he was again a candidate, this time with greater success, being elected with the second highest vote in a field of thirteen candidates. Among the four members for Sangamon County elected at that time was John T. Stuart, who was a major in the Black Hawk War. Stuart was a lawyer, and had a law library which was accounted the best in that section of the state. Being greatly impressed with Lincoln's native ability and honesty, Major Stuart offered him access to his library, aided and encouraged him

in a study of the law, and later took him into his office as a partner.

In 1836 Lincoln was again elected to the legislature, and it was in that session that he met Stephen A. Douglas, elected to the House from Morgan County. Lincoln was again elected to the legislature in 1838 and in 1840, serving in the latter term with Lyman Trumbull of St. Clair County. He declined a renomination for a fifth term in the legislature.

While representing Sangamon County in the legislature, which then met at Vandalia, the question came up of moving the capitol further north to keep pace with the trend of settlement. In the competition for the new location, he was in charge of the interests of Springfield, and is credited with doing some very clever politcal maneuvering which won the permanent location of the state capitol.

Lincoln was serving as a member of the legislature at the time of my birth in 1837, and the year before that had insisted on being recorded against a resolution passed in the State legislature recognizing the right of property in human beings. A portion of his protest entered on the Journal of the House stated it as a part of his creed “that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy."

Following his retirement from the legislature, Lincoln gave his full time to his growing law