ld now place
themselves on Republican ground, but I am against letting down the
Republican standard a hairsbreadth.

I have written this hastily, but I believe it answers your questions
substantially.

Yours truly,

A. LINCOLN.

TO THE GOVERNOR, AUDITOR, AND TREASURER OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.

GENTLEMEN:

In reply to your inquiry; requesting our written opinion as to what your
duty requires you to do in executing the latter clause of the Seventh
Section of "An Act in relation to the payment of the principal and
interest of the State debt," approved Feb'y 22, 1859, we reply that
said last clause of said section is certainly indefinite, general, and
ambiguous in its description of the bonds to be issued by you; giving no
time at which the bonds are to be made payable, no place at which either
principal or interest are to be paid, and no rate of interest which the
bonds are to bear; nor any other description except that they are to be
coupon bonds, which in commercial usage means interest-paying bonds
with obligations or orders attached to them for the payment of annual or
semiannual interest; there is we suppose no difficulty in ascertaining,
if this act stood alone, what ought to be the construction of the terms
"coupon bonds" and that it, would mean bonds bearing interest from the
time of issuing the same. And under this act considered by itself the
creditors would have a right to require such bonds. But your inquiry in
regard to a class of bonds on which no interest is to be paid or shall
begin to run until January 1, 1860, is whether the Act of February 18,
1857, would not authorize you to refuse to give bonds with any coupons
attached payable before the first day of July, 1860. We have very maturely
considered this question and have arrived at the conclusion that you have
a right to use such measures as will secure the State against the loss of
six months' interest on these bonds by the indefiniteness of the Act of
1859. While it cannot be denied that the letter of the laws favor the
construction claimed by some of the creditors that interest-bearing bonds
were required to be issued to them, inasmuch as the restriction that no
interest is to run on said bonds until 1st January, 1860, relates solely
to the bonds issued under the Act of 1857. And the Act of 1859 directing
you to issue new bonds does not contain this restriction, but directs you
to issue coupon bonds. Nevertheless the very indefiniteness