o be supported, in part,
by the state, in 1825; but in 1829 the sections of the act which provided
that two per cent of all money received into the state treasury, and
five-sixths of the interest of the school fund, should be for the support
of public schools, were repealed,(381) taxation for such a purpose not
being then in accord with public sentiment. A mechanic's lien law, passed
in 1825, provided that in case of a contract between a landowner and a
mechanic, the mechanic should have a lien upon the product of his labor
for three months, after which the lien lapsed unless suit had been
commenced. Three years later an unsuccessful attempt to secure such a law
was made in New York.(382)

Two accounts on the records of the state are of sufficient interest to
give at length. The first gives the amount of money received into the
treasury during the two years ending December 27, 1822:

"The amount paid into the treasury by the different sheriffs
within the two years ending as aforesaid, is $ 7,121.09

The amount of a judgment obtained against the former sheriff of
Randolph [County] for non-resident tax of 1818, is 147.14

The amount from non-residents for the two preceding years,
including back taxes, redemptions, interest, &c., is 38,437.75

The amount from non-residents' bank stock, is 97.77

The amount from the Saline on the Ohio, is 10,563.09

The amount from the Saline on Muddy river, is 200.00

The amount from the sale of Lots in the town of Vandalia, is
5659.86

Total amount of money paid at the Treasury between the 1st of
January, 1821, and the 27th of December, 1822, $62,226.70"

The balance in the treasury was $33,661.11, but Governor Edwards, in his
message of December 2, 1828, reported a state indebtedness of $44,140.03
and taxes in Illinois as precisely eight times as high as those in
Kentucky which were payable in the same kind of currency.(383) The rage
for internal improvements was partly responsible, and for this in turn the
wide dispersion of the settlements in Illinois, caused by the fact that
all public lands were offered at the same minimum price and that the
prairies were in large measure shunned, furnishes a partial explanation.

The second account of the state, above referred to, shows that in 1822 it
cost $151.82 to make a trip from Vandalia to Shawneetown and return, and
one from Vandalia to Kaskaskia and return, to convey to the