Ordered, That the Secretary inform the House thereof.

On motion by Mr. Davis of Cass,

Senate bill No. 138, an act to amend the title of an act providing for the increasing of the capital stock, and the Directors of railroad companies, approved June 17, 1852;

Was taken up and read a third time.

Ordered, That the Secretary inform the House thereof.

Senate bill No. 103. An act to amend sections 18 and 26 of an

act regulating general elections, and prescribing the duties of officers in relation thereto, approved June 17, 1852;

Was read a third time.

The question being, shall the bill pass?

On motion by Mr. Cobb,

A call of the Senate was ordered, and the following Senators answered to their names:

Mr. Browne of Randolph moved to recommit the bill with the following instructions:

To amend so that Judges, Inspectors or Clerks shall not inspect and compare the numbers on ballots with the number on the pollbooks; nor shall they permit any other person to do so; nor shall the County Clerk permit such ballots to be inspected; nor shall he do so himself, except when the same is required in a judicial investigation, and to add proper penalties for a violation of the above requirements.

On motion by Mr. Landers,

The bill and pending amendment was referred to a select committee of three, namely: Messrs. Browne of Randolph, Landers, and Cobb.

Mr. Claypool made an ineffectual motion to adjourn.

On motion by Mr. Landers,

Bills on their second reading were taken up.

Senate bill No. 158. A bill to provide for the printing and binding of two thousand copies of the laws passed at the regular session of the General Assembly, in the year 1863, in the German language, and for the distribution and sale of the same;

Was read a second time, and ordered to be engrossed for a third reading on to-morrow.

Senate bill No. 159. A bill regulating the fees to be charged for the services of the Clerk of the Supreme and Circuit Court, and County Auditors, the disposition to be made of the same, and to repeal all laws inconsistant therewith;

Was read a second time, and referred to the Committee on County and Township Business.

Leave being granted,

Mr. Ray introduced

Senate bill No. 173. A bill to amend sections 6 and 28 of an act "entitled an act authorizing the construction of plank, Mc Adamized and gravel roads," approved May 12, 1852;

Which was read a first time, and passed to a second reading on

to-morrow.

On motion by Mr. Wright,

Senate bill No. 167. A bill to authorize the sale of land deeded to the State by M. G. Bright, lying in Jasper and Newton counties, and prescribing the manner of making such sale, and granting preemption to actual settlers on said lands;

Was taken up and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Senate bill No. 168. A bill to prevent the abandonment of plank, turnpike, McAdamized and gravel roads in certain cases, and declaring who shall not be liable to pay toll on such roads, in certain

cases;

Was read a second time, and referred to the Committee on Corporations.

On motion by Mr. Browne of Randolph,

The Senate adjourned.

MONDAY, 8 O'CLOCK, A. M.,
March 2, 1863.

Senate met.

On motion by Mr. Cobb,

The absentees were noted on the Journal, viz:

The Journal of Saturday was read and approved.

Mr. Murray from the majority of the Committee on State Prisons, submitted the following report:

MR. PRESIDENT:

The majority of the Committee on State Prisons, to which was referred Senate bill No. 155, requiring all persons hereafter sentenced to the State Prison, to be conveyed to the State Prison at Jeffersonville, &c., have instructed me to report the same back with the recommendation that it be laid upon the table.

Mr. Ferguson, from the minority of the Committee on the State Prisons, submitted the following:

MR. PRESIDENT:

The undersigned, a minority of the Committee on the State Prison, to which was referred Senate bill No. 155, introduced by Senator Bradley, cannot concur with the majority of the commit

tee in their recommendation to lay said bill upon the table for the following reasons:

Two main propositions are contained in the bill:

1. Requiring all prisoners hereafter convicted to be conveyed to the southern prison.

2. Providing for the removal of convicts from one prison to the other, whenever the interest of the State required it, or when such removal shall become necessary for the safe confinement of the convicts.

The bill does not interfere, in any manner, with the construction of the northern prison, should an appropriation be made for that purpose. The law authorizing the location and construction of the northern prison provided for the employment of 150 convicts in the work. About 130 convicts are now confined in that prison, only 20 less than was, contemplated by the law should be sent to that prison prior to its completion. It was not the intention of the legislature, in the passage of the first act in regard to the new prison, to make it a receiving prison until its completion. At the extra session, in 1861, the condition of the southern prison was such that a removal of a portion of the convicts became absolutely necessary. The prison was crowded. The convicts idle, with little prospect of finding employment for them, and, in consequence of having no employment, became mischievous, and gave frequent manifestations of a mutinous disposition. Under such circumstances, the Legislature passed an act authorizing the removal of 200 convicts to the northern prison, and providing that all prisoners thereafter convicted, in certain counties, should be conveyed to said prison.

Since then the southern prison has entirely recovered from its embarrassment. Only 190 convicts are now confined within its walls, while the prison has the most complete arrangement for the safe confinement of 425, that being the number of cells, of the strongest character. All able bodied convicts are profitably employed, and not a dollar of appropriation is asked for the support of the prison for the next two years. An increase of force is greatly needed in the tobacco shop, the shoe shop, and probably other departments, and the labor of every convict sent there can be put under lease from the day he is received. We have ample reason to believe that if the number of convicts is materially increased, the