Illinois now ranks next to New York and Pennsylvania in the paid-in capital for national banks. This system, established 25 Feb. 1863, was a success and achieved the purposes for which it was•primarily created; the establish ment of a market for government bonds, the establishment of a uniform currency, and the abolition of "wild cat* currency. The National Banking system followed, in Illinois, the °Free Banking Law* of 1851 under which 115 banks of issue were in operation just prior to the Civil War; these banks issued nearly 1,000 dif ferent kinds of bills and counterfeiting was easy. The new law remedied these evils. Banking showed a steady growth, though slow at first. From 14 Oct. 1900 to 31 Oct. 1915, 305 national banks with a total capital of $20,333,500 were organized. These banks fall into three general classes: those with a capital of $25,000, those with a capital of $25,000 to $50,000, and those with a capital of $50,000 or over. During the time indicated, 182 banks of the first class with a total capital of $4,500,000, 21 of the second class with a total capital of $733,500, and 102 of the third class with a capital of $15,050,000 were organized. On 2 Sept. 1915, 470 national banks reported; their combined capital was $76,105,000. Other banks also are strong. Thus, on 23 June 1915, saving deposits in Illinois State banks and trust companies ag gregated $294,534,096.83.
Some provisions of the laws, other than the few indicated in the .historical sketch above, are : no State bank shall be created and the State shall not own stock in any corporation for banking purposes; every stockholder in a bank ing corporation shall be individually liable to its creditors for double the amount of his stock; the rolling stock and all other movable property of all railroads in the State are to be consid ered personal property, and subject to execu tion for the debts of such companies; railroad corporations are prohibited from consolidating with parallel or competing lines; all railroads in the State are declared to be public highways, and free to all persons for the transportation of their persons and property thereon, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law— the general assembly to establish reasonable maximum rates of charges for the transporta tion of passengers and freight; the right of eminent domain by the State against such cor porations shall never be abridged; the general assembly by appropriate legislation shall prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in the rates of passenger and freight tariffs on all railroads in the State; appropriate legislation is author ized for the protection of producers shippers and receivers of grain and produce; the general assembly is prohibited from releasing the Illi nois Central Railroad Company from its charter obligation to pay the State the agreed percent age of its gross earnings; and no county, city, town or township is permitted to become a sub scriber to the capital stock of any railroad, or private corporation, or to make donations to, or loan its credit in aid of any such corporation.
Transportation.— Illinois is especially favored for commerce. The early French settlers came to the State •by way of the Saint Lawrence River and the Great Lakes; many of the English settlers came by way of the Ohio River and its tributaries. Nearly three-fourths of its boundaries are navigable rivers. It has 4,000 miles of river navigation. About 65 miles of the shore line of Lake Michigan lie within the State. The Mississippi River is connected with the Great Lakes by :ratans of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which extends from the Chicago River to LaSalle on the Illinois River, a distance of nearly 100 miles. The Chicago Drainage Canal, extending from Lake Michigan to the Des Plaines River and thence to the Illinois River, gives connection with the Miss issippi. Still another canal connects the Illinois River at Hennepin, a few miles below LaSalle, with the Mississippi River at Rock Island. The first railway constructed in the West was the Northern Cross Railroad from Meredosia on the Illinois River to Springfield. This was completed in 1842, but in 1850 there were only Ill miles of railroad in the State. The Illinois Central Railroad was completed in 1856. Rail ways were constructed rapidly, and by 1870 Illinois had a greater railroad mileage than any other State in the Union. The first Railway and Warehouse Commission in the United States, with authority to fix freight and pas senger rates, was established in Illinois in 1871. In 1907 the legislature passed a bill making it unlawful for any railroad to charge more than two cents a mile for carrying passengers be tween points within the State provided tickets were bought before entering the cars; other wise three cents might be charged. In 1915, Illinois had over 12,000 miles of railroad and nearly 4,000 miles of electric railways. The roads having the longest mileage 30 June 1915, were the Illinois Central, 2,024; the Wabash, 669; the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and Saint Louis, 650; the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern, 327, and the Gan Dalia Railroad, 303.
Manufactures.— Illinois is easily the most important manufacturing State west of the Alleghenies. Three factors have contributed largely to this — abundant raw materials, cheap coal and adequate transportation facilities both by water and by rail.