DEDICATORY CEREMONIES.

The Supreme Court of Illinois took formal possession of the new Supreme Court building at Springfield, Illinois, on the 4th day of February, 1908. That day had been set apart for the formal dedication of the building. The ceremonies were held under the auspices of the Illinois State Bar Association, and a large number of attorneys from different parts of the State, both members of the bar association and others, assembled in the new court room to witness the ceremony. At the hour of ten o'clock A. M. the court convened, with a full attendance of the justices. Hon. James A. Rose, Secretary of State of Illinois, and ex officio a member of the commission having in charge the construction of said building, addressed the court as follows:

May it please the court-The commission created by law to construct the Supreme Court building had expected their chairman, his excellency Charles S. Deneen, to deliver an address before your honorable body and deliver into your keeping the keys of this new Supreme Court building. But it is with regret that I have to announce that under the advice of his physician the Governor has not deemed it best to appear and speak on this occasion, and he has requested me to express his regret not only to the court but to the bar and the public.

We meet here to-day for the purpose of dedicating this our new Supreme Court building, and I presume that it will not be amiss to give a brief outline of the history of the legislation providing for its construction and of the work of construction.

On April 13, 1905, during the session of the Forty-fourth General Assembly, Senator Corbus P. Gardner, of LaSalle county, in

troduced a bill providing for the erection of a Supreme Court building. It provided that the commissioners to be charged with the letting of contracts and the superintendency of construction should consist of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor of Public Accounts, State Treasurer, Attorney General, and three members of the Supreme Court to be selected by that body. The bill provided that the entire cost of the purchase of a site and the.construction of the building should not exceed $350,000, $150,000 of which was by the terms of the bill then appropriated to begin the work. The bill passed the senate April 21, 1905, and was reported to the house and passed May 2, 1905, and was reported back to the senate and sent to the Governor May 4, and was approved by him May 18, 1905. The Supreme Court selected. Judges Cartwright, Boggs and Wilkin as the three members of the commission. The first meeting of the commission was held June 21, at which meeting Gov. Charles S. Deneen was elected president and Secretary of State James A. Rose secretary. Soon thereafter the site for the building was purchased in two lots, one from Christiana G. and O. Prickett for $41,562 and one from Ernest Helmle and wife for $16,000, making the site cost $57,562. On July 12, 1906, Judge Boggs resigned and Judge Hand was by the court selected in his place. On July 17, 1906, the general contract for the construction was awarded to V. Jobst & Sons, of Peoria, Ill., for the sum of $148,000. This contract included only the construction of the walls and roof of the building. From time to time other contracts were let, including lighting, heating, decorating, etc. On April 3, 1907, Judge Jacob W. Wilkin died, and soon after Judge Farmer was appointed by the court to fill the vacancy. February 27, 1907, in the Forty-fifth General Assembly, Senator Gardner introduced a bill appropriating $200,000, being the balance of the $350,000 originally provided for in the act authorizing the construction of the building, which said act was passed by both branches of the legislature and approved by the Governor April 26, 1907. On April 30, 1907, Senator Gardner introduced a bill appropriating $15,000 to the Secretary of State to construct the tunnel for the heating plant, and to the court the sum of $85,500 for moving the law library and the purchase of furniture for the building.