Leland J. Kennedy Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

Q: Oh is that right?
A: Oh my first time back, in my first six months of - must have been 1965, I think we
had eight guys die in six months. You check that with the Council and I believe they would
- that was an unusual high amount. I think we had a black man die - now, they may
have all not died on the house floor. We had a fellow from Charleston, a Democrat, who
was a radio announcer, and I can't think of his name. He'd get awful excited, fight
them. See, you can't fight them if they disagree with you. He'd fight them. And I don't
think he lived - I think he died in May or June. You know, I can't - he was a radio
announcer, a little short stocky guy. He was a Democrat. You'd see his face flush. He
had high blood pressure, he had a hemorrhage you know.
That's what mine was, a hemorrhage, the last time. That's what mine was. But I was able
to survive it I guess because I - well Greening put me on medicine. I faithfully took my
medicine and I walk the trail as much as I can. 1 walked the trail this morning.
Q: Down along the river here?
A: Yes. And my original walk was about a little over two miles. Most of the time now
since it's been so muddy up there, it's hard to navigate for me so I just go about a mile
and a half a day up there, what I call four-five.
Q: Well let's see. Wo had stopped before just after you had gotten up there the first time
in Springfield. Could we pick up there as to how you got - what about getting started
there?
A: Oh I'm glad you brought that up. We talked about the 1947 session. I was just getting
oriented. But in the 1949 session - I think you asked me if anything in particular happened.
Q: Yes.
A: Now that would be Stevenson's first term.
Q: Yes.
A: Not the guy that's behind the votes now, but his father. (chuckles)
Q: Right.
A: And the gasoline tax, and the raising of the truck fees, and the calling of the Constitutional
Convention, that was a big thing, it failed. But it was introduced. He was for
it. Everybody was against it at that time, the calling of a constitutional convention.
Now the gasoline tax and the raising of the truck fees both passed, maybe not in their original
form, because maybe they wanted to go five cents, and I think they settled for
three. And the truck fees, that was a hot issue because, well, the truckers were mad you
know. They were going to have to pay more money, hut they were tearing up the
road. There was a great outcry from the press. We had a fellow who had served in the
senate, and in the General Assembly too, by the name of Monroe, Jim Monroe, from Collinsville,
who was an editor of a paper. That was the old man now. He had a boy by that
name, but the boy's dead too now I think. But the old man was a fiery guy, and he was
really after the trucks. Now he wasn't in the assembly at that time, but he came hack,
I think later on, I'm sure he did. Came back in the senate. Maybe he did, oh, in 1951.
But the 1949 session - it would be Stevenson's first term - of course that may have been
the year of the oleomargarine bill too. I'm not sure whether that was in 1947 or . . .