A special session of the Legislature was held in December, 1835. One of the evils of the time was the eagerness of representatives for public offices of a more permanent character than the uncertain tenure of popular election. New offices were constantly created. Lincoln took a bold stand on the danger. He voted with the majority that the election of a member of the Legislature to a State office was corrupting. He voted with the minority to apply the principle also to relatives and connections of the members. Lincoln remained a persistent supporter of internal improvements. Some of the advocates shifted their votes from time to time, but he remained constant in his devotion. The influence of Lincoln extended over a widening territory and his fame spread with new opportunities. After two scant years of public life, he was considered among the leaders of his party. No longer waiting on the advice of friends, he offered himself as a candidate for renomination. He initiated his campaign with the following political fulmination: "To the Editor of the _'Journal'_: In your paper of last Saturday I see a communication, over the signature of 'Many Voters,' in which the candidates who are announced in the _Journal_ are called upon to 'show their hands.' Agreed, here's mine. "I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist in bearing its burdens. Consequently, I go for admitting all whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms (by no means excluding females). "If elected, I shall consider the whole people of Sangamon my constituents, as well those that oppose as those that support me. "While acting as their representative, I shall be governed by their will on all subjects upon which I have the means of knowing what their will is; and upon all others I shall do what my judgment teaches me will best advance their interests. Whether elected or not, I go for distributing the proceeds of the sales of the public lands to the several States, to enable our State, in common with others, to dig canals and construct railroads without borrowing money and paying the interest on it. "If alive on the first Monday in November, I shall vote for Hugh L. White for President. Very respectfully. A. Lincoln."[96] [96] Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 7. In commanding contrast to his first circular, this fairly seems to crowd out every dispensable expression. Contact with the pioneer had taught him to court the power of brevity, so this announcement is more like a creed than an address. Homely and curt in character, it suited the time. It was the best way to the heart of the average voter. Democracy found in it its own image. Lincoln leans more than a little to the popular. He advocates the distribution of the public lands money for the building of canals and railroads without borrowing money, and openly declares his subserviency in being governed by the public will on all questions.