The Yazoo City Whig and political register. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 183?-1840, 1839-11-29
senale. andsr date of tha eth &c AprIl. lsse

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as follows:
.s1'he Senate resumed the consideration
Of bin entitled IAN act making appropria.
lions oflhe payment Of tie revolutionary
and other pensioners, &c. The following
amendment proposed by Mr. BENTON, being
under consideration, Sec,--. And be It fur
Tier enacted, That no bank note Of less de-
nomination than twenty dollars shall here
after be offered in payment, in any case
whatever, in which money IS 10 be paid by
the United States or the Post Office Depart
ment; nor shlll any bank note of any demo-
minalion be So offered, unless the same shall
be payable and plid on demand, in gold or
silver coin, at the place where issued, and
which shall not be equivalent to specie, at
he place where offered. and convertible in
to gold or silver upon tue spot, at the will
of the holder, and without delay or loss to
him. ?
This section was, on the motion of the
Senator from Missouri, embodied in the act
of Congress referred to, aud is now the law
of the land, having pissed both Houses oil
Congress, and received the sanction of the
President This provision, it is true, is
confined to payments by the United States.
DIt IL tAtC OHtlOQ AItatCSa 0h0CA ta4lS "5NAS
| to paw out bank notes not under twenty dol
lars, how can this be done if they are not
authorized to receive such notes? What
could bs more contradictory than bill, the
first section Of which should authorize notes
not under twenty dollars 10 be paid by the
United States, and the second section Of
which should prohibit the United States
tom receiving in payment any thing but
gold and sIverg How could tho United
States, by law, in all time to come, pay out
that which BY law they we're debarred from
receiving? The Senator from Missouri,
then, has, by law, connected the Federal
Government with the paper system. This
sec ton, adopted on the motion of the Sena-
tor from Missouri, would come in very pro-
peTly as an additional clause in the bill now
before US; but as an additional provisio to
the bill, which shall be quoted hereafter,
proposed BY that Senator, to re-establish a
currency of gold and silver for the Federal
Government, it would be ridiculous and
contradictory.
| Mr. W. stated, the Senator from Missouri
had still further committed himself on this
subject He had not only directly counter
anced the payment of the federal revenue
in bank notes, but had himself proposed, at
the last session, the creation by Congress in
this district of new banks, authorized 10 is
sue notes not under twenty dollars
Mr.. w. here read from the journals of the
Senate, under date of 4th of June, 1886, as
follows:
"The Senate resumed the consideration
of the bill to extend the charters of certain
banks in the District of Columbia
On motion of Mr. BENTON 10 recommit
the bill with instructions-to report seper-
ate bills for the Incorporation of new banks
with small capitals, adapted to the capacity
of the District to sustain specie banks, and
strictly limited to the business of the place;
the said interpretations to contain among
other provisions to the following principles.
4. The banks TO issue notes of less denomi-
nation than twenty dollars; and all notes of
less denomination than twenty dollars by
other banks to be prohibited from circulation
within the District 5. All the notes and
paper currency issued by said banks to be
paid in gold and silver; one half of either at
the option of the demander, the other half
at the option ofthe bank"
Now, Mr. w. would ask, if Congress
could by law establish even in the District
certain number of banks authorized to issue
notes of a certain denomination, could il
not exercise the smaller power of authoriz-
ing the reception Of bank notes in the reve-
nue. payments? But (Mr w. sadly he quo
ted this to show that even at this late period
the Senator from Missouri was not prepared
to do execution on all banks and bank pa
per. There were some curious matters con-
nected with these propositions of the Sena-
tor from Missouri. His fifth proposition re-
quired Gall notes and paper currency issued
by said banks to be paid in gold and silver;
one-balf of either at the option of the deman-
der, the other half at the option of the bank; -
and this same provision the honorable SEN
ator also proposed to apply to 'the deposite
banks, Sin consideration of being made or
continued repositories of the public mo-
neys." Sir, the honorable Senator from
Missouri would have the banks pay in cur
rency better than that required by the Cons
titution. BY that instrument gold or silver
is legal tender in payment of debts, and
a bank note is only an evidence of debt
due by the bank to the holder OF the note;
but the honorable Senator would require the
banks to pay their notes in gold and silver,
one half of each metal. When a note of
thousand dollars shall be presented to
bank for redemption in specie, it is hoped
the honorable Senator will not require these
of less personal powers than himself, to car
ry away Ave hundred dollars in silver, when
the bank otherwise might pay the whole
amount in gold Such equal division of the
precious metals, however beautiful in theory
would be most inconyenientln practice ;and
if the honorable Senator is so equally at
tached TO gold and silver as to be resolved
on a precisely equal circulation of each,
there is one way which, if it were not pre-
sumptuous, Mr.. w. could recommend to his
serious consideration. 1t was this. That
Senator took delight in exhibiting new
and fagorite coin ofhis which he called Bill