Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1858-09-03
A GOLD AND SILVER CURREcY.

can has an article written, seemingly, with
care and deliberation, and we propose to
notice it at some leugth,-frst, because
we consider the proposition itself, hum
bug, and, secondly, because we dissent,
in toto, from the proposed legal and moral
means for its enforcement. That the
reader may see what these means are, we
subjoin the following paragraph;
"But 1t is objected that II we had no banks at
home, the paper Of other States would How IN
and supply the vacuum created by the withdraw
al of bank circulation. This might easily be
avoided by passing stringent laws against using
the notes OF adjoining States. law enacting
that the payment of such notes should not be he
to be legal discharge Of debts, would effectually
prevent the evil anticipated. Ii 1t was known
that the payment Of debts in the notes OF other
States would not operate as legal scquittance,
and that the creditor could still sue for and re
cover the amount in specie, no one would offer
these bills in discharge of liabilities"
The federal Constitution has a clause
declaring that nothing but gold and silver
shall be a legal tender; and as no State
has right to make anything else legal
tender, it will be seen that no citizen of
this government can be compelled to receive
paper currency. This being the case, the
remedy for the evil complained of is in
the hands of the people, without any aid
from statute law. If they don't like paper
money, let them refuse it, and it will soon
be driven out of circulation, and that by
process that is likely to give no sudden
shock to the commerce Of the country
The Constitution also declares that no
State shall have power to issue bills of
credit, and if the spirit of this injunction
were carried out, there could be no State
banks. 1t is true, the federal Court, by a
bubble, has drawn distinction between
bank notes and bills of credit, and also a
distinction between State banks and banks
chartered by the State and owned by
private corporations; but these nice dis
tinctions serve only to show that the spirit
Of the Constitution is at war with these
interpretations and if it be unconstitu-
tional to charter National Bank, by what
process of reasoning can it be shown that
any bank is constitutional But, to
return to the Union & American.
That paper tell us that, in the absence
Of paper money in this State, the bank
currency of other States can be kept out
by stringent laws against it's circulation
in this. The federal Constitution declares
that no law shall be passed, impairiug
private contracts; and with this prohibi.
ton before us, let us see how those "string-
ent laws" will work. Suppose A. sell to
B. horse and agrees to take one hundred
dollars, in Kentucky bank notes, in pay
ment, has the Legislature the constitu-
tional power to impair that contract-to
mako A. take back his horse, and B., his
paper money! We can find no authority
for such tyranical inquisition into the
private dealings of individuals. There is
no fraud in such a bargain and sale, and
each of the contracting parties is presum-
ed to know the value of his commodity
To say there is law against it, is no proof
that the law should have binding force, OF
that the parties have not the constitutional
right to make the bargain. If A. owe B
one dollar and tenders his old hat in pay
ment, and B. receives it in liquidation o.
the debt, would the prior enactment of {
law against old hats, as a circulating
medium, be, constitutfonally, bar to sucl
negotiation? We think not; and willis
We concede the power of the State to for
bid the issue of bank notes, by its owl
citizens, its power stops there, and it ha,
no right to say that its citizens shall no
receive the paper of other States in ex
change for their commodities. There il
no legal tender save gold and silver, anC
the law can substitute no other withou
an amendment of the federal Constitution
and all traffic that has not the preciou
metals as a consideration, is mere barter
and every man has the inalienable RICH
to barter his commodities for old hats
shucks, paper money or anything else h
may choose to consider an equivalent
Bank notes are, at best, but conventional
representative of the constitutional cur
rency, and horse that will pass at on
hundred dollars, is just as good a repre-
sentative of that amount Of spicie, as
bank note bearing a stamp of the sam
amount. And when it is shown that tn
Legislature has power TO forbid the eli
culation of dat horse, at his conventions
value, we will then concede its power I
forbid Tcnneseans % receive Kentuck
money in payment of their dues,
Tho Union e Amcrican seems to hay
cntnViainrl n douht of tha offcacv ~ Il