Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1863-10-28
-. For the Standard
TENDER


1hs (paper money Congress alone haze tho
pvws' - 4"teorase and being authorized By them it
must De ta'!uI money and tender Of course in the
payment Of all debts" W VIC
l, Inc ABOVE is an extract from the pamphlet emit
uea "Our Currency, Issued in 1851
!, ARE treasury notes money? We are not aware
as they are SO called in any OF the several acts
Of congress authorizing the issue Of them It NAV
oe mat they are in one in more instances, but If
So the TACT has escaped our notice. That they have
Deen spoken OF, treated and used as money or cur.
rency, and have been so regarded by the Treasury
department by the government by Congress and
9y the people generally, there can be no question
indeed that 1t was the purpose and object of Con-
gress' IN authorizing the issue Of them, to make
them money or currency, there can be no doubt
That they are lawful having been authorized by Con-
gress with the concurrence Of the Executive one
will question. They are then lawful money and
"tendsr Of course" no more palpable inconsistent
cy can be uttered, than that the LAWFUL money of
the Confederacy cannot be used as TENDER
Let US briefly examine it The general impress
sion seems to be that nothing but gold and silver
coin can be made tender This in regard to the
power of the States Individually is perfectly true
mo State shall make any thing but gold and sill
yer coin tender in the payment of debts" and
hence has arisen the impression spoken Of But
not so with the Confederacy. Congress have full
power over this subject. The States have yielded
it reserving to themselves only the power to make
| gold and silver coin tender. Congress cannot
prohibit the exercise by the States of that power,
but by necessary and unavoidable implication are
bound to permit and make lawf full the use of gold
and silver coin as tender, land therefore, We may
remark in passing that the act of Congress of the
United States, passed in 1858, limiting silver coin
as tender to five dollars, is, We have no doubt,
clearly against the right of the States But Con-
| gress may make any other money they choose
tender as we'll as gold and silver coin.
Another general. impression, equally erroneous
seems to be- that money to be made tender, must
be expressly declared so TO be by Congress. But
not so at all-ca the contrary, all lawful money of
the Confederacy becomes tender unless Congress
expressly provides to the contrary. All lawful
money of the Confederacy is lawful for all purposes
and uses not expressly excepted by Congress-
The general expression, therefore, of money, or
Mpt1 money, or any thing tantamount to t, ap
Piled by Congress to Treasury notes. would make
them lawful for all purposes and, ofcourse, a ten
der. Not so with the States, however; what they
have seen proper to make, rather to call lawful
money, they prohibited FROM making a tender.
The Confederacy could, if Congress saw proper so
to- do, which Heaven in mercy forbid, make State
bank notes tender. but no State can dol
We shall be met here, however, by the argu-
ment that the Confederacy can not make any thing
but gold and silver coin tender because the power
to make or issue any other kind of money has not
been granted to it; in other words that the Treas
ury notes of the Confsderacy cannot be used as a
tender, because the power to issue Treasury notes
has not been granted to it by the States. To this
argument there is very plain and conclusive al
swer, which need not be urged here, however, for
the reason that the Conlederacy is in the unre.
strained and far as appears, undisputed exercise
of that power.
We conclude therefore, with the re assertion that
all lawful money of the Confederacy is lawful fol
all purposes and uses that not expressly desig
mated and excepted by Congress. If they have
:hen they tender in the payment of debts, ant
must remain so until Congress enact otherwise
TnE AUTHOR OF sour CURRENCY"