Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1863-02-06
For the Standnrd
CONSTITUTIONAL POWER TO MAKE TREAS
sJJRY NOTES A TENDER.

UNI NO1LIO n GANDHAS'
The power to make gold and silver coin tender
in payment of debts involves necessarily the power
to regulate its value, or to adopt value liked by
another If therefore, the prohibition against a
State making any thing else tender, had remained
unaffected by any other provision OF the Constltu-
ton, each State would have been compelled to tix
or declare for itself the value OF such coin. This
might have resulted in the States afnxlng DIVERS
values to the same amount of coin and, therefore,
it is provided that the Congress shall regulate the
values both of domestic and foreign con-and the
value by this regulation is the standard by which
alone the States can regulate the tender. Wnen,
therefore, Congress shall have declared that piece
of silver of certain weigh and ineness shall be OF
the value of hundred cents, the State is forbid
0en TO make it of the value of two hundred, in the
payment of debts This secures hxedness in the
value and fidelity IN the performance OF contracts.
If Congress isinvested with the power to make pa
per currency a tender, then it must have the power
to regulate its value also, and declare how many
cents promise to pay dollar at future day shall
be worth. So we may lay it down of a certainty
that the power which may regulate the value OF
rrency may declare it legal tender, and cOnoerso,
that the power which may make particular cur
rency legal tender must regulate its value. Has
Congress- then the power to regulate the value OF
paper currency? If it have, the power is either
express or incidental. l. The power is no where
to be found in express terms. 2. incidental, that
is necessary and proper to carry into effect some
other expressly granted power, what IS that other
power? Is it the power to issue treasury notes !
This it cannot be- for these notes are but promises
to pay in coin the value whereof is already regula
ted-and such notes necessarily must be, either OF
the same value with coin, or Of some other and &
different value If of the same value there can be
no need of legislation. If of different value, they
must be Of greater less value, and Congress must
have the power to declare their value greater,
it has to declare their value less than or equal to
coin.
1t would be highly unbecoming in man, and
aSsuredly none the less so in a nation to Tx the
cash value of his own mere promise to pay IN
future and compel his creditor to receive 1t. Ii
Congress should declare its promise to pay one dol
lar in coin at some distant day, equal in value to
too dollars of coin in hand, it would appear very
absurd If not very wicked and it is quite absurd
to declare such PROMISE equal i'll value 10 one dol
lar in hand; the difference in the cases lies only in
the degrees of the falsehoodS. But the power to
issue Treasury note, for want Of coin, does not
embrace the right to fix its value in coin for COM
merce and traffic any more than such power in
Bank authorizes the Bank to fix the value of its
notes. The issue Of the notes is Independent OF
any frdti0n of their value. The power to coin
money is wholly independent Of any power to nix
and declare, L. to regulate, arbitrarily, its value.
The issue Of treasury notes as medium OF cir
culaton, as a credit upon which to borrow money,
never rcsorted to except when coin is actually OF
greater value and among n free and honest people
they uniformly left to abide their comparison
and competition with coin in every kind Of traffic
where they arc jointly used. And all experience
shows that any attempt to hoist its credit by de-
claring its value, serves no other end than to pull
it down the more speedily. But the power to reg
uate its value in respect to the performance of past
contracts, power which is neither necessary"
proper" to its issue, involves the power to
confscate species of property for the benefit OF
another-to violate every kind Of contract-to re-
leve land and slaves of the debt with which they
were acquired, without adequate compensation to
the credtor-to change the owners OF property by
a dash of the pen, without crime in the old, or
merit in the new poSSeSSor-to enforce the courts
to decree the execution of executOry contracts for
the sale of property made the basis Of specie, by
The payment Of third, fourth fifth Of the actual
stipulated price. In a word, it involves the power
to permit citizen to rob another under the forms
Of law designed for the very purpose. What
honest man can distinguish between the grades Of
the two fraudS-one which compelS the vendor to
surrender Onehaf of the agreed specie price Of his
land and the other which compelS the vendee, after
full payment of the price, to convey back one halt
Of the land? Everybody would shrink from gross
4 violation of the Constitution the second stated
fraud For private property" cannot even "be
taken for public use, without just compensation"
Tart l, S. 9, 10, Con(cd. ConS.) Yet debt is just
much property in the purview of the COnstitu-
ton as land or slaves.
Such power is in conflict with that provision Of
the Constitution (art. l, sec s. + ~ which denies
to Congress the power TO pass any bankrupt law
which shall discharge any debt contracted before
the passage Of the same" 1t violates that provision
TART, l, Q, l5.) which declares that every ct
Zen shall be secure iii his "houseS aud effects"
1t violates art. s. 6, 5, declaring that Z" the
enumeration i'll the Constitution of certain rights,
shall not be construed to deny or disparaGe others
retained by the people of the several States" 1t
violates it in this wise: An express power given to
Congress to issue Treasury notes could not fairly be
construed to deny o- dsparage in any degree the
18th section Of our Declaration of Rights, (which
airmS that no freenan ought 10 be diSseizC Of has
JFCehotd or liberties, i1t any destroyed
or deprired of his property but by the Lrw Of the
land" None will be so bold as to maintain that the
possession of such power would authorize the
poSSesSor to divest one man of his property and
transfer it to another. Yet it is evident that such
would be the effect of enforcing creditor to sur
render for deprecated currency of certain amount
an obligation to pay the like sum Of money in coin,
or something of equal value. That such law
would both deny and disparage that section Of the
Declaration Of Rights has been the current unques-
toned judgment of our courts during period OF
sixty years, from the case of the University F0y
to that of Barnes o. Barnes. And truly, with quite
as much honesty might a who had already
received his price to deliver silver adle insist to
discharge his obligation by rendering one of iron.
8. The power to regulate he value of treasury
notes. is negatively denied by the Confederate Con-
stitu!ion a. by art s. 5, which grants to Con-
gress the power "to coin money, regulate the value
thereof and of foreign coin )" and 2dD by same ar
ticle, Ito provide for the punishment Of counterfeit
ing the securities and current coin of the Conede-
ratio Ststos."
have think, conclusively shown that the pow
to make treasury notes tender, involves the
power to regulate their value.
Now, here is the power expressly given to regu.
late the value OF coin Only-coin both foreign and
domestic,-the distinct manner in which this pro-
vision stands out and the dead silence respecting
the regulation of the value of any other medium,
must be satisfactory that the regulation of the value
of paper medium is not granted to Congress,
cording to that maxim so universally received in
the construction of our Constitution that an afr
m0tire grant ofG special pOpsr is denial Of any
nkhsr or nnora nencrnL lolnsr Ihis internretatinn