Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1867-12-19


nthat all duties on imported goods shall |
be paid In CON-" "and the coin 80 PAID |
shall be set a. q special fund, and shall
be applied as follows
"Fir,,, To the payment In coin o. the
interest on the bonds and notes OF the
United States.
"Sso0Hd, To the purchase or payment
of one per cent. OF the entire debt OF the
United States, TO be made within each
fscal year after the lat day OF July,
1882"
This is the act under which the first
issue-and a very large Issue OF what
are called the five-twenty bonds was
made. These are the securities --one
class of them-which II Is now said are
only payable In the currency OF the gov
eminent, In Its own promissory notes TO
be issued on demand, without Interest,
from time to time. That Is to say, the
proposition OF those who contend for IL
is that these legal. tender notes which
are authorized In this act OF 1862 and
which the act Of 1862 expressly provides,
may be converted into bonds, are, never.
theless, to be used for the payment OF
the very bonds that the statute author
lied the creation OF TO pay the notes.
That is the proposition and In the face
of the fifth section, which plighted the
faith Of the United States to the setting
apart of all the coin duties on imports
asa special fund, not only to pay the In
terest on these bonds, but also 10 re-
deem one per cent. per year OF the prin'
cipal OF them from time to time.
Now, looking at that act from that
date, the time Of its passage, would any
LAWYER say-would any judge say-that
| its fair import and meaning was that the
ive.twenty bonds, which were created
as q fund to take up the legal tenders
with, were after all payable In those very
! same notes that they were provided to
take up7 1t seems to me only necessary
to state the proposition to carry with IT
It's own refutation. l take 1T we Shall
all agree that in the construction OF
statute OF this kind the public creditor
has right and the public faith at the
same time compels us to look at the Ian
guage Of the act from the point Of time
when 1t spoke. If the act OF February
| 25 1861, meant when ii passed, as 1T
said, that these legaltender notes were
to be converted into ige-twenty bonds,
instead OF meaning that the tiye-twentles
should be converted into legal-tender
notes, then it means 50 now and no act
of the government, If it should under
take it, could without dishonOr make it
mean anything else,
The act OF July II 1852, authorized
the further issue of $40, 100000 OF legal
tender notes, convertible, as in the prior
act into tiye.twenty binds at the plea
sure OF the holder. chat accounts for
10000 900 of the tgal tenders; aud
Senators will recollectthat $500, 1000, 900
is the utmost extent 0 which we can
possibly go by existing acts.
phe act OF March 8, 1853, authorized
the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow
$500 100000 FOR that fiscal year, and
, 5000 900 600 for the next, on bonds rum
| ming ut least ten and net more than forty
i {g6Yzb bearing interest payable in COIN
i. Treasury notes, at two nd three years,
the interest payable il lawful money,
4 and also the issue OF $3.50, 100000 OF
( Udt~d States notes, Iaking the total
d authority to issue, 10 tens, $3.50 600, 900,
t instead Of siO0000,00 as l just now
e said but the acts required that $50 ,000,-
]. 900 should be always hld as q reserve I,
:. so that the practical uthority was for
I | $500 100000. The laguage OF the act
n on the subject Of Unrest Is, ''and the
e interest on said Treaury notes and on
. certificates of indebupess and deposit
g hereafter issued shal be paid In lawful
money"
I 1t is not disput1 under, the act OF
q 1863 that the bono issued under that
!. actnre payable in en- because the act ex-
e pressly says so, al an argument is at
. tempted to be 6iged from the fact
g that 1t does say }, that the act Of the
a year before meal something else be.
4 cause It does not Sc that expression. |
t have said aread that the act of the
:. wear before mustpeak from the time it
q was enacted, andf 1t meant that the
:. bonds OF the Uted States were then
q paysble in col 1t must continue to
Y mean so. althoul Congress the year az
q terward may ha introduced the word
:. ''coin" into the Ibsequent legislation in
e describing othebonds. But, sir, there
n was a specialecessity las | am now
e speaking upo' he face OF the act itself
70 that the wor coin" shond be intro.
!. duced into lis act Of the Sd OF March,
n 1858, becase 1t also provided by the
4 language .ich have read that the in
!. terest, antn some cases the principal
"a of the Trsury notes shoald be payable
e sin lawl money" and therefore it
"a would suitable and proper, although
n not sbsltely necessary, that in order
II TO distguish the one from the other
# the VIC "cOiu" should have been in.
\. trodud in regard to the bonds. That
4. may mo. ~
~ Btt is claimed that this construc.
al tic Is su erroneous one, because these
- Al tenders, these United States notes,
=. made by the language Of the acts au
q IaorIzing their issue, a legal tender for
sSttall debts public and private and it is
/, undertaken to establish TIE doctrine, in.
asmuch as this debt of the United States
comes within the literal meaning of the
term "a public debt" that the act which
authorized the Issue of the bonds to nav
the legal tenders with must mean thai
they were also to be y legal tender for
that debt. ] think l have shown, /
l.