Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1867-09-20

4 CAAiuplfNly III lIG 1EucIdI QOEcinAlEiiL.
/ Here, and here alone, and not as a mere in
/ cldent to something else, are we to look for
4 Whatever authority Congress possesses over
1 the subject of money. These words seem to
1 me to sanction only coins OF metallic curren-
/ cv. In the Federalist, No. 42, this is taken
! for granted. ''All that need be remarked
1 on the power to coin money, regulate the
| value thereof, and Of foreign coin, is, that
! by providing for this last case the Constitu-
/ ton has supplied material emmission in
/ the articles OF confederation The authori-
| " OF the existing Congress is restrained to
/ the regulation Of coin struck by their own
authority or that of the respective States
lt must be seen at once that the proposed
| uniformity in the Cdiue Of the current coin
might be destroyed by subjeeting that Of
! foreign coin to the different regulations of
the different States Judge Story thought
! so, Tor he says, The powOr TO coin money
Is one of the ordinary prerogatives Of SOW
ereIgnty, and Is almost universally exercised
I in order to preserve a proper circulation Of
| good com Of a ERoiCB Uaise in the home
market" 3 Story on the Const., 10 But
| the Supreme Court Of the United States
have not left to inference but have distinct
| ly declared the same opinion in The United
! States VS.. Marigold, Howard, 500 which
| au act OF Congress punIshing the offence Of
/ importing spurious coin was held to be con
/ stltutional on the ground that the provisions
! of the act appertained, to use the very words
| of the opinion, to the execution of an i'm
| portant trust invested by the Constitution,
1 and to the obligation to fulfill that trust
| on the part Of the Government, namely
/ the trust and duty Of creating and main
| tanning a Uniform and pure metallic stand
ard II fUaiUe throughout the Union The
| power Of coming money and of regulating its
/ value was delegated to Congress By the
! Constitution for the very purpose, as as
! signed by the trainers Of that instrument, of
creating and preserving the uniformity
| and purity Of such StGaaard Of Uaiae.
The word coin is one of well-settled mean
| ing. The primary sense Of the noun, ac-
cording to DR.. Webster, is ''the die used for
| stamping money, and the undisputed sig
| nitication of the Uerb, according to most, if
! not all, the photographers, is 10 stamp
metal and convert it into coin In w har-
| tons Law Lexicon lad UerJunlj it is said:
| Strictly speaking, coin differs from money
| as the species differs from money as the
/ species differs from the genus. Money is
| any matter, whether metal paper, beads,
shells, &c, which has currency as a medium
/ in commerce. Coin IS a particular species,
/ uhcay8 made Of metal, and struck according
/ to certain process called coming. 1t
/ was urged at the bari do not know
/ whether seriously or not-that printing is
/ stamping, and these notes might therefore
/ literally be said to be coined. No such use
/ Of the word in any author has been shown.
| We may say hguratigely 10 coin a St0Jy
meaning to invent one, but never to com the
! book IN which lis printed The story Is
/ ictiOn-the coinage Of the brain-the book
4 a reality. Surely, however, no one viii
contend in earnest, that ii a sufficient mum
1 Der Of clerks had been employed, aud these
notes had all been written with the hand
! they would have been unconstitutional, but
/ that printing them makes them valid. To
state the case thus is to reduce the argu-
/ ment to an absurdlty.
/ 1t may seem Ike lab0ring unnecessarily a
very plain proposition, but win hazard
! some further Illustrations.
The notes In question draw a plain dis
! tlnctl0n on their face between themselves
and coins. They promise to pay dollars.
/ What is a dollar To a similar question,
/ What is pound Sir Robert Peel answer
cd: "A pound is a definite quantity Of
/ gold with a mark upon it to determine It's
weight and faeness. Many pages have
! been written to c0nuovert this definition,
and to prove that a pound is a mere abstra-
I tion-somethug like a mathematical point
4 without length, breadth, or thickness. But
/ common sense / think yindicates Sir
| Robert Peel A standard measure must be
/ some actual length or capaclty-a standard
weight some actual weight. How else can
other weights and measures be compared
with it :? This is the object of standard
I So a standard Of value must be some actual
value | would say, drawing the definition
! from the statute book know not where
else to look for it-a dollar Is silver coin,
weighing four hundred and twelve and one
half grains, or a gold coin, weighing twenty
/ FIVE and four Gtths grains, oil uine-tenths
4 pure TO one tenth alloy Of each metal
/ These notes, then, promise to pay coins.
/ To say that they are themselves coins Is to
make the promise and performance Idenu-
cal
As they do not state on their face when
they are to be paid, in law, if issued by an
| individual or corporation, they would be
payable on demand (Whitlock vs.. Under
wood, B. q c., l6I; Story on Notes, par.
/ 20. Payable in what In themselves, If
they are coins, or dollars. They are prom
/ ises 10 pay on demand payable in promises
to pay on demand. A promise to pay may
represent coin, and circulate as such. Ii is
| of many modes by which the use Of an ex-
pensive standard may be spared by the sub
! stitution, us a medium Of exchange OF public
or private credit. Il is same and convent
ent as well as economical, as long as it re-
presents the standard by being Immediately
: convertible into coin. But IN Its very ma
/ ture il is not coin. Its value or power Of
/ purchasing other commodities depends as
well upon the confidence Of the community
in the ability and intention OF the lssuers to
/ redeem itas upon the amount issued. Com,
upon the other hand, possesses present, ac-
tual, intrinsic value If you oblit3rate from
the pound weight the public mark which
attcsts its conformity to the standard, II still
weighs the same as before. So you may
erase the image from the coin, yet its value
remains. Blotou however, the superscrlp-
( ti0u from these pieces Of fpaper, and nothing
remaias-they are worthless. The stamp
on the coin is really nothing but certificate
Of the weight and Eneness Of that piece OF
metal. Government guarantees nothing
I but this-makes no contract to deliver corn,
wool, or leather in exchange for it, The
power Of regulating its value can only eX-
tend TO declaring that in law a certain num-
Der Of one coin shall be deemed the equlva-
lent OF another of different denomination
tn contracts and other transactions. In the
I market, UNEQUAL values cannot be made
equal by law. Congress has no power to
enact how many bushels Of wheat an eagle
shall exchange lor, and if they had, and
should make the experiment, the act, like
all attempts by Government to change the
laws of value, which are natural laws, would
be futile