The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1867-08-30

ldhe any yllllng but gOld ana silver a
lender IN payments of debts, it follows
that gold or silver coins, foreign or do
mestlc as regulated by ongress, consti-
tute the only lawful money. This was
evidently Mr.. Webster's opinion i'm
9hat able speech on the Specie Circu-
lar, winch was cited at the bar, and in
WIlch ne declared that gold and Sit,eg,
at rates IlHed by Congress, constitute
tle legai standard value in this cOun-
try, ana that neither Congress nor
any other standard, or to displarp
this" And still more emphatically:
"MOst tunquestiOnably there is and there
can be no legal tender in this country
under the authority of this govern
ment Orany other, but gold and silver.
This is a constitutional principle, per-
fectly plain and of the very highest
importance. The States are expressly
prohibited from making anything but
| gold and silver a tender in payment of
debts, and although no such express
prohibition is applied to Congress, yet
as Congress has no power granted to 1t,
! but to coin money and 10 iegulate the
value thereof, it tclearly has no power to
! substitute paper or anything else for
coina tender. Unconstitutional ten
der is the thing to be preserved and it
ought to be preserved sacredly and un-
| der all circumstances" WebSter's
works, 27l, 80. | must confess that
upon question Of this magnitude
amid the conflict of opinion by which |
am SurrOunded-my uind has rested
| with confidence and satisfaction upon
this clear and decided conclusion o. Il
great intellect. Mr.. Webster's fame
rests mainly on his eninence as con-
stitutiOnal lawyer. The Constitution
had been the study of his life-the sub
ject of most of his professional and po-
itical efforts. He belonged to no school
of strict construction, but on all Occa-
SiOns was found earnestly contending
for the brOadeSt charter to the Federal
Government. Theopinions he express
ed in his seat in the Senate OF the United
States under the sanction of his official
oath, are entitled to bereceiVed as delib-
crate and well considered.
With Mr.. Webster, | regarded those
! provisions of the Constitution upon the
subject If contracts and tenders as "of
the very highest importance" and to
''be preserved sacredly under all circum-
stances" They rest upon sanctions,
which ought to be considered aS Of the
most inviOlable sOlemnity, at all times
| and in all emergencies. The true
strength Ofa gOvernment-the best fOun-
dation on which can rest the confidence
and affection of its people-is the secur-
! ity which it guarantees to property.
This depends in this country upon those
constitutional provisions, which abso-
lutely protect under the Egis OF the
Courts of Justice, alike the daily earl
| ,,.l th,,.n ,l,atf, al
earnings of the rich man, not only from
fraud and violence, but from the gov
! ernment itself, except in the form of
open and equal taxation
1t has been strongly urged upon us
that Congress has the power OfdebaSing
| the coin, either in weight or fineness,
without changing the denomination or
| legal value. What, it has been asked, is
the difference between that and issuing
paper money, even though that paper
should be at the time deprecated below
the value Of coin? IansWer, that be-
cause Congress may possibly accomplish
| certain end by constitutional means, 1t
! does not follow that the same object can
! be attained by means which are not con-
| stitutiOnal. Though, by the process of
! deOasing the emetalllcotanuaIu VohSieo9
may, perhaps, reduce all debts, pubic
1 and private, fifty per cent, 1t does not
! follow that they can enact directly thaI
| the man who owes one hundred dollars
to another, shall bequit upon the tender
of fifty. Weapply no such principle 10
other cases. Because under legal power
aman may dispose of an estate by Will,
we do not hold that he can dO the same
in any other way than that directed or
! prescribed.
But considering it merely as an argu-
ment of the intention of the trainers OF
the Constitution, it appears to me
equally incOnclusive. There are very
important differences between debaslng
the coin and issuing paper money,
though their practical results may IN
some respects be similar. 1t may well
have been intended to leave to Congress
! discretion as to the one, but to deny to
either branch o. the government, State
! or Federal, discretion as to the other.
|. The debasing of the coin as tiiIan-
ciai measure for the purpose Of dlSchar-
! ging the Public Debt would be an open,
gross and palpable breach OF faith,
scarcely possible III the present age OF
the world. Changes, however, for the
mere purpose ofregulating the value OF
hecurrency, may be occasionally neceS-
sary. "Arbitrary governments, says
Albert Gallatin, "haVeat various times,
in order to defraud their creditors, de-
based the coin whilst they preserved
its denomination, and thus subVertcd
the standard of value, by which the pay
ment of public and private debt and the
performance of contracts ought to have
Ieen regulated. This fragrant mode Of
violating public faith has been long pro-
scribed by public opinion. Govern
ments have, in modern times, subStltu-
ted for the same purpose, issues ofpaper
money gradually increasing in amount
and decreasing in value. ltwas to guard
against these evils, that the provisions
in the Constitution OH that snbject were
introduced" Considerations on the
Currency, p. II.
1t is true that the coin has been de-
| based i'm our own times and country but
never with aVieW to defraud either pub
lie Orprivate creditors. When the COIN
age Of the United States was first regu-
lated, in 1795, double standard, both of
gold and silver, was adopted, and the
proportion of these two metals fixed at
one to fifteen, which was then about their
! true relation in the market. Butthough
the relation between gold and silver
is certainly more steady than that
between any two other cOmmod-
tiles, at least within short peri
DDS of time yet it is not immutable.
Accordingly; about the year 1921,
change was observed to have occurred.
An ounce of gold instead of being