Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1868-08-20
The Fourteenth Amendment and the
Public Debt--Important Charge ofChief
Justice Chase. b


Public Debt--Important Charge ofChi'
: Justice Chase.
G In ParkersbuIg, w. Vaas the Chic
h Justice, who is holding court there, dt
: livered the following important charge;
"GentLenadn of the Grand Jtuy-TheI
are three subjects, and, so far as we ar
at present advised, only three subject:
q to which IL IS necessary to direct you
particular attention The first of thes
is the faithful execution of the Interna
Revenue laws. The war in which tn
! nation has been recently engaged for th
= preservation of the National Union an
! ] Government, endangered by Rebellion
f made the contracting of large debt in
) evitable. This debt is the price of ou
national existence, and binds irrevocabl
the good faith of the people. It's inUiol
able obligation has been recognized by {
solemn act Of the nation in adopting tn
fourteenth Amendment OF the COnstitu
ton of the United States, which declare
that the validity of the public debt o
of the United States, authorized by law
including debts incurred for the paymen
of bounties for services in suppressin,
) insurrection and rebellion shall not b.
questioned" There are differences o
opinion as to the mode of payment re
quired by the contracts of the American
people made through their Government
but nobody questions openly, ifanybod,
Questions at all, that the debt contracted
must be paid, and paid in perfect goot
faith. The law of the amendment thai
the validity of the national debt shal
not be questioned, was already writer
upon the hearts of the people before they
made it part of the Constitution. II
provide for the reduction and final pay
ment of this debt, and for the annual
expenses of the Government, taxes are
necessarily imposed. In other words
the equal proportion to be contributed
by each citizen is ascertained by law
He vino w1tholds hisjust proportion de-
| prives the rest of the people of exactly
ates as theft. The sum total necessary
to meet the obligations of the nation
must be raised. Fraud upon the reve
nue. does not reduce that sum, it merely
shifts the burdens evaded by the fraud
ulent upon others who pay their full
proportion besides All honest men,
| therefore, have common cause against
the dishonest. You, gentlemen, repre-
sent the honest men, and it is your duty
to see that no defrauder of the revenue
who can be brought to justice escapes
merited punishment. The higher in of
flee, and the higher in social position
the delinquent may be, the more uure-
mitting and searching should be your
diligence in inquiry and .presentment.-
Some of the observations just made
might be properly enough repeated upon
the next topic to which l must invite
your attention. / refer to counterfeit
ing. 1t is to be regretted that the cur
rency ofthe country now consists wholly,
or almost wholly, of paper; but it is not
the less important on that account that
the people should be protected, as far as
possible, against counterfeiting. What
ever the currency of any country may
be, payments must be made in it, and
exchanges effected through it. 1t is
practically the common measure of val
ues. Whoever imposes counterfeit dol
lar on the public, robs successfully all
who take it in payment. Counterfeit
ing is continuous robbery, and it robs
chiefly those who are least able to bear
the loss. Occasionally men are defraud-
ed by counterfeit money in large trans
actions, but the principal sufferers are
laboring men, whom it is the peculiar
duty of Government to protect from
wrong. You will be vigilant, gentle
men, in your investigations concerning
this class of crimes. What remains to
be said concerns offenses against the
Post Office laws. Under our benignant
system of Government, IT, means of
cheap and frequent intercourse between
the most distant parts of the Republic
are provided; relatives and friends sepa-
rated by the bredth of the continent cor
respond freely with each sther. Cores
pondenee is nearly as cheap as talk
And not only do the mails convey mes
sages of affection, science and business,
but they are also the agents of immense
pecunlary transactions, by remittances
of bills of exchange and small Govern
ment money orders. You see at once
now important.it is that the laws which
regulate this vast interchange should be
faithfully executed, and we are confident
that nothing more is needed to insure
your best endeavors to detect and bring
TO justice all those whose crimes and Of
fenses deprive the people of the great
benefits which these laws are intended
to secure. There seems to be no neces-
sity at this time for further observations
from the Court You will retire to your
room, gentlemen, carrying with you, we
ioubt not, in your retirement, a profound
sense of the serious obligations you have
taken upon yourselves, to your country
and to your God"
Frank Blair's Opinion OF General Grant
q