The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1870-02-24
The Legal Tender Act.

.~ The Legal Tender Act edj
The lanr looked for decision OF tho
Sn pre- me Court Of the United states uS-
ltM the constitutianalisy of the legal
Tender net l,,s nj lea,gvh hecn veuat.ved.
} II was not, Of rDursr, ktnWn what psst.
tioa oIil he taken, but the general
expectation was that the law vouitas lsc
pronounced null and void, hut wish
such an uitica,ion. IA would prevrn tho
re-openiny of closed contracts and pre-
judice to the debtor in contracts made
dnrinI Tia" operation nj the law jIhat
ticipation has been realized. aga.o
1t |. now about 4 year since Congress
enacted what vas called the gold essA-
tract hils. 1t wis Designed. primarily,
To leEal!zr rontrart, entered into upon
An explicit coin basis. Before that, It.
had been he'd that even il the debtor
had expressly stipulated to pay in gold,
he could not be nal" 10. because greeu-
backs had been made legal tepder.--
but the act did more than to nl,,et thst
phase of The case. salsp. inGjj'en tally
but tuuequivocaIly, ie-a!izel greeuhek
contracts. CuJer thai act. all debts not
spec IDEALLY prvabe In gold, are payable
III the prdiulry m0aey OF the conntry at
the time "f maturity. This waald le
the natural inference from the Law, and
in entire si>teurv with the position
"f The snpr"mr: Court>, Tn r9nrt held
in the case of II Chu teh"r:,tc currency
contract, not long az, that such con-
tracts ar" 10 te cnn-lrnh1 In the 'lfyht
OF the contracting ptrticS ut tie time
they were entered into IA very ju-t pc
sition cr:tajnly. That principle undtr-
lies the decision "f. yesterday. Chief
Justice Chase was Secretary OF tile
Treasury when the law In question was
enacted. He i@tiiirt it thtn and justi-
iie, 1t now as ~ war measure, having
no other Constitutional ra~is than the
plea Of military nee, ssi'y. On
this ground tier. is no inronsistcn-
cy In the positions taken by Mr.. Chase
in the two different cahaci,fps.
The legal lSoiut ut :s<le he.ween the
majority aoa minority Of the Bench,
Chief Justice Clla~v "nd Associate JUS
tices Clifford. Nelson anl E'ivld oi. tho
one hand, aud Associate JUSTICES Mi!.er,
SwayHc and Davis cn the other, IL IN
regard to the retroactive pIwer of Con-
g'esS. frh" former huhi,il the Con-
stlthtion torbii@ the passage os such
laws cy prohibiting the enactment oi c1
post ttnIo mea>arts, Eech side argues
It's case with cieatliee, and force, but
tie conclusion of tie court. u, such,
will, We apr..i.es!, y" c-..cnr,el Il, NY
thegenerai public. Iftliere Was during
the war n"cc+sity for putting a retreac-
Ilre Interpretation upon the act, that
nccetettY has tnitS hAw gone by. -yEsgs
The decisioG Is by TO meaas exhaus-
| tive i'll itssxpress terms, although the
priHeip pie which, the Court has now laid
Etn"n in regard Ia contracts extends to
every class Of cases The Irih.!c may
nOw reat IN the three slold ASSURANCE, not
absolutely, stIl with II good degree Of
"nu!lt!"ur", that contracts made before
The act Hasf.,p77eI viii be livuidated in
5 gn!t those made ana falling due during
it,. ~t.itc.., III currency, and lastly,
those hot falling due until after tie
,i.S unpGo /, jill ON. #.y 4Hsfa t9oo
File dee.sion wiii not affect ordinary
: contracts a few i,otes, long mortgag,
es, etc., are II ore thaii eight years Id,
but the proportion of such private con-
tracts i exceeding small. There ure,
However, enormous issues of bonds, Civ
eli by cities, states, counties aud towns.
railroads, and other corporations which
have been rl,nuiu- eight II more years.
ri Enri, too, iti-uia!ce policies, life and
. tire. issued prior tn the passage ol the
legal tcude! act must, according to this
decision, be pail III gold The indisid-
ual debtors are therefore, as class, far
, les. Interested in tile decision than cor
lofate debtors. There is no injustice
surely in all this, for even at the ,hps-
ent margin between gold and currency,
coin h,- !ess purchasing value THAI it
I had before the war. - C.icogo Journai.
New KIND OF PAPER a new kind oC
paIer. Itriatiy adapted for various
Kinds Of clothing. has heer, invelltc. in
England. Brtii a,,'p,l and vegetable
mater a'> arc etrrftte,i it's pr"aactis,,
t,. lar .i. f,nir e. ,t,y ya ,f,nd Nav i.f.