, 1870-03-31
MONETARY and COMMERCIAL,
MONETARY.
WEDNESDAY, EyES,SI. Ma

When Judge ChAee, in the recent illegal
tender decision" took the gruund that the le
ga1-tenler character Of the Sreenhacks aided
nothing to their value. except Aa il might make
them unjustlr applicable to the discharge Of
rre-e1iating debts, and that their value, aside
from this unjust application. was sustained
Aolely By their reccivahility for government
dues, many people fsucietl he WIS promulgating
new doctrine. This, however, was a mig
take. Tie truth that no Legislation can create
or another, BY every respectable writer on
finance. An Instance now comes up oppor-
tunely in the recent republication Of A. d.
Jol,nson's admirable treatise on banking.
,sa which sn wsI st uRs RalshSa H. t~in ye15s
ground that ''no law can confer value on in-
solvent rsper money, except as the law may
set on pre-e1istinS contracts" and also that
the rhne Of United States Treasury notes
during our suspension Of specie payments in
1914, and At Al subsequent times, vas main
tanned either by their reeeiva'illty for duties
on imports and all other government dues, or
clre by tho belief that they would shortly be
redeemed in specie. hut that their value III the
ordinary transactions Of d.ily t1ado WAS not
maintained by. their legal-tender quality.
Many peEsons cite the case OF the Dank Of
from lsoo to 1871, aud it il claimed, hy thoee
who believe in the efficacy OF the Legal
Tender acts to sustain the value
Of the currency, that tho English
Iegal-Tender net maintained tho value OF
1sank Of England notes At nearly the va1uo Of
specie for al the purposes Of domestic cur
reucy, and that it was only deprecated by for
eign payments. This, however, is incorrect.
To ~hatcver extent tho valuc of Bank Of Eng
land notes may have been sustained By Law,
tlis result WAS not due u Any cli7ctment that
they should te leeal-tender for all debts
for no ruch law waa ever passed by Parliament
-tfYt rt,iaf1r k1ioiF t+tJitr f0y
mcnt dues, Ill will l,o seon by the following
fr1m A1lison's History Of Europe:
;" \ In TOR see restriction q Psyments ~ specie
Was introduced, which Provided that hlnk n2its
at,'ud le rtcciytsl as leRal-tentr hy the Cnllsc-
tor nf taxea, anh have the effect Of stoprln. the
issuing NJ arrest on lneane ps1cess for payment Of
dcht hetxten llau AMI Hun.
There il itltlinE upon record to show that
tho enactment that prnfuissary notes should
hc iegal-tender llas aided anything 10 their
value that was not ulij1lstly takun from creI-
itors tu whom debts were duo in real money,
aud tho effort tlsas is now being made
to overtuEn the recent ueciniCn OF
tho Supreme Court is only an
EFFORT On the la.t Of debtors to perpetuats
that species OF frauds. II gscepAacks w.re
made receivable for IS per cent of tho duties
on imports, their valne would advance more
| than the repeal Of the LegAl-Tender act would
| cause tlicm 10 depreciAte.
Tho money market continues very quiet and.
| in general, l,1lrii,css IL rtagnant. There IL a
! fair demand for money and the loans Of the
iut ~ co,t;n,si ;neTsssc ~ TSnoss,a . a abos7
tJ,st ti,,. General tsn,1nncy nf mousr ~ =, con.
\ ccrtr.to p ~ h,nIs S|1bo 4,nc.f ~ fn.noa.
IN snnn.ct;on 1;1;, .ba Enn3;n. y ~; :. teo
nnscft1e,1 tn in,,nce nconis ~ Tant,,rn ;nto ~
ten.1c! ro,nmn rial ire ns.ct;nns y. 1o,.. "a ~
mss;,,;tx a1;sts nf ia n.ss;no nd AIR ,l;ua - s.,.
;m,. i, ot;an .bo s,,sa. ,ha;' III 1 'ns a s' sst
t.snc;,I sr.ah I rsa,, y ,ni. NJ, WI ".a ~
ms,in in lie t.1,t;on ~ E"t;nn,i n,nI. w." ~, vi i
~ c;ncn.t;on ~ ,1ot,t,, ,,t,',t ~, 1;va.a 49,
i.,ea...' ...S "o"'" o..c: ~ a"etea"s ~
,|esn iHuI: "nu ;'s.,,a! t.: cen. tHGSest on thf
sTatches4,ha ,ssssac ~ ~ ~ ,ho ,; no1 t. o3
~ enrccste th,s nf;ca ~ ~ ho, o e" haa NV ~
.oenhn - a., 1nu ps'ee " ooth oonds an
III, ~ Z a; alH nahs a,;h M consequent aavanee u
! s"'o' -, AZ "o- .~-s1 the banks to n axe
.ne e4chAnEe VI bonds, AMI would oi'hga then!
to throw two or three hundred millions oi
bonds on the market.
IN the open market there is scarcely any
il1et class PAPER being ofrcsed, because the
banks ara wiling to tako all that is to be had
|