National Republican., 1878-04-08
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The co.ssitutid~Ai Poor. Of Congress A
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thof auve4 Dehn8d. Ur
10 ~ ExhOr Of - NatiSssi ReSasiicss. N
SIN: From ttsis 10 unne discussion ID re-
ncwed In Legislative council and In tho press
as to what the Supreme Court Of the United
States has decided on the lessi-tcndcr ques-
tion. ,...,.r.. .-
The Consultation has made no express grant
Of power to the United statcs TO make any
thing Whatever essl,tsndsr. H. then, tho
power 10 make = lssal-tenaer be necessary and
proper to carry into effect any power expressly
granted, such implied power must be unlimited
and rest In the wisdom Of Congress alone, and
consequently anything and everything may
he made lcgal.tender. With such action of
Congress no court could interpose. for no court
ever attempts to limit the exercise Of discre-
tionsry power wherever that may bo lodged
Congress has power to issue notes to oirculate
M money. In 1887 Mr.. Southard. an eminent
lawyer and statesman Of the time, In speaking
Of the act to establish q mint and prescribe the
coinage, said: THE Constitution authorized
Congress to create legal currency, and this Is
| its proper designation-lcgal currency, or
money current In law. Cougress might have
created loyal currency not Of gold and silver
They issued Treasury notes and chartered
bank. They had tho power to make the
iTeasuIN anu DAnk-uOtc1 " ieRh CuTrcncyt
lawful tender, because the power Is without
restriction In the Constitution" Sec South
ards argument, Brscoe, In The Rank Of the
Commonwealth Of Kentucky, II Peters, pr
291 and 292l ....a
Tho Constitution gives Congress tho power
TO coin money, but is silent as TO the material
Of which the money Is 10 be made. The choice
Of material Is therefore In tie discretion Of
Congress, and not subject TO control.
| Daniel Webster, in his speech on the United
States bank, May, 1882, said Is not the
right Of issuing paper, intended for circulation
In the place, derived merely from the power Of
coming and regulating the metallic currency :
Could Congress-, If It did not possess the power
Of coming money and regulating the value Of
foreign coins, create bank with the power to
circulate bills2 1t would be difficult to make
1t out"
Judge Story (Com nentaries on the Constitu-
tion, Vol. 3, p 10, sec. 1115) refers 10 the opn-
ion with appreciation, and says: 1t was
maintained by the late Hon. Samuel Dexter,
one of the ablest statesmen and lawyers who
have adorned the annals of our country"
In the case Of the Bank vs.. Supervisors,
Wallace, p. 26; In Veazie Bank VS.. Fcnner, 8
Wallace, p. 5SA and in Hepburn vs.. Griswold,
8 Wallace, p. 6l6, the United States Supreme
Court hold that the Congress under the Con-
| stitution, possesses as incidental to other
powers, tho same power as the old Congress to
emit piiIs OF hotcs, Dut IN tue nrst anu Sec
ond case 1T was expressly declared that the
decision concluded nothing on the question Of
legal tender" Here It at once strikes the
mind that as Congress has no express power to
establish legal tender, and no express order
10 employ any particular material for money,
that 1t has as much power to establish any one
material as legal tender a. another, and there
for may make paper such.
In Hepburn VS.. Griswold the United State,
Supreme Court, then legally composed Of eigbt
Judges, found itself with vacancy of one, and
ofthe seven remaining four Tone half only of the
proper numberl decided that greeubacks were
not legal tender in payment of debts con-
tracted before tho passage Of the act authoriz-
ing their issue.
A year afterward came the cases of Knox vs..
Lee and Parker vs. Davis, which were argued
toaether, ana are known ~ the legal tender
| cases. Ihe court full and increased to tho
number OF nine Judges, decided that Congress
had power to declare the greenbacks . legal
tender Tor all debts. whether contracted before
or after the act authorizing their issue.
Inc whole pith Of this decision rests In the
paragraph on page 547 Of 10th Wallace, where
the court says: How, then, can the grant Of
power 10 coin money and regulate its value
made In terms so liberal and unrostraine
coupled also with denial to the States of all
power over the currency, be regarded as an
implied prohibition TO Congress against de.
claring treasury notes q legal tender, if such q
declaration is appropriate, and adopted to car.
rying into execution the admitted powers Of
the Government 2" Aud ~ the court consid.
cred the declaration appropriate, the decision
followed, Of course, that the grccnback was
constitutional legal tender. This was the ques.
tion OF law which was decided. The remarks
made by the court as to standards of Walt ne and
matters OF that sort involve questions Of polit.
ical economy which cannot be settled by po
litical tribunals; they are questions of science
where authorities are of no avail
Nor was the power to make the grccnback a
legal tender s IMPLY constitutional because ne
cessary Tor war purposes. This view was wei
expressed by Bradley, j., in his concurrins
opinion, page 567, where he says: ~ do not
say 1t Is . war power or only to he called int
existence in time Of war; for other public exi
gencies may arise in the history of natior
which may make II expcdient and imperative,
to exercise II. But of the occasion when, and
of the time how long, 1t shall bc exercised and
in force It is for tho Legislative Department o.
the Government to Judge"
1t Is clear, then, the power Of Congress t,
make the greenback legal tender Is conferred
by the Constitution, and the exercise of tn,
power rests in the discretion Of Congress.
T. J. d.