Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-09-18

ItlO0el currency In lieu OF ban
bills, only to find in the end this
the new money cannot be made
legal tender, dire confusion and dis
aster would be the result. The quel
is has Congress in time Of peace tn
power to authorize the issue of gov
ernment notes to circulate ~ money
and to make them legal tender? Th
Constitution empowers Congress "t,
coin money" but it ID not pretende,
that this includes power to prin
money, or to issue paper money q
all. The power to issue grecnback
and to make them a legal tender ha
been asserted % An implied power
and II has been held by majority o
the Supreme Court Of the Unitet
States, after long controversy, tina
the legal tender act of 1862 was valid
But this decision rests mainly, If no
wholly upon the ground that tho is
sue Of legal tender notes was neces
sary as q war measure, and therefore
a power implied as . necessary par
of the power to declare and carry or
war. The first decision of the Su.
preme Court was the other way. bu,
with full bench and q reargument,
the final result as above stated was
reached by q vote of five judges to
four. No one can read the opinion
of the majority without being i'm
pressed with the importance given to
the fact that the legal tender act was
. scar measure. Thus Mr.. Justice
Miller said i: "Thc power to declare
war, to suppress insnrrection, TO
raise and support armies, to provide
and maintain navy, to borrow mon.
ey on the credit of the United States,
to pay the debts of the Union, and to
provide for the common defense and
general welfare, are each and all dis
tinctly and specifically granted in sep
arate clauses of the Constitution.
We were in the midst of q war which
called all these powers into exercise
and taxed them severely" Aud
again, speaking Of The necessity
which compelled the passage Of some
such act, he said: "The coin in the
country, If it could all have been
placed within the control of the Sec
retary Of the Treasury, would not
have made circulation to answer
army purchases aud army payments,
to say nothing of tho ordinary busi-
ness OF the country. A general COZ
lapse of credit Of pay ment, and of
business seemed inevitable, in which
faith In the ability of the government
would have been destroyed, the re-
bellion would have triumphed, the
States would have been left di-
vided, and the people impoyer.
ished. The National Government
would have perished, and. with it,
the constitution which we are now
called upon to construe with such nice
and critical accuracy. That the legal
tender act prevented these disastro GUS
results, and that the tender clause was
necessary to prevent them, l enter
tain no doubt" g Wall, 633) Mr..
Justice Strong, who delivered the f.
nal opinion of the majority, present.
ed forcibly the same view and among
other things said: "Plainly to this
inquiry . consideration OF the time
tchen and the circumstances in which
the government then stood, is import
ant. It is not to be denied that acts
may be adapted to the exercise of
lawful power and appropriate to it in
seasons of exigency, which would be
Inappropriate at other times" (l2
Wall, p. 640) And Mr.. Justice Brad
ly declares that the power in question
10 "a power not to be resorted to ex-
cept ON extraordinary and pressing
occasions, such as war or other public
exigencies of great gravity and im-
portance." az Wall 567)
It is entirely clear that the legal
tender cases settle nothing except that
Congress had the power to issue legal
tender notes in the midst Of the war
and when the life of the nation was
TO be saved thereby, and even this
was decided by q bare majority Of
the Court. Who will be bold enough
to say that an act of Congress-, passed
in time of peace, justified by no ext
gency or emergency, making the na
tional government the banker for
the people and providing for in
definite Issues of paper currency to
circulate as money and be legal ten
der would be sustained? ? At all
events such An experiment would be
exceedingly dangerous, and should
not be adopted, even though its sue
cess might promise to be a blessing.
much less when success would be a
disaster scarcely less ruinous than
failure.
3. To adopt this policy would be a
shameful and disgracefui repudia,ion
of an express promise made by the
nation to its creditors. The promise
l refer to is embodied in the act of
Congress of June 80, 1864, entitled
"An act to provide ways and means
for the support of the government y
This act provided for the issue and
sale of bonds of the United States in
order to raise money to carry on tho
war. It was of the utmost impor-
tance that capitalists should be Undue
ed to subscribe for these bonds. In
deed, the salvation of the country de-
panded upOn onr ability 10 placc onr
bonds. II was at that time foreseen
that Congress- might be urved n issuc
large Quantities of green6ack notes
and thus impair the nations credit
and interfere with the payment ofthe
bonds about TO be issued. To reas.
sure capitalists upon this snbicct and
TO induce them to come forward and
loan us money in that time of dire
need and extremity. the folio ing sol.
emn promise was made by the United
States and embodied in The act have
ted States notes issued or 70 6e issued
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