Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1879-02-05

by almost every cotempOrary writer,
} beyond tho influence of every attemp
, at contradiction. Having adverted /,
those facts the commentator procoed
to say that "the same reasons whicl
show the necessity Of denying to tn,
States the power Of regulating coli
, prove with equal force that they ough
} not to be at liberty to substitute a pa
per medium instead of coin"
Emissions of tho kind were not dc
clarcd by the Continental Congress tc
be legal tender, but Congress passed
d resolution declaring that they ought
to be tender in payment OF oil pri
vato and public debts, and that re-
fnsal to receive the tender ought TO be
an extinguishment of the debt, and
recommend tho States to pass such
laws. They even went further and
j declared that whoever should refuse to
receive tho paper Ar sola aud aiivnr
should be deemed an enemy TO the
public liberty but our commentator
says that these measures Of violence
and terror, so far from aiding the cir
culatiop of the paper, led on to still
further depreciation. New emissions
followed and new measures were adopt
cd to give the paper credit by pledging
the public faith for its redemption.
Effort followed effort in that direction
until the idea of redemption at par
was abandoned. Forty for one was
offered and the States were required
to report the bills under that regula-
tion, but few of the old bills were ever
reported, and Of course few only Of
the contemplated new notes were
issued and the bills in q brief period
ceased to circulate and in the course
of that year quietly died in the hands
of their possessors.
Bills OF credit were made a tender
by the States, but all such, as well as
those issued by the Congress, were
dead in the hands Of their possessors
before the convention assembled TO
frame the Constitution.
Intelligent and impartial belief in
the theory that such men, so instruct
ed, in framing a government for their
posterity as well as for them.
selves, would deliberately vest such a
power. either in Congress or the States,
as part of their perpetual system, can
never in my judgment, be secured in
the face OF the recorded evidences to
the contrary which the political and
judicial history Of our country affords
Such evidence, so persuasive and con-
vincing as it Is, must ultimately bring
all TO the conclusion that neither the
Congress nor the States can make
anything but gold or silver coin ten
der in payment of debts. Exclusive
power to coin money is certainly vest
ed in Congress, but "no amount of
reasoning can show that executing q
promissory note and ordering it to be
taken in payment of public and pri-
vate debts is species of coming
money.
CONGRESS MAY BORROW MONEY WITH
TREASURY NOTES.
Authority, it is conceded, exists in
Congress to pass laws providing for
the Issue of Treasury notes, based on
49, -e.ianai a-.~,i:4. 30 ssaaasanss. e.,d
proper means for fulfilling the end OF
the express power to borrow money ;
nor can it be doubted at this day that
such notes when issued by the proper
authority may lawfully circulate as
credit currency that they may in that
conventional character be lawfully EN-.
ployed, il the act authorizing their
issue so provides, to pay duties, taxes
and all the public exactions required
to be paid into the National Treasury.
Public creditors may also be paid in
such currency by their consent, and
they may be used in all other cases
where the payment in such notes com
ports with the terms Of the contract.
Established usage founded upon the
practice of the Government, often re-
peated has sanctioned these rules,
until 1t may now be said that they are
not open to controversy; but the
question in the cases before the court
is whether the Congress may declare
such notes to be lawful money, make
them a legal tender and impart to such
currency the quality Of being O
standard OF value, and compel credl
tors to accept the payment of Their
debts IN such currency as the equlva
lent OF the money recognized ana es
tablished by the constitution as inc
standard OF value by which the value
of all other commodities Is to be meas
ured, Financial measures oil varlon'
kinds for borrowing money to supply
the wants OF the Treasury beyond The
receipts from taxation ana the sales O
the pupllc lands have been adopted by
the Government since the unitec
States became an independent nation
Subscriptions for loan oil lz,O0O,VOl
were on the 4th OF August, 1870, di
rected to be opened at the treasury
to be MADE payable III certlhoates is
sued for the debt, according to then
, specie value Measures oil The klnt
, , were repeated IN RAPID succession io 10
: several years, ana laws provlulng 10
loans in one form or another appeared
: to have peeh inc preferred moqe 0
borrowing until the SUN oil June
lolz, when the hrst ACT was passc'
"to authorize the Issue OF treasury
notes. Loans had peen previously
authorized IN repeated instances a
$ will be seen by the following references
to which many more mlgh. DC auuSu y,
Earnest oppoSls,on s, was M ,l,aee n %.'i, " w
t passage OF tne nrs' @ Sr. u Oonslos
authorizing tne ISSUE % oi i, ir9asuly !. "o'o' "
but the measure prvVnleu' anu !. ma, nay
be remarked .nas .ne vo.e q oa a ", .n9 !, ou '.
eas'oi was osor "'so, 'es"'1ou ,So US 90, anr
inn Apttl(0 mo uUtSllOn rs lO lllH tOI