The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-03-14
THE LEGAL TENDER SUIT.

u,rreme Court for the purpose OF testing
49, ,nnstIon whether tho constitution confers
,,,on Congress- the power 10 declare paper
,a. Ice,oI tender for private debts In times |
= ,eace. has very much the appearance OF q |
aiI,lcaI dodge of some kind. The only prac-
KIN nnrpoas this amicable contest can
.,parantly subserve Is 10 anticipate whatever |
,roieets the Greenbncksrs may have In view
hv n decision u the Supreme Court declar-
Inc them unconstitutional In advance. But
shat Is most mysterious II that Butler, ut
onee tho most blatant demagogue and ex-
.rerne Greenbacker In tho land, should make
himself D party TO such mn arrangement. We
annpose no knows what hs In about, and no
arprssses such firm confidence In the con-
atltutional power Of Congress TO make money
AZ we'll M 10 coin It MS to create tho impress
sion that he has concluded TO provoke the
,sstIe In all sincerity and with conildencein his
ability TO sustain bis views before the su-
prerne Court and obtain from that tribunal u
decision favorable thereto.
OF course so able % lawyer ma Butler 10 CON
ceded to be must have good and abundant
reasons for the faith that ID In him.
The particular phase Of the question M
yolved In the case has never been passeo
upon, though the Supreme Court mas re-
peatadlv Ind before IL cases involving the
constitutionality Of the legal tender act ~
tho first case In which tho question Was
raised. that OF Hepburn against 6rlsWolu'
the court declared that contracts paynble IN
adollars." made before the legal tender act
went into operation, must be paid In coin or
its eauiyalent, which was tantamount to de-
gliding that the legal tender act was not re-
troactiye This was the only point Mt Issue
IN the case, and the court could not make any
authoritative utterancs beyond what was
necessary 10 the disposal Of 1t, yet II IL @ well
, known fact that the court. ns then consti-
tinted. believed the net unconstitutional. ns
was too clearly Indicated In the following
obiter dict,tm contained in that dccision
d We nre oh iqed 10 conclude that m act MAJ
Ing mere promises to pay dollars "a reg tenaor
In payment OF debts previously o o1nfad9 raa
ly calculated to earry Into effect any express
power vested In Congress: that such NJ nGt y
and that II II prohibited by the constitution.
These were the views u Chief Justice Chase,
the war Secretary of the Treasury and tho
author Of the financial system of which the
legal tender act was an essential part. How
tho decision In the case Of Knox vs. Lee, re-
yersIng that In the Hepburn case was pro-
cured IL a part Of the history Of Radical
legislation. II IL notorious fact that the act
OF Congress increasing the number OF SUI
preme Judges from seven to nine was passed
for the sole purpose of obtaining reversal Of
the decision I'm the case Of Hepburn vs. Girls
void and that Bradley and Strong got their
appointments as associate Justices on the dis
tinct understanding that they would side
with the dissenting minority OF the court In
that cage, and thus uphold tho constitution
atty Of tho legal tender act. This they did
In the case Of Knox vs.. Lee, decision which
has never been regarded as anything else
than political expediency, and TO which the
best legal minds Of the country have always
refused 10 assent. In that case, however. the
validity Of tho legal tender net was declared
on the express grounds that IL was "cOnstitu-
flonske.s an exercise OF the war power, justi-
iiableion account NJ extreme necessity, and
10 save the country" This special pleading
cannot be applied In the case proposed TO be
brought by Butler and Chittenden. The con-
stitutionai power Of Congress TO make paper
notes legal tender In times of peace Inns never
been passed upon, and this II the question
proposed to be submitted. How the case can
be brought up is thus stated by Butler In his
letter TO Chlttenden:
A cnse can easily be mnde for q friendly suit
TO bring M the points. Let note OF any per
son Of upward a. $4,000 he presented TO him f2r
payment, Let him tender therefor payment IN
greenbacks of the Issue oi 1878. or u Issue Oh
any date since August 20. 1866. which y TIE
official date OF the end Of the war. Let the
party holding the note refuse tbs tender and
bring suit. Lot the tender be pleaded. state
what II was. and lot that plea OF tender be de-
INJURED to. md the record or the whole cnse
need not take up two pages and thus raise the
whole question Of tbs right OF the government
In time Of peace to Issue legal tender notes az
money.
Since resumption Is an accomplished fact,
this suit can have no practical bearing on the
legal tender act itself or the financial condi-
tlons growing out Of 1t. 1t may, however,
have very considerable influence on the pol
tiles Of the country. There can be no question
but that the Greenoackers will exercise q
formidable influence In the next presidential
election In more States than one. They proved
themselves strong enough In the last congress
sional election to alter chronic condition Of
affairs In more than one State, and thus showed
themselves available, as an entering wedge al
least. As between greenbacks and national
bank issue the DEMOCRAT has already taken
q decided position In favor or the former
But we have favored greenbacks sim.
ply as preliminary TO q repeal Of
the 10 per cent tax on free banks. In short
we have endcavored to avail ourselves of the
greenback movement In order to forward O
return TO the old State banking system
Should the Supreme Court decide that Con.
gress has the power, under the constitution
to make paper notes legal tender, then the
greenback theory has n vitality we had moi
attributed 1t, and may remain q vital and
aggressive issue in spite Of resumption
Should It decide, on the other hand, that
Congress has no such power, the Green
hackers will be driven from their position
and forced to accept the repeal Of the tax on
free banks as the only escape from the ma
tional banking system.
AS we understand 1t, the fight Of the Green
hackers has been mainly against the nationa
banks. That system destroyed, and half the