The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-02-11


to "be bound" by the constitution
that is, by what Il Gays, not by what it
does not say-the reader can judge.
The people Of the United States have
been accustomed to receive With pro-
found respect the decisions OF the Su-
preme CouH, but this decision has
rudely broken the spell, and intelli-
gentsnd patriotic citizens everywhere
express a strong desire that the court
shall reconsider its decision and make
it coniormaHe 10 the spirit OF the con-
stitution, based upon its expressed or
clearly implied provisions. Mr.. Ban
croft, the venerable historian OF the
United States, than whom few
If any are as we'll acquainted with the
facts relating 10 the origin aud con.
structioD, has published "a plea for
the constitution, wounded in the house
Of its friends" which most thoroughly
upsets this decision, coniessedly made
out side Of and not "bound by" the
constitution. A decision that, in the
words OF the New York Herald, opens
the door TO great public calamites, lie
blow to the stability Of private and
public credit, and temptation TO die
honest dealings aud dishonest laws to
every Congress. II Congress may
make a piece Of worthless paper a
legal tender for private and public
debts because the constitution does
not expressly forbid" on the same
absence Of express prohibition ii may
decree that the President shall wear
crown, WELD scepter, aud sit on a
throne. Mr.. Bancroft does not attack
the court controversially, but cites his
torical facts, and shows the grounds
that convict the court Of plain error.
Calmly but with crushing force he de-
monstrates that tour Federal Constitu-
ton was designed to end forever the
emission Of bills oil credit as
legal tender in payment OF
debts" He declares that "the
decision Of the court, ii it should
be accepted as law, would be
a death-blow to the constitution, in
defiance OF which II not only gives
sanction TO irredeemable paper money,
but clothes the government with pow
ers that have no defined limit in its
relation to the people," Mr.. Bancroft
cites undeniable prcoi that the Su-
preme Cont is utterly and absolutely
wrong in declaring that "the power to
make the notes Of the government a
legal tender In payment Of private
debts" is mot expressly withheld
from Congress in the constitution.
He places In the array OF his impreg-
nable authorities the greatest names
Of the era when our government was
constructed. Washington, Madison,
Hamilton, Justice Ellsworth, Gouver-
neur Morris, and other venerated
names are quoted. II is as u the pa.
triots' mighty shades stood with awful
reproval upon their brow, their living
words, as recorded in our annals, con-
demning the dction OF q court that
has gone outside the constitution
that, with the might OF Its authority,
commands that they shall be bound
by it. The Revolutionary fathers we'll
knew the deplorable results OF issuing
paper money. 1t had been tried by
the young nation, and loss and
ruin and bitter distress had been the
consequence, and they sought to make
sure, in the constitution, that such
trouble and woe should forever be
severed from the destinies OF the
American people. It could be wished
that every American citizen could
read the pages in which Mr.. Bancroft
details the testimony 'of the sacred
dead, a testimony that falls like de-
stroying fire upon the unauthorized
decision Of the Supreme Court. "And
yet" says Mr.. Bancroft, "the count
which wa, set apart to be the key
stone CT the constitution insists that
the power OF Congress to emit bills OF
credit is now clearly established by its
decisions" The we'll informed his
torian OF the United States appeals to
the erring court to review its judy
ment, and says: "In this case the
court proceeded to It's judgment on a
case OF which both sides were made
up by one man, without even hearing
or inviting a public argument. The
present court itself should impartially
re-examine what it has uttered, and
cannot fail to perceive that it has
somewhere fallen into error, since ii
has not failed to contradict itself. II
is to be hoped that the court
will not persist in an erroneous re-
versal Of the just judgment Of its pre-.
decessor when better investigation es-
tablishes the rightlulness Of that first
opinion. In the immense amount of
business by which the supreme
tribunal is oppressed, mistakes may
not always be avoided. An error be-
comes an immortality only when it is
persisted in after It has been found out
TO be an error" With touching pathos
Mr.. Bancroft! adds: 81 may utter
these last words Of admonition as as
surances Of that love Of country, of
liberty and Of truth that has been the
rule of my life, and still CLOVIS in a
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