Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1896-05-19

VISIONS Vi IulS Dill. uoy are uOt III
pari materia, and any attempt to con-
meet them, to attach one to the other
or to blend their provisions for the
purpose of justifying in the execution
of one of them the exercise of pow
or or authority conferred by the other
would he fragrant violation of the
letter and spirit of both. The act of
January Ia. 1875, so far as it relate
to the creation and accumulation of
fund for resumption purposes,
reads as follows:
And tn enable the Secretary Of the Treasury
to prepare and provide for the redemption in
this act authorized or required, he Is author
lied to use any surplus revenues from time to
time in the Treasury not otherwise approprt-
ated, and TO ISSUE, sell ana dispose OF, at not
less than par, in coin, either OF the descrlp-
tions of bonds of the United States described
in the act of Congress approved July "a, 1870,
entitled IAN act to authorize the returding OF
the national debt with like qualities, privi-
leges. and exemptions, to the ex ent rece ssary
to carry this act into full effect and to use the
proceeds thereof for the purposes aforesaid.
1t will be observed at once that
the whole extent of the authority con-
ferred upon the Secretary of the
Treasury by that act was to use the
surplus revenues not otherwise appro-
priated and to issue and sell any of
the classes of bonds specified in the
refunding act, for the purpose of pro-
curing coin-not bullion, not some
thing to be thereafter coined at the
mints-but money already coined
and fitted for the purposes of resump-
ton. This clause was enacted for
specific and we'll understood purpose,
to provide for the accumulation of a
fund in coin for use in redeeming the
the legal tender notes. 1t has no re-
lation whatever to the minis or coin
age. What was the meaning of the
word "coin" at that date when used
in a statute or contract7 Unquestion-
ably it meant legal coiu, the standard
of value. the lawful metallic money
of the country, which at that time was
gold alone in all cases where the con!
tract or statue had reference to
amounts exceeding S., because silver
had been demonetized and degraded
to a subsidiary coin.
The object of that act then was to
obtain and preserve fund in gold
for the purpose of resumption. 1t is
certainly true if this bill should be-
come law the silver dollars provid-
ed for may go into the Treasury, and
if they are held there when the day
of resumption arrives they may be
lawfully used for that purpose. But
they will not go there under the act
of January IA, 1875; they will go
there under this bill, and by an alto
gether different process from that
provided by the resumption law
As already stated, the resumption
act provided for the creation and &C
emulation of special fund for
special purpose-the redemption and
retirement of the legal-tender curren-
cy-and whatever coin has been or
may be procured under that act by
the use of surplus revenues. or by the
issue and sale of bonds, is dedicated
to that one object. But the bill and
amendments now under consideration
do not provide for the creation OF
such fund or for an addition to
such fund. Under this bill, if it
Shall DeCOLu6 law VIII Iu6 O6udte
amendments, all the money appro-
priated for the purchase of bullion
will come back again into the Treas
ury, augmented by the seigniorage,
as rapidly as the bullion is converted
into coin. 1t will come back in the
form of receipts from the minis and
profits Oh coinage, and will constitute
part of the general revenue of the
Government, just as receipts from the
excise taxes, from sales of public
lands, and from other sources now
do. 1t will not constitute a special
fund for resumption purpose, or for
any other particular purpose, but will
be at all times subject to appropria
ton by Congress for all the uses of
the Government, and will be paid out
daily as legal-tender notes and ma
tional. bank notes are now paid out
by the disbursing officers of the
Treasury Department: and | venture