Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-07-22
i. s. MAY SE|zE,ALL.
COIN BY NEW BILL.
Or May Repudiate All Its
Bonds, and Citizens Can
Do Nothing.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Seizure of every bank account and
every piece Of currency or coin be-
longing to any or all citizens may be
made by the Federal Government
whenever it pleases. under the terms
OF bill Just passed the House Of Rep
resentatives and pending In the Sen
ate.
The citizen cannot do anything to
get his money back, for he Is to be
deprived of his right TO sue the Gov
eminent.
THE king can do no wrong" is the
new motto adopted by the Roosevelt
administration and concurred in by
President Roosevelt himself, who told
the newspaper men Friday that he did
not understand why the United States
Government should not have the same
immunity from suit that other "sov-
ereigns" possess.
Well, the truth Is the people Of
Russia, the people of Germany, the
people of Italy have all lost their
rights to question the acts of their
rulers. In Great Britain, while the
crown itself cannot be sued, the indi-
vidual officers of the government are
subject to suit for damages if they
act arbitrarily or in violation of the
rights of the citizens. And the British
crown usually footS the bill.
Coin May Be Confiscated.
The legislation of the House of Rep
fesentatives last week goes far beyond
the protection OF the interests of the
Federal Government against suits aris-
ing out of gold clause bonds or cur
rency. It relates now to all suits
that might grow out Of any contracts
or financial transactions Of any kind
between the citizen and his govern
ment, and 1t covers future seizure or
confiscation Of money or coin Of all
kinds. Here is the text of the bill
as passed by the House:
ANY consent which the United
States may have given to the asser-
ton against it of any right. privilege
or power whether by way Of suit,
counterclaim, set-off, recoupment, or
other affirmative action or defense in
its own name or in the name of its
officers, agents, agencies, or instru-
mentalities in any proceeding Of any
nature whatsoever heretofore or here
after commenced, upon any bond,
note, certificate of Indebtedness,
Treasury bill, or other similar obliga-
ton for the repayment of money or
for interest thereon made, issued, or
guaranteed by the United States or
nNfV
United States or upon any claim or
demand arising out of any surrender,
requisition, seizure, or acquisition OF
any such coin or currency or OF any
gold or silver, is withdrawn"
It will be noted that the power to
sue, which hitherto has been in ex-
istence, is not merely narrowed so as
to exclude suits to recover on gold
clause bonds or gold clause money, but
is to be denied on all maner Of bonds
and notes or Treasury bills issued by
the Government, and all contingent
obligations, like Home Owners Loan
bonds and the securities issued by
the various agencies Of the Govern
ment.
seizure" is OneXplaIneo.
There is also no explanation for the
insertion of the power of Seizure" or
''requisition" of any coin or currency.
The theory that the sovereign can
not be sued without its consent is,
of course, an ancient rule, but, In
democracies, the trend has been, in
the last 100 years, more and more IN
the direction of enlarging the ex-
ceptions so that suits may be enter
tanned, instead of narrowing the
rights of the citizen. The New Deal,
by It's proposal, has reversed this his
toric trend in free governments.
It will be interesting to see whether
the Treasury, in floating future issues
of bonds, will make clear in its pro-
speetus or news releases that the citi-
zen buys the bonds at the risk OF not
being able to recover In the Court Of
Claims, if the Treasury wishes at
any time to repudiate the debt. Such
material fact" cannot be omitted
from the fotation Of the securities Of
private corporations without running
into Jail sentences and penalties under
the securities and exchange law.
But If the king -can-do-no-wrong
idea persists, the Treasury can do as
it pleases about the bonds already.
issued and the interest thereon, and
the citizen cannot be reimbursed by
any action of the Government.
p Congress Last Resort Anyway.
What is surprising is that this leg
islation, ostensibly to protect the
clause suits, should have been offered
at all, because Congress Is the court
Of last resort and can refuse to ap-
propriate money even after the Court
of Claims awards a Judgment against
the Government. Occasionally, Con-
gress has exercised this right, and,
while it may be condemned as un-
moral, still it has precedent back of
1t. And the citizen can appeal always
to subsequent Congress for justice.
BY refusing to permit the citizen
even to have trial on his grievance
in any court, however, Congress shuts
off the possibility Of having q dis
intereted tribunal go into the merits
of the claim. It means the citizen
will have to appeal to Congress for
special claims bills, and this means
political pull and lobbying.
If the Senate should reject the
House bill or limit 1t to the gold
clause cases, making it necessary for
the citizen to prove actual loss under
devaluation Of the dollar, the prob
abilities are that very few cases would
arise that would cost the Government
any money.
Purchasing Powers Kept Equal.
Indeed. a claimant would have q
hard time proving any loss through
one kind Of currency as against an
other because the Treasury is main
tanning the purchasing powers Of all
currencies on a parity with one an
other