Year: 1867

depended upon their circulation, and that the


parties, by using them in their contract, aided


in their circulation; so, in the case just quoted,


the value of the importation OF negroes depended


upon their sale, and the transaction between the


parties aided their sale, and, in that way, en-
couraged importation. The fact was undoubted-
ly true, yet it did not render the contract void


The illegality consisted in their importation and
not in their use after importation; 30 the Illegal
ity consisted in the issuing of the Treasury
notes, and not in their use after they were
issued. IF balls, which had been shot in battle,
had been found and sold, it might as we'll be
said that the consideration was illegal, because
they had been made for, and used iu, the rebel
lion. In Coolidge vs.. Lngtee, supra, the case
was that in the war Of 1912, citizen of the
United States bought goods Of the enemy con.
trary to law, and brought them to the United
States and sold them, and, when he sued the
purchaser for the price, he set up the defense
that it was unlawful for the plaintiff to have
bough the goods, and, that, therefore, the con-
sideration of the contract was Illegal; but the
Court held the contrary. It is absurd to sup
pose taat the goods in that case, or the Treasury
notes in this, were illegal Were not the goods
precisely the same as if they had been bought
of friendly power? Certainly. The goods
were not illegal, but the trading with the ene-
my was.


This is the first time that this very important
question has come before as for considerations.
1t has been we'll argued and patiently considered.
We are not without important aid in determn-
ing the question. 1t was we'll considered by the
Convention of 1865, and by the Legislatures
which have since assembled. The Convention
was prompt to declare that the rebellion, and
everything in aid of it, was illegal. And it de-
cared void all contracts which were in aid of il;
but it did not declare void all contracts the con.
sideration of which were Confederate Treasury
notes; on the contrary, it plainly declared such
contracts valid; that all contracts made during
the war shall be deemed to oe payable in money
of the value of said notes. and directed the
Legislature to prepare scale to show, not that
said notes we're of value, but to show what
did prepare such scale. Now, if the defense
set up 10 this case be good, then the Convention
and Legislatures ought to have made short work
of it, and declared that all contracts should be
deemed to be payable in Confederate Treasury
notes; and that such notes were illegal as con-
sideration to support contract, and, therefore,
that all such contracts were void. l do not
consider the question whether the Convention
or the Legislatures had the power to validate or
invalldate contracts, but their actions are cited
to show that those bodies regarded these notes
as valuable, and considerations to support con-
tracts. We thus have the concurrent opinions
of the Judiciary, the Convention and the Leg
islature of the State, and an uninterrupted train
of decisions both in England and the United
States on kindred subjects, that Confederate
Treasury notes are not illegal considerations ia
contracts between citizens, unless it was the in
tent of the parties to the contract thereby to aid
the rebellion. ~. ...


Our attention was called to an abstract OF O
case decided in Tennessee, in which Confeder-
ate Treasury notes were held to be an illegal
consideration. We regret that we have not the
case at large. 1t seems to have been decided
upon the ground that it was the money of rebels.
Suppose it had been the coin Of rebels. Doubt
less there is some better reason than that. It
we're an encouragement to rebels and to rebel.
lion to exonerate them from performance OF
their contract, because of their participation in
so great mischief. If the judiciary could be
Influenced at all by this consideration, it would
hold them to a more rigid performance of all
their undertakings. AS court, we neither
favor nor oppress rebels, but hold the scales Of
justice even. But we forbear further comment,
lest we do our sister Court Injustice.