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VOL. 11 NO 30
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1 OBSERVATIONS I
The words of Daniel Webster that
"the establishment of a sound and uni
form currency was one of the greatest
ends contemplated in the adoption of
the present constitution" (Webster's
Works, vol. 3, p. 395), are a sufficient
justification for inquiring into the con
stitutionality of the sliver legislation
demanded by the popocratlc platform.
It is suggested that a free coinage law
on any other basis than a near ap
proximation to the commercial value
of silver would be In contradiction of
the fifth amendment to the constitu
tion, providing that no person shall be
deprived of his life, liberty or property,
without due process of law.
The first coinage was under the act
of April 2. 1792. and was at the ratio
of fifteen to one: with the lapse of
years, however, this relation in value
was lost, by the relative appreciation
of gold so that an ounce of gold was
worth sixteen ounces of silver. As sil
ver was not redeemed in gold at that
time, the latter left the country as
rapidly as coined, and it was stated
in, the debates In congress in 1834 that
out of $12,000,000 gold which had been
coined, there was hardly a gold piece
to be found in the whole United States.
"Hitherto, like the tracks to the lion's
den. the coins have gone all one way
to- Europe; and not one solitary eagle
has ever made good its cis-Atlantlc
flight." (Debates, June. 1834). Con
gress, ever anxious to adjust the coin
age to the true relative value of the
metals, sought opinions upon the sub
ject from those who had given the
matter attention, and as these opin
ions ranged from 15.60 to 1 to 16 to l.the
latter was finally adopted as the new
ratio by the act of June 28. 1834.
w
The California gold discoveries of
1849 again changed the relative value
of gold and sliver, by cheapening the
former to a slight extent. Congress
did not change the coinage ratio, how
ever, probably because the gold har
vest would. It was believed, be of
short duration, further than to de
preciate the fractional silver coins, at
the same time restricting their legal
tender quality to small amounts.
The status of a silver dollar worth
only 53 cents has never been presented
to the courts for consideration, for the
simple reason that all of our currency
is today on a gold basis, and the silver
dollar represents the implied promise
of the government to pay 47 cents. If
that promise is withdrawn, as would
necessarily be the case under free
coinage at the present ratio, and sil
ver retains its legal tender quality,
the issue would be clearly drawn
whenever a debtor should endeavor to
discharge one hundred cents worth of
indebtedness with fifty-three cents
Is this a taking of the creditor's prop
erty without due process of law?
In the Legal Tender Cases (12 Wal
lace. 457) the United States supreme
court upheld an act of congress pro
viding for the Issuance of paper money,
which should be full legal tender for
all debts. It was there contended that
the act practically deprived a man of
his property without due process of
law. but the court rested its decision
upon the fact that the legal tender
notes were "promises to pay money"
and not the money itself. Mr. Justice
Strong, in delivering the opinion of the,
court said. "We do not assert that
congress may make anything which
has no value money. What we do as
sert Is. thai congress has power to
enact that the government's promises
to pay money shall be. for the time
being, equivalent in value to the rep
resentative of value determined by the
coinage acts." The dissentient mem
bers of the court held that congress
had no such power and supported their
conclusions by arguments respecting
the power of congress over the coin
age which was not in issue, and which
have never been disputed. These ar
guments show clearly the distinguish
ing line between the legal tender cases
and a hypothetical case Involving the
democratic platform sliver dollar.
Mr. Justice Clifford said "discretion,
to some extent. In prescribing the
value of the coins minted, is beyond
doubt vested In congress, but the plain
intent of the constitution is that con
gress. In determining that matter,
shall be governed chiefly by the
weight and Intrinsic value of the
colnc." (12 Wallace. 588.)
Mr. Justice Field. In his opinion In
these cases In 1870 (12 Wallace. 634).
declared, and repeated In 18S4 (4 Sup.
Ct. Rep.. 139) as follows: "The power
to coin money, as declared by this
court. Is a great trust devolved upon
congress, carrying with It the duty of
creating and maintaining a uniform
standard of value throughout the
union, and It would be a manifest
abuse of this trust to give to the coins
Issued by Its authority any other than
thefc- real value. By debasing the
coins, when once th standard is fixed.
Is meant giving to the coins by their
form and impress a certificate of their
having a relation to that standard dif
ferent from that which In truth they
possess: in other words, giving to the
coins a false certificate of their value.
Arbitrary and profligate governments
have often resorted to this miserable
scheme of robbery, which Mill desig
nates as a shallow and Imprudent ar
tifice, the 'least covert of all modes of
knavery, which consists In calling a
shilling a pound, that a debt of one
hundred pounds may be cancelled by
the payment of one hundred shil
lings. " No such debasement has
ever been attempted in this country,
and none ever will be so long as any
sentiment of honor influences the gov
erning power of the nation. The
changes from time to time in the quan
tity of alloy in the different coins have
been made to pceserve the proper rela
tive value between gold and silver, or
to prevent exportation, and not with
a view of debasing them. Whatever
power may be vested In the govern
ment of the United States, it has none
to perpetrate such a monstrous Iniquity.
One of the great purposes of Its cre
ation, as expressed In the preamble of
the constitution, was the establishment
of justice, and not a line nor a word
is found in that instrument which
sanctions any Intentional wrong to the
citizen, either in war or in peace."
The clause of the constitution pro
viding that no person shall be deprived
of his life, liberty or property without
due process of law, was founded upon
the forty-sixth articles of Magna Char
ta. which uses the equivalent expres
sion "law of the land." It was deemed
to be of such importance that the same
c'ause was Included In the fourteenth
amendment as a prohibition to the
states. Due process of law means more
than a mere statutory enactment. It
involves the idea of a hearing and of
compensation. Its prohibitive effect is
not restricted to a taking of one's
rroperty by the public, but extends
to and protects vested rights. (Black
Const. Law 42S). It Is remarked by
Judge Cooley In his work on constitu
tional limitations, p. 433. that "there
is no rule or principle known to our
system under which private property
can be taken from one person and
transferred to another, for the pri
vate use and benefit of such other
person, whether by general law or spe
cial enactment."
It would seem that If the avowed
purpose of the law to maintain gold
and silver at a parity b withdrawn,
the silver dollar coined at the ratio
of sixteen to one must therefore be a
clear violence of the constitution, un
less, perchance, silver should at once
regain Its old value nnd this is con
ceded to be a very remote possibility.
As there Is no justification for such
a dollar, under the express powers
over the coinage given to congress as
Interpreted by our highest courts, and
ablest statesmen, and as It does not
fall within the express powers to bor
row money, and emit bills of credit,
as do the legal tender notes. It neces
sarily follows that a fifty-three cent
dollar. Invested with full legal tender
qualities and not backed by a gold
reserve to maintain "the parity" be
tween the coins Is not only without
warrant In the constitution, but falls
squarely within the provision that no
man shall be deprived of his life, lib
erty or property without due process
by law. respecting the forty-seven
cents, as the difference between the
coinage and bullion value.
Who will contend as a matter of law
that the government has the constitu
tional power to take a penny's worth
of Iron, stamp It as a dollar, and pro
vide that such a dollar, which repre
sents neither the government's prom
ise to pay value, nor the value itself,
should be a legal tender for the pay
ment of debts to the extent of one
hundred cents? The difference between
such a dollar and the proposed free
sliver dollar Ls only in degree. It is
no answer to say that as the coinage
value of silver has never exactly rep
resented the bullion value, congress
therefore has the right to make a
wide departure from such value. It is
manifestly impossible to exactly rep
resent the bullion value In the coins,
since it Is certain to change from day
to day. but it is entirely possible to ap
proximate such value very closely, as
stated In the words of Mr. Justice
Clifford above quoted.
Attention Is called to the sentiment
expressed by Mr. Bryan.In a speech de
livered during the extra session of
congress In 1893. in which he said:
"While the government can say that
a given weight of gold or silver shall
constitute a dollar and Invest that
dollar with legal tender qualities. It
cannot fix the purchasing power of the
dollar. That must depend upon the
law of supply and demand."
In this connection it should be re
membered that Mr. Bryan as a mem
ber of the ways and means committee
of the house, was one of the leading
champions of the Income tax another
unconstitutional measure-
Mr. Bryan's severest critics have
usually given him credit for the posses
sion, to an unusual degree, of the
quality of personal integrity. When
ever and wherever Mr. Bryan has been
si
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