As a result of the night's discussion, Mr. Lawyer was forced to admit the unwisdom of any such issue of legal tender money, and that in the light of the evidence, such an issue was without authority of law and unconstitutional.
MR. BANKER: Uncle Sam, I think it should be stated right here that every President of the United States and every successive Congress of the United States down to 1862 recognized the fact that it was the intention of the members of the Constitutional Convention "to shut and bar the door against any such issue." Here is what Horace White says: "During the war of 1812, the Government of the United States issued Treasury notes to the amount of $36,680,794. All except $3,392,994 were payable to order and payable at a definite time and bore interest at the rate of five and two-fifths per cent. About two-thirds of them were of denominations of $100 or more. They did not become a part of the circulating medium and were not intended to. They were paid to such creditors of the Government as were willing to receive them, and they were generally at par until specie payments were suspended in September, 1814. On November 12, 1814, Mr. Hall, a member of Congress from Georgia, introduced a bill into the House for an issue of Treasury notes to be legal tender. The House, by vote of 42 to 95, and without debate, refused to consider this bill. No other attempt was made to pass a legal tender bill until 1862.
"In the panic and crisis of 1837-43, during a portion of which time specie payments were suspended, the Government issued Treasury notes to the amount of $47,000,000 to meet deficiencies of revenue. All of these notes bore interest, and were payable at a fixed time. They did not become a part of the circulating medium. A few were issued by the Secretary of the Treasury in 1842, bearing only a nominal rate of interest (one mill per $100 per annum). Such notes had not been contemplated by Congress. The Committee of Ways and Means of the House, to whom the subject was referred, reported that the Secretary had exceeded his authority, but Congress took no action on the report. It was the opinion of the Committee that these notes were 'Bills of Credit' within the meaning of the Constitution, and that Congress had no power to issue 'Bills of Credit.' In 1847, during the war with Mexico, Treasury notes to the amount of $26,122,100 were issued. They bore interest at the rate of five and two-fifths and six per cent. They did not enter into the circulation, and were not intended to. The foregoing issues of interest bearing Treasury notes were merely Government loans, of which the securities were in small denominations and had only short periods to run.