ress. We have the power to coin money, and to regulate
the value thereof. We have coined money in the form of paper money,
and certainly the power of Congress in this respect ought not to
be delegated to any single officer. If contraction ought to be
established as a policy it should be by Congress, not by the
Secretary of the Treasury, and it is not wise to confer upon any
officer of the government a power of this kind, which can be and
may be properly controlled and limited by Congress.

"_Third_. This will strongly impress upon Congress the imperative
duty of acting wisely upon financial measures, for the responsibility
will then rest entirely upon Congress, and will not be shared with
them by the Secretary of the Treasury.

"_Fourth_. It will encourage business men to continue old, and
embark in new, enterprises, when they are assured that no change
will be made in the measure of value without the open and deliberate
consent of their representatives.

"These considerations are amply sufficient to justify this measure,
but it is only preliminary to others of far greater importance that
must command our attention. These involve--

"1. The existence of the banking system of the United States.

"2. The time and manner of resuming specie payments.

"3. The mode of redeeming the debt of the United States and the
kind of money in which it may be redeemed; and, in this connection,
the taxes, if any, that may be levied upon the public creditors.

"4. Such a reduction of our expenditures and taxes as will relieve
our constituents, as far as practicable, from the burdens resulting
from the recent war."

This led to a long debate, which continued until the 15th of January,
when the bill, as amended, passed by a vote of 33 years and 4 nays.

These decisive votes against contraction definitely settled the
policy of the government to retain in circulation the then existing
volume of United States notes. The disagreement between the two
Houses was referred to a committee of conference, and the conferees
reported the bill in the following form:

"_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled_,

"That, from and after the passage of this act, the authority of
the Secretary of the Treasury to make any reduction of the currency,
by retiring or canceling United States notes, shall be, and is
hereby, suspended; but nothing herein contained shall prev