hich he refused to pay according to his promise, and
which he refused to receive in payment of a note bearing interest?
A certain amount of United States notes could be, and ought to be,
maintained at par in coin, with the aid of a moderate coin reserve
held in the treasury, and to the extent that this could be done
they formed the best possible paper money, a debt of the people
without interest, of equal value with coin, and more convenient to
carry and handle. Beyond this the issue of paper money, either by
the government or by banks, was a dangerous exercise of power,
injurious to all citizens, and should not continue a single day
beyond the necessities that gave it birth. I added:

"The one practical defect in the law is, that the secretary is not
a liberty to sell bonds of the United States for United States
notes, but must sell them for coin. As coin is not in circulation
among the people, he is practically prohibited from selling bonds
to the people, except by an evasion of the law, or through private
parties. Bonds are in demand and can readily be sold at par in
coin, and still easier at par, or at a premium, in United States
notes. The process of selling for United States notes need not go
far before the mere fact that they are receivable for bonds would
bring them up to par in coin, and that is specie payments.

"But the reason of the refusal of Congress to grant this authority,
often asked of it, was that it would contract the currency, and
this fear of contraction has thus far prevented Congress from
granting the easiest, plainest, and surest mode of resumption. To
avoid contraction, it provided that national bank notes may be
issued without limit as to amount and that, when issued, United
States notes might be retired to the extent of four-fifths of the
bank notes issued. This was the only provision for redeeming United
States notes that Congress made or would make, and this, it was
supposed, would reduce the United States notes to $300,000,000
before January 1, 1879. The actual experiment only proves the
folly of the cry we had for more money, more money."

The second mode of resuming was by accumulating coin gradually, so
that when the time fixed for resumption should arrive, the treasury
might be able to redeem such notes as should be presented. In this
respect the resumption act was as full and liberal as human language
could frame it. The secretary was authorized to prepare for
resumption