culated instead. After resumption the distinction
between coin and United States notes should be, as far as practicable,
abandoned in the current affairs of the government; and therefore
no coin certificates should be issued except where expressly required
by the provisions of law, as in the case of silver certificates.
The gold certificates hitherto issued by virtue of the discretion
conferred upon the secretary will not be issued after the 1st of
January next. The necessity for them during a suspension of specie
payments is obvious, but no longer exists when by law every United
States note is, in effect, a coin certificate. The only purpose
that could be subserved by their issue hereafter would be to enable
persons to convert their notes into coin certificates, and thus
contract the currency and hoard gold in the vaults of the treasury
without the inconvenience or risk of its custody. For convenience,
United States notes of the same denomination as the larger coin
certificates will be issued.

"By existing law, customs duties and the interest of the public
debt are payable in coin, and a portion of the duties was specifically
pledged as a special fund for the payment of the interest, thus
making one provision dependent upon the other. As we cannot, with
due regard to the public honor, repeal the obligation to pay in
coin, we ought not to impair or repeal the means provided to procure
coin. When, happily, our notes are equal to coin, they will be
accepted as coin, both by the public creditor and by the government;
but this acceptance should be left to the option of the respective
parties, and the legal right on both sides to demand coin should
be preserved inviolate.

"The secretary is of the opinion that a change of the law is not
necessary to authorize this department to receive United States
notes for customs duties on and after the 1st day of January, 1879,
while they are redeemable and are redeemed on demand in coin.
After resumption it would seem a useless inconvenience to require
payment of such duties in coin rather than in United States notes.
The resumption act, by clear implication, so far modifies previous
laws as to permit payments in United States notes as well as in
coin. The provision for coin payments was made in the midst of
war, when the notes were depreciated and the public necessities
required an assured revenue in coin to support the public credit.
This alone justified the refusal by the