depreciation.
The whole then depends on the promise of the government to pay at
some time not fixed on the note. Justice to our creditors demands
that it should be a legal tender; it will then circulate all over
the country, and it will be the lifeblood of the whole business of
the country, and it will enable capitalists to buy your bonds.
The only objection to the measure is that too much may be issued.
He did not believe the issue of $150,000,000 would do any harm.
It is only a mere temporary expedient. . . .

"I have thus, Mr. president, endeavored to reply to the constitutional
argument of the Senator from Vermont. Our arguments must be
submitted finally to the arbitration of the courts of the United
States. When I feel so strongly the necessity of this measure, I
am constrained to assume the power, and refer our authority to
exercise it to the courts. I have shown, in reply to the argument
of the Senator from Maine, that we must no longer hesitate as to
the necessity of this measure. That necessity does exist, and now
presses upon us. I rest my vote upon the proposition that this is
a necessary and proper measure to furnish a currency--a medium of
exchange--to enable the government to borrow money, to maintain an
army and support a navy. Believing this, I find ample authority
to authorize my vote. We have been taught by recent fearful
experience that delay and doubt in this time of revolutionary
activity are stagnation and death. I have sworn to raise and
support your armies; to provide for and maintain your navy; to
borrow money; to uphold your government against all enemies, at
home and abroad. That oath is sacred. As a Member of this body,
I am armed with high powers for a holy purpose, and I am authorized
--nay, required--to vote for all laws necessary and proper for
executing these high powers, and to accomplish that purpose. This
is not the time when I would limit these powers. Rather than yield
to revolutionary force, I would use revolutionary force. Here it
is not necessary, for the framers of the constitution did not assume
to foresee all the means that might be necessary to maintain the
delegated powers of the national government. Regarding this great
measure as a necessary and proper one, and within our power to
enact, I see plain before me the path of duty, and one that is easy
to tread."

The motion to strike out the legal tender clause in the bill was
defeated by a vote of yeas 17,