contain. The
subsidiary coins are legal-tender to the amount of $10, the minor to
the extent of twenty-five cents. By legal-tender is meant that the
government has ordered that it must be received in payment of all debts
and articles bought. Gold coin and the silver dollars and certificates
are legal-tender to any amount.

4. _#Treasury Notes.#_--Under this head are included that form of money
ordinarily known as "greenbacks," from the color of their backs. They
were originally issued during the civil war, and are promissory notes on
the part of the government, and as such constitute a portion of the debt
of the government. They are paper, which of itself is of no value, and
no coin is deposited in the Treasury which they represent, as in the
case of the gold and silver certificates. They thus cost the government
nothing, and, as they are made legal-tender, and paid out by the
government, they were just so much clear gain to it. At first they were
not redeemable, i.e., exchangeable for coin at the Treasury, but since
1879 they are, and are therefore just as valuable now as any other form
of money, though formerly worth much less than their face value. One
hundred million dollars in gold is kept on deposit in the Treasury for
their redemption.

5. _#Notes of National Banks.#_--This is the one form of money that is
not issued directly by the Federal government, but through the agency of
what is called our "National Banking System," which may be thus
described: A national bank can be organized by any number of men,
provided the capital stock of the bank is at least $100,000. One-third
of the capital must then be invested in government bonds and deposited
in the United States Treasury. The bank may then issue notes to the
extent of 90 per cent, of such deposit. Such notes are thus amply
secured by the deposits with the government. The government guarantees
their payment, and so they circulate as well as the certificates issued
directly by the government. Thus a great deal of the paper money in
circulation is issued by the national banks, which must, on demand, be
redeemed with coin, and, in case of failure of the banks, are paid by
the government, which reimburses itself from the deposits. A bank-note
differs from a Treasury note in two particulars. The Treasury note or
"greenback" is a promise of the government, and is legal-tender in
payment of all private debts; the bank-note is the promise of a private
company, and is