Millard Fillmore Papers (Volume 10); Ed. by Frank H. Severance (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1907. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... SPECIE TENDER BILL. On May 2d, a bill for making certain foreign silver coins a legal tender in the United States, was before the House. Mr. Fillmore objected to the provisions of the bill as he understood them. Its object was to provide that, in payment of all sums over one hundred dollars, certain foreign coins should be legal tender, according to their weight and fineness. Now, in practice, it would be very inconvenient for the person making a payment, not only to weigh, but assay the coin. He thought it should be provided that if the coin bore a certain recognized stamp, the burden of showing its inferiority to the standard of that stamp should be cast upon the objecting party. Besides, the weighing was very inconvenient. He would much prefer having foreign coins made a legal tender by tale, as they were now, in the ordinary circulation of the country. Mr. Fillmore said that the bill before the House proposed to make foreign coin legal tender to a certain amount. But, under what circumstances was this coin to become a tender? If a man owed a debt, and had a quantity of this foreign money, what must he do? He must first get it assayed, to see if it was of the requisite fineness, and then he must have it weighed, to determine whether it was of the full legal weight, and then, after all this trouble and ceremony, he might tender the money in payment of his debt. But why did men coin money? To what end? That it might, in the public stamp it bore, carry with it prima facie evidence both of fineness and weight, and that thus the constant necessity of weighing and assaying might be saved. The present bill threw this advantage quite away. The friends of the bill themselves admitted that the coins of Mexico were usually of the requisite fineness, and they ascribed gr...