" According to the opinion given by me as
a member of your Cabinet in the month of July last, and to which I still
adhere, this resolution was mandatory only as it respected the legal
currency of the United States, Treasury notes, and notes of the Bank
of the United States, and in respect to the notes of the State banks,
though payable and paid in specie, was permissive merely in the
discretion of the Secretary; and in accordance with this opinion has
been the practical construction given to the resolution by the Treasury
Department. It is known to you, however, that distinguished names have
been vouched for the opinion that the resolution was mandatory as to the
notes of all specie-paying banks; that the debtor had the right, at his
option, to make payment in such notes, and that if tendered by him the
Treasury officers had no discretion to refuse them.
It is thus seen that the laws now in force, so far as they _positively
enjoin_ the receipt of any particular currency in payment of public
dues, are confined to gold and silver, except that in certain cases
Virginia land scrip and Treasury certificates are directed to be
received on the sale of public lands.
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