Legal tender

“ But this provision of legal tender has no relation, no fitness, no adaptation to the exercise of any one or more of the express powers conferred by the Constitution; none whatever. It is as much auxiliary to one as to the other; nay, as much auxiliary to every conceivable power of government granted or forbidden, requiring revenue, as to either or to all the delegated powers. Its aid is derived from the fact, and the single fact, that thereby government was made stronger. ”

“ The present majority of the court say that legal tender notes 'have become the universal measure of values,' and they hold that the legislation of Congress, substituting such measures for coin by making the notes a legal tender in payment, is warranted by the Constitution. ”

“ These consequences are too obvious to admit of question. And there is no well-founded distinction to be made between the constitutional validity of an act of Congress declaring treasury notes a legal tender for the payment of debts contracted after its passage and that of an act making them a legal tender for the discharge of all debts, as well those incurred before as those made after its enactment. ”

“ If all the articles produced, raised, and manufactured in this country are made legal tender, no person will sell anything he has to dispose of unless there is a special contract drawn up designating how and in what manner the seller is to receive his pay, this will cause much inconvenience to both parties. ”

“ A legal tender law, therefore, where customary money is used, simply declares that the parties to a contract shall not vex each other by arbitrarily departing from the custom. The creditor shall not demand, and the debtor shall not offer, out of spite or malice, anything but the customary money of the nation. ”

“ So long as these instruments are convertible into, and thus made fully equal to, the standard in terms of which they are drawn, they will be used by the business community for the settlement of debts without being made a legal tender. And whenever they are worth less than the standard they certainly should not be made a legal tender, because of the injustice which in such a case they would work. ”

“ For several years, in the direst needs of the country, Congress not only never asserted any right to make treasury notes a legal tender, but, by the nature of its legislation, has indicated that it had no power to even materially debase the coin of the republic, or stamp it with false and arbitrary values. ”

“ Tender.—This is payment duly proffered to a creditor, but rendered abortive by the act of the creditor. In order that a tender may be good in law it must as a rule be made under circumstances which would make it a good payment if accepted. The money tendered must be a legal tender, unless the creditor waive his right to a legal tender, as where he objects to the amount and not the mode of tender. Bank of England notes are legal tender for any sum above £5, except by the bank itself. Gold is legal tender to any amount, silver up to 40s., bronze up to 1s. ”

“ The fitness which would render a means appropriate to this transaction thus considered must have respect to the terms which are essential to the contract, or to the securities which the borrower may furnish as an inducement to the loan. The quality of legal tender does not touch the terms of the contract of borrowing, nor does it stand as a security for the loan. A security supposes some right or interest in the thing pledged, which is subject to the disposition of the borrower. ”

“ In law, also, it is to be admitted that, generally, in the payment of debts and obligations, and on the side of penal law, as in a statute relating to the embezzlement of money, only what is a legal tender is money. [33] But it must also be remembered that the Constitution, in giving to Congress the power to coin money, is not, just then, concerned with the technicalities of law or political economy ”

“ That the power of a collecting agent by the general law is limited to receiving for the debt of his principal that which the law declares to be a legal tender, or which is by common consent considered and treated as money, and passes as such at par, is established by all the authorities. ”

“ Parties may contract to accept payment in treasury notes, or specific articles, or in bank bills, and if they do so they are bound to accept the medium for which they contracted, provided the notes, specific articles, or bills are tendered on the day the payment under the contract become due, and it is clear that such a tender, if seasonable and sufficient in amount, is a good defence to the action. ”

“ All which a banker wants to pay his creditors is a sufficient supply of the legal tender of the country, no matter what that legal tender may be. Different countries differ in their laws of legal tender, but for the primary purposes of banking these systems are not material. ”

“ All money, whether metallic or paper, should be issued and its volume controlled by the government, and not by or through banking corporations, and, when so issued, should be a full legal tender for all debts, public and private. ”

“ If the defendant had agreed, in writing, signed by himself alone, to accept current funds, and not to demand coin or legal-tender notes, and, notwithstanding such agreement, he had demanded coin or legal-tender notes, under circumstances rendering it impossible for the plaintiff to meet the demand on the day limited by the contract, would he be permitted to say that the contract was forfeited for the failure to make payment according to its provisions? ”

“ For nearly three-quarters of a century after the adoption of the constitution, and until the legislation during the recent civil war, no jurist and no statesman of any position in the country ever pretended that a power to impart the quality of legal tender to its notes was vested in the general government. There is no recorded word of even one in favor of its possessing the power. ”

“ The passage of laws which shall deprive greenbacks of their legal-tender quality, as a first step toward their ultimate withdrawal and cancellation, and shall maintain all coins made legal tender at such weight and fineness as will enable them to be used without discount in the commercial transactions of the world. ”

“ As to what shall be done with it when it is manufactured and its value regulated, the Constitution says nothing. I cannot doubt that the word money in the coinage clause is limited to metallic money. [25] And Congress may do with it and about it, and may abstain wholly or in part from doing, what is ordinarily done by governments when they coin money; and so may make it a legal tender. But money is not necessarily a tender in discharge of contracts or debts; with us, foreign money is not; [26] some domestic money is not ”

“ A precedent for allowing the bill to be filed without first making a demand is found in those cases where a contract has been made for the sale of real estate in which there are mutual and concurrent conditions, and where, if either party desires to bring an action at law, he must aver in his declaration and prove on the trial a conditional tender on his part, or a waiver by defendant of such tender. ”

“ That question is, whether the fact clearly established that their demand would have been unavailing, dispensed with the necessity of making the affidavit and demand. It is a general rule that when the tender of performance of an act is necessary to the establishment of any right against another party, this tender or offer to perform is waived or becomes unnecessary, when it is reasonably certain that the offer will be refused,-that payment or performance will not be accepted. ”

“ Right to File - Any offeror deemed to be an interested party, that believes it has
not received fair treatment in the award of a government public contract, or
believes that the provisions of a tender unfairly restrict full and open competition
in a manner that inappropriately excludes it from competing, may file a tender
protest with the Administrative Tribunal established pursuant to the authority of
this Order. ”

“ The Office of Government Public Contract Policy shall issue implementing
regulations describing the circumstances under which the government can terminate
public contracts pursuant to the authority of this Order.
Section 12
Dispute Resolution
All interested parties, as defined below, to a government public contract tender process
and those entities and individuals that have been awarded government public contracts
have certain rights against the government that may include the ability to seek and obtain
monetary relief against the government. ”

“ No tender notice shall be published, nor any tender commenced, prior to a
certification by the senior financial officer, or his official designee, of the
CPA/ORD/14 May 2004/87
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governmental unit or agency offering the tender that there are funds available
sufficient to satisfy the government’s estimated cost of any resulting contract. ”