the doing it themselves, and the administration of it among the people. It also prohibits the States from" impairing the obligation of contracts." The justice that enforces the exact or partial performance of a contract, or payment of a debt, in a particular case; and the justice that protects the violation of that duty, or discharges it, in whole or in part, under given circumstances, covers the whole law of debtor and creditor.

§ 366. It decides when and in what proportions the debtor can and ought to pay a particular creditor, or all his creditors; and when and on what terms his creditor or creditors shall release him, or discharge the debt. This is the breadth of a law of bankruptcies. To this extent it seems to be required for the regulation of commerce; and short of this it could not stop, consistently with the next clause, which confers on Congress the power to fix the nature and value of the currency to be used in payments and exchanges.

§ 367. The words are: "To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin." Money or currency is an essential element of commerce. It is as much the means or instrument of trade as navigation or transportation is of intercourse, and is equally included in the regulation of commerce. "It is clear that the power to regulate commerce among the States carries with it, not impliedly, but necessarily and

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directly, a full power of regulating the essential element of commerce, namely, the currency of the country, the money, which constitutes the life and soul of commerce." But the Constitution has further particularized in the words of this clause. "Money" is the measure and representative of value. "To coin" it, is to form, fashion, fabricate, or convert into "money," any thing of which it may be made. To "regulate the value thereof" is to assign a value to it as money,-without reference to any value it may or may not have, as a material for other purposes than those assigned to it,—by making it lawful money.

$368. Congress is not restricted as to the materials they may make use of, or their worth or value, independent of their authorized use as money; nor is it required that they should have any such value.

Even the operation of converting it into money is described only by the verb "to coin," which, if it means any thing in addition to the act of converting it into money, includes only the government stamp, by which the act is authenticated: and even this is doubtful, for, at some times, particular articles of merchandise have been made a legal tender as money, without a stamp; and, under our Constitution, foreign money has been similarly adopted, and made lawful currency, without any mark of our government upon it.

1 Webster's Speech on the Surplus Revenue, 4 Works, 315.

§ 369. From the formation of the Union, in 1774, to the adoption of the Constitution, the money of the country was mostly paper. Such as was metallic was composed of gold, silver, or copper, with their respective amalgams and adulterations. These metals, with several others, have been coined ever since; and, at this moment, (1866), the principal material of our lawful money, in actual use, is paper. The Constitution makes no limitation to either of those materials, and no exclusion of either or of any other. The mention made in the 10th section, of "gold and silver coin," plainly shows that there may be other coin which is neither gold nor silver; and such was the fact then, has been ever since, and is so still. The valuation of" foreign coin," and the offence of counterfeiting "current coin," are not restricted to gold and silver, or any other material. These expressions all show that "coin," either as a noun or as a verb, has no fixed relation to any particular material, mineral or vegetable, but applies to any thing that may be made or authorized to pass in payments and exchanges as the lawful money of the United States, whether originally so denominated by our government, or in foreign countries.

§ 370. The power that prescribes what shall be money, at the same time prescribes what shall not be, and of course may determine what may or may not be used as substitutes or representatives of it. The government paper now form

ing, almost exclusively, the currency of the country, is the money of the country. It makes no pretension to being a substitute or representative. All substitutes for money are redeemable in that; and that is redeemable in nothing, so long as it constitutes money, and is itself a legal tender for all the purposes of money.

§ 371. "To fix the standard of weights and measures" is another branch of the commercial power, having a similar relation to its principal as is occupied by navigation, transportation, currency, bankruptcy, &c. But it has never been exercised by Congress, and still remains a dormant power. In what position this leaves the law on the subject, has not been judicially decided or discussed. Is there any actual standard for the whole country? If so, what is it? Is it the one fixed by the English law, before the Revolution? If there is no common standard, is the one in use in the respective States, at the adoption of the Constitution, to be applied in each of them respectively; or one since adopted by any of them? Can any other department of the government adopt or apply a standard, temporarily or specially, under these or any other circumstances?

§ 372. That the power is exclusive, in the sense that it cannot be exercised by any whose jurisdiction is limited to a part of the country only, is most obvious. But is it exclusive in the sense that State legislation on the subject, under

all circumstances, is prohibited?1 When a State government is expressly prohibited from doing a thing, as from granting letters of marque or coining money, their action on the subject would be absolutely void. When a power is limited to the general government exclusively, in express terms, as in the case of the District of Columbia, certain forts, dockyards, &c., any State legislation would also be void. In these two ways only, by an express prohibition or an express exclusion, does the Constitution directly, proprio vigore, take away or restrain the exercise of State legislation. When a power is simply delegated to the general government, such grant in no way directly interferes with State legislation or individual action. The exercise of the power may do both, or either; but the Constitution itself, by such a provision, does neither.

§ 373. If, from the nature of the power, the object and effect of its exercise is to make a uniform system of paramount law and administration for the whole country, it necessarily supersedes all inferior jurisdictions, and becomes exclusive, from its very nature; because any external interference with it would obstruct the national authority, and destroy the uniformity demanded. Of this nature are laws regulating foreign commerce, which have been decided to

1 By the Act of 1866, Congress have authorized the use of the metric system of weights and measures, since the foregoing was written.