Contents
Publisher:
New York Sun Books
ISBN:
1461156122
ISBN 13:
9781461156123
Page Count:
132
Binding Type:
US Trade
Paper Trim Size:
5.06" x 7.81"
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Related Categories:
Political Science /
Government /
National
Publisher:
New York Sun Books
ISBN:
1461156122
ISBN 13:
9781461156123
Page Count:
132
Binding Type:
US Trade
Paper Trim Size:
5.06" x 7.81"
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Related Categories:
Political Science /
Government /
National
Available from :
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1900 March 14
Gold Standard Act, 1900: "An Act To define and fix the standard of
value, to maintain the parity of all forms of money issued or coined by the
United States, to refund the public debt, and for other purposes." United
States notes became redeemable for gold at the historical rate of $20.67
per ounce. While the statute continued to allow for the use of silver
coinage and urged an international agreement on bimetallism, this Act
secured the primacy of gold in United States’ monetary policy.
***
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That the dollar consisting of
twenty-five and eight-tenths grains of gold nine-tenths fine, as established
by section thirty-five hundred and eleven of the Revised Statutes of the
United States, shall be the standard unit of value, and all forms of money
issued or coined by the United States shall be maintained at la parity of
value with this standard, and it shall be the duty of the secretary of the
Treasury to maintain such parity.
SEC. 2. That United States notes, and Treasury notes issued under the Act
of July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety when presented to the
Treasury for redemption, shall be redeemed in gold coin of the standard
fixed in the first section of this Act, and in order to secure the prompt and
certain redemption of such notes as herein provided it shall be the duty of
the Secretary of the Treasury to see apart in the Treasury a reserve fund of
one hundred and fifty million dollars in gold coin and bullion, which fund
shall be used for such redemption purposes only, and whenever and as
often as any of said notes shall be redeemed from said fund it shall be the
duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to use said notes so redeemed to
restore and maintain such reserve fund in the manner following, to wit:
First, by exchanging the notes so redeemed for any gold coin in the general
fund of the Treasury; second, by accepting deposits of gold coin at the
Treasury or at any subtreasury in exchange for the United States notes so
redeemed; third, by procuring gold coin by the use of said notes, in
accordance with the provisions of section thirty-seven hundred of the
Revised Statutes of the United States. If the Secretary of the Treasury is
unable to restore and maintain the gold coin in the reserve fund by the
foregoing methods, and the amount of such gold coin and bullion in said
fund shall at any time fall below one hundred million dollars, then it shall
be his duty to restore the same to the maximum sum of one hundred and fifty
million dollars by borrowing money on the credit of the United States, and
for the debt thus inclined to issue and sell coupon 01 registered bonds of
the United States, in such form as he may prescribe, in denominations of
fifty dollars or any multiple thereof, bearing interest at the rate of not
exceeding three per centum per annum, payable quarterly, such bonds to be
payable at the pleasure of the United States after one year from the date of
their issue, and to be payable, principal and interest, in gold coin of the
present standard value, and to be exempt from the payment of all taxes or
duties of the United States, as well as from taxation in any form by or under
State, municipal, or local authority; and the gold coin received from the
sale of said bonds shall first be covered into the general fund of the
Treasury and then exchanged, in the manner hereinbefore provided, for an
equal amount of the notes redeemed and held for exchange, and the
Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, use said notes in exchange
for gold, or to purchase or redeem any bonds of the United States, or for
any other lawful purpose the public interests may require, except that they
shall not be used to meet deficiencies in the current revenues. That United
States notes when redeemed in accordance with the provisions of this
section shall be reissued, but shall be held in the reserve fund until
exchanged for gold, as herein provided; and the gold coin and bullion in
the reserve fund, together with the redeemed notes held for use as provided
in this section, shall at no time exceed the maximum sum of one hundred
and fifty million dollars.
SEC. 3. That nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to affect the
legal-tender quality as now provided by law of the silver dollar, or of any
other money coined or issued by the United States.
SEC. 4. That there be established in the Treasury Department, as a part of
the office of the Treasurer of the United States, divisions to be designated
and known as the division of issue and the division of redemption, to
which shall be assigned, respectively, under such regulations as the
Secretary of the Treasury may approve, all records and accounts relating to
the issue and redemption of United States notes, gold certificates, silver
certificates, and currency certificates. There shall be transferred from the
accounts of the general fund of the Treasury of the United States, and taken
up on the books of said divisions, respectively, accounts relating to the
reserve fund for the redemption of United States notes and Treasury notes,
the gold coin held against outstanding gold certificates, the United States
notes held against outstanding currency certificates, and the silver dollars
held against outstanding silver certificates, and each of the funds
represented by these accounts shall be used for the redemption of the notes
and certificates for which they are respectively pledged, and shall be used
for no other purpose, the same being held as trust funds.
SEC. 5. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, as fast as
standard silver dollars are coined under the provisions of the Acts of July
fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and June thirteenth, eighteen
hundred and ninety-eight, from bullion purchased under the Act of July
fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, to retire and cancel an equal
amount of Treasury notes whenever received into the Treasury, either by
exchange in accordance with the provisions of this Act or in the ordinary
course of business, and upon the cancellation of Treasury notes silver
certificates shall be issued against the silver dollars so coined.
SEC. 6. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and
directed to receive deposits of gold coin with the Treasurer or any
assistant treasurer of the United States in sums of not less than twenty
dollars, and to issue gold certificates therefor in denominations of not less
than twenty dollars, and the coin so deposited shall be retained in the
Treasury and held for the payment of such certificates on demand, and used
for no other purpose. Such certificates shall be receivable for customs,
taxes, and all public dues, and when so received may be reissued, and
when held by any national banking association may be counted as a part of
its lawful reserve: Provided, That whenever and so long as the gold coin
held in the reserve fund in the Treasury for the redemption of United States
notes and Treasury notes shall fall and remain below one hundred million
dollars the authority to issue certificates as herein provided shall be
suspended: And provided further That whenever and so long as the
aggregate amount of United States notes and silver certificates in the
general fund of the Treasury shall exceed sixty million dollars the
Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, suspend the issue of the
certificates herein provided for: And provided further, That of the amount
of such outstanding certificates one-fourth at least shall be in
denominations of fifty dollars or less: And provided further, That the
Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, issue such certificates in
denominations of ten thousand dollars, payable to order. And section fifty-
one hundred and ninety-three of the Revised Statutes of the United States is
hereby repealed.
SEC. 7. That hereafter silver certificates shall be issued only of
denominations of ten dollars and under, except that not exceeding in the
aggregate ten per centum of the total volume of said certificates, in the
discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, may be issued in denominations
of twenty dollars, fifty dollars, and one hundred dollars; and silver
certificates of higher denomination than ten dollars, except as herein
provided, shall, whenever received at the Treasury or redeemed, be retired
and canceled, and certificates of denominations of ten dollars or less shall
be substituted therefor, and after such substitution, in whole or in part, a
like volume of United States notes of less denomination than ten dollars
shall from time to time be retired and canceled, and notes of denominations
of ten dollars and upward shall be reissued in substitution therefor, with
like qualities and restrictions as those retired and canceled.
SEC. 8. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to use, at
his discretion, any silver bullion in the Treasury of the United States
purchased under the Act of July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, for
coinage into such denominations of subsidiary silver coin as may be
necessary to meet the public requirements for such coin: Provided, That the
amount of subsidiary silver coin outstanding shall not at any time exceed in
the aggregate one hundred millions of dollars. Whenever any silver bullion
purchased under the Act of July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety,
shall be used in the coinage of subsidiary silver coin, an amount of
Treasury notes issued under said Act equal to the cost of the bullion
contained in such coin shall be canceled and not reissued.
SEC. 9. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and
directed to cause all worn and uncurrent subsidiary silver coin of the
United States now in the Treasury, and hereafter received, to be recoined,
and to reimburse the Treasurer of the United States for the difference
between the nominal or face value of such coin and the amount the same
will produce in new coin from any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated.
[…]
SEC. 11. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to receive
at the Treasury any of the outstanding bonds of the United States bearing
interest at five per centum per annum, payable February first, nineteen
hundred and four, and any bonds of the United States bearing interest at
four per centum per annum, payable July first, nineteen hundred and seven,
and any bonds of the United States bearing interest at three per centum per
annum, payable August first, nineteen hundred and eight, and to issue in
exchange therefor an equal amount of coupon or registered bonds of the
United States in such form as he may prescribe, in denominations of fifty
dollars or any multiple thereof, bearing interest at the rate of two per
centum per annum, payable quarterly, such bonds to be payable at the
pleasure of the United States after thirty years from the date of their issue,
and said bonds to be payable, principal and interest, in gold coin of the
present standard value, and to be exempt from the payment of all taxes or
duties of the United States, as well as from taxation in any form by or under
State, municipal, or local authority: Provided, That such outstanding bonds
may be received in exchange at a valuation not greater than their present
worth to yield an income of two and one-quarter per centum per annum;
and in consideration of the reduction of interest effected, the Secretary of
the Treasury is authorized to pay to the holders of the outstanding bonds
surrendered for exchange, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated, a sum not greater than the difference between their present
worth, computed as aforesaid, and their par value, and the payments to be
made hereunder shall be held to be payments on account of the sinking fund
created by section thirty-six hundred and ninety-four of the Revised
Statutes: And provided further, That the two per centum bonds to be issued
under the provisions of this Act shall be issued at not less than par, and
they shall be numbered consecutively in the order of their issue, and when
payment is made the last numbers issued shall be first paid, and this order
shall be followed until all the bonds are paid, and whenever any of the
outstanding bonds are called for payment interest thereon shall cease three
months after such call; and there is hereby appropriated out of any money
in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to effect the exchanges of
bonds provided for in this Act, a sum not exceeding one-fifteenth of one
per centum of the face value of said bonds, to pay the expense of preparing
and issuing the same and other expenses incident thereto.
SEC. 12. That upon the deposit with the Treasurer of the United States, by
any national banking association, of any bonds of the United States in the
manner provided by existing law, such association shall be entitled to
receive from the Comptroller of the Currency circulating notes in blank,
registered and countersigned as provided by law, equal in amount to the
par value of the bonds so deposited; and any national banking association
now having bonds on deposit for the security of circulating notes, and upon
which an amount of circulating notes has been issued less than the par
value of the bonds, shall be entitled, upon due application to the
Comptroller of the Currency, to receive additional circulating notes in
blank to an amount which will increase the circulating notes held by such
association to the par value of the bonds deposited, such additional notes
to be held and treated in the same way as circulating notes of national
banking associations heretofore issued, and subject to all the provisions of
law affecting such notes: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be
construed to modify or repeal the provisions of section fifty-one hundred
and sixty-seven of the Revised Statutes of the United States, authorizing the
Comptroller of the Currency to require additional deposits of bonds or of
lawful money in case the market value of the bonds held to secure the
circulating notes shall fall below the par value of the circulating notes
outstanding for which such bonds may be deposited as security: And
provided further, That the circulating notes furnished to national banking
associations under the provisions of this Act shall be of the denominations
prescribed by law, except that no national banking association shall, after
the passage of this Act, be entitled to receive from the Comptroller of the
Currency, or to issue or reissue or place in circulation, more than one-third
in amount of its circulating notes of the denomination of five dollars: And
provided further, That the total amount of such notes issued to any such
association may equal at any time but shall not exceed the amount at such
time of its capital stock actually paid in: And provided further, That under
regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury any national
banking association may substitute the two per centum bonds issued under
the provisions of this Act for any of the bonds deposited with the Treasurer
to secure circulation or to secure deposits of public money; and so much of
an Act entitled "An Act to enable national banking associations to extend
their corporate existence, and for other purposes," approved July twelfth,
eighteen hundred and eighty-two, as prohibits any national bank which
makes any deposit of lawful money in order to withdraw its circulating
notes from receiving any increase of its circulation for the period of six
months from the time it made such deposit of lawful money for the purpose
aforesaid, is hereby repealed, and all other Acts or parts of, Acts
inconsistent with the provisions of this section are hereby repealed.
SEC. 13. That every national banking association having on deposit, as
provided by law, bonds of the United States bearing interest at the rate of
two per centum per annum, issued under the provisions of this Act, to
secure its circulating notes, shall pay to the Treasurer of the United States,
in the months of January and July, a tax of one-fourth of one per centum
each half year upon the average amount of such of its notes in circulation as
are based upon the deposit of said two per centum bonds; and such taxes
shall be in lieu of existing taxes on its notes in circulation imposed by
section fifty-two hundred and fourteen of the Revised Statutes.
SEC. 14:. That the provisions of this Act are not intended to preclude the
accomplishment of international bimetallism whenever conditions shall
make it expedient and practicable to secure the same by concurrent action
of the leading commercial nations of the world and at a ratio which shall
insure permanence of relative value between gold and silver.
* * *
Source: The Statutes at large of the United States of America, Vol. XXXI,
56th Congress, Session I (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1901),
pp. 45-50.
Gold Standard Act, 1900: "An Act To define and fix the standard of
value, to maintain the parity of all forms of money issued or coined by the
United States, to refund the public debt, and for other purposes." United
States notes became redeemable for gold at the historical rate of $20.67
per ounce. While the statute continued to allow for the use of silver
coinage and urged an international agreement on bimetallism, this Act
secured the primacy of gold in United States’ monetary policy.
***
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That the dollar consisting of
twenty-five and eight-tenths grains of gold nine-tenths fine, as established
by section thirty-five hundred and eleven of the Revised Statutes of the
United States, shall be the standard unit of value, and all forms of money
issued or coined by the United States shall be maintained at la parity of
value with this standard, and it shall be the duty of the secretary of the
Treasury to maintain such parity.
SEC. 2. That United States notes, and Treasury notes issued under the Act
of July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety when presented to the
Treasury for redemption, shall be redeemed in gold coin of the standard
fixed in the first section of this Act, and in order to secure the prompt and
certain redemption of such notes as herein provided it shall be the duty of
the Secretary of the Treasury to see apart in the Treasury a reserve fund of
one hundred and fifty million dollars in gold coin and bullion, which fund
shall be used for such redemption purposes only, and whenever and as
often as any of said notes shall be redeemed from said fund it shall be the
duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to use said notes so redeemed to
restore and maintain such reserve fund in the manner following, to wit:
First, by exchanging the notes so redeemed for any gold coin in the general
fund of the Treasury; second, by accepting deposits of gold coin at the
Treasury or at any subtreasury in exchange for the United States notes so
redeemed; third, by procuring gold coin by the use of said notes, in
accordance with the provisions of section thirty-seven hundred of the
Revised Statutes of the United States. If the Secretary of the Treasury is
unable to restore and maintain the gold coin in the reserve fund by the
foregoing methods, and the amount of such gold coin and bullion in said
fund shall at any time fall below one hundred million dollars, then it shall
be his duty to restore the same to the maximum sum of one hundred and fifty
million dollars by borrowing money on the credit of the United States, and
for the debt thus inclined to issue and sell coupon 01 registered bonds of
the United States, in such form as he may prescribe, in denominations of
fifty dollars or any multiple thereof, bearing interest at the rate of not
exceeding three per centum per annum, payable quarterly, such bonds to be
payable at the pleasure of the United States after one year from the date of
their issue, and to be payable, principal and interest, in gold coin of the
present standard value, and to be exempt from the payment of all taxes or
duties of the United States, as well as from taxation in any form by or under
State, municipal, or local authority; and the gold coin received from the
sale of said bonds shall first be covered into the general fund of the
Treasury and then exchanged, in the manner hereinbefore provided, for an
equal amount of the notes redeemed and held for exchange, and the
Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, use said notes in exchange
for gold, or to purchase or redeem any bonds of the United States, or for
any other lawful purpose the public interests may require, except that they
shall not be used to meet deficiencies in the current revenues. That United
States notes when redeemed in accordance with the provisions of this
section shall be reissued, but shall be held in the reserve fund until
exchanged for gold, as herein provided; and the gold coin and bullion in
the reserve fund, together with the redeemed notes held for use as provided
in this section, shall at no time exceed the maximum sum of one hundred
and fifty million dollars.
SEC. 3. That nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to affect the
legal-tender quality as now provided by law of the silver dollar, or of any
other money coined or issued by the United States.
SEC. 4. That there be established in the Treasury Department, as a part of
the office of the Treasurer of the United States, divisions to be designated
and known as the division of issue and the division of redemption, to
which shall be assigned, respectively, under such regulations as the
Secretary of the Treasury may approve, all records and accounts relating to
the issue and redemption of United States notes, gold certificates, silver
certificates, and currency certificates. There shall be transferred from the
accounts of the general fund of the Treasury of the United States, and taken
up on the books of said divisions, respectively, accounts relating to the
reserve fund for the redemption of United States notes and Treasury notes,
the gold coin held against outstanding gold certificates, the United States
notes held against outstanding currency certificates, and the silver dollars
held against outstanding silver certificates, and each of the funds
represented by these accounts shall be used for the redemption of the notes
and certificates for which they are respectively pledged, and shall be used
for no other purpose, the same being held as trust funds.
SEC. 5. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, as fast as
standard silver dollars are coined under the provisions of the Acts of July
fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and June thirteenth, eighteen
hundred and ninety-eight, from bullion purchased under the Act of July
fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, to retire and cancel an equal
amount of Treasury notes whenever received into the Treasury, either by
exchange in accordance with the provisions of this Act or in the ordinary
course of business, and upon the cancellation of Treasury notes silver
certificates shall be issued against the silver dollars so coined.
SEC. 6. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and
directed to receive deposits of gold coin with the Treasurer or any
assistant treasurer of the United States in sums of not less than twenty
dollars, and to issue gold certificates therefor in denominations of not less
than twenty dollars, and the coin so deposited shall be retained in the
Treasury and held for the payment of such certificates on demand, and used
for no other purpose. Such certificates shall be receivable for customs,
taxes, and all public dues, and when so received may be reissued, and
when held by any national banking association may be counted as a part of
its lawful reserve: Provided, That whenever and so long as the gold coin
held in the reserve fund in the Treasury for the redemption of United States
notes and Treasury notes shall fall and remain below one hundred million
dollars the authority to issue certificates as herein provided shall be
suspended: And provided further That whenever and so long as the
aggregate amount of United States notes and silver certificates in the
general fund of the Treasury shall exceed sixty million dollars the
Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, suspend the issue of the
certificates herein provided for: And provided further, That of the amount
of such outstanding certificates one-fourth at least shall be in
denominations of fifty dollars or less: And provided further, That the
Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, issue such certificates in
denominations of ten thousand dollars, payable to order. And section fifty-
one hundred and ninety-three of the Revised Statutes of the United States is
hereby repealed.
SEC. 7. That hereafter silver certificates shall be issued only of
denominations of ten dollars and under, except that not exceeding in the
aggregate ten per centum of the total volume of said certificates, in the
discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, may be issued in denominations
of twenty dollars, fifty dollars, and one hundred dollars; and silver
certificates of higher denomination than ten dollars, except as herein
provided, shall, whenever received at the Treasury or redeemed, be retired
and canceled, and certificates of denominations of ten dollars or less shall
be substituted therefor, and after such substitution, in whole or in part, a
like volume of United States notes of less denomination than ten dollars
shall from time to time be retired and canceled, and notes of denominations
of ten dollars and upward shall be reissued in substitution therefor, with
like qualities and restrictions as those retired and canceled.
SEC. 8. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to use, at
his discretion, any silver bullion in the Treasury of the United States
purchased under the Act of July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, for
coinage into such denominations of subsidiary silver coin as may be
necessary to meet the public requirements for such coin: Provided, That the
amount of subsidiary silver coin outstanding shall not at any time exceed in
the aggregate one hundred millions of dollars. Whenever any silver bullion
purchased under the Act of July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety,
shall be used in the coinage of subsidiary silver coin, an amount of
Treasury notes issued under said Act equal to the cost of the bullion
contained in such coin shall be canceled and not reissued.
SEC. 9. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and
directed to cause all worn and uncurrent subsidiary silver coin of the
United States now in the Treasury, and hereafter received, to be recoined,
and to reimburse the Treasurer of the United States for the difference
between the nominal or face value of such coin and the amount the same
will produce in new coin from any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated.
[…]
SEC. 11. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to receive
at the Treasury any of the outstanding bonds of the United States bearing
interest at five per centum per annum, payable February first, nineteen
hundred and four, and any bonds of the United States bearing interest at
four per centum per annum, payable July first, nineteen hundred and seven,
and any bonds of the United States bearing interest at three per centum per
annum, payable August first, nineteen hundred and eight, and to issue in
exchange therefor an equal amount of coupon or registered bonds of the
United States in such form as he may prescribe, in denominations of fifty
dollars or any multiple thereof, bearing interest at the rate of two per
centum per annum, payable quarterly, such bonds to be payable at the
pleasure of the United States after thirty years from the date of their issue,
and said bonds to be payable, principal and interest, in gold coin of the
present standard value, and to be exempt from the payment of all taxes or
duties of the United States, as well as from taxation in any form by or under
State, municipal, or local authority: Provided, That such outstanding bonds
may be received in exchange at a valuation not greater than their present
worth to yield an income of two and one-quarter per centum per annum;
and in consideration of the reduction of interest effected, the Secretary of
the Treasury is authorized to pay to the holders of the outstanding bonds
surrendered for exchange, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated, a sum not greater than the difference between their present
worth, computed as aforesaid, and their par value, and the payments to be
made hereunder shall be held to be payments on account of the sinking fund
created by section thirty-six hundred and ninety-four of the Revised
Statutes: And provided further, That the two per centum bonds to be issued
under the provisions of this Act shall be issued at not less than par, and
they shall be numbered consecutively in the order of their issue, and when
payment is made the last numbers issued shall be first paid, and this order
shall be followed until all the bonds are paid, and whenever any of the
outstanding bonds are called for payment interest thereon shall cease three
months after such call; and there is hereby appropriated out of any money
in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to effect the exchanges of
bonds provided for in this Act, a sum not exceeding one-fifteenth of one
per centum of the face value of said bonds, to pay the expense of preparing
and issuing the same and other expenses incident thereto.
SEC. 12. That upon the deposit with the Treasurer of the United States, by
any national banking association, of any bonds of the United States in the
manner provided by existing law, such association shall be entitled to
receive from the Comptroller of the Currency circulating notes in blank,
registered and countersigned as provided by law, equal in amount to the
par value of the bonds so deposited; and any national banking association
now having bonds on deposit for the security of circulating notes, and upon
which an amount of circulating notes has been issued less than the par
value of the bonds, shall be entitled, upon due application to the
Comptroller of the Currency, to receive additional circulating notes in
blank to an amount which will increase the circulating notes held by such
association to the par value of the bonds deposited, such additional notes
to be held and treated in the same way as circulating notes of national
banking associations heretofore issued, and subject to all the provisions of
law affecting such notes: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be
construed to modify or repeal the provisions of section fifty-one hundred
and sixty-seven of the Revised Statutes of the United States, authorizing the
Comptroller of the Currency to require additional deposits of bonds or of
lawful money in case the market value of the bonds held to secure the
circulating notes shall fall below the par value of the circulating notes
outstanding for which such bonds may be deposited as security: And
provided further, That the circulating notes furnished to national banking
associations under the provisions of this Act shall be of the denominations
prescribed by law, except that no national banking association shall, after
the passage of this Act, be entitled to receive from the Comptroller of the
Currency, or to issue or reissue or place in circulation, more than one-third
in amount of its circulating notes of the denomination of five dollars: And
provided further, That the total amount of such notes issued to any such
association may equal at any time but shall not exceed the amount at such
time of its capital stock actually paid in: And provided further, That under
regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury any national
banking association may substitute the two per centum bonds issued under
the provisions of this Act for any of the bonds deposited with the Treasurer
to secure circulation or to secure deposits of public money; and so much of
an Act entitled "An Act to enable national banking associations to extend
their corporate existence, and for other purposes," approved July twelfth,
eighteen hundred and eighty-two, as prohibits any national bank which
makes any deposit of lawful money in order to withdraw its circulating
notes from receiving any increase of its circulation for the period of six
months from the time it made such deposit of lawful money for the purpose
aforesaid, is hereby repealed, and all other Acts or parts of, Acts
inconsistent with the provisions of this section are hereby repealed.
SEC. 13. That every national banking association having on deposit, as
provided by law, bonds of the United States bearing interest at the rate of
two per centum per annum, issued under the provisions of this Act, to
secure its circulating notes, shall pay to the Treasurer of the United States,
in the months of January and July, a tax of one-fourth of one per centum
each half year upon the average amount of such of its notes in circulation as
are based upon the deposit of said two per centum bonds; and such taxes
shall be in lieu of existing taxes on its notes in circulation imposed by
section fifty-two hundred and fourteen of the Revised Statutes.
SEC. 14:. That the provisions of this Act are not intended to preclude the
accomplishment of international bimetallism whenever conditions shall
make it expedient and practicable to secure the same by concurrent action
of the leading commercial nations of the world and at a ratio which shall
insure permanence of relative value between gold and silver.
* * *
Source: The Statutes at large of the United States of America, Vol. XXXI,
56th Congress, Session I (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1901),
pp. 45-50.