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Rh to divulge the legislative intention to prohibit banking on their part, but lie argued elaborately that for another and stronger reason the tax could be constitutionally imposed because it was a tax levied for a lawful purpose, which lawful purpose was to restrain a State from interfering with the Federal control of the currency and the right of the national Government to emit bills of credit, and it was upon that point that the decision of the Supreme Court was in fact rendered.

The point of interest in this decision, however, is not the right of the Federal Government to regulate, especially under the original admitted necessity for the exercise of war powers, the currency of the country, but whether, having regard to the limitations on the exercise of the taxing power growing out of the nature of a constitutional government, the Federal authorities were justified in employing it as an instrumentality not to collect revenue but to prevent revenue, and when the desired end could be effectually achieved by other and unobjectionable methods; and on this point the court, following a well-established precedent of avoiding as far as possible all conflict between the judicial and legislative powers of the Federal Government, avoided any direct expression of opinion. As the case now stands, and as Congress has refused to discontinue the tax, it must be regarded as equivalent to an assertion that the Federal Government has the constitutional right to exercise the taxing power not for revenue and not by reason of any necessity that can justify it.

During the recent discussion of the silver problem, an eminent American writer on economic questions recommend that a