GOVERNMENT AND LAW. 43 



THE GOLD STANDARD ACT OF 1900. 



By this act the dollar consisting of twenty-five and eight tenths grains of gold, nine 

 tenths fine, shall be the standard of value, and all forms of money issued or coined shall be 

 maintained at a parity of value with this gold standard. The United States notes and Treas- 

 ury notes shall be redeemed in gold coin, and a redemption fund ef $150,000,000 of gold coin 

 and bullion is set aside for that purpose only. The following is the text of the section carry- 

 ing out this provision : 



SEC. 2. That United States notes and Treasury notes issued under the act of July 14, 1890, 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 set apart in the Treasury a reserve fund of $150,000,<X)0 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 sub-Treasury 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 3,700 

 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 $100,- 

 000,000, then it shall be his duty to restore the same to the maximum sum of $150,000,000 by borrowing money on 

 the credit of the United States, and for the debt thus incurred to issue and sell coupon or registered bonds of the 

 United States, in such form as he may prescribe, in denominations of $50 or any multiple thereof , bearing interest 

 at the rate of not exceeding 3 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 $150,000,000. 



The legal tender quality of the silver dollar and other money coined or issued by the 

 United States is not affected by the act. 



The deposit of gold coin with the Treasurer, and the issue of gold certificates therefor, 

 and the coinage of silver bullion in the Treasury into subsidiary silver coin are provided for. 



The National Bank law is amended to permit banks to be created with $25,000 capital 

 in places whose population does not exceed 3,000. Provision is made for the refunding of 

 outstanding bonds at a low rate of interest, and under it bonds bearing 3, 4, and 5 per cent, 

 interest have been refunded for bonds bearing 2 per cent. 



Section 10 provides that Section 5,138 of the Revised Statutes is amended so as to read as follows : 



" Section 5,138. No association shall be organized with a less capital than $100,000, except that banks with 

 a capital of not less than $50,000 may, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, be organized in any 

 place the population of which does not exceed 6,000 inhabitants, and except that banks with a capital of not less 

 than $25,000 may, with the sanction of the Secretary of the Treasury, be organized in any place the population of 

 which does not'exceed 3,000 inhabitants. No association shall be organized in a city the population of which ex- 

 ceeds 50,000 persons with a capital of less than $200,000." 



Section 12 provides for the issue of circulating notes to banks on deposit of bonds, and 

 for additional deposits when there is a depreciation in the value of bonds. The total amount 

 of notes issued by any National banking association may equal at any time, but shall not 

 exceed, the amount at any such time of its capital stock actually paid in. 



Every National banking association shall pay a tax in January and July of one fourth of 

 1 per cent, on the average amount of such of its notes in circulation as are based on its deposit 

 of 2 per cent, bonds, and such taxes shall be in lieu of the taxes on its notes in circulation 

 imposed by Section 5,214 of the Revised Statutes. Provision for international bimetallism is 

 made in the final section of the act, which is as follows : 



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. 



