The Gold Clause Judgement The American Government's victory on the
Gold Clause issue " was as near a defeat as any victory well could be. The bench of the Supreme Court divided by the narrowest margin possible—rfive to four; the minority issued a scathing judgement on the action of the Government in repudiating its own promise to repay its loans in dollars of a specific gold value ; and the majority, while ruling against the appellants in the case of a gold currency certificate and railway gold bonds, ruled against the Government in the ease of its Liberty Bonds, but warned the appellant that he would get no material redress, since (residing within the borders of the United States) he had suffered no material loss in being repaid in dollars of reduced gold content But as foreign holders of Liberty Bonds have undoubtedly suffered loss through the devaluation of the dollar, the rul- ing may yet involve the Government in some heavy claims. The main purport of the majority decision is that the Government of the Unite d States enjoys the full constitu- tional right to control the country's currency as it will. Whatever may be thought of that doctrine—and the nature of the division in the Court shows how much room there is for two opinions—it is on all practical grounds fortunate that the Government won its victory, and perhaps equally fortunate that it was a victory calculated to chasten rather than exhilarate.- -
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