The total amount of money is thus approximately $1,660,000,000, which,
divided by the total population, gives about $27 per capita. It should
be borne in mind in connection with these figures that other devices,
such as checks, drafts, bills of exchange, and other forms of credit,
are used side by side with money in carrying on trade and serving the
same purposes.
By the Compromise Silver Bill of July 14, 1890, provision was made for a
new kind of paper money. By this act the Secretary of the Treasury was
directed to purchase, from time to time, silver bullion to the amount of
4,500,000 ounces each month, and to issue in payment for such purchases
Treasury notes; these notes so issued to be redeemable on demand in
coin, and to be a legal tender in payment of all debts, public and
private, except where otherwise expressly stipulated.
[Footnote 1: In the preparation of this article, much assistance has
been derived from an article by H.C. Adams contributed to the
_Chautauquan_.]
CHAPTER XIX.
Public Lands of the United States.
Prior to 1781 but six of the original thirteen States--New Hampshire,
Rhode Island, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware--had
exactly defined boundaries. The others claimed lands of various extents,
stretching to the Mississippi River, or even to the Pacific Ocean. The
title to all this land was then in the individual States, and the
National Government, as such, had no land of its own.
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