Currency Act of 1870

After the Civil War during the Reconstruction period there was need to unify the currency. Below is an excerpt from The Political History of the United States of America during the Reconstruction Period ©1871 that details the Currency Act of 1870 and those who voted for or against it. Also, if you aren't looking for detailed information Wikipedia has a short paragraph describing the Act.

BANKING AND CURRENCY.
AN ACT to provide for the redemption of the three per centum temporary loan certificates, and for an increase of national bank notes.
Beit enacted, dec, That $54,000,000, iu notes for circulation may be issued to national banking associations in addition to the $300,000,000 authorized by the 22d section of the "Act to provide a national currency secured by a pledge of United States bonds, and to provide for the circulation and redemption thereof," approved June 3, 1864; and the amount of notes so provided shall be furnished to banking associations organized or to be organized in those States and Territories having less than their proportion under the apportionment contemplated by the provisions of the " Act to amend an act to provide a national currency secured by a pledge of United States bonds, and to provide for the circulation and redemption thereof," approved March 3, 1865, and the bonds deposited with the Treasurer of the United States to secure the additional circulating notes herein authorized shall be of any description of bonds of the United States bearing interest in coin; but a new apportionment of the increased circulation herein provided for shall be made as soon as practicable, based upon the census of 1870: Provided, That if applications for the circulation herein authorized shall not be made within one year after the passage of this act, by banking associations organized or to be organized in States having less than their proportion, it shall be lawful for the Comptroller of the Currency to issue such circulation to banking associations applying for the same in other States or Territories having less than their proportion, giving the preference to such as have the greatest deficiency: And Provided further. That no banking association hereafter organized shall have a circulation in excess of $500,000.

Sec. 2. That at the end of each month after the passage of this act it shall be the duty of the Comptroller of the Currency to report to the Secretary of the Treasury the amount of circulating notes issued, under the provisions of the preceding section, to national banking associations during the previous month; whereupon the Secretary ol the Treasury shall redeem and cancel an amount of the three per centum temporary loan certificates issued under the acts of March 2, 1867, and July 25, 1868, not less than the amount of circulating notes so reported, and may, if necessary, in order to procure the presentation of such temporary loan certificates for redemption, give notice to the holders thereof, by publication or otherwise, that certain of said certificates (which shall be designated by number, date, and amount) shall cease to bear interest from and after a day to be designated in such notice, and that the certificates so designated shall no longer be available as any portion of the lawful money reserve in possession of any national banking association, and after the day designated in such notice no interest shall be paid on such certificates, and they shall not thereafter be counted as a part of the reserve of any banking association,

Sec. 3. That upon the deposit of any United States bonds, bearing interest payable in gold, with the Treasurer of the United States, in the manner prescribed in the 19th and 20th sections of the national currency act, it shall bo lawful for the Comptroller of the Currency to issue to the association making the same circulating notes of different denominations not less than $5, not exceeding in amount eighty per cent, of the par value of the bonds deposited, which notes shall bear upon their face the promise of the association to which they are issued to pay them upon presentation at the office of the association, in gold coin of the United States, and shall be redeemable upon such presentation in such coin: Provided, That no banking association organized under this section shall have a circulation in excess of $1,000,000.

Sec. 4. That every national banking association formed under the provisions of the preceding section of this act shall at all times keep on hand not less than twenty-five per cent, of its outstanding circulation in gold or silver coin of the United States, and shall receive at par in the payment of debts the gold notes of every other such banking association which at the time of such payments shall be redeeming its circulating notes in gold or silver coin of the United States.

Seo. 5. That every association organized for the purpose of issuing gold notes as provided in this act shall be subject to all the requirements and provisions of the national currency act, except the first clause of section 22, which limits the circulation of national banking associations to $300,000,000; the first clause of section 32, which, taken in connection with the preceding section, would require national banking associations organized in the city of San Francisco to redeem their circulating notes at par in the city of New York; and the last clause of section 32, which requires every national banking association to receive in payment of debts the notes of every other national banking association at par: Provided, That in applying the provisions and requirements of said act to the banking associations herein provided for the terms "lawful money "and "lawfulmoney of theUnitedStates," shall be held and construed to mean gold or silver coin of the United States.

Sec. 6. That to secure a more equitable distribution of the national banking currency, there may be issued circulating notes to banking associations organized in States and Territories having less than their proportion, as herein set forth; ana the amount of circulation in this section authorized shall, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, as it may be required for this purpose, be withdrawn, as herein provided, from banking associations organized in States having a circulation exceeding that provided for by the act entitled " An act to amend an act entitled ' An act to provide for a national banking currency secured by pledge of United States bonds, and to provide for the circulation and redemption thereof,' " approved March 3,1865, but the amount so withdrawn shall not exceed $25,000,000. The Comptroller of the Currency shall, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, make a statement showing the amount of circulation in each State and Territory, and the amount to he retired by each banking association in accordance with this section, and shall, when such redistribution of circulation is lequired, mako a requisition for such amount upon such banks, commencing with the bank" having a circulation exceeding $1,000,000 in States having an excess of circulation, and withdrawing their circulation in excess of $1,000,000, and then proceeding pro rata with other banks having a circulation exceeding $300,000 in States having the largest excess of circulation, and reducing the circulation of such banks in States having the greatest proportion in excess, leaving undisturbed the banks in States having a smaller proportion, until those in greater excess have been reduced to the same grade, and continuing thus to make the reduction provided for by this act until the full amount of $25,000,000 herein provided for shall be withdrawn; and the circulation so withdrawn shall be distributed among the States and Territories having less than their proportion, Boas to equalize the same; and it snail be the duty of the Comptroller of the Currency, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, forthwith to make a requisition for the amount thereof upon the banks above indicated as herein prescribed; and upon failure of such associations, or any of them, to return the amount so required within one year, it shall be the duty of the Comptroller of the Currency to sell at public auction, having given twenty days' notice thereof in one ' daily newspaper printed in Washington and one in New York city, an amount of bonds deposited by said association, as security for said circulation, equal to the circulation to be withdrawn from said association and not returned in compliance with such requisition; and the Comptroller of the Currency shall with the proceeds redeem so many of the notes of said banking association as they come into the treasury as will equal the amount required and not so returned, and shall pay the balance, if any, to such banking association: Provided, That no circulation shall be withdrawn under the provisions of this section until after the $54,000,000 granted in the first section shall have been taken up.

Sec 7. That after the expiration of six months from the passage of this act any banking association located in any State having more than its proportion of circulation may be removed to any State having less than its proportion of circulation, under such rules and regulations as the Comptroller of the Currency, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, may require: Provided, That the amount of the issue ot said banks shall not be deducted from tbe amount of new issue provided for in this act. Approved July 13, 1870.

Final Vote.
In Senate, July 6, 1870. The bill, as printed above, being the report of the co.nmittee of conference last appointed, was 1 to withont a division.
Ik House, July 7, 1870.

Teas—Messrs. Allison, Ambler, Armstrong, Asper, Atwood, Ayer, Bailey, Banks, Benjamin, Bennett, Benton, Blair, Boles, Booker, Boyd, Back, Buckley, Burehard, Burdett, Roderick R. Butler, Cake, Cessna, Churchill, William T Clark,Sidney Clarke, Amasa Cobb, Coburn, Conger, Cook, Covode, Cowles, Dnrrall, Dickey, Donley, Duval, Dyer, Ferriss, Ferrv, Finkelnburg, Fisher, Garfield, Gllflllan. Harris, Hawley, Hays. Hill, Thomas L. Jones. Judd, Kelley, Knapp, Lash, Logan, Loughridge. McCarthy. McCrnry, McGrew, Mc Ken tic, Mercur, Eliakim H. Moore, Jesse H. Moore, William Moore, Morphis. Daniel J. Morrell, Myers, Negloy, O'Neill, Packard, Packer, Palmer, Peck, Poland, Porter, Prosser, Roots, Sawyer, Scofield, Lionel A. Sheldon, Porter Sheldon. John A. Smith, William J. Smith, Worthington C.Smith, William Smyth, Stevens, Stokes, Stonghton, Strickland, Taffe, Tanner, Taylor, Tillman, Tiimble, Upson, Van Horn, Cadwalader C. Washburn, William B. Washburn, Wheeler, Whitmore, Wilkinson, Willard, John T. Wilson—100.

Nats—Messrs. Adams, Archer, Amell, AxteU. Barnum, Beatty, Biggs, Bingham, Bird, George M. Brooks, Jama Brooks. Bumnton, Burr. Benjamin F. Butler, Calkin, Cleveland, Oinner. Cox, Crebs, Davis, Dickinsim, Dixon, Pox, Ela, Oelt, Haldeman, Ilamill, Hawkins. Hay, Hoar, Hooper, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Jolinsan, Julian. Kellogg, Krrr, Lawrence, Lewis, Marshall, Mayluim. McCormick, McXecly, Morgan, Mungen. XMack, Orth, Paino, roller, RamtaU, Runs, Rice, Sanford, Sargent. Schumaker, Shanks, Stocum, Joseph S. Smith, Starkweather, Stevenson, Stiles, Stone, Strong, Svrann, Sweeney, Townsend, > Twichell, Tyner, Tan Auken, Van Trump, Van Wyck, Voorhces, Ward, Welker, Williams, Winchester, Woodvmrd —77.