8

WAR  BORROWING

United  States,  a  Treasury  certificate  of  indebtedness
may  be  described  as  a  freely  negotiable,  short-term
government  obligation  —  differing  from  the  evidence ­
  of  a  bank  loan  in  degree  of  negotiability,  from
a  funded  bond  in  hardly  anything  more  than  a
shorter  term  of  maturity,  from  a  demand  note  in
nominal  non-convertibility  upon  presentation.  In
addition  to  the  widest  latitude  in  technical  form,  a
certificate  of  indebtedness  may  bear  interest  or  be
non-interest  bearing.  It  may  have  a  definite  date  of
maturity  or  be  payable  or  fundable  at  the  option  of
the  government  at  any  time  or  after  a  fixed  date.
It  may  be  made  receivable  for  all  or  for  certain
public  taxes  or  dues  or  be  made  acceptable  for  specific
public  payments,  as  bond  subscriptions  or  public
land  purchases.  It  may  be  secured  as  to  interest
or  principal  by  assigned  tax  revenues  or  prospective
loan  proceeds,  or  be  protected  only  by  the  pledge
of  public  faith.  It  may  be  issued  in  direct  discharge ­
  of  public  accounts  payable  or  be  marketed  or
hypothecated  as  a  funded  obligation.  It  may  even
be  vested  with  limited  privileges  of  circulation  or  be
endowed  with  full  legal  tender  quality.
In  the  first  century  and  a  quarter  of  our  national
existence  there  were  six  occasions  on  which  the
Treasury  had  recourse  to  the  issue  of  short-term
negotiable  obligations:  (A)  The  War  of  18x2,
(B)  The  Crisis  of  1837,  (C)  The  Mexican  War,
(D)  The  Crisis  of  1857,  (E)  The  Civil  War  and
(F)  The  Crisis  of  1907.  In  addition  authority
was  conferred  but  not  exercised  for  the  issue  of
certificates  of  indebtedness  in  connection  with  the