But, while recognizing the existence of the discretion in the last resort, under the law of necessity, the question still remains if this necessity actually exists. And now, as I close, I shall not cease to be frank. Is it necessary to incur all the unquestionable evils of inconvertible paper, forced into circulation by Act of Congress,--to suffer the stain upon our national faith, to bear the stigma of a seeming repudiation, to lose for the present that credit which in itself is a treasury, and to teach debtors everywhere that contracts may be varied at the will of the stronger? Surely there is much in these inquiries to make us pause. If our country were poor or feeble, without population and without resources, if it were already drained by a long war, if the enemy had succeeded in depriving us of the means of livelihood, then we should not even pause. But our country is rich and powerful, with a numerous population, busy, honest, and determined, abounding in unparalleled resources of all kinds, agricultural, mineral, industrial, and commercial; it is yet undrained by the war in which we are engaged, nor has the enemy succeeded in depriving us of any means of livelihood. It is hard, very hard, to think that such a country, so powerful, so rich, and so beloved, should be compelled to adopt a policy of even questionable propriety. If I mention these things, if I make these inquiries, it is because of the unfeigned solicitude which I feel with regard to this measure, and not with the view of arguing against the exercise of a constitutional power, when, in the opinion of the Government to which I give my confidence, the necessity for its exercise has arrived. Surely we must all be against paper money, we must all insist upon maintaining the integrity of the Government, and we must all set our faces against any proposition like the present, except as a temporary expedient, rendered imperative by the exigency of the hour. If it has my vote, it will be only because I am unwilling to refuse the Government especially charged with this responsibility that confidence which is hardly less important to the public interests than the money itself. Others may doubt if the exigency is sufficiently imperative; but the Secretary of the Treasury, whose duty it is to understand the occasion, does not doubt. In his opinion the war requires this sacrifice. Uncontrollable passions are let loose to overturn the tranquil conditions of peace. Meanwhile your soldiers in the field must be paid and fed. There can be no failure or postponement. A remedy is proposed which at another moment you would reject. Whatever the national resources, they are not now within reach, except by summary process. Reluctantly, painfully, I consent that the process shall issue.