Content:
Stamp Scrip (by Irving Fisher, 1933)
APPENDIX
I. THE BANKHEAD-PETTENGILL BILL
February 17, 1933
SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Treasury shall cause to be engraved and printed
currency of the United States in the form of stamped money certificates. Said
certificates shall be in the denomination of $1 each, and the issue shall be
limited to $1,000,000,000. Said certificates shall be of a suitable size to
provide space on the backs thereof for affixing postage stamps. The backs of
said certificates shall be prepared in such manner as to indicate clearly the
proper place for affixing each stamp contemplated herein, to the end that on the
second Wednesday after the issuance of said certificates from the Treasury the
first stamp shall be affixed, and thereafter on each Wednesday until a total of
52 stamps shall be affixed; and said certificates in the spaces designated for
affixing said stamps shall set forth the day of the month and year when each
such stamp shall be atfixed, as for example:
"On April 5, 1933, affix 2-cent
stamp here."
The face of said certificates shall set forth substantially the
following:
"This certificate is legal tender for $1 for payment of all debts
and dues, public and private, customs, duties, and taxes: Provided, That on the
date of its transfer there shall be affixed 2-cent postage stamps for all dates
prior to such date of transfer, as set forth in the schedule on the back hereof.
When fifty-two 2-cent postage stamps shall have been affixed this certificate
shall be redeemable at any post office for $1 lawful money of the United
States."
(a) The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized in his discretion
to issue the certificates directed to be issued hereunder in monthly or
semimonthly installments, all of like tenor and effect except that the schedule
for the affixing of the stamps on the back of said certificate shall bear dates
for the affixing of stamps appropriate to the date of the issue of each such
installment of certificates.
(b) When such certificates appropriately
stamped in full shall be presented to the Secretary of the Treasury for
redemption he shall certify to the Postmaster General from time to time the
amount of certificates so presented for redemption, and the Postmaster General
shall thereupon pay to the Secretary of the Treasury out of the funds arising
from the sale of stamps the sum of one dollar for each such certificate so
redeemed, whereupon said certificates shall be destroyed.
(c) Prior to the
issuance of the first installment of certificates hereunder the Secretary of the
Treasury is directed, by posters to be hung in post offices and other public
places, and by advertising in newspapers and magazines, to advise the public of
the contemplated issue of these certificates, with appropriate directions to the
public with reference to the affixing of stamps, the legal tender quality of the
certificates, their redemption feature, and all such similiar information. There
is hereby appropriated for the use of the Secretary of the Treasury to defray
the cost of such advertising the sum of $100,000.
(d) When such certificates
shall have been issued by the Secretary of the Treasury the person holding the
same on and after 12:01 o'clock antemeridian of the first Wednesday set forth in
the schedule on the back of said certificates, shall affix in the spice therein
provided a 2-cent postage stamp of the United States. Prior to such time said
certificates in the hands of all holders shall be legal tender for the payment
of all debts for the sum of $1. After affixing the first stamp said certificate
shall be legal tender as aforesaid for the payment of all debts until the
following Wednesday when another 2-cent postage stamp of the United States shall
be affixed by the person holding the same prior to 12:01 o'clock antemeridian of
such Wednesday, and thereafter for 50 consecutive additional Wednesdays like
postage stamps shall be affixed by the holders. At all times when there shall be
affixed all such postage stamps as are required to be affixed on the back of
such certificates prior to the date of transfer, such certificates shall be
legal tender as aforesaid for the sum of $1. When fifty-two 2-cent stamps shall
have been affixed on the back thereof the holder may present the same to any
post office in the United States for redemption, and the same shall be redeemed
by such post office in any present lawful money of the United States. All post
offices in the United States are hereby charged with the duty of making such
redemption and of forwarding such certificates for cancellation to the Secretary
of the Treasury.
(e) With respect to such certificates as shall become
unfit, through use, for further circulation, the Secretary of the Treasury and
the Postmaster General are authorized and directed to provide for the exchange
of such worn-out certificates for new certificates, and to make all regulations
required for that purpose.
(f) It is declared to be against the public
policy of the United States to provide in any contract executed subsequent to
the date of this act that the certificates to be issued under this act, or any
like issue, shall not be received in the discharge of such contract, and all
such provisions in such contracts are hereby declared null and void.
(g)
Said certificates, when accepted by the Government, shall be promptly reissued
by any department or agency of the Government receiving the same.
(h) In
transactions of less than $1 such certificates are not legal tender unless
stamped by the person tendering the same for one additional week after tender.
(i) Banks of deposit receiving such certificates as deposits may charge 2
cents for each certificate so deposited as a service charge.
(j) The
Secretary of the Treasury and the Postmaster General are authorized to
promulgate regulations for carrying out the provisions of this act.
(k) If
and when the wholesale commodity price level of all commodities, included by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics in computing index numbers of wholesale prices, shall
equal 80 per cent of the average index number for the year 1926, then anything
to the contrary herein notwithstanding, the Secretary of the Treasury is
directed to discontinue the issuance of certificates hereunder, and such
certificates as are then outstanding shall be retired as the same are presented
for redemption or replacement of worn-out certifcates.
(l) Five hundred
million dollars of the amount made available under section 2 of this act shall
be apportioned among the States on the basis of population according to the
fifteenth decennial census. This amount is made available as herein provided in
addition to the amount made available to the States under section 4 (a) of this
act. The amount so apportioned to the States shall be delivered to the governor
of the State applying for the apportionment made to his State, upon application
being made therefor by the governor. The amount apportioned to a State shall be
administered within the State under rules and regulations adopted by the
governor thereof and through such agencies as he may establish. The amount
apportioned to a State may be by the governor thereof apportioned to the
counties, and/or to the municipalities of said State, and may be used in
construction work or for emergency relief as defined in section II of this
act.(1)
(1) The above extracts are from the amendments offered be Senator Bankhead to
the Costigan-LaFollette unemployment relief bill (S.5125) considered but not
passed by the last (72nd) congress. Afterwards these amendments with some
changes and additions were made into a separate bill (S. 5674 which was
identical with Congressman Pettengill's bill H. R. 14757). Still later, in the
present (73rd) congress, Senator Bankhead reintroduced this bill as S. 242. As
finally drawn the bill aims to use the stamp feature not only for emergency
relict but also for stabilization purposes. Congressman Pettengill's speech on
his bill is referred to in the appendix.