The currency and law.
--In cases of grand larceny and misdemeanors, our city Judges and the
Mayor have decided that stolen articles, to amount to the former, must be worth at least $20 in specie.
They take the ground that when the law was passed
gold and
silver were the standard currency, bank notes
them representing
gold and
silver, the banks being specie-paying.
If this decision is sustained by the higher courts — and we can see no good reason why it should not be — the thief who steals $110 of Confederate money at this time is only guilty of a misdemeanor, specie being worth six for one.
If the
Confederate notes were made a legal tender the Legislature would no doubt so amend the criminal laws as to make theft of $20, Confederate money, a felony.