Pay

1 One of the most interesting words in the English language is the word “pay”.

2 When we receive pay we are usually pleased, but if we must pay another we may experience displeasure.

3 Yet payment between obligor and obligee is necessary if the peace of a community is to be maintained.

4 Interestingly, the word pay is etymologically rooted in the Latin word pax, which means peace.

5 Since pay is a word which most adults believe they understand, readers may wonder why we would devote a report to it.

6 Our response is this: We believe you will be interested to learn how very important the word pay is in relation to how we live, and the surprising things revealed by a close analysis of the word.

7 WHAT CONSTITUTES PAYMENT?

8 Some confusion exists as to what actually constitutes payment in the United States, where our law specifies that “the money of account of the United States” shall be coins of silver or gold manufactured in a United States Mint, payment of most debts or obligations occurs only when “lawful money of the United States” is received.

9 Since no lawful money or legitimate money-substitutes are in general circulation today, legal payment seldom occurs.

10 Contracts and agreements always specify an agreed-upon medium of payment.

11 Use of the dollar sign ($) in contracts or agreements, indicates that only “lawful money of the United States” shall be the accepted as a legal medium of payment.

12 Since American courts generally held that the receipt of genuine money-substitutes was equal to receipt of lawful money, then bona fide Federal Reserve Notes, United States Notes, Silver Certificates, and Gold Certificates were held to be the same as lawful money, and when offered, legal payment was held to have been made.

13 Now, since neither lawful money nor bona fide money substitutes are in general circulation today, lawful payment seldom occurs.

14 Receipt of Federal Reserve tokens (FRTs) does not constitute receipt of either lawful money or genuine money-substitutes.

15 If you receive in kind compensation for services rendered, you are said to have been paid, although "paid" actually refers exclusively to the use of money.

16 Migrant agricultural workers sometime receive partial payment for services rendered (more properly, compensation) in the form of free housing.

17 Workers in many hospitals are often granted access to the Institution’s Dining Hall (with its reduced prices) as part of an employee compensation plan.

18 Generally, however, since the medium of payment in contracts and agreements is most often stipulated by the dollar-sign, legal payment can only occur when the obligee (the creditor) receives genuine money-substitutes or lawful money of the United States — meaning coins of silver or gold that were manufactured in a United States Mint.

19 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.