debts of the United States

debts of the United States
As these words are used in Art. 1, § 8 of the Constitution conferring upon Congress the power to pay debts of the United States, the debts are not limited to those which are evidenced by some written obligation, or to those which are otherwise of a strictly legal character. The term "debts" includes those debts or claims which rest upon a merely equitable or honorary obligation, and which would not be recoverable in a court of law if existing against an individual. The nation, speaking broadly, owes a "debt" to an individual when his claim grows out of general principles of right and justice,– when, in other words, it is based upon considerations of a moral or merely honorary nature, such as are binding upon the conscience or the honor of an individual, although the debt could gain no recognition in a court of law. The power of Congress extends at least as far as the recognition and payment of claims against the government which are thus founded. Cincinnati Soap Co. v United States, 301 US 308, 81 L Ed 1122, 57 S Ct 764.

Ballentine's law dictionary. . 1998.

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