Free banking, backed by gold & silver in private banks in conjunction with the U.S. treasury is the only realistic way of curbing the ever-expanding power of the federal government. Until the government no longer has the ability to print its own money out of thin air, it will continue to behave as if there are no limits to the aspirations of whomever is in power.
Fractional reserve banking is essentially fraudulent. Contract or no contract, the bank simply cannot pay out all of its customers if too many demand their accounts at one time.