(ACT of August 12th, 1790.)

stock which shall be created by virtue of the said loan, shall commence or begin to accrue on the first day of the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, and shall be payable quarter yearly, at the same time, and in like manner, as the interest on the stock to be created by virtue of the loan above proposed in the domestic debt of the United States.

10. SEC. XXI. The faith of the United States is hereby pledged to provide and appropriate hereafter, such additional and permanent funds as may be requisite towards supplying any such deficiency, and making full provision for the payment of the interest which shall accrue on the stock to be created by virtue of the loans aforesaid, in conformity to the terms thereof, respectively; and according to the tenor of the certificates to be granted for the same pursuant to this act. [Infra, 37.]

SEC. XXII. The proceeds of the sales which shall be made of lands in the western territory, now belonging, or that may hereafter belong, to the United States, shall be, and are hereby, appropriated towards sinking or discharging the debts, for the payment whereof the United States now are, or by virtue of this act may be holden, and shall be applied solely to that use until the said debts shall be fully satisfied. [Infra, 37.]

ACT of August 12, 1790. 2 Bioren, 186.

An act making provision for the reduction of public debt.

It being desirable, by all just and proper means, to effect a reduction of the amount of the public debt, and as the application of such surplus of the revenue as may remain, after satisfying the purposes for which appropriations shall have been made by law, will not only contribute to that desirable end, but will be benefi cial to the creditors of the United States, by raising the price of their stock, and be productive of considerable saving to the United States:

11. SEC. I. [Surplus of revenues to December 31, 1790, to be applied to the purchase of the public debt.]

12. SEC. II. The purchases to be made of the said debt, shall be made under the direction of the president of the senate, the chief justice, the secretary of state, the secretary of the treasury, and the attorney general for the time being; and who, or any three of whom, with the approbation of the president of the United States, shall cause the said purchases to be made in such manner, and under such regulations, as shall appear to them best calculated to fulfil the intent of this act: Provided, That the same be made openly, and with due regard to the equal benefit of the several states. 13. SEC. IV. The president of the United States is hereby, authorised to cause to be borrowed, on behalf of the United States, a sum or sums, not exceeding, in the whole, two millions of dollars, at an interest not exceeding five per cent. and the sum or sums so borrowed, be also applied to the purchase of the said debt of the United States, under the like direction, in the like manner,

(ACT of May 8th, 1792.)

and subject to the like regulations and restrictions with the surplus aforesaid.

ACT of May 8, 1792. 2 Bioren, 305.

14. SEC. VI. The president of the senate, the chief justice, the secretary of state, the secretary of the treasury, and the attorney general, for the time being, shall be commissioners, who or any three of whom, are hereby authorised, with the approbation of the president of the United States, to purchase the debt of the United States, at its market price, if not exceeding the par or true value thereof; for which purchase the interest on so much of the public debt as has already been, or may hereafter be, purchased for the United States, or as shall be paid into the treasury, and so much of the moneys appropriated for the payment of the interest on the foreign and domestic debt, as shall exceed what may be sufficient for the payment of such interest to the creditors of the United States, shall be and are hereby appropriated. And it shall be the duty of the said commissioners to render to the legislature, within two months after the commencement of the first session thereof, in every year, a full and precise account of all such purchases made, and public debt redeemed, in pursuance of this act.

SEC. VII. And whereas it is expedient to establish a fund for the gradual reduction of the public debt; Be it, &c. That the interest on so much of the debt of the United States, as has been, or shall be, purchased or redeemed, for or by the United States, or as shall be paid into the treasury thereof in satisfaction of any debt or demand, and the surplus of any sum or sums appropriated for the payment of the interest upon the said debt, which shall remain after paying such interest, shall be, and hereby are, appropriated and pledged, firmly and inviolably, for and to the purchase and redemption of the said debt, to be applied, under the direction of the president of the senate, the chief justice, the secretary of state, the secretary of the treasury, and the attorney general, for the time being, or any three of them, with the approbation of the president of the United States, for the time being, in manner following, that is to say: First, to the purchase of the several species of stock constituting the debt of the United States, at their respective market prices, not exceeding the par or true value thereof, and, as nearly as may be, in equal proportions, until the annual amount of the said funds, together with any other provisions which may be made by law, shall be equal to two per centum of the whole amount of the outstanding funded stock bearing a present interest of six per centum: Thenceforth, secondly, to the redemption of the said last mentioned stock, according to the right for that purpose reserved to the United States, until the whole amount thereof shall have been redeemed: And lastly, after such redemption, to the purchase, at its market price, of any other stock, consisting of the debt of the United States, which may then, remain unredeemed: and such purchase, as far as the fund shall

(ACT of March 3d, 1795.)

at any time extend shall be made within thirty days, next after each day on which a quarterly payment of interest on the debt of the United States shall become due: and shall be made by a known agent, to be named by the said commissioners.

SEC. VIII. All future purchases of public debt, on account of the United States, shall be made at the lowest price at which the same can be obtained, by open purchase, or by receiving sealed proposals, to be opened in the presence of the commissioners, or persons authorised by them to make purchases, and the persons making such proposals.

SEC. IX. Quarter yearly accounts, of the application of the said fund, shall be rendered for settlement, as other public accounts, accompanied with returns of the sums of the said debt which shall have been, from time to time, purchased or redeemed; and full and exact report of the proceedings of the said commissioners, including a statement of the disbursements which shall have been made, and of the sums which shall have been purchased or redeemed, under their direction, and specifying dates, prices, parties, and places, shall be laid before congress within the first four teen days of each session which may ensue the present, during the execution of the said trust. [Infra, 20.]

ACT of March 3, 1795. 2 Bioren, 491.

15. SEC. I. It shall be lawful for the commissioners of the sinking fund, and they are hereby empowered, with the approbation of the president of the United States, to borrow, or cause to be borrowed, from time to time, such sums, in anticipation of the revenues appropriated, not exceeding, in one year, one million of dollars, to be reimbursed within a year from the time of each loan, as may be necessary for the payment of the interest which shall annually accrue on the public debt; and for the payment of the interest on any such temporary loan, which shall not exceed six per centum per annum, so much of the proceeds of the duties on goods, wares, and merchandise, imported, on the tonnage of ships or vessels, and upon spirits distilled within the United States, and stills, as may be necessary, shall be and are hereby appropriated.

16. SEC. II. A loan shall be opened at the treasury, to the full amount of the present foreign debt, to continue open until the last day of December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, and that the sums which may be subscribed to the said loan shall be payable and receivable, by way of exchange, in equal sums of the principal of the said foreign debt; and that any sum, so subscribed and paid, shall bear an interest equal to the rate of interest which is now payable on the principal of such part of the foreign debt as shall be paid or exchanged therefor, together with an addition of one-half per centum per annum; the said interest to commence on the first day of January next succeeding the time of each subscription, and to be paid quarter yearly, at the same periods at which interest is now payable, and paid, upon the do

(ACT of March 3d, 1795.)

mestic funded debt: Provided, That the principal of the said loan may be reimbursed at any time, at the pleasure of the United States.

SEC. 11. Credits to the respective subscribers, for the sums by them respectively subscribed to the said loans, shall be entered and given on the books of the treasury, in like manner as for the present domestic funded debt; and that certificates therefor, of a tenor conformable with the provisions of this act, signed by the register of the treasury, shall issue to the several subscribers, and that the said credits, or stock standing in the names of the said subscribers, respectively, shall be transferable, in like manner, and by the like ways and means, as are provided by the seventh section of the act aforesaid, entitled "An act making provision for the debt of the United States," touching the credits or stock therein mentioned; and that the interest to be paid upon the stock which shall be constituted by virtue of the said loan, shall be paid at the offices, or places where the credits for the same shall, from time to time, stand or be, subject to the like conditions and restrictions as are prescribed in and by the eighth section of the act last aforesaid.

SEC. IV. The interest and principal of all loans, authorised by this act, shall be made payable at the treasury of the United States, only so far as relates to the payment of the principal and interest of the domestic debt.

[SECS. V. VI. VII. and vIII. Relate to appropriations for the payment of the interest and principal of the debt. See Infra, 36, 37.]

17. SEC. IX. As well the moneys which shall accrue to the said sinking fund, by virtue of the provisions of this act, as those which shall have accrued to the same, by virtue of the provisions of any former act or acts, shall be under the direction and management of the commissioners of the sinking fund, or the officers designated in and by the second section of the act, entitled "An act making provision for the reduction of the public debt," passed the twelfth day of August, one thousand seven hundred and ninety, and their successors in office; and shall be, and continue, appropriated to the said fund, until the whole of the present debt of the United States, foreign and domestic, funded and unfunded, including future loans, which may be made for reimbursing or redeeming any instalments, or parts of principal, of the said debt, shall be reimbursed and redeemed; and shall be, and are hereby declared to be, vested in the said commissioners, in trust, to be applied, according to the provisions of the aforesaid act, of the eighth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, and of this act, to the reimbursement and redemption of the said debt, including the loans aforesaid, until the same shall be fully reimbursed and redeemed. And the faith of the United States is hereby pledged, that the moneys or funds aforesaid shall inviolably remain, and be appropriated and vested, as aforesaid,

(ACT of May 31st, 1796.)

to be applied to the said reimbursement and redemption, in manner aforesaid, until the same shall be fully and completely effected.

SEC. X. All reimbursements of the capital, or principal, of the public debt, foreign and domestic, shall be made under the superintendence of the commissioners of the sinking fund, who are hereby empowered and required, if necessary, with the approbation of the president of the United States, as any instalments or parts of the said capital or principal become due, to borrow, on the credit of the United States, the sums requisite for the payment of the said instalments, or parts of principal: Provided, That any loan which may be made by the said commissioners, shall be liable to reimbursement at the pleasure of the United States; and that the rate of interest thereupon shall not exceed six per centum per annum; and for greater caution, it is hereby declared, that it shall be deemed a good execution of the said power to borrow, for the said commissioners, with the approbation of the president, to cause to be constituted certificates of stock, signed by the register of the treasury, for the sums to be respectively borrowed, bearing an interest of six per centum per annum, and redeemable at the pleasure of the United States; and to cause the said certificates of stock to be sold in the market of the United States, or elsewhere: Provided, That no such stock be sold under par. [The remainder of this act, relates to the duties of the commissioners of the sinking fund. Supplied, Infra, 37, &c.]

ACT of April 28, 1796. 2 Bioren, 525.

SECS. I. II. III. iv. [Relate to the manner of reimbursing the public debt, by the commissioners of the sinking fund, &c. Repealed and supplied, Infra, 36, 37.]

SEC. V. It shall be lawful for the commissioners of the sinking fund to appoint a secretary, whose duty it shall be to record and preserve their proceedings and documents, and to certify copies thereof, when thereunto duly required; and the said secretary shall be allowed a compensation not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, annually, for his services.

ACT of May 31, 1796, 2 Bioren, 563.

18. SEC. I. It shall be lawful for the commissioners of the sinking fund, with the approbation of the president of the United States, to borrow, or cause to be borrowed, on the credit of the United States, any sum not exceeding five millions of dollars, to be applied to the payment of the capital, or principal, of any parts of the debt of the United States now due, or to become due, during the course of the present year, to the bank of the United States, or to the bank of New York, or for any instalment of foreign debt: And, for the whole, or such part of the said sum, as shall be borrowed, certificates shall be issued, purporting that the United States are indebted for the sums to be therein expressed,