# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 1/1st Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 47

Chap. XLVII.—An Act making provision for the Reduction of the Public Debt.
Act of March 3, 1791, ch. 25. Act of May 8, 1792, ch. 38. Recital.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 beneficial to the creditors of the United States, by raising the price of their stock, and be productive of considerable saving to the United States:
The surplus of the product of duties on goods and tonnage to December next, to be applied to the purchase of the public debt.Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all such surplus of the product of the duties on goods, wares and merchandise imported, and on the tonnage of ships or vessels to the last day of December next, inclusively, as shall remain after satisfying the several purposes for which appropriations shall have been made by law to the end of the present session, shall be applied to the purchase of the debt of the United States, at its market price, if not exceeding the par or true value thereof.
By whose direction purchases are to be made; andSec. 2. And be it further enacted, That 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 fulfill the intent of this act: Provided, That the same be made openly,in what manner. and with due regard to the equal benefit of the several states: And provided further, That to avoid all risk or failure, or delay in the payment of interest stipulated to be paid for and during the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, by the act, intituled “An act making provision for the debt of the United States,” such reservations shall be made of the said surplus as may be necessary to make good the said payments, as they shall respectively become due, in case of deficiency in the amount of the receipts into the treasury during the said year, on account of the duties on goods, wares and merchandise imported, and the tonnage of ships or vessels, after the last day of December next.
The account of purchasing to be settled as other public accounts. Report of proceedings to be laid before Congress.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That accounts of the application of the said monies shall be rendered for settlement as other public accounts, accompanied with returns of the amount of the said debt purchased therewith, at the end of every quarter of a year, to be computed from the time of commencing the purchases aforesaid: and that a full and exact report of the proceedings of the said five persons, or any three of them, including a statement of the disbursements and purchases made under their direction, specifying the times thereof, the prices at which, and the parties from whom the same may be made, shall be laid ​before Congress, within the first fourteen days of each session which may ensue the present, during the execution of their said trust.
President authorized to borrow two millions of dollars,Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby authorized 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 that the sum or sums so borrowed,to be applied to the purchase of the debt. Act of May 8, 1792, ch. 38, sec. 7. Act of March 3, 1795, ch. 45, sec. 7. be also applied to the purchase of the said debt of the United States, under the like direction, in the like manner, and subject to the like regulations and restrictions with the surplus aforesaid: Provided, That out of the interest arising on the debt to be purchased in manner aforesaid, there shall be appropriated and applied a sum not exceeding the rate of eight percent per annum on account both of principal and interest towards the repayment of the two millions of dollars so to be borrowed.
Approved, August 12, 1790.