Papers of John Adams, volume 20
r:21
st.1790
The Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate, The Chief Justice, The Secretary of State, The Secretary of the Treasury, and the Attorney General—
Respectfully report to the Congress of the United States of America:
That, pursuant to the Act intitled an Act making provision for the
Reduction of the Public Debt, They on the 26th: day of
August last convened at the City of NewYork and entered upon the execution of the trust
thereby reposed in them.1
That in conformity to a resolution agreed upon by them, on the
27th, and approved by the President of the United States, on the 28th. of the said Month, they have caused purchases of the said
Debt to be made, through the Agency of Samuel Meredith Treasurer of the United States;
which on the 6th. day of December instant amounted to Two
hundred and seventy eight thousand, Six hundred and eighty seven dollars & thirty
Cents, and for which there have been paid One hundred and fifty thousand, Two hundred
& thirty nine dollars & twenty four Cents, in Specie; as will more particularly
appear by a return of the said Samuel Meredith, confirmed by an authenticated Copy of
his Account settled at the Treasury of the United States, which are herewith submitted,
and prayed to be received as part of 453 this report and in
which are specified the places where, the times when, the prices at which, and the
persons of whom the said purchases have been made.2
Signed by order of the Board
RC in CA’s hand (DNA:RG 46, Records of the U.S. Senate);
notation in JA’s hand: “Report of the / Commissioners / for the /
reduction of the / national debt / Read. / Decr 21 / 1790”
and: “3d: Sess: 1st. Con:”
and: “No. 19.” and: “No. 3.
Series / Decr.
19 20.”
Following the Funding Act of 4 Aug., Congress moved quickly to draft and pass the remaining economic legislation needed to secure Alexander Hamilton’s grand plan for U.S. financial stability. Both houses of Congress resolved on 9 Aug. to establish a sinking fund from the surplus in the U.S. Treasury. Three days later, George Washington signed the Sinking Fund Act, which named JA, Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and Edmund Jennings Randolph as commissioners. See also Sylvanus Bourne’s letter of 15 Aug., and note 1, above.
Under the Sinking Fund Act, the commissioners determined the
logistics of buying and selling public debt. At their first meeting, on 27 Aug., they
approved Hamilton’s proposal for purchases to begin in New York on 1 Sept. and in
Philadelphia on 1 November. U.S. treasurer Samuel Meredith was tasked with making
purchases, keeping records, and providing quarterly reports; further, the monthly sum
borrowed by the treasury was not to exceed $50,000. JA immediately sent
Washington a brief report laying out the sinking fund’s protocols, which the president
approved on 28 August. When the commissioners reconvened on 18 Dec., they decided to
submit an account of the sinking fund’s initial activities to Congress, with
JA slated to sign an accompanying report on the board’s behalf. For the
report, which Hamilton sent to JA and the Senate on the day it was due,
see his letter of 21 Dec.,
below (
First Fed. Cong.
, 1:484, 486, 490; 3:558, 560, 561;
Amer. State
Papers, Finance, 1:81–82, 235; Washington, Papers, Presidential
Series
, 6:347–348).
From this point, the report is in JA’s hand.
r.21. 1790
The Secretary of the Treasury presents his respects to the Vice President and sends him the report of the Trustees of the Sinking Fund with the Documents referred to in it, in Triplicates according to the direction of the Board—1 He begs leave to remind The Vice President that this is the last day; of course it is necessary it should be presented to day. He is sorry that it could not have been prepared sooner. But that for the President is under cover directed to him & that for the House of Representatives is under cover directed to the Speaker so that nothing remains but to sign & transmit
RC (Adams Papers).
According to the board’s 21 Dec. report to Congress, initial
sales of the public debt generated $278,687.30, although the treasurer had thus far
collected only $150,239.24 in specie (
Amer. State Papers, Finance, 1:81–82).