Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 1.djvu/405

 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.

. And whereas it is expedient to establish a fund for the gradual reduction of the public debt: Be it further enacted, 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 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.

. And be it further enacted, That 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 authorized by them to make purchases, and the persons making such proposals.

. And be it further enacted, That 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 a 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 fourteen days of each session which may ensue the present, during the execution of the said trust.

, May 8, 1792.

. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the director of the mint, with the approbation of the President of the United States, be authorized to contract for and purchase a quantity of copper,