Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 3.djvu/419



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of any act or acts of Congress, as makes appropriations for the purchase or reimbursement of the principal, or for the payment of the interest, of the funded debt of the United States be, and the same is hereby repealed.

. And be it further enacted, That from the proceeds of the duties on merchandise imported, and on the tonnage of vessels, and from the proceeds of the internal duties, and of the sales of western lands, not belonging, or which may hereafter belong, to the United States, the annual sum of ten millions of dollars be, and the same is yearly, appropriated to the sinking fund; and the said sum is hereby declared to be vested in the commissioners of the sinking fund, in the same manner as the moneys heretofore appropriated to the said fund, to be applied by the said commissioners to the payment of interest and charges, and to the reimbursement or purchase of the principal of the public debt; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury annually to cause to be paid to the commissioners of the sinking fund, the said sum of ten millions of dollars, in such payments, and at such times in each year, as the situation of the treasury will best admit: Provided, That all such payments as may be necessary to enable the said commissioners to discharge or reimburse any demands against the United States, on account of the principal or interest of the debt which shall be annually due in conformity to the engagements of the said United States, shall [and] may be made at such times in each year as will enable the said commissioners faithfully and punctually to comply with such engagement: Provided also, That any money which may have been paid, before the passage of this act, to the commissioners of the sinking fund for the year one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, as a part of the annual appropriation heretofore made by law to that fund, shall be held to the payment for the year one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, on account of the appropriation of ten millions hereinbefore directed.

. And be it further enacted, That in addition to the sum of ten millions of dollars, hereinbefore annually appropriated to the sinking fund, there shall be appropriated for the year one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, to the sinking fund, the further sum of nine millions of dollars, to be paid out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, at such time within the year as the Secretary of the Treasury shall deem most conducive to the public interest, to be applied by the commissioners of the sinking fund to the purchase or redemption of the public debt: and it shall be lawful for the Secretary of the Treasury, at any time during the year one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, if he shall deem it expedient to do so, to cause to be paid to the commissioners of the sinking fund a further sum, not exceeding four millions of dollars, which shall be considered as an advance to that amount, on the appropriation of ten millions, payable in the next year, and the said amount shall also be applied by the said commissioners to the purchase or redemption of the public debt, and the commissioners aforesaid are authorized and directed to apply the sums by this act appropriated to the purchase and redemption of the public debt, holden by the Bank of the United States, if not otherwise to be obtained on the terms stated in this act.

. And be it further enacted, That after the year one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, whenever there shall be, at any time after an adjournment of Congress, in any year, a surplus of money in the treasury, above the sums appropriated for the service of such year, the payment of which to the commissioners of the sinking fund, will yet leave in the treasury, at the end of the year, a balance equal to two millions of