On the question, Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to devise the most proper steps to be taken in consequence of the letters of the 24th of January and 26th of February, from the superintendent of finance.

THURSDAY, March 6, 1783.

On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Holten, Mr. Peters and Mr. Collins, to whom was referred a letter of the 21st of February from the superintendent of finance, on the case of col. Gridley:

Ordered, That the letter from the superintendent of finance, respecting the half pay due to colonel Gridley, with its enclosures, be referred back to the superintendent of finance, and that he be directed to take order therein, having regard in settlement with colonel Gridley, to any grants made to him by the state of Massachusetts, on account of his half pay, the same being founded on a special contract made with colonel Gridley at the time he relinquished his half pay in the British army, to enter into the service of the United States.

FRIDAY, March 7, 1783.

On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Rutledge, Mr. Gorham and Mr. Fitzsimmons, to whom was referred å letter of the 14th of October last from Dr. Franklin, so far as it relates to the mode of paying the salaries of the ministers and other officers of the United States in Europe:

Resolved, That the salaries of the ministers and other officers of the United States in Europe, be estimated in future in dollars, at the rate of four shillings and six pence sterling per dollar:

That they be paid in bills of exchange upon France or Holland, at the rate of five livres, five sous tournois per dollar, without regard to the variations which may be occasioned by the course of exchange:

That these resolutions retrospect to the first day of January, 1782, when the salaries of the said officers were made payable in America; and that the excess beyond the said net sum in bills of exchange, which has accrued or which shall accrue upon the quarter due on the first day of January last, be carried to the credit of the United States, and accounted for by the secretary for foreign affairs, in the adjustment of the accounts of his department on the first day of April next.

On motion of Mr. Dyer, seconded by Mr. Wolcott,

Ordered, That the report of the committee to whom were referred two paragraphs of the report of the grand committee on a memorial from the officers of the army, be committed.

MONDAY, March 10, 1783.

Mr. Eleazer M'Comb and Mr. Gunning Bedford, two delegates for the state

of Delaware, attended, and produced the credentials of their appointment, by which it appears, that on the first day of February, 1783, the hon. Cæsar Rodney, James Tilton, Eleazer M'Comb and Gunning Bedford, esqrs. were elected delegates to represent the said state in the Congress of the United States of America.

The committee, consisting of Mr. Carroll, Mr. Dyer and Mr. Mifflin, to whom was referred the report of the committee on two paragraphs of a report of the grand committee, brought in a report; and the report of the committee being taken into consideration and amended so as to read as follows:

"That such officers as are now in service, and continue therein to the end of the war, shall be entitled to receive the sum of five years full pay in money, or securities on interest at six per cent. per annum, at the option of Congress, instead of the half-pay promised for life by the resolution of the 21st of October, 1780: the said securities to be such as shall be given to the other creditors of the United States; provided that it be at the option of the lines of the respective states, and not of officers individually in those lines, to accept or refuse the same: that all officers who have retired from service upon the promise of half-pay for life, shall be entitled to the benefits of the above resolution; provided that those of the line of each state, collectively, agree thereto : that the same commutation shall extend to the corps not belonging to the lines of particular states, the acceptance or refusal to be determined by corps: that all officers entitled to half-pay for life, not included in the above resolution, may collectively agree to accept or refuse the commutation."

On the question to agree to the report, thus amended, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. Mercer,

On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Gilman, Mr. Dyer, Mr. Clark, Mr. Rutledge and Mr. Mercer, to whom was referred a letter of the 12th, from the commander in chief:

Ordered, That the superintendent of finance lay before Congress an account of the payments made to the army, in consequence of the resolution of the 25th day of January last, and what sums the state of the public finances will enable him to pay to the army at present; and also that he communicate to Congress what steps have been taken towards settling the accounts of the army since the said resolution.

The committee, consisting of Mr. Gorham, Mr. Collins and Mr. Fitzsimmons, to whom was referred a memorial of the inhabitants of Nantucket, reported the draught of an ordinance, which was read a first time :

Ordered, That it be read a second time to-morrow.

The committee, consisting of Mr. Gorham, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Madison, Mr. Fitzsimmons and Mr. Rutledge, appointed to consider the means of restoring and supporting public credit, and of obtaining from the states substantial funds for funding the whole debt of the United States, having brought in a report; and the same being under consideration,

A motion was made by Mr. Wilson, seconded by Mr. Hamilton, to add thereto as follows: "also a tax of one quarter of a dollar per 100 acres on all located and surveyed land within each of the states:"

And on the question to agree to the motion, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. Wilson,

According to the order of the day, the ordinance on the memorial of the inhabitants of Nantucket, was read a second time:

Ordered, That to-morrow be assigned for the third reading.

THURSDAY, March 20, 1783.

On the third reading of the ordinance on the memorial of the inhabitants of Nantucket:

Ordered, That it be re-committed.

The report of the committee, appointed to consider the means of restoring and supporting public credit, and of obtaining from the states substantial funds for funding the whole debt of the United States, being under debate, and being in the words following, to wit:

Resolved, That it be recommended to the several states, as indispensably necessary to the restoration of public credit, and to the punctual and honorable discharge of the public debts, to invest in the United States in Congress assembled, a power to levy for the use of the United States, the following duties upon goods imported into the said states from any foreign port, island or plantation:

And upon all other goods, except arms, ammunition and clothing, or other articles imported for the United States, a duty of five per cent. ad valorem ; provided that there be allowed a bounty of 1-8th of a dollar for every quintal of dried fish exported out of these United States, and a like sum for every barrel of pickled fish, beef or pork, to be paid or allowed to the exporters thereof, at the ports from which they shall be so exported:

Provided, that none of the said duties shall be applied to any other purpose than the discharge of the interest or principal of the debts which shall have been contracted on the faith of the United States, for supporting the present war, nor be continued for a longer term than 25 years: and provided, that the collectors of the said duties shall be appointed by the states, within which their offices are to be respectively exercised, but when so appointed, shall be amenable to, and removable by the United States in Congress assembled, alone, and in case any state shall not make such appointment within after notice given for that purpose, the appointment may then be made by the United States in Congress assembled:

That it be further recommended to the several states, to establish for a like term, not exceeding 25 years, and to appropriate to the discharge of the interest and principal of the debts which shall have been contracted on the faith of the United States, for supporting the present war, substantial and effectual revenues, of such nature as they may respectively judge most convenient, to the amount of and in the proportions following, viz.

The said revenues to be collected by persons appointed as aforesaid, but to be carried to the separate credit of the states within which they shall be collected, and be liquidated and adjusted among the states, according to the quotas which may, from time to time, be allotted to them:

That an annual account of the proceeds and application of the aforementioned revenues, shall be made out and transmitted to the several states, distinguishing the proceeds of each of the specified articles, and the amount of the whole revenue received from each state.

That none of the preceding resolutions shall take effect until all of them shall be acceded to by every state; after which unanimous accession, however, they shall be considered as forming a mutual compact among all the states, and shall be irrevocable by any one or more of them, without the concurrence of the whole, or of a majority of the United States in Congress assembled:

That as a further mean, as well of hastening the extinguishment of the debts, as of establishing the harmony of the United States, it be recommended to the states which have passed no acts towards complying with the resolutions of Congress of the 6th of September and the 10th of October, 1780, relative to territorial cessions, to make the liberal cessions therein recommended, and to the states which may have passed acts complying with the said resolutions in part only, to revise and complete such compliance:

That in order to remove all objections against a retrospective application of the constitutional rule, of proportioning to the several states, the charges and expenses which shall have been supplied for the common defence or general welfare, it be recommended to them to enable Congress to make such equitable exceptions and abatements as the particular circumstances of the states, from time to time, during the war, may be found to require:

That conformably to the liberal principles on which these recommendations are founded, and with a view to a more amicable, complete adjustment of all accounts between the United States and individual states, all reasonable expenses which shall have been incurred by the states without the sanction of Congress, in their defence against, or attacks upon British or savage enemies, either by sea or by land, and which shall be supported by satisfactory proofs, shall be considered as part of the common charges incident to the present war, and be allowed as such:

That as a more convenient and certain rule of ascertaining the proportions to be supplied by the states respectively, to the common treasury, the following alteration in the articles of confederation and perpetual union between these states be, and the same is hereby agreed to in Congress, and the several states are advised to authorize their respective delegates to subscribe and ratify the same, as part of the said instrument of union, in the words following, to wit:

So much of the eighth of the articles of confederation and perpetual union between the thirteen states of America, as is contained in the words following, to wit: "All charges of war," &c. (to the end of the paragraph) is hereby revoked and made void, and in place thereof, it is declared and concluded, the same having been agreed to in a Congress of the United States, that all charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several states, in proportion to the number of inhabitants of every age, sex and condition, except Indians, not paying taxes, in each state; which number shall be triennially taken and transmitted to the United States in Congress assembled, in such mode as they shall direct and appoint; provided always, that in such numeration no person shall be included who are bound to servitude for life, according to the laws of the state to which they belong, other than such as may be between the ages of

A motion was made by Mr. Hamilton, seconded by Mr. Wilson, that the report of the committee be postponed, in order to take up the following plan and recommendation:

"Whereas Congress did, on the 12th day of February last, resolve, "that it' is the opinion of Congress, that the establishment of permanent and adequate funds, on taxes or duties which shall operate generally, and on the whole in just proportions throughout the United States, are indispensably necessary towards doing complete justice to the public creditors, for restoring public credit, and for providing for the future exigencies of the war."

And whereas it is the duty of Congress, on whose faith the public debts have been contracted for the common safety, to make every effort in their power for the effectual attainment of objects so essential to the honor and welfare of the United States, relying on the wisdom and justice of their constituents for a compliance with their recommendations; therefore,

Resolved, That it be earnestly recommended to the several states, without delay, to pass laws for the establishment of the following funds to be vested in the United States, and to be collected and appropriated by their authority; provided that the officers for the collection of the said funds, shall be inhabitants of each state respectively in which they reside, and being nominated by Congress, shall be approved and appointed by such state, accountable to and removable by Congress; and provided that if after any nomination being reported to the state, the same is not approved or rejected at the next meeting of the legislature, the person or persons so nominated, shall be deemed to be duly appointed, to wit,

A duty of five per cent. ad valorem at the time and place of importation, upon all goods, wares and merchandises of foreign growth and manufactures, which may be imported into any of the said states from any foreign port, island or plantation, except arms, ammunition, clothing and other articles imported. on account of the United States or any of them; and except wool cards, cotton cards and wire for making them; and also except the articles hereafter enumerated, the duty on which shall be regulated according to the specified rates thereunto annexed.

All rum of Jamaica proof per gallon,

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[The specifics mentioned in the report to be inserted.] Also a duty of five per cent. ad valorem on all prizes and prize goods condemued in the court of admiralty of any of these states as lawful prize: