tention to the variety and discordancy of moneys current in the several States; and had directed their financier, Robert Morris, to report to them a table of the different currencies, and of the rates at which foreign coins should be received at the treasury. That officer, or rather his assistant, Governeur Morris, answered them the same month, in an able and elaborate statement of the denominations of money current in the several States, and of the comparative value of the foreign coins chiefly in circulation among us. He went also into the consideration of the necessity of establishing a fixed standard of value with us, and of adopting a money unit. He proposed for that unit, such a fraction of pure silver as would be a common measure of the penny of every State, without leaving a fraction. This common divisor he found to be 1440 of a dollar, or T of a crown sterling. The value of a dollar, therefore, was to be expressed by 1440 units, and of a crown by 1600; each unit containing a quarter of a grain of fine silver. The following year, 1783, Congress again turned their attention to the subject, and the financier, by a letter of April 30, farther explained his idea, and urged the unit he had proposed; but nothing more was done on it until the early part of the ensuing year, '84, when, Mr Jefferson having become a member, the subject was referred to a committee, of which he was made chairman.

The general views of the financier, were sound,' says he, and the principle was ingenious, on which he proposed to found his unit; but it was too minute for ordinary use, too laborious for computation, either by head or in figures. The price of a loaf of bread, of a dollar, would be 72 units. A pound of butter, of a dollar, 288 units. A horse or bullock, of eighty dollars' value, would require a notation of six figures, to wit, 115,200, and the public debt, suppose of eighty millions, would require twelve figures, to wit, 115,200,000,000 units. Such a system of money arithmetic would be entirely unmanagable for the common purposes of so

ciety. I proposed, therefore, instead of this, to adopt the dollar as our unit of account and payment, and that its divisions and subdivisions should be in the decimal ratio. I wrote some notes on the subject, which I submitted to the consideration of the financier. I received his answer and adherence to his general system, only agreeing to take for his unit one hundred of those he first proposed, so that a dollar should be 14,40%, and a crown 16 units. I replied to this, and printed my notes and reply on a flying sheet, which I put into the hands of the members of Congress for consideration, and the committee agreed to report on my principle. This was adopted the ensuing year, and is the system which now prevails.'

1009

The money system recommended by Mr Jefferson, and adopted by Congress in 1785, has almost entirely superseded the various and perplexing currencies which formerly prevailed in the different States, and established a uniformity of computation among them. For soundness and simplicity, easy computation, and facility of introduction among the people, it is probably unequalled by any system now in use in any other nation. tolerable estimate of its advantages over the currencies of other States, may be formed on an examination of the views of the author, as drafted by himself at the time, and submitted to the consideration of the committee.

A

As might be expected, the return to the national councils, of so distinguished a man as Mr Jefferson, drew upon him an unusual proportion of public business. The journals of the house place him continually in the foreground of the concentrated wisdom of the nation. He was on all the committees, to whom concerns of the highest moment were entrusted; and was twice in one month elected chairman of Congress, during the absence, from indisposition, of the president.

He was appointed chairman of a grand committee to revise the institution of the treasury department, and report such alterations as they should deem proper. The business of this committee was emphatically, to reduce order out of chaos. The finances of the country were in a most deplorable condition. No adequate system had been devised for meeting the constant and increasing requisitions upon the treasury. And no compulsory power existed in Congress, over the States; many of whom being dissatisfied with their quotas, refused to contribute altogether, and none appeared to have the means at command for satisfying the demands made upon them. The peace and harmony of the union were manifestly in danger. Mr Jefferson entered upon the arduous trust with great zeal and fidelity, and draughted an able report on the subject, in the form of a circular letter to the supreme executive of the several States; which report was unanimously adopted. He likewise reported from the same committee, the draught of an ordinance for erecting the department of finance into commission, under the title of The Board of Treasury,' which was adopted.

He was appointed chairman of a committee to prepare and report to Congress, the arrears of interest on the national debt, with the interest and expenses of the current year; and to adjust an equitable apportionment of the whole demand among the several States. He drew the report of the committee. It was an elaborate performance; embracing a full and comprehensive review of the various debts of the union, the interest due thereon, with the expenses of the current year, and exhibiting by a table annexed, an apportionment of the necessary requisitions upon the several States, for defraying the amount. The report was accepted, and passed.

He was appointed chairman of a committee to devise and report a plan of government for the western terri

tories. He drew the ordinance, on a principle analogous to the State governments, and reported it to the house, where, after going through the ordinary course, it was adopted with few alterations. He improved the occasion to testify, once more, his abhorrence of slavery, by introducing into his plan the following provision : That after the year 1800 of the christian era, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the States, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted to have been personally guilty.' But the clause was stricken out by Congress, as well as another, which provided that no person should be admitted a citizen, who held any hereditary title.

He was appointed on a committee of retrenchment, to consider and report what reductions might be made in the civil list. On the report of this committee, such a reduction was ordered, by suppressing unnecessary offices and diminishing the salaries of others, as produced an annual saving to the United States of 24,000 dollars.

He was made chairman of a committee to settle the mode of locating and disposing lands in the western territory. He prepared the report of the committee, which was adopted. It established the mode of proceeding on this subject, which has hitherto been pursued with little variation.

By the confederation, exclusive power over the regulation of commerce, even by treaty, was not given to Congress; but the right was reserved to the State legislatures, of imposing such duties on foreigners, as their own people were subjected to, and of prohibiting the exportation and importation of any species of goods, within their respective ports. The inconveniences of this arrangement were speedily felt, to an alarming degree. Great Britain had already adopted regulations destructive of our commerce with her West India islands; and unless the United States, in their federative capacity,

were invested with powers competent to the protection of their commerce, by countervailing regulations, it was obvious they could never command reciprocal advantages in trade; without which their foreign commerce must decline, and eventually be annihilated. A committee was therefore appointed, of which Mr Jefferson was a member, to institute measures for transferring the principal jurisdiction of commerce, from the States to the national tribunal. They reported resolutions recommending the legislatures of the several States to invest the federal government, for the term of fifteen years, with the power to interdict from our ports the commerce of any nation, with whom the United States shall not have established treaties. The report was accepted, and the resolutions passed.

All these important transactions, with many others, in which Mr Jefferson had a leading agency, were accomplished during the winter and spring of 1784, the whole term of his second congressional service.

During the same term, he submitted a proposition, which embraced a double object to invigorate the government and reduce its expense. The permanent session of Congress, and the remissness of the members, had begun to be subjects of uneasiness through the country; and even some of the legislatures had recommended to them intermissions and periodical sessions. But the government was not yet organized into separate departments; there was no distinct executive, nor had the confederation made provision for a visible head of affairs during vacations of Congress. Such a head was necessary, however, to superintend the executive business, to receive and communicate with foreign ministers and-nations, and to assemble Congress on sudden and extraordinary emergencies. Mr Jefferson, therefore, proposed the appointment of an executive board, to consist of one member from each State, who should remain in session during the recess of Congress, under the title of 'Com