16 The Financial History of Connecticut. 



the closing of the accounts between the United States and Connec- 

 ticut. During the war the states incurred expenses for bounties and 

 pensions, pay and depreciation of pay to the army and for various 

 forms of supphes. On the other hand, the states received advances 

 from congress. On February 20, 1782, the continental congress first 

 made provision for the adjustment of the accounts between the states'* 

 and the central government. The machinery was changed by an act 

 of congress on October 13, 1786, ^ and again on May 7, 1787.^ By 

 article six of the constitution of the United States it was enacted 

 that "All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the 

 adoption of this constitution shall be as valid against the United 

 States under this constitution as under the confederation." In 

 accordance with this clause, congress at its first session empowered 

 the president to fill, subject to the consent of the senate, vacancies 

 in the board of commissioners established by the act of May 7, 1787, 

 to settle the accounts between the states and the United States.* 

 Finally, on August 5, 1790, congress passed the act under which 

 these settlements were eventually made.^ This act created a board 

 of three commissioners to settle the accounts with the states (Sec- 

 tion 1). These commissioners were to examine all claims exhibited 

 to them before July 1, 1791, and to determine the amount of those 

 incurred for the public defense during the war. All claims approved 

 by former commissioners were exempt from this examination and 

 no claim in the account of any state was to be allowed unless it had 

 been sanctioned by that state before September 24, 1788 (Section 3). 

 The commissioners were to reduce to specie value the credits and 

 debits of the states already on the treasury books for bills of credit 

 issued subsequent to March 18, 1780 (Section 4). Having accom- 

 plished this, the commissioners were to debit each state with all the 

 advances made to it by the United States, plus the interest thereon 

 up to December 31, 1789, inclusive; and were to credit each state 

 for such disbursements and advances as had been allowed, plus the 

 interest thereon up to the same date. For each state a balance was 

 then to be struck and the total of all the balances found (Section 5). 

 The total amount due to the states by the federal government was 

 to be apportioned to the individual states in proportion to the popula- 



^ Journals of Congress, vol. iii, pp. 721, 722. 

 2 Journals of Congress, vol. iv, pp. 711, 712. 

 2 Journals of Congress, vol. iv, p. 742. 

 * Acts of Congress, 1 congress, 1 session, chap. 6. 

 ^ Acts of Con.fjfress, 1790, second session, chap. 38. 



