286 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



escope is five feet; the diameter of the declination circle, three feet; and 

 that of the hour circle, two feet, or two and a half feet.) 



A very good clock for Luck now cost 80. An inferior clock 28. 



G. B. AIRY. 



June 11, 1839. 



Mr. Adams then reproduces the messages of the President and the cor- 

 respondence between Mr. Hush, the agent of the United States, and Mr. 

 Forsyth, Secretary of State, concerning the action taken to secure the be- 

 quest, all of which appears in its proper place. 



A motion was made by Mr. MONROE that 5,000 extra 

 copies of the report above,' made by Mr. Adams, and of the 

 reports of committees heretofore made, with the other 

 papers in relation to the subject, be printed for the use of 

 the members. 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 19, 1840. 



The following letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, 

 transmitting statements of moneys invested in the stocks of 

 the several States, was read and laid upon the table : 



TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 17, 1840. 



SIR : This report is submitted in obedience to a resolution of the House 

 -of Representatives of the 9th instant, directing the Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury to furnish " a statement of all the public moneys of the United States 

 invested in the stocks of the several Siates, specifying the amount invested 

 in the stocks of each State ; the authority by which each investment was 

 made; the terms, and rate of interest, of each contract; the security re- 

 ceived for the payment of interest and principal of each debt ; the rate per 

 centum given in the purchase of the bonds ; and the market value of tin- 

 bonds at the times of the respective investments, and at the present time : " 

 I have the honor to state that this department is not aware that any " of 

 the public moneys of the United States," held in their own right, are u in- 

 vested in the stocks of the several States." But some of the moneys held 

 in trust by the United States have been invested in such stocks, either by 

 agreement with those possessing the legal title, such as treaty stipulations 

 with Indian tribes ; or by authority of acts of Congress, such as that of the 

 7th of July, 1838, concerning the moneys received on account of the 

 .Smithsonian bequest. 



***** # * 



There are no means here for ascertaining the market value of the State 

 stocks at any particular time with accuracy. Sales of such stocks are rarelv 

 entered in the reports of stock operations at the boards of the brokers in the 

 principal cities ; and extensive and tedious correspondence would alone en- 

 ;able me to give a near approximation to their worth at the periods of thes* 

 numerous purchases. On examination of the files of a New York price 

 current, from 1836 to the present date, (being the only paper quoting the 

 price of stocks preserved in this department,) not one-fourth of the State 

 stocks held here could be found, and not a single quotation at the time the 

 bonds were purchased. But all of the stocks purchased here were obtained 

 .at the lowest price they could be had at the time, it having been an invaria- 

 ble rule, when funds were received which the department was authorized 

 to invest, to address letters to such persons in the principal cities as were 

 supposed to have stocks for sale, notifying them of the fact, and allowing 

 time to receive their offers ; after which, a contract was made for such as 

 were offered on terms found to be most advantageous for the trust, having 

 .regard, in determining that fact, to the interest the stock yielded, and the 



