I like your idea of kneading all his little scraps and
fragments into one batch, and adding to it a complementary sum, which,
while it forms it into a single mass from which every thing is to be
paid, will enable us, should a breach of appropriation ever be charged
on us, to prove that the sum appropriated, and more, has been applied to
its specific object.
But there is a point beyond this, on which I should wish to keep my
eye, and to which I should aim to approach by every tack which previous
arrangements force on us. That is, to form into one consolidated mass
all the monies received into the treasury, and to marshal the several
expenditures, giving them a preference of payment according to the order
in which they should be arranged. As for example. 1. The interest of
the public debt. 2. Such portions of principal as are exigible. 3. The
expenses of government. 4. Such other portions of principal as, though
not exigible, we are still free to pay when we please. The last object
might be made to take up the residuum of money remaining in the treasury
at the end of every year, after the three first objects were complied
with, and would be the barometer whereby to test the economy of the
administration. It would furnish a simple measure by which every one
could mete their merit, and by which every one could decide when
taxes were deficient or superabundant.
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