2082. DEBT (United States), Statements of.—
An accurate statement of the
original amount and subsequent augmentations
or diminutions of the public debt, to be
continued annually [in the message to Congress],
is an article on which we have conferred
before. A similar statement of the
annual expenses of the government for a
certain period back, and to be repeated annually,
is another wholesome necessity we
should impose on ourselves and our successors.—
To Albert Gallatin.
Ford ed., viii, 181.
(W.
Dec. 1802)
