WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
By a resolution of Congress approved on the 27th of March, 1818, it was
directed that the journal, acts, and proceedings of the Convention
which formed the present Constitution of the United States should be
published, under the direction of the President of the United States,
together with the secret journals of the acts and proceedings, and the
foreign correspondence (with a certain exception), of the Congress of
the United States from the first meeting thereof down to the date of the
ratification of the definitive treaty of peace between Great Britain
and the United States, in the year 1783, and that 1,000 copies thereof
should be printed, of which one copy should be furnished to each member
of that (the Fifteenth) Congress, and the residue should remain subject
to the future disposition of Congress.
And by a resolution of Congress approved on the 21st April, 1820, it
was provided that the secret journal, together with all the papers
and documents connected with that journal, and all other papers and
documents heretofore considered confidential, of the old Congress, from
the date of the ratification of the definitive treaty of the year 1783
to the formation of the present Government, which were remaining in
the office of the Secretary of State, should be published under the
direction of the President of the United States, and that I,000 copies
thereof should be printed and deposited in the Library subject to the
disposition of Congress.
In pursuance of these two resolutions, 1,000 copies of the journals
and acts of the Convention which formed the Constitution have been
heretofore printed and placed at the disposal of Congress, and 1,000
copies of the secret journals of the Congress of the Confederation,
complete, have been printed, 250 copies of which have been reserved to
comply with the direction of furnishing one copy to each member of the
Fifteenth Congress; the remaining 750 copies have been deposited in the
Library and are now at the disposal of Congress.
By the general appropriation act of 9th April, 1818, the sum of $10,000
was appropriated for defraying the expenses of printing done pursuant to
the resolution of the 27th of March of that year. No appropriation has
yet been made to defray the expenses incident to the execution of the
resolution of 21st April, 1820. The whole expense hitherto incurred
in carrying both resolutions into effect has exceeded by $542.56 the
appropriation of April, 1818. This balance remains due to the printers,
and is included in the estimates of appropriation for the year 1822.
That part of the resolution of the 27th March, 1818, which directs
the publication of the foreign correspondence of the Congress of the
Confederation remains yet to be executed, and a further appropriation
will be necessary for carrying it into effect.