In the spring of 1781 the affairs of the Treasury Department were investigated by a committee of Congress, and an attempt was made to ascertain the precise condition of the public debt.

The amount of foreign debt was approximately reached, but the record of the domestic debt was inextricably involved, and never definitely discovered.

Morris soon brought order out of this chaos.

His plan was to liquidate the public indebtedness in specie, and fund it in interest-bearing bonds.

The Bank of North America was established, the notes of which were soon preferred to specie as a medium of exchange.