Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the accounts of the late Commodore John Paul Jones with the United States be referred to the Secretary of the Treasury, to adjust and pay, out of any money or stock of the United States in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, upon the principles of justice and equity, according to acts in similar cases, and applicable thereto.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby instructed to pay to the legal representatives of the said John Paul Jones, and the officers, seamen, and marines of the squadron under his command, being citizens of the United States, or their representatives, out of any moneys or stock of the United States in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, their respective proportions of the value, as estimated by Benjamin Franklin, of three prizes captured by the squadron under the command of the said Jones, and delivered up to Great Britain by Denmark, in seventeen hundred and seventy-nine; to be apportioned on the basis of the distribution of a settlement made with the captors, for prizes captured by the said squadron, and received from the court of France, and confirmed by Congress in seventeen hundred and eighty-seven; deducting, however, from the share of Captain Peter Landais the sum received by him or his legal representatives under an act of Congress approved the twenty-eighth of March, eighteen hundred and six: Provided, That in ascertaining the amount due the heirs of said Paul Jones, if any, no interest shall be allowed on such claim.

Approved, March 21, 1848.