The Finance Committee, directed by resolution of the Senate on the 8th instant, instructed "to enquire into and report upon the propriety of correcting by law the present erroneous statement of the relative values of the dollar and the pound sterling, and, further, upon the feasibility of some mutual plan whereby the relative values of the unitary coins aforesaid can be made easily and exactly commensurable," report as follows:

That if the first item mentioned above, viz: the nominal ratio between the dollar and the pound sterling, had been referred singly, they would have no hesitation in recommending a change in the ratio now assigned by law, but already shown in congressional documents and elsewhere to have been adopted erroneously, upon insufficient information, from misapprehension or in haste, and an assignment of a ratio founded upon the intrinsic value of the actual coins, and upon the quantity of fine metal contained in the respective units aforesaid.

But connected with this item is the second, which looks to a possible change of intrinsic values aforesaid; the effect of which change would be, of course, to render necessary a fresh alteration in the nominal ratio that would at this moment be assigned. The object of this second item the committee regard as of great importance; nor can any measure be readily suggested whose realization would mark a more decided epoch in the history of commerce.

With regard to such realization, reasonable hopes may be entertained of its feasibility, although at the present late period of the session the number and extent of the details that would have to be considered and developed preclude any exposition of the ground of these hopes. Still further, before any plan of realization could be matured and submitted, communications have to be entered into with the functionaries of the British government who are now already charged with investigations upon the same or nearly allied points. For such communications, even with more time at disposal, the Finance Committee are not conveniently situated.

All these considerations and others, then, induce the committee to recommend that the whole subject matter be referred to the Treasury Department, with authority to institute, through some suitable commissioner, the proper examinations, establish the necessary correspondence, hold the conferences that may be requisite, and report to the Senate during the next session of Congress the result of the inquiry. To this end the committee offer and recommend the passage of the following resolution.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.

AUGUST 15, 1856.-Ordered to be printed.

Mr. REID made the following

REPORT.

[To accompany Bill S. 458.]

The Committee on Revolutionary Claims, to whom were referred the memorial of the heirs of Colonel Isaac Shelby, have had the same under consideration, and submit the following report:

The military service of Colonel Isaac Shelby is too well remembered to require a repetition here. He engaged in the defence of his country at the very dawn of the revolution, and his distinguished conduct throughout the whole struggle for independence was marked by skill, bravery and disinterested patriotism, involving great personal and pecuniary sacrifices. His services appeared almost indispensable to the country, and by his valorous deeds he inspired courage in the army, and revived the hopes of his desponding countrymen. Indeed, at some periods, he seemed to turn the scale which decided the fate of the American revolution.

For his eminent services he claims, and will ever continue to receive, the lasting gratitude of the American people, but for his pecuniary sacrifices no adequate reward has been bestowed. His descendants consequently shared the sacrifices, as well as the glory, of their ancestor.

Your committee, therefore, are of opinion that, in consideration of the distinguished military services and meritorious sacrifices of Colonel Shelby, his descendants should receive the commutation pay of a colonel of infantry, and have reported a bill for that purpose.