Jefferson was especially anxious to cut down the expenses of the government and to pay as much as possible of the national debt. 杰斐逊急于削减政府开支以尽可能地偿还国债，

　　Madison and Gallatin worked heartily with him to carry out this policy. 麦迪逊和加勒廷忠诚地随他一起执行这个政策，

　　The repeal of the Internal Revenue Act took much revenue from the government. 《国内贸易税法案》的废止减少了政府的巨大收入，

　　But it also did away with the salaries of a great many officials. 还影响了一大部分官员的工资。

　　The repeal of the Judiciary Act also put an end to many salaries. 《司法法案》的废止还取消了许多薪水。

　　Now that the dispute with France was ended, Jefferson thought that the army and navy might safely be reduced. 既然与法国的争端结束了，杰斐逊认为削减陆军和海军就没有什么问题。

　　Most of the naval vessels were sold. 大部分海军军舰被卖掉，

　　A few good ships were kept at sea, and the rest were tied up at the wharves. 一些较好的船只仍在海上游弋，其余的则被搁置在码头上。

　　The number of ministers to European states was reduced to the lowest possible limit, and the civil service at home was also cut down. 派往欧洲的官员数目被削减到最小可能，国内公务员人数也被削减。

　　The expenses of the government were in these ways greatly lessened. 这段时间里政府的开支大大减少，

　　At the same time the revenue from the customs service increased. 与此同时，从海关来的税收在不断增加，

　　The result was that in the eight years of Jefferson's administrations the national debt shrank from eighty-three million dollars to forty-five million dollars. 结果，在杰斐逊任职的八年间政府的外债从8300万美元下降到4500万美元。

　　Yet in the same time the United States paid fifteen million dollars for Louisiana, and waged a series of successful and costly wars with the pirates of the northern coast of Africa. 还是在这一时期，美国花了1500万美元买下了路易斯安那，还花了很多钱打败来自非洲北部的海盗。