When the leaders of the country met in philadelphia in 1781 they were already dealing with the problems of collecting (blank) and (blank) the laws.

I believe the correct words to fill in the blank is:

When the leaders of the country met in Philadelphia in 1781 they were already dealing with the problems of collecting taxes and enforcing the laws.

This is because during that time, there was little to no policy which enforces the effective collection of tax. Tax is important to drive the economy of a country.

a phrase from a poem by ralph waldo emerson about the battle of lexington and concord. emerson's words read, “here once the embattled farmers stood / and fired the shot heard round the world.”