1. On 10 Jan. 1816 Dallas forwarded to James Monroe a copy of a letter “which was prepared, with a view to an official confirmation of the Commercial Convention, and of the Act of the 3d. of March 1815.” The letter referred to was a 30 Dec. 1815 communication Dallas had sent to William Cole of Baltimore explaining how the 3 July 1815 commercial convention with Great Britain should be enforced. Cole believed that he might be reimbursed for a part of the tonnage duties on a cargo imported into Baltimore from Jamaica, but Dallas told him that the convention applied only to trade with the European territories of Great Britain and not to the British West Indies. This misunderstanding, along with another over whether American discriminatory duties on British goods should be equalized under the Congressional act of 3 Mar. 1815, was inclining Dallas to change his response to Cole “into the form of instructions to the Collectors,” and he sought Monroe’s opinion (DNA: RG 59, ML).

Dallas wrote again to Monroe on 4 Mar. 1816, seeking comments on a “draft of a Circular to Collectors of the Customs, for executing the Commercial Convention, with the President’s note upon it.” He continued to maintain that the convention applied only to trade with the European territories of Great Britain, but added that he should “prefer the construction suggested by the President, as more favorable to our commerce. Few voyages will be made by British vessels with British cargoes, touching at any European continental port on their way to the United States, but it frequently happens, that American vessels touch at ports on the continent, with an ultimate destination to England.” On the subject of “drawbacks, upon reexportation in British vessels, to the ports of any other foreign nation,” Dallas believed that it should “be left on the footing, on which the existing law places it.” He also declared that he had “put the commencement of the equalization in the manner suggested by the President” (DLC: Monroe Papers).

2. Not found.