Report on the Petition of John Hollins, 12 February 1791
Report on the Petition of John Hollins
Treasury Department; February 12th: 1791.
[Communicated on February 12, 1791]1
The Secretary of the Treasury, in obedience to the Order of the House of Representatives of the 4th Instant, relative to the petition of John Hollins,2 of the Town of Baltimore, Merchant,
Respectfully reports;
That after duly examining the late and existing laws imposing duties on goods imported into the United States, with a view to their application in the case, wherein the said John Hollins has sought relief, he is of opinion, that the additional duties, from which the petitioner prays to be exonerated, are not legally demandable from him, and that he has transmitted an explanatory instruction to the Collector of Baltimore.3 He, therefore, humbly submits to the House, the propriety of giving leave that the said petition be withdrawn.4
All which is humbly submitted,
Alexander Hamilton
Secretary of the Treasury
Copy, RG 233, Reports of the Treasury Department, 1791–1792, Vol. II, National Archives.
1. , 377.
4. An entry in the Journal of the House for February 12, 1791, reads as follows: “The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, covering his report on the petition of John Hollins,… Whereupon, Ordered, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his said petition” (, 377).