Thomas Jefferson Papers

From Thomas Jefferson to Albert Gallatin, 3 October 1801

To Albert Gallatin

Oct. 3. 1801.

Th:Jefferson [to mr] Gallatin

The inducement which you propose in order to engage Powell to bring up his accounts is approved.—so is also the idea of collecting men of talents about us, even in offices which do not need them. upon the principle of distribution also I doubt if the treasury should be given to Maryland.

With respect to Doctr. Bache I must have conversation with you. as to the office of Post M. G. he might be told that an arrangement made as soon as the resignation took place, binds us up from any change.     health & respect.

RC (NHi: Gallatin Papers); torn at seal, with words in brackets supplied from PrC; addressed: “The Secretary of the Treasury”; endorsed. PrC (DLC); faint.

To encourage James Powell to bring up his accounts, Gallatin invoked Section 4 of the act passed in 1799 regarding the compensation of collectors, which allowed the equal division of commissions to which the collector leaving office “would have been entitled, on the receipt of all duties bonded by him,” with his successor, “whose duty it shall be to collect them.” Gallatin wrote Thomas de Mattos Johnson on 6 Oct. notifying him of the arrangement, as “directed by the President.” Gallatin informed the new collector at Savannah that the accounts of his predecessor remained unsettled from the first quarter of 1800 and assured Johnson, “Should it become necessary on account of any further delay on his part that you should settle the accounts yourself, the half commission, which in this case is considered as a matter of accommodation would be differently applied” (Gallatin, Papers description begins Carl E. Prince and Helene E. Fineman, eds., The Papers of Albert Gallatin, microfilm edition in 46 reels, Philadelphia, 1969, and Supplement, Barbara B. Oberg, ed., reels 47–51, Wilmington, Del., 1985 description ends , 5:823; U.S. Statutes at Large description begins Richard Peters, ed., The Public Statutes at Large of the United States … 1789 to March 3, 1845, Boston, 1855–56, 8 vols. description ends , 1:704, 709).

George Dent from Maryland applied for the office of treasurer (see enclosure No. 2, listed at Gallatin to TJ, 21 Sep.). With Respect to Doctr. bache: see enclosure No. 3, listed at same.

On this date, Gallatin sent TJ the “Half weekly list of Warrants” drawn on the treasurer from 1 to 3 Oct. Of the warrants listed, Nos. 1 through 48, 41 were under the civil list for the payment of salaries of officers and clerks in the executive departments, the judiciary, commissioners of loans, and others, for a total of $56,584.32. Three warrants were on banks in Baltimore and Philadelphia for the purchase of bills on Holland at 40 cents per guilder for the payment of interest and principle on the Dutch debt, for a total of $79,260.80. All the warrants totaled $137,392.82 (MS in DLC: TJ Papers, 116:20103; entirely in Gallatin’s hand; endorsed by Gallatin; endorsed by TJ as a document of 3 Oct. from the Treasury Department and “Warrants” and so recorded in SJL at 3 Oct.). Perhaps at the same time, Gallatin sent TJ the list of 35 warrants, Nos. 199 through 233, issued from 20 to 30 Sep., the close of the quarter. Under the civil list, five warrants, including a payment to Benjamin Rush of $2,650 to cover the quarterly salaries of the Mint officers, totaled $5,065. Seventeen miscellaneous warrants totaled $14,121.22, including payments to three marshals for the census, totaling $10,846.81, and eleven warrants for lighthouses and navigation, totaling $2,598.34. Two warrants were issued, one for the army, the other for the navy, each for $50,000. Three warrants were issued for the payment of interest on the public debt, totaling $502,194.61; five were issued to banks in New York, Boston, and Baltimore for bills on Holland at 40 cents for the payment of principle and interest on the Dutch debt, totaling $111,212.28; one was issued for $63,540.26, for reimbursement of domestic debt; and two were issued, each for $250,000, for reimbursement of temporary loans; for a grand total of $1,296,133.37. Below the list of warrants, Gallatin included a “Recapitulation of the whole Quarter,” where he noted payments totaling $93,182.51, for the civil list; $84,467.40, for miscellaneous; $124,277.24, for foreign intercourse; $302,079.33, for the military; $285,000, for the navy; $1,147,689.66, for payment of interest on the public debt; and $1,002,631.37, for the reduction of the public debt; for a grand total of $3,039,327.51. In a note written perpendicular to the account summary, Gallatin observed: “Receipts of the Quarter not yet ascertained, but exceed the expenditures” (MS in DLC: TJ Papers, 116:20086; entirely in Gallatin’s hand; endorsed by Gallatin; endorsed by TJ: “Departmt of Treasury. Sep. 30. 1801. Warrants”).

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