From Alexander Hamilton to John Kean, 12 March 1794
To John Kean1
Treasury Department March 12th 1794
Sir
I request that you will cause me to be furnished with the following Statements2 Viz
1 A Statement of all such monies of the United States which may have been at any time in deposit with the Bank without being passed to the credit of the Treasurer—shewing the times of the receipts of such monies in monthly portions, the Sum or balance at the end of each quarter of a Year, according to the form (A). This Statement to begin with the commencement of any such deposits under my Administration and to continue down to the time of rendering it.3
2 A Statement shewing the advances of money on public account which may have been made by the Bank, u⟨pon⟩ my immediate direction or request without the intervention of the Treasurer, the times of such advances, the persons to whom made, and the times and mode of reimbursement (according to the form B). This to embrace the same period as the first mentioned Statement and to shew like that the Sum or balance at the end of each quarter of a year.4
3 A Statement shewing what sum at any time passed to the Credit of the Treasury as Cash may in fact have existed in bills of the Treasurer undisposed of, and in Notes unpaid, so as to shew the actual Cash in deposit to the credit of the Treasury. It will be sufficient to State such sum at the end of each Quarter in one line.
4 A Statement of my private account with the Bank for the same period.
It is my desire that these several Statements may be furnished upon the Oaths of the Cashiers and Book keepers of the Bank—and in terms the most particular and unequivocal so as to exclude all room for the Suspicion of Concealment or reserve. I shall be glad too that the Oaths which accompany my private account may state (as the fact upon examination of your books will be found to be) that I have never had any account with the Bank jointly with any other person or persons, and that no other person has had any account with the Bank as my Agent.5
These Statements being intended for the information of a Committee lately Appointed by the House of Representatives to inquire into the State of the Treasury Department I hope the occasion will excuse the trouble I am endeavouring to give and will prevent its being thought too Considerable.
I am with much consideration & esteem Sir Your obedient ser
Alexander Hamilton
John Kean Esquire
Cashier of the Bank of The UStates
ALS, Mrs. John Kean, Union, New Jersey.
1. This letter concerns statements required for H’s report to the select committee appointed to examine the Treasury Department. See the introductory note to H to Frederick A. C. Muhlenberg, December 16, 1793; William Seton to H, March 8, 1794.
2. This sentence is not in H’s handwriting.
3. The information H is requesting concerned the sale of bills on Amsterdam. See “Report on the Periods at Which Moneys Were Received by the Banks for the Sale of Bills on Amsterdam, and the Dates of the Warrants for Passing the Said Moneys to the Credit of the Treasurer of the United States,” March 29-May 12, 1794.
5. On May 12, according to the minute book of the select committee appointed to examine the Treasury Department, the “Bank Officers Affidavidavits refd. to Sub. Come” (D, RG 233, Papers of the Select Committee Appointed to Examine the Treasury Department, Third Congress, National Archives).
The committee concluded its report of May 22, 1794, with the following statement concerning H’s relation to the Bank of the United States and the Bank of New York: “At the request of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Committee, Report.
“That it appears from the affidavits of the cashier and several Officers of the Bank of the United States, and of several of the Directors, the Cashier and other officers of the Bank of New York, that the Secretary of the Treasury never has, either directly or indirectly, for himself or any other person, procured any discount or credit from either of the said Banks, upon the basis of any public moneys which, at any time, have been deposited therein under his direction: And the Committee are satisfied that no moneys of the United States, whether before or after they have passed to the credit of the Treasurer, have ever been directly or indirectly used for, or applied to any purposes, but those of the Government; except, so far as all moneys deposited in a Bank are concerned in the General operations thereof.” (D, RG 233, Papers of the Select Committee Appointed to Examine the Treasury Department, Third Congress, National Archives.)