To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 16 March 1792
From Alexander Hamilton
Treasury Departt March 16th 1792
The Secretary of the Treasury has the honor to submit to the President the draft of a report1 on the subject of ways & means for carrying into execution the Military bill.2
He will wait on the President tomorrow morning for his Orders; as it is interesting there should be no avoidable delay.
LB, DLC:GW.
1. The enclosed draft of Hamilton’s Report Relative to the Additional Supplies for the Ensuing Year has not been found, but the final version, which he signed and dated this day and presented to the U.S. House of Representatives on 17 Mar., is in DNA: RG 233, Second Congress, 1791–1793, Records of Legislative Proceedings, Reports and Communications Submitted to the House.
On 8 Mar. after intense debate, the House had passed by a vote of 31 to 27 a resolution requesting the secretary of the treasury to give his opinion of the best mode for raising the additional funds that would be required to undertake a new military expedition against the hostile northwestern Indian nations ( 538–39, 541, 558–62, 566–72). GW signed “An Act for raising a farther sum of money for the protection of the frontiers, and for other purposes therein mentioned” on 2 May (see 259–63).
, 2d Cong., 1st sess., 437–52). In his report of 16 Mar., Hamilton rejected using the interest in the Bank of the United States to which the government was entitled or adding to the public debt and favored temporarily increasing duties on imported goods. Hamilton estimated that such a measure would provide an additional $523,000 and suggested the passage of a law authorizing a temporary loan for that amount (see 11:139–49). The House considered Hamilton’s report on 5–6 April and debated a resulting bill on 17–21 April, which it passed on 21 April and sent to the Senate two days later. The Senate amended the bill on 26 April and returned it to the House the following day ( , 2d Cong., 1st sess., 127, 129–32,2. For “An Act for making farther and more effectual Provision for the Protection of the Frontiers of the United States,” which GW signed on 5 Mar., see GW to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 11 Jan., note 2; 241–43.