From James Madison to Joel Barlow, 30 April 1806 (Abstract)
To Joel Barlow, 30 April 1806 (Abstract)
§ To Joel Barlow. 30 April 1806, Department of State. “Mr. Madison’s compliments to Mr. Barlow. The Treasury is the proper Department to decide on his claim for exemption from duties; but it would seem from the letter to Mr. Pinckney of which a copy is enclosed,1 that there is scarcely any room to hope for a decision in Mr. B.’s favor, further than a liberal construction of the words of the law, exempting personal baggage.”
RC and enclosure (CtY: Humphreys-Marvin-Olmstead Collection). RC 1 p.; in Wagner’s hand; docketed by Barlow. For enclosure, see n. 1.
1. The enclosure (1 p.) is a copy of Albert Gallatin to William Pinkney, 9 Nov. 1805, stating: “I had the honor to receive your letter of the 3d. instant, and after due consideration do not think that your Public Character as American Commissioner exempts from duty those Articles which are not by law declared to be duty free. Yet in such cases the Collector will doubtless give a liberal construction to the descriptive words ‘Personal Baggage.’”