501From Alexander Hamilton to Otho H. Williams, 12 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
I have considered the circumstances you state in your Letter of the 6th inst. respecting vessels owned by Citizens of Rhode Island. I am of opinion that those vessels in the case you mention, are Subject to the Same Tonnage to which registered vessels owned by Citizens of the united States without License are liable: because if they were to enjoy all the privileges of coasting vessels, they...
502To Alexander Hamilton from Benjamin Lincoln, 15 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
By the 27 Section of the Coasting act it is provided that all vessels therein described & under certain circumstances shall enter within 24 hours after arrival. As no penalty is annexed to a nonperformance of the injunction in the law little attention is now paid to it, & the attention is daily decreasing, indeed it seems to decrease with the knowledge that there is no forfiture on a breach of...
503Treasury Department Circular to the Collectors of the Customs, 16 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
I herewith enclose for your government an Act entitled “an Act to prevent the exportation of goods not duly inspected, according to the laws of the several States.” I observe that the 27th. and 28th. sections of the coasting act have by some of the Collecters of the Customs been so construed as to require, that all licensed vessels of the burthen of twenty tons and upwards bound to any port...
504To Alexander Hamilton from William Webb, 16 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Bath, District of Maine, April 16, 1790. On May 5, 1790, Hamilton wrote to Webb : “In answer to yours of the 16th. of April.” Letter not found. ] Webb was collector of customs at Bath.
505From Alexander Hamilton to Thomas Jefferson, 20 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
I have the honor to enclose you copies of certain communications which have been made to me, respecting the detention of the Registers of vessels of the United States in some of the Islands of his Christian Majesty, in order that such measures may be taken as shall appear adviseable towards preventing in future a practice, which has a tendency either to interfere with the policy of our Laws,...
506To Alexander Hamilton from Joseph Whipple, 20 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, April 20, 1790. “I have enclosed here with my quarterly Accots. to the 31 March. There are Several Small articles of Charge in account of expences on the revenue not authorized by any particular direction, but those articles being indispensibly necessary I concieve will not be disapproved of.… By the 23 Section of the Act for Registering, regulating the Coasting...
507From Alexander Hamilton to William Allibone, 21 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, April 21, 1790 . On April 29, Allibone wrote to Hamilton : “I have the Honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated april 21st.” Letter not found. ]
508From Alexander Hamilton to Jedediah Huntington, 21 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Herewith you have Copy of the Act for the establishment and support of lighthouses beacons, bouys and public piers. Amongst other things contained in it you will perceive that it is made the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to provide by Contracts to be approved by the President of the United States for rebuilding when necessary and keeping in repair the Lighthouses, beacons, buoys &...
509From Alexander Hamilton to Joseph Howell, Junior, 22 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Inclosed you will receive a petition of John Wyley late a Captain in Colonel Jacksons Regiment in the Army of the United States. You will be pleased to inform me how far the circumstances stated by the Petitioner are ascertainable at the Pay Office, and what has been the mode of payment in the like cases. I am, Sir, Your Obedt. servant LS , RG 93, Miscellaneous Records, National Archives. On...
510From Alexander Hamilton to Thomas Jefferson, [22 April 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
Mr. Hamilton returns to Mr. Jefferson the draft of the letter to Mr. Grand, with his thanks for the trouble Mr. J is so obliging as to take. Mr. Hamilton has used the liberty given him of indicating some alterations, less from any reserves in his own mind than from uncertainty respecting the views of others. It is proposed that the words between should be omitted and those interlined inserted....
511To Alexander Hamilton from Robert Purviance, 22 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
The Snow St. Martin from St. Ubes bound to Charleston put into this port the 10th. March in distress, upon an examination she was found insufficient to be repaired. A Sale of the vessel and Cargo has since taken place. The Collector considers the Vessel and Cargo exempt from paying the Tonage & fees, in conformity with the Act providing for vessels in distress. I think the provision made by...
512Report on Defects in the Existing Laws of Revenue, 22 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[To the Speaker of the House of Representatives] In obedience to the Order of the House of Representatives of the 19th Day of January last The Secretary of the Treasury respectfully submits the following Report. First. As to the “ Act imposing duties on good wares and merchandizes imported into the United States .” 1. Section I. The duties specified in this act, according to this section, took...
513To Alexander Hamilton from Thomas Smith, 22 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia, April 22, 1790 . On April 26, 1790, Hamilton wrote to Smith : “You mention in your Letter of the 22d. Instant.” Letter not found. ]
514To Alexander Hamilton from Otho H. Williams, 24 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Baltimore, April 24, 1790 . On May 4, 1790, Hamilton wrote to Williams : “I have received yours of the 24th of April requesting my opinion with respect to the duty on the article of hemp.” Letter not found. ]
515From Alexander Hamilton to Charles Lee, 26 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Treasury Department, April 26, 1790. “I have directed the Treasurer to draw on You for 3075 Dollars.…” LS , RG 36, Collector of Customs at Alexandria, Letters Received from the Secretary, National Archives.
516From Alexander Hamilton to Thomas Smith, 26 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
You mention in Your Letter of the 22d. Instant that certificates have been presented to you on which there are four Years interest due. This gives me reason to apprehend that you may have admitted the calculation of Interest on them beyond the period as fixed by Congress, which is up to the 31st December 1787—and no latter. If this should be the case you have acted contrary to my circular...
517To Alexander Hamilton from Tench Coxe, 27 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia, April 27, 1790 . On May 1, 1790, Hamilton wrote to Coxe : “I have just received your letter of the 27th of April.” Letter not found. ]
518To Alexander Hamilton from William Allibone, 29 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, April 29, 1790. “I have the Honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated april 21st Informing me of my appointment as Superintendant of the Light House and other establishments in the Bay and River Deleware, and containing Instructions for my Government therein, but find that no official Information had reached you, of the Legislature of Pennsylvania having made Cession...
519To Alexander Hamilton from William Allibone, 29 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] April 29, 1790 . Discusses proposals for improving navigation in Delaware River and Delaware Bay. ALS , RG 26, Lighthouse Letters Received, Vol. “A,” Pennsylvania and Southern States, National Archives.
520To Alexander Hamilton from Thomas Jefferson, 29 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, April 29, 1790. Requests “two hundred and fifty dollars for the contingent expences of the Office of Secretary of State.” LC , Papers of the Continental Congress, National Archives.
521From Alexander Hamilton to Sharp Delany, 30 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Treasury Department, April 30, 1790. “I have not yet answered that part of your Letter of the 13th of February which relates to the employing of Boats for the Security of the revenue.… I am not empowered to authorise boats for that purpose.… On the Subject of Stores for the Safe keeping of goods I refer you to my Letter of the 24th march.” LS , Yale University Library. Letter not found.
522From Alexander Hamilton to Thomas Jefferson, 30 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Treasury Department, April 30, 1790. “Agreeably to your desire, I have issued a warrant in your favour … for … two hundred and fifty dollars.…” LC , Papers of the Continental Congress, National Archives. See Jefferson to H, April 29, 1790 .
523From Alexander Hamilton to Benjamin Lincoln, 30 April 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
I have in a late report to the house of Representatives in substance proposed, what you mention in your Letter of the 15th Inst. respecting coasters. There is also a proposition before the house, contemplating a provision for boats to secure the revenue against fraudulent practices; it will therefore be best for the present to wait the result. I am Sir Your Obedt Servt L[S] , RG 36,...
524To Alexander Hamilton from William Allibone, [April 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia [ April, 1790 ]. Asks Hamilton’s opinion on Allibone’s recommendations for improving navigation in the Delaware River and Delaware Bay. ALS , RG 26, Lighthouse Letters Received, Vol. “A,” Pennsylvania and Southern States, National Archives. See Allibone to H, April 29, 1790 .
525To Alexander Hamilton from Sharp Delany, [April 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia, April, 1790. ] “I forward my Abstract of Duties.… I wish not to be troublesome to you … but I request your attention to my situation for without disguise my Emoluments … are greatly inadequate to my services.” LC , Copies of Letters to the Secretary, 1789–1790, Bureau of Customs, Philadelphia.
526From Alexander Hamilton to Tench Coxe, 1 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
I have just received your letter of the 27th of April. Yours of the 6th of the same month also came to hand in due time; though peculiar reasons prevented an earlier acknowledgment of it. The appointment of his assistant is, by the act establishing the treasury department, vested in the secretary himself. The conviction I have of your usefulness in that station, and my personal regard for you,...
527To Alexander Hamilton from Otho H. Williams, [1 May 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
[ Baltimore, May 1, 1790. ] Itemizes expenses and then adds: “I have only to hope that compensation will be made to me for my services and expences; or that I shall stand excused for retiring from a service the reward of which must depend upon indirect measures.” ADfS , RG 53, “Old Correspondence,” Baltimore Collector, National Archives.
528To Alexander Hamilton from Joseph Whipple, 3 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, May 3, 1790. Encloses “Weekly return of receipts & payments to the 1st. instant and a monthly Schedule of Bonds given for duties in this district in the Month of April past.” LC , RG 36, Collector of Customs at Portsmouth, Letters Sent, 1789–1790, Vol. 1, National Archives.
529From Alexander Hamilton to William Allibone, 4 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, May 4, 1790 . On the back of the letter that Allibone wrote to Hamilton on April 29, 1790 , is written “Answd 4th May.” Letter not found. ] In the margin of Allibone’s letter of April 29 , H wrote the following comments which presumably are his answers to Allibone: “The state having made a cession the limitation is of course inapplicable. “Warrant for in his favour or the Treasurer...
530To Alexander Hamilton from Sharp Delany, 4 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
I have provided some stores and am finishing another, which I think will be sufficient for the Custom house, and as soon as completed will give you the necessary return. I always thought the Law did not expressly give you the power of fixing Revenue boats but as such was necessary and mentioned in the Collection Law. The Superintendance vested in you I imagined would warrant the measure. As to...
531From Alexander Hamilton to Otho H. Williams, 4 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
I have received yours of the 24th of April requesting my opinion with respect to the Duty on the article of hemp. There can be no doubt that this article is under the present Law Subject to a Duty of five per cent ad valorem untill the first day of December next. I am Sir Your obedt Servt LS , Columbia University Libraries. Letter not found.
532To Alexander Hamilton from Sharp Delany, 5 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] May 5, 1790 . “I take the Liberty of troubling you with the inclosed Acct of the Marshall for the purpose of shewing You the necessity of making some allterations in the mode of process. You will at once perceive there can be no inducment to any of the inferior officers of the Revenue to give information—as in the End unless the seizure should be very valuable no emoluments...
533From Alexander Hamilton to William Webb, 5 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Treasury Department, May 5, 1790. “In answer to yours of the 16th. of April I have to observe, that the rate of foreign Tonage may be waved in the case you state.… With regard to the 40th. Section of the Collection law, it is to be understood that American as well as foreign vessels are within the provisions of the Section and subject to seizure and forfeiture.” LS , United States Finance...
534To Alexander Hamilton from William Allibone, 6 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, May 6, 1790. Proposes that supplies for the following year be purchased immediately to take advantage of favorable prices. Plans to inspect all navigational aids in Delaware River and Delaware Bay at the end of May. ALS , RG 26, Lighthouse Letters Received, Vol. “A,” Pennsylvania and Southern States, National Archives.
535To Alexander Hamilton from Stephen Higginson, 6 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
I have been confined several Weeks by the fashionable disorder called the influenza, which has made sad work here. My Eyes were so affected by it, that I have wrote but little & read less. By the papers, & letters I have received, you must have had an unpleasant time of it too for several Weeks. I sympathised with you, & felt the force of various passions at different times, which must have...
536From Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, 6 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
The Secretary of the Treasury has the honor to inform the President of the United states of America, that he has received a letter from the Governor of Virginia intimating that it is necessary an election should be made of the particular spot upon which it may be deemed proper to erect the intended Light house on Cape Henry, after which the Cession will be completed. The said Secretary having...
537To Alexander Hamilton from James Duane, [7 May 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
Be so good if in your power to acquaint me of the issue of our friend the Baron’s afair in the house of Representatives? I know you will pardon my Sollicitude as I embark in the morning for the North. I am affectionately your’s ALS , New-York Historical Society, New York City. Baron von Steuben had petitioned the House of Representatives for compensation for his services during the American...
538From Alexander Hamilton to James Duane, [7 May 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
The form of the bill has been changed to day. He is to be paid 7000 Dollars & an annuity for life but the blank is not filled up. Nobody talks of less than 1500 Dollars. The Baron says his contract or nothing; but you & all his friends must join me in telling him that to act upon this would be to act like a boy. This must be done before you leave town. Yr affect & Obling ALS , New-York...
539To Alexander Hamilton from Andrew Ellicott, 7 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, May 7, 1790. Will depart for Lake Erie at the end of May to complete the survey of the northeastern Pennsylvania lands ceded to the United States by New York. Expects to be in New York next week and will furnish Hamilton with an estimate of the expenses involved. ALS , Andrew Ellicott Papers, Library of Congress. Ellicott was a surveyor and mathematician who had worked for both...
540To Alexander Hamilton from William Jackson, [7–10 May 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
The President of the United states authorises the Secretary of the Treasury to engage Edward Carrington Esquire to visit Cape Henry and to make a selection of the spot for the purpose of the Cession within mentioned (with permission to take with him one or two seafaring persons) & to make the parties a resonable allowance for expence and trouble, out of the Monies appropriated towards erecting...
541From Alexander Hamilton to Wilhem and Jan Willink, Nicholaas and Jacob Van Staphorst, and Nicholas Hubbard, 7 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Triplicates of your letter of the 25th. of January last have duly come to hand. As the success of the negotiations for the purchase of the Debt due from the United States to France would have been an unwelcome circumstance; I learn with pleasure that it had not taken place. The distinguished zeal you have in so many instances shewn for the interests of this country, intitles you upon all...
542From Alexander Hamilton to Benjamin Lincoln, 8 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, May 8, 1790 . The endorsement on the letter which Lincoln wrote to Hamilton on April 6, 1790 , reads: “Answered 8th May.” Letter not found. ]
543From Alexander Hamilton to Beverley Randolph, 8 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
I have been duly honored with your letter of the 23d of february, an acknowlegement of which has been postponed by very urgent avocations connected with the Session of Congress. I am now to inform you, that Edward Carrington Esquire has been requested to visit the Cape, and make a selection of the spot; upon whose report to you it will be satisfactory that the Cession be completed. This step...
544Appointment of Tench Coxe as Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury, [10 May 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
Reposing especial trust and confidence in your integrity, diligence, and abilities, I, Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury of the United States, in virtue of the power to me given, by the act entitled “An act to establish the treasury department,” do constitute and appoint you assistant to the said secretary: To hold and exercise the said office during the pleasure of the secretary...
545To Alexander Hamilton from Joseph Whipple, 10 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, May 10, 1790. Sends an account of payments to invalid veterans. States that New Hampshire “has paid Several of those Invalids to the 31 July 1789,” but that additional money “is requisite to discharge the first Moiety of the Said years Pension.” LC , RG 36, Collector of Customs at Portsmouth, Letters Sent, 1789–1790, Vol. 1, National Archives; copy, RG 56, Letters...
546To Alexander Hamilton from Nathaniel Appleton, 11 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
Boston, May 11, 1790. “When I was in the City of N York I presented to the Auditors my account Currt. as Commissr. of the Loan Office in this State, he objected to the adjustment of part of my account for want of Vouchers to support the charge of Interest paid, & my Commissions thereon previous to the establishment of Salaries. Agreable to the Auditors direction I now transmitt to the...
547To Alexander Hamilton from Vincent Gray, 11 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Alexandria, Virginia, May 11, 1790 . On May 21, 1790, Hamilton wrote to Charles Lee: “I have this day received a letter from Mr Vincent Gray … dated 11th instant.” Letter not found. ] Gray was deputy collector of customs at Alexandria. The letter from Lee has not been printed because it pertains to routine Treasury Department matters. It may be found in RG 36, Collector of Customs at...
548Report on Money Received from, or Paid to, the States, [11 May 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
[To the Speaker of the House of Representatives] The Secretary of the Treasury, in obedience to the order of the House of Representatives of the 23d of April, respectfully submits the several statements, in the schedules herewith transmitted, marked A and B, and Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Upon these statements, the Register of the Treasury, in his report to the said Secretary, makes the following...
549Report of Tonnage Duties Received in Each of the States, [11 May 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
[To the Speaker of the House of Representatives] The Secretary of the Treasury respectfully submits an Abstract of the duties which have accrued on the Tonnage of ships or vessels, from the first day of September to the thirty first day of December last, pursuant to the order of the House of Representatives of the fifth Instant. States. Foreign Tonnage. Domestic Tonnage. Total Amount of...
550To Alexander Hamilton from William Heth, [12 May 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
[ Bermuda Hundred, Virginia, May 12, 1790. ] Recommends John W. Johnston, a former clerk in Heth’s office, as “a young man of great silence, of rigid truth, and on whom I placed great trust and confidence.” Copy, Papers of George Washington, Library of Congress.