To James Madison from Fontaine Maury, 20 January 1805 (Abstract)
§ From Fontaine Maury
20 January 1805, New York. “I have been duly favored with your Letter of the 10th Instant [not found], and am much obliged by your attentions, I have also a Letter from Mr Dawson, who mentions, that he will present a petition to Congress,1 which I fear will be of no avail, I have however Inclosed the necessary Documents from our Custom House to him by this days Mail, and requested Mr Duval to give him Copies of the papers forwarded to him by Mr Gelston.”
RC (DLC). 1 p.
1. On 14 Jan. 1805 John Dawson presented Maury’s petition for a drawback on 350 bags of coffee to the House of Representatives, which referred the case to Gallatin for an opinion. On 15 Jan. 1805 Gallatin replied that there was no legal way to allow Maury’s request. Maury continued to petition for decades, apparently without success (Journal of the U.S. House of Representatives, 8th Cong., 2d sess., 86, 90; DNA: RG 233, Reports and Communications from the Secretary of the Treasury, 8A-E2; Journal of the U.S. House of Representatives, 11th Cong., 3d sess., 446; ibid., 12th Cong., 1st sess., 197; Journal of the U.S. Senate, 26th Cong., 2d sess., 75, 233; see also Maury to JM, 2 Jan. 1805). For a discussion of drawbacks, see Gallatin to JM, 11 Jan. 1805.