The Economic Policies of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton Alexander
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enlarged, as it respects Madeira wines, to eighteen months; and as it respects other wines, to nine months; and that they be collected on a plan similar to that proposed in relation to imported distilled spirits.
And that a third option (two being allowed by the present law) be given to the importers of teas, which shall be, to give bond, without security, for the amount of the duty in each case, payable in two years, upon the following terms:
The teas to be deposited, at the expense and risk of the importer, in storehouses, to be agreed upon between him and the proper officer of the revenue; each storehouse having two locks, the key of one of which to be in the custody of the importer or his agent, and the key of the other of which to be in the custody of an officer whose duty it shall be made to attend, at all reasonable times, for the purpose of deliveries.
These deliveries, whether for home sale or for exportation to a foreign country, to be warranted by permits from the chief officer of inspection of the place.
If for home sale, the permits to be granted after the duties shall have been paid, or secured to be paid.
When the amount of the duties shall not exceed one hundred dollars, four months to be allowed for payment. When it shall exceed one hundred dollars, and not exceed five hundred dollars, the term of payment to be eight months; and twelve months, whenever the amount shall exceed five hundred dollars: Provided, that the credit shall in no case extend beyond the period of two years, originally allowed for the entire sum. If the duties on the whole quantity deposited shall not have been paid, or secured to be paid, before the expiration of that time, it shall be lawful for the proper officer to cause a sale to be made of so much as shall be sufficient to discharge what shall remain unsatisfied. In every case, it shall be at the option of the party applying for the permit, either to pay the amount of duties on the quantity to be delivered, or to give bond for it, with one or more sureties, to the satisfaction of the officer whose province it shall be to grant the permits.
If the deliveries are to be made for exportation, the permits to be granted upon bond being entered into, to secure and ascertain the exportation. This may require some alterations of form, in the manner of proceeding, relatively to the exportation of this article.
All teas to be landed under the care of the inspectors of the revenue; the chests, and other packages containing them, to be marked; and certificates, which shall accompany them, be granted, as in the case of distilled spirits.
To these more direct expedients for the support of public credit, the institution of a national bank presents itself, as a necessary auxiliary. This the Secretary regards as an indispensable engine in the administration of the finances. To present this important object in a more distinct and more comprehensive light, he has concluded to make it the subject of a separate report.
All of which is humbly submitted.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON,
Secretary of the Treasury.
| Estimate of the probable product of the funds proposed in the annexed report. | |
|---|---|
| 4,000,000 gallons of distilled spirits, imported from foreign countries, at 8 cents per gallon . . . . . . | $320,000 00 |
| 3,500,000 gallons of spirits, distilled in the United States, from foreign materials, at 11 cents per gallon . . . . | 385,000 00 |
| 3,000,000 gallons of spirits, distilled from materials of the United States, at 9 cents per gallon . . . . . . | 270,000 00 |
| Total dollars . . . | $975,000 00 |
| Deduct for drawbacks and expense of collecting, 10 per cent . . . . | 97,500 00 |
| Net product . . . . | $877,500 00 |
HAMILTON TO SUPERVISORS OF BOSTON
Treasury Department, July 27, 1791.
Gentlemen:
A temporary absence from the seat of government has delayed an answer to your letter of the 14th inst.
It is an established rule at the treasury not to disclose the amount of the stock which stands to the credit of any person on the public books to any but the proprietor himself, or his regular representative; and the reasons extend, of course, to the respective loan offices.
One of those reasons is, that as property in the public funds constitutes an usual and a considerable portion of mercantile capital, wherever public credit is well supported, the permitting an inspection into the stock account of individuals to others than the parties respectively interested, would have a tendency to lay open the affairs and operations of merchants more than is consistent with the spirit of trade. Indeed, not only merchants, but other classes of citizens, may often have very fair and valid reasons for being disinclined to such an inspection; and it may be even conceived that it would not at all times be expedient to allow access to the secret emissaries of a foreign power to discover the quantum of interest which its own citizens might have in the funds of a nation.
In thus assigning some of the reasons which have given occasion to the rule that has been mentioned, I yield to a desire of satisfying the Board that it is not unsupported by considerations of weight, and that a relaxation of it, in compliance with their request, could not with propriety be acceded to on my part.
At the same time, I feel myself called upon by the occasion to express an opinion that every thing in the nature of a direct tax on property in the funds of the United States is contrary to the true principles of public credit, and tends to disparage the value of the public stock. If any law of the State of Massachusetts, therefore, gives sanction to such a tax, it is presumed that it must have been passed without an advertence to this important idea; and it is not doubted that in the execution of it there will be all the care and moderation which the delicacy of the operation requires. It is desirable on every account that no occasion should be given to a discussion concerning the regularity of the proceeding.
LOANS
Communicated to the House of Representatives, February 7, 1792.
Treasury Department, January 23, 1792.
Pursuant to the order of the House of Representatives of the first of November, 1791, directing the Secretary of the Treasury “to report to the House the amount of the subscriptions to the loans proposed by the act making provision for the public debt, as well in the debts of the respective States, as in the domestic debt of the United States, and of the parts which remain unsubscribed, together with such measures as are, in his opinion, expedient to be taken on the subject,” the said Secretary respectfully submits the following report:
| 1. The whole amount of the domestic debt of the United States, principal and interest, which has been subscribed to the loan proposed concerning that debt, by the act entitled “An act making provision for the debt of the United States,” according to the statement herewith transmitted, marked A, and subject to the observations accompanying that statement, is . . . . . . | $31,797,481 22 |
| Which, pursuant to the terms of that act, has been converted into stock bearing an immediate interest of six per cent. per annum . . . . | $14,177,450 43 |
| Stock bearing the like interest from the first of January, 1801 . . . | 7,088,727 79 |
| Stock bearing an immediate interest of three per cent. per annum . . | 10,531,303 00 |