PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
HAMILTON, Alexander (1755-1804). Letter signed ("Alexander Hamilton") to James M. Lingan, Collector at George Town, Treasury Department [Philadelphia, Pa], 29 September 1792. 1 page, 4to, browning, right hand edge slightly frayed.
Details
HAMILTON, Alexander (1755-1804). Letter signed ("Alexander Hamilton") to James M. Lingan, Collector at George Town, Treasury Department [Philadelphia, Pa], 29 September 1792. 1 page, 4to, browning, right hand edge slightly frayed.
DETAILS OF THE NEW TREASURY DEPARTMENT. In the infancy of the Republic, a vital source of national income was the collection of tonnage duties from ships which docked in American ports. Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury, informs the collector at George Town of an improper charge: "From the statement which you make no tonnage was demandable on the entry of the ship Elvia in your District; and the change of Register was not a cause of its being paid. It is therefore to be refunded."
Uncertainty shadowed the daily activities of the infant national government during Washington's presidency as individual departments determined their roles and responsibilities. Hamilton worked diligently to create a Treasury Department that ran efficiently. He paid careful attention to every departmental responsibility, even taking time to correct individual agents when necessary. Hamilton, a capable administrator, realized that, "it was crucial to keep this far-flung apparatus functioning smoothly for, on a day-to-day basis, the Treasury Department very nearly was the national government" (Forrest McDonald, Alexander Hamilton: A Biography, p. 218).
DETAILS OF THE NEW TREASURY DEPARTMENT. In the infancy of the Republic, a vital source of national income was the collection of tonnage duties from ships which docked in American ports. Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury, informs the collector at George Town of an improper charge: "From the statement which you make no tonnage was demandable on the entry of the ship Elvia in your District; and the change of Register was not a cause of its being paid. It is therefore to be refunded."
Uncertainty shadowed the daily activities of the infant national government during Washington's presidency as individual departments determined their roles and responsibilities. Hamilton worked diligently to create a Treasury Department that ran efficiently. He paid careful attention to every departmental responsibility, even taking time to correct individual agents when necessary. Hamilton, a capable administrator, realized that, "it was crucial to keep this far-flung apparatus functioning smoothly for, on a day-to-day basis, the Treasury Department very nearly was the national government" (Forrest McDonald, Alexander Hamilton: A Biography, p. 218).