Beschreibung:

HAMILTON, Alexander. Circular letter signed ("A. Hamilton"), as Treasury Secretary, to Sharpe Delaney, Treasury Department, New York City, 2 October 1789. 3½ pages, 4to, ink slightly pale, matted and framed . "IMPERFECTIONS AND INCONVENCIENCES WILL NATURALLY PRESENT THEMSELVES IN PRACTICE, WHICH COULD NOT HAVE BEEN FORSEEN IN THE FORMATION" SHAKING OUT THE BUGS OF THE NEW REVENUE COLLECTION SYSTEM, Hamilton asks Collectors to be his eyes and ears. A fascinating glimpse into Hamilton's hard-edged realism and practicality. "As in the first establishment of Revenue systems, imperfections and inconvenciences will naturally present themselves in practice, which could not have been forseen in the formation; it is of the greatest moment that the best information should be collected for the use of the Government as to the operation of those which may have been adopted." The Collectors and the naval officers in the port cities were in the best position to provide the kind of information Hamilton seeks, and "it is equally their duty and their Interest to make the best use of their opportunities for that purpose." With that coolly accurate perception of human nature that characterized the Framers, Hamilton acknowledges that "the complaints of the Merchants will not always be infallible indications of defects, yet they will always merit attention and when they occur I should be glad to be particularly informed of them." He asks the Collectors to report on the adequacy of the harbor boats Congress allocated for patrolling, and says, "It has been very much apprehended that the number of Ports in several of the States would conduce to great evasions of the duties. It is my wish to be informed how far experience has justified this apprehension, and what can be done to correct the Mischiefs which may have ensued..." A wonderful glimpse inside the mind of Hamilton as administrator in the early days of the new republic.