Beschreibung:

The Secretary of the Treasury in pursuance of the request contained in the Letter from the Secretary of War dated the 14th instant and with reference to the objects mentioned in the document accompanying the same, submits the following view of the Finances of the United States [manuscript caption title].
Washington, 16 November 1798. Manuscript written in a clerical hand and signed by Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott. 4 _ pages, with integral blank (16x9 ¾ inches, 405x248 mm). [LAID INTO:] Statement of the Receipts and Expenditures of the U. States from 1 Oct 1797 to 30 Sept 1798; Also Statement of Appropriations unexpended on 14 November 1798 [manuscript title on paper label affixed to the front wrapper]. Washington, 16 November 1798. Manuscript written in a clerical hand and signed by Register of the Treasury Joseph Nourse. 9 pages, folio (16 _ x 10 _ inches, 425x270 mm). Contemporary marbled paper wrappers (minor foxing to the inside wrappers). Condition: The first with paper loss along the fold of the terminal leaves touching the paraph of Wolcott's signature; minor foxing to the inside wrappers of the second. important pair of manuscripts detailing the finances of the early republic, including one signed by secretary of the treasury oliver wolcott. Wolcott succeeded Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury and furthered his economic agenda. This pair of manuscripts underscores the importance of public credit to that system. These manuscripts, evidently prepared for Secretary of War James McHenry, review in detail the revenue and the expenditures of the federal government. In the first manuscript signed by Wolcott, the revenue of the federal government is estimated at over $8 million and the expenditures at just over $5 million. The manuscript explains, however, that these numbers, based on finances from previous years, refer to permanent revenue and permanent expenditures “independent of the military and naval establishment.” The manuscript explains that to “possess a full view of the resources of the Treasury, the following provisions made by Acts passed during the last session of Congress ought however to be considered . ” Namely, the direct tax passed in July 1798 (the first federal property tax in the United States) and the authorization of a permanent loan of $5 million passed the same month. Wolcott states that further monies could be available by seeking an additional loan against the tax, but not at as favorable of rate due to the “high value of money at the present time.” He continues, probably referring to Jay's Treaty: “But from the Direct Tax and from Loans there ought to be opposed certain expenditures which will be required to fulfill the stipulations of the Treaty with Great Britain …” The manuscript concludes by referring McHenry to a 1 May 1798 report presented to the Ways and Means Committee of the House and to the other manuscript present in this lot. The latter, is signed by Nourse (1754-1841) the first Register of the Treasury, and contains a detailed balance sheet accounting of the revenue and expenses of the federal government for a one year period from October 1797 to 1798. It is unclear why McHenry requested these documents, but is perhaps related to the potential military conflict resulting from the Quasi-War with France.