Hamilton, Alexander. 1757-1804.


Autograph Circular Signed ("A Hamilton"), discussing the 1790 Exportation Act, 2 pp, 4to, Treasury Department, April 16, 1790, marked "Circular," some old folds and a few minor clean repaired tears along fold lines, one small hole at upper right.This circular addresses the recently passed law, "An Act to prevent the exportation of goods not duly inspected according to the laws of the several States" (Act passed in the Second Congress January 4th 1790). Hamilton explains that the examiners of vessels over 20 tons will only need to give permits to vessels that land their cargoes at the ports where the collectors reside, adding, "I am sensible that this indulgence is liable to abuses which may prove injurious to the Revenue and must therefore recommend to you as strict an attendance as possible to detect and defeat them."An interesting Circular letter from Hamilton to the collectors and district officers of the Revenue Service, elaborating his opinion on the interpretation of various clauses of the Exportation Act and the need to be diligent in raising revenue. At this point of his career, Hamilton was First Secretary of the Treasury, an office he held from 1789-1795, tasked with creating ways of raising funds for the new Federal Government. One of those ways was to introduce tariffs on trade. Various acts slowly developed from Hamilton's plans to license and control as well as exact charges from trade. Firstly there was the Exportation Act of January 1790, followed by Hamilton's Act to establish a United States Revenue Cutter Service, ratified by Congress on August 4, 1790 (which by 1915 morphed into the United States Coastguard). Then in February 1793 he put forward the Coasting Act which licensed all vessels trading along the American coastline.