To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 1 March 1792

From Alexander Hamilton

Treasury Department March 1st 1792.

The Secretary of the Treasury has the honor to submit to the President of the United States the draft of a report on the subject of the Act concerning distilled Spirits.1 There are one or two blanks in the draft, to the filling of which some additional examination & enquiry are requisite. The suggestions however to which they relate are true, as they stand, and the sense will be apparent. The Secretary sends the draft before they are filled to save time. He will wait upon the President on Monday for his commands respecting it.2

LB, DLC:GW.

For the background and early reactions to the Excise Act of March 1791 and the establishment of the excise service, see GW to the U.S. Senate, 4 Mar. (third letter), Executive Order, 15 Mar., GW to Hamilton, 15 Mar. (first letter), to David Humphreys, 20 July, Charles Pinckney to GW, 18 Aug., and GW to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 31 Oct. 1791.

1. Hamilton apparently enclosed a draft of his report on the difficulties attending the execution of the Excise Act, which the U.S. House of Representatives had requested of him on 1–2 Nov. 1791 (see Annals of Congress description begins Joseph Gales, Sr., comp. The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States; with an Appendix, Containing Important State Papers and Public Documents, and All the Laws of a Public Nature. 42 vols. Washington, D.C., 1834–56. description ends , 2d Cong., 1st sess., 151–52).

2. For Hamilton’s lengthy final report, which he signed on Monday, 5 Mar. 1792, and presented to the House the following day, see Syrett, Hamilton Papers, description begins Harold C. Syrett et al., eds. The Papers of Alexander Hamilton. 27 vols. New York, 1961–87. description ends 11:77–106.

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Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 1 March 1792
Author: Hamilton, Alexander
Recipient: Washington, George
Date: 1 March 1792

Reference

Cite as: “To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 1 March 1792,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-10-02-0002. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 10, 1 March 1792 – 15 August 1792, ed. Robert F. Haggard and Mark A. Mastromarino. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2002, p. 3.]

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