Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1872-03-16
HamlltOn's Administration of the
Treasury Department.

|, Then followed in rapid SUE
: cession those great state pa
q pers suggesting financial meas
n ures; the embodiment Of whic.
e into laws levied duties on for
l eign wines, spirits, and coffee, and
on domestic productions, taxes com
paratively high on luxuries, mod
l crate on the necessities Of life. Tht
comprehensiveness of these enact
ments did away with the divers con
r tiicting systems established by colo.
NAL laws, pleased the people, and Sc
cured for the new government the
confidence and respect Of foreign
nations.
Next turning his attention to
commerce, Hamilton conceived and
f brought forward his great project
regarding "tonage duties" which
levied six cents per ton on the
United States vessels arriving from
foreign ports, thirty cents Fer ton on
those owned abroad but built in the
United States, and fifty cents per
ton on all others. These discrimi-
mating duties in favor of American
shipping, and statutes of similar in
splration, confined the coasting
trade to vessels built in the country
and laid.the foundation of our for
eign commerce and mercantile ma
rine.
What Hamilton in the mean
time was doing for his personal in
terest may be perceived by the o
lowing note, addressed to "a friend,
dated September 30, 179l:
"Dear Sir,-Iiyou can conyenientyletmo have
twenty dollars for few days, scndit by bearer
"A. H."
On the 25th of February, 1871,
Hamilton brought forward his bill
to establish a United States bank,
to aid in the collection of the taxes,
and the transmission of govern
ment funds from one part of the
country to another. By this act
was laid the foundation, broad and
deep, Of those great discussions on
finance which in later days, more
or less under every administration,
agitated the country, and culmina-
ted in financial revolution by the
removal Of the deposits" under
the administration Of General Jack
son.
The bank recommended by Ham
ilton was established, and SO rapid
ly had his administration of the
Treasury Department developed the
resources Of the country, that the
impoverished peopleIof the two
previous years were now SO
prompt in their subscription
to the stock that General
Washington, on the 18th ofOctober,
1871, in his message, had the fol-
lowing congratulatory paragraph:
"The rapid subscription to the
United States Bank, which com
pleted in a single day the sum al
lowed to be subscribed, is among
the striking and pleasing evidences
which present not only of confidence
in the government, but Of resources
in the community"
We can now perceive, by review
ing the gradual development of the
machinery of the Treasury Depart
ment, how perfect were the plans of
Alexander Hamilton. First, in
spired by his suggestions, came the
act which established the routine by
which customs were to be collected,
then followed the acts for leyving
of taxes and accumulation of rev.
enue; next came the imposition on
ships, and our commercial marine,
foreign and domestic, was establish
ed; then the bank for the deposito-
ry Of the collected funds, and for
their distribution throughout the
country. One thing more was
needed to complete the grand
structure, viz, legalized institu-
ton for the coinage of gold and sill
yer. H0milton, in accordance with
his great design, owrecommended
for the adoption of Congress the
establishment of a mint for the pur-
poses of national coinage, and the
act passed on the I'd day of April,
1892. 1t was ordered that this in
stitution should be at the seat of
government for the time being
then in Philadelphia). On the
transfer Of the capitol to Washing
ton the mint was not removed, and
subsequent legislation has continued
it in the city of its first organization.
The amount of work performed
by Hamilton while engaged in these
important official duties was extra
ordinary. Talleyrand, who was at
this time "a refugee" in Philadel-
phia, became acquainted with Ham
ilton, and after he returned to
France was fond of expressing his
admiration Of his genius. Passing
the Secretary's Office late one night
he saw him at work, and found him
still engaged early in the morning.
In speaking of his experience in
America, he once said, 81 have seen
in that country one of the wonders
of the world-a man who has made
the future of nation, laboring all
night to support his family"
After nearly six years of public
service, and in spite of the most
unceasing personal and political
opposition that ever assailed any
statesman, Hamilton, seeing that
his financial plans were migrated
upon the policy of his country, re.
signed his Office and returned tc
New York city, quietly resumine
the practice of law.-Colonel T. B
THORPE, in Harper's Magazine tol
March.