The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1872-03-15

NO. 80
HamiItOn's Administration of the
Treasury Department.

|, Then followed in rapid su,
, cession those great state pa
nIpers suggesting financial mea:
4 ures; the embodiment Of whic
e into laws levied duties on fol
/ eign wines, spirits, and coffee, anG
t on domestic productions, taxes com
paratiYely high on luxuries, mod
l crate on the necessities of life. Th
cOmpreheRsiveness of these enact
ments did away with the divers con
+ tilcting systems established by colo
NAL laws, pleased the people, and Sc
cured for the new government tn,
confidence and respect of foreign
nations.
, Next turning his attention t,
comm cree, Hamilton conceived anC
brought forward his great project
regarding tonnage duties" which
levied six cents per ton on the
United States vessels arriving from
foreign ports, thirty cents Fer ton OF
those owned abroad but built In the
United States, and fifty cents pei
ton on all others. These discrimi-
mating duties IN favor of American
shipping, and statutes of similar In,
spiration, confined the coasting
trade to vessels built in the country
and laid the foundation of our for
eign commerce and mercantile ma
rine. -s-f.. L-,f
What Hamilton in the mean
time was doing for his personal in
terest may beperceived by the 5eI
lowing note. addressed to friend,
dated September 80, 1871:
] "Near Sir,-If you can conveniently letme have
twenty dollars for few days, send it by bearer.
On the 25th of February, 1791,
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 tc 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 a 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 nnow perceive, by review
ing the gradual deyelopm ent 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 levying
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 a legalized institu-
ton for the coinage of gold and sill
yer. Hsmilton, in accordance with
his great design, now recomm ended
for the adoption of Congress the
establishment of 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
ord nary. Talleyrand, who was at
this time ga refugee" in Philadel-
phia, became acquainted with Ham
ilton, and after he returned to
France was fond of expressing his
iadmiration 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, al have seen
in that country one of the wonders
of the world-a man who has made
the future of q nation, laboring all
night to support his family
After nearly six years Of public
: service, and in spite of the mos
unceasing personal and politica
opposition that ever assailed am
statesman, Hamilton, seeing tina
his financial plans were migrated
! upon the policy of his country, re
signed his Office and returned t.
New York city, quietly resumint
the practice of law.-Co1onel T. B
) THORPE, in Harper'8 Magazine TO
March.
: The Interior asks "If Christi