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quarter; when, in fact, there are two seasons of the year incomparably more productive than the other parts of it, viz: Those portions of the spring and fall which are embraced by the second and third quarters; the first and fourth being far less productive. 2d. It supposes all the duties which accrue are immediately paid; whereas the cases of prompt payment are confined to those in which the duties on particular articles imported in one vessel, by one person or co-partnership, do not exceed 50 dollars; in all other instances, a credit not less than four months is allowed, which carries the payment on the importations, upon the very first day of the quarter, a month beyond the expiration of it.

If the whole amount of the duties, which accrued during the first quarter of 1792, in cash and bonds, was no more than 307,163 dollars and 84 cents, adding one seventh for the additional duties, it ought, by analogy, to be the first quarter of the present year, 322,472 dollars and 94 cents; less, in totality, than the sum which it has been computed would be actually in money in the treasury, by 677,527 dollars and 6 cents; and less, by the whole million, nearly, than will probably be in the treasury on that account.

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With perfect respect, I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
ALEXANDER HAMILTON,

Secretary of the Treasury.

The Hon. the Speaker of the

House of Representatives.

A x.-Market prices of Public Stocks, taken from actual purchases and sales. By. Prices of the Public Stocks, taken from the Gazette of the U. S. CZ.-Comparative statement of bonds for duties becoming due from November, 1792, to September, 1793, inclusive, as per monthly abstracts thereof, taken 7th November and 7th December, 1792.

D.-Statement showing the sums of appropriation, to the end of the year 1792, which will probably not be required to satisfy the same.

E.

Probable state of cash, from the last of Dec., 1792, to the 1st of April, 1793. -See State Papers-Finance, Vol. I. pp. 230 to 834.

In State Papers, Finance, Vol. I., page 281, may be seen a Report of a Committee of the House of Representatives, on "The Condition of the Treasury," explanatory of the matters to which this, and several of the preceding papers relate.]

SIR:

SPIRITS, DOMESTIC.

Communicated to the House of Representatives, March 2, 1793.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 2, 1793.

Pursuant to an order of the House of Representatives, of the 8th day of May last, I have the honor to transmit a general state of the revenue on stills, and on spirits distilled within the United States, exhibiting the several particulars indicated by the said order, so far as returns have been received at the Treasury; to which I beg leave to add the copy of a letter, of yesterday, from the Commissioner of the Revenue, transmitting the same to me. With perfect respect, I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

ALEXANDER HAMILTON,

Secretary of the Treasury.

The Honorable the Speaker

of the House of Representatives.

SIR:

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Revenue Office, March 1, 1793.

I have the honor to transmit to you a general state of the revenue on domestic distilled spirits, exhibiting, as far as returns have been received at the Treasury, the several objects contemplated by the House of Representatives, in their order of the 8th of May last. The supervisors of those districts, wherein the distillation is principally from domestic materials in the country, were, in many instances, unable to establish collectors, by reason of the smallness of the compensations under the first act; and you will remember, that, from that and other causes, the detailed information, which was necessary to enable the President to make the final distributions of the funds assigned for compensa

tions and expenses, could not be collected, so as to complete that business, till the end of October.

The appointments have since been generally made, and, consequently, this revenue will now take a more orderly course. I have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

TENCH COXE,

Commissioner of the Revenue.

The Honorable the Secretary

of the Treasury.

SIR:

SPIRITS, DOMESTIC.

Communicated to the House of Representatives, January 20, 1794.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 20, 1794.

I have the honor to transmit to the House of Representatives the copy of a letter to me, from the Commissioner of the Revenue, on the subject of a return required by an order of the House, of March last, respecting the revenue arising from spirits distilled within the United States, and from stills. This letter explains certain obstacles which still postpone a compliance with that order, notwithstanding strenuous exertions to be prepared to fulfil it.

It is hoped that the House, sensible of the embarrassments which impede the complete arrangement of this branch of the public revenue, will make due allowances for a delay, which is unavoidable, and which will be terminated as speedily as possible. With perfect respect, I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your most obedient and

Most humble servant,

ALEXANDER HAMILTON,

Secretary of the Treasury.

The Honorable the Speaker

of the House of Representatives.

SIR:

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Revenue Office, January 6th, 1794.

The House of Representatives having directed, in March last, that a return, exhibiting certain details relative to the revenue arising from spirits distilled in the United States and from stills, should be made to them by you on the first Monday of the current month, I have the honor to reiterate to you the measures which have been taken to procure, in time, the necessary materials.

On the fifteenth day of March last, a number of printed copies of the resolution of the House was transmitted to each of the supervisors, annexed to an equal proportion of copies of instructions from this office, calculated to produce immediate attention to the subject, and a punctual transmission of the requisite documents. It appeared expedient to prepare a considerable number of copies of the letter containing the resolution and the instructions, in order to facilitate and expedite the communications from the supervisors to the subordinate officers in their respective districts. To insure the earliest attention to the business, copies of the same were transmitted to certain of those subordinate officers, who, from the residence of their respective supervisors, were subjected to delays and hazards in their official correspondence.

Although it was obvious, on the perusal of the resolution of the House of Representatives, that a punctual transmission of the ordinary returns and accounts, relative to this branch of the revenue, would enable the treasury to make up the required document; yet it appeared absolutely necessary, from obvious considerations, that it should be the subject of particular communication and instruction.

Notwithstanding these measures, and other subsequent requisitions of a like nature, it does not appear to have been within the power of several of the supervisors to transmit either the ordinary returns and accounts of the revenue business, for the necessary term (which ended on the 30th of June last), nor the occasional documents, conforming with the views of the House, and designated in the accompanying instructions from this office.

It is necessary, in justice to some of the supervisors, to

observe that the impediments are partly the opposition to the revenue from a very small proportion of the citizens of the United States, and partly the intrinsic difficulties attending the collection of the numerous small returns of the duty accruing on stills and on spirits, distilled in places other than cities, towns, and villages, under the existing provisions of the laws relative thereto.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

TENCH COXE,

The Secretary of the Treasury.

Commissioner of the Revenue.

BALANCE IN THE TREASURY, AND DOMESTIC

LOANS.

Communicated to the House of Representatives, February 5, 1794.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, February 4, 1794.

The Secretary of the Treasury, pursuant to an order of the House of Representatives, of the 30th of January last, respectfully reports as follows:

The statement A, herewith transmitted, shows the moneys now in the treasury, and (as far as official documents hitherto received furnish information) such further sums as may be expected to come into it before the first day of April next, and the probable demands upon the treasury to that time, exhibiting a deficiency for satisfying those demands, equal to 621,294 dollars and eighteen cents.

It is to be observed that no materials, of which the treasury can be possessed, will, at any time, present a view definitively exact of the matters to which this statement relates. The time requisite for transmission will always occasion a considerable arrear of returns, necessary to ascertain what moneys are to be

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