Report of the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures, to Whom Was Referred, on the 27th of December Last, the Petition of Nathaniel Cutter. 8th January, 1798, Consideration Postponed Until To-morrow. 10th January, 1798, Committed to a Committee of the Whole House, on Friday Next.
[Philadelphia]: 1798. [4] pp. 8vo. Removed. First edition. A very good copy, lightly soiled and edge worn. Evans 34754. ESTCW25464. Item #43744
Nathaniel Cutter wanted relief from being re-taxed on goods that left Massachusetts where he had paid tax, and then returned to the same port with the same goods, because he was harrassed by the British and French, and turned away in the Dominican Republic. The committee wisely wrote: "Your Committee, however, cannot find any good reason for relieving him against consequences of a risque which every exporter ought to calculate for himself." Cutter would continue to take risks, suppling the French in Saint-Domingue, and a claim was allowed him in 1803 by the American Commission in Paris for unpaid costs by the French (See Greg H. Williams: The French Assault on American Shipping, 1793-1813: A History, p. 154).
Price: $75.00