appears by the official record in the State
Department. Before he entered on the duties of the office he submitted
to Mr. Jefferson, March 14, 1801, some rough sketches of the financial
situation, and suggested the general outlines of his policy. He insisted
upon a curtailment in the appropriations for the naval and military
establishments, the only saving adequate to the repeal of all internal
duties; and upon the discharge of the foreign debt within the period of
its obligation. He estimated that the probable receipts and expenditures
for the year 1801 would leave a surplus of more than two millions of
dollars applicable to the redemption of the debt.

On taking personal charge of the Treasury Department, his first business
was to get rid of the arrears of current business which had accumulated
since the retirement of Wolcott; his next, to perfect the internal
revenue system, so far as it could be remedied without new legislation.
The entire summer of 1801 was passed in "arranging, or rather procuring
correct statements amongst the Treasury documents," a task of such
difficulty that he was unwilling, on November 15, to arrive at an
estimate of the revenue within half a million, or to commit himself to
any opinion as to the feasibility of abolishing the internal revenues.
In his "notes" submitted to Jefferson upon the draft of his first
message, there are several passages of interest which show Mr.
Gallatin's logical habit of searching out economic causes. Under the
head of finances, he remarks, "The revenue has increased more than in
the same ratio with population: 1st, because our wealth has increased in
a greater ratio than population; 2d, because the seaports and towns,
which consume imported articles much more than the country, have
increased in a greater proportion." The final paragraph in these "notes"
is a synopsis of his entire scheme of administration.

"There is but one subject not mentioned in the message which I feel
extremely anxious to see recommended. It is generally that Congress
should adopt such measures as will effectually guard against
misapplications of public moneys, by making specific appropriations
whenever practicable; by providing against the application of
moneys drawn from the Treasury under an appropriation to any other
object or to any greater amount than that for which they have been
drawn; by limiting discretionary power in the application of tha