The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 3 (of 9): Being His Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and PrivateJefferson, Thomas
History
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 3 (of 9): Being His Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and Private
Jefferson, Thomas
United States -- Politics and government -- 1775-1783; United States -- Politics and government -- 1783-1865
Mine to you, unacknowledged, were of March the 8th, 12th, 15th, 19th,
April the 25th, and May the 10th. Your two last letters mention the length
of time you have been without intelligence, having then received mine of
January the 23d only. You will perceive by the above, that six letters
of a later date were on their way to you. The receipt of these, with the
newspapers, journals, laws, and other printed papers accompanying them,
will have relieved your anxiety, by answering several articles of your
former letters, and opening to you some new and important matters. I
scarcely ever miss the opportunity of a private vessel going from hence
or New York to any port of France, without writing to you and sending you
the newspapers; &c. In the winter, occasions are very rare, this port,
particularly, being blocked up with ice. The reason of so long an interval
between the last and present letter, has been the journey of a month,
which that informed you I was about to take. This is the first vessel
which has offered since my return; she is bound to Havre, and will carry
the newspapers as usual.
The difference of sixty-two livres ten sols the hogshead, established
by the National Assembly on tobacco brought in their and our ships, is
such an act of hostility against our navigation, as was not to have been
expected from the friendship of that nation. It is as new in its nature
as extravagant in its degree; since it is unexampled, that any nation
has endeavored to wrest from another the carriage of its own produce,
except in the case of their colonies. The British navigation act, so
much and so justly complained of, leaves to all nations the carriage of
their own commodities free. This measure, too, is calculated expressly to
take our own carriage from us and give the equivalent to other nations:
for it is well known, that the shipping of France is not equal to the
carriage of their whole commerce; but the freight in other branches of
navigation being on an equal footing with only forty livres the hogshead,
in ours, and this new arrangement giving them sixty-two livres ten sols
the hogshead, in addition to their freight, that is to say, one hundred
and two livres ten sols, instead of forty livres, their vessels will leave
every other branch of business to fill up this. They will consequently
leave a void in those other branches, which will be occupied by English,
Dutch, and Swedes, on the spot. They complain of our tonnage duty; but it
is because it is not understood. In the ports of France, we pay fees for
anchorage, buoys and beacons, fees to measurers, weighers and gaugers, and
in some countries, for light-houses. We have thought it better that the
public here should pay all these, and reimburse itself by a consolidation
of them into one fee, proportioned to the tonnage of the vessel, and
therefore called by that name. They complain that the foreign tonnage is
higher than the domestic. If this complaint had come from the English,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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