Oct 22, 2015 - Sale 2394

Sale 2394 - Lot 167

Price Realized: $ 1,430
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
NOT SATISFIED WITH GOVERNMENT COMPENSATION MONROE, JAMES. Autograph Letter Signed, to Charles F. Mercer, expressing confidence in a proposal discussed in a previous letter concerning the settlement of his claims against the government. 1 page, 4to, with integral address leaf, addressed in his hand; seal tear with minor loss to left edge, marginal discoloration from prior matting, few short closed separations at folds. New York, 16 January 1831
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"The more I have reflected on a suggestion in your last letter, the more confirmed I am in the sentiment which I expressed in my reply, that the transfer of the settlement of my claims to the accounting dept. of the govt., on principles of justice & equity, under the control of the President, could not operate to my prejudice. My impression is, that under the sanction they have received from the memorial, reports of the committees, and candid opinions of disinterested & enlightened men elsewhere, it might and probably would have a good effect. I leave this however to you, & other friends with whom you consult. I have suggested the idea to Mr. Gouverneur. A very deep snow has already fall'n, & it still continues."
Monroe and his friends appealed to Congress to help alleviate the debts Monroe incurred during his years of public service, arguing that the compensation received was insufficient. Although an act of Congress had granted him $29,513 in 1826, Monroe did not rest until, on March 2, 1831, Congress approved "An Act to Provide for the Final Settlement and Adjustment of the Various Claims Preferred by James Monroe against the United States," awarding him $30,000.
Does not appear in A Comprehensive Catalogue of the Correspondence and Papers of James Monroe, ed. Preston, 2001.