(13 x 8 inches). 41 pp. Bound to style in 1/4 morocco over contemporary marbled boards, gilt title on spine. First edition of the act from Hamilton establishing the US Coast Guard. In 1789, Congress passed the first Tariff Act, to both protect developing manufacturing industries at home as well as raise revenue sorely needed by the new Federal Government, by levying a five percent rate on all foreign goods arriving at U.S. ports. By 1790, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, calculating that the government needed close to $3 million to cover operating costs, and even more to pay down foreign and domestic debts, realized that this rate was too low and sought to raise it closer to ten percent. In order to successfully collect these tariffs against smuggling, Hamilton proposed commissioning a fleet of vessels, called revenue cutters, to patrol the coast and offshore waters of the country in order to intercept contraband and ships looking to avoid the tariff. Page 37 of this act o