T. J.
LETTER CLXXIII.--TO JOHN ADAMS, December 5, 1788
TO JOHN ADAMS.
Paris, December 5, 1788.
Dear Sir,
I had the pleasure of writing to you on the 2nd of August, and of adding
a Postscript of August the 6th.
You recollect well the _Arret_ of December the 29th, 1787, in favor of
our commerce, and which, among other things, gave free admission to our
whale-oil, under a duty of about two louis a ton. In consequence of the
English treaty, their oils flowed in, and over-stocked the market. The
light duty they were liable to under the treaty, still lessened by false
estimates and aided by the high premiums of the British government,
enabled them to undersell the French and American oils. This produced an
outcry of the Dunkirk fishery. It was proposed to exclude all European
oils, which would not infringe the British treaty. I could not but
encourage this idea, because it would give to the French and American
fisheries a monopoly of the French market. The _Arret_ was so drawn
up; but, in the very moment of passing it, they struck out the word
European, so that our oils became involved.
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