There’s this interesting 1798 letter from Alexander Hamilton to James McHenry (then the Secretary of War) where Hamilton is basically begging McHenry pay him for his work as inspector general of the army.
“I have devoted much of my time to the preliminary investigations [of the army]—and I shall devote a much larger proportion, if I am to consider myself as now in service and intitled to the emoluments of the station. For to be frank with you, it is utterly out of my power to apply my time to the public service, without the compensations, scanty enough, which the law annexes to the office.”
Ok, that is pretty frank. He goes on to explain that the position is actually costing him money:
“From the time it was first known that I had reengaged in military life, the uncertainty of my being able to render services for which I might be retained drove away ☞ more than half my professional practice, which I may moderately estimate at four thousand pounds a year.”
Note the little pointing hand. Hamilton actually drew in a pointing hand so that McHenry paid special attention to how fucked his finances are. It probably looked a bit like this, another manicule from a book Hamilton owned:
He then says that he simply won’t be able to perform his duties properly unless he’s paid more, because the work involves a lot of traveling and “the precedent of last war is a full comment on the propriety of an extra allowance to the Inspector General. It is indeed indispensable if he is to be useful.” Hamilton says that he’s faced with the choice of doing an inadequate job or of “ruining myself once more in performing services for which there is no adequate compensation.” I’m not sure what particular thing he’s referring to when he says “ruining myself once more,” but I suppose he could be talking about his tenure as Treasury Secretary.
Finally, he closes with this:
“It is always disagreeable to speak of compensations for one’s self but a man past 40 with a wife and six Children, and a very small property beforehand, is compelled to wave the scruples which his nicety would otherwise dictate.”
Oh my god, this wasn’t even the end of it. So this letter was from November 30th, and McHenry responded in mid-December to be like “oh shit, yeah, you should be getting paid.” Then there’s another letter from Hamilton, dated January 7th, 1799. He begins by saying that “the unascertained situation, in which I have been, since my acceptance of the Military appointment, I now hold, has been not a little embarrassing to me.” So we’re off to a good start.
Apparently he waived pay until called into active service,
“But presuming that I would speedily be officially charged with the execution of duties, which would draw along with them the compensations attached by the law to the station, I have acted on that presumption. I have discontinued my practice as Attorney and Solictor, from which I had derived a considerable part of my professional profits; and I have applied no small portion of my time to preliminary investigations in order to the collection of the best lights for forming a system of Tactics and discipline as perfect as exists any where else.”
Okay, so he’s pissed because he’s basically been devoting himself wholly to the army, and he reminds McHenry again that a lot of his clients were driven away when he first took the position.
“Were I rich I should be proud to be silent on such a subject. I should acquiesce without an observation—as long as any one might think the minutest public interest required an accumulation of sacrifices on my part. But after having to so advanced a period of my life devoted all my prospects of fortune to the service of the Country —and dependant as I am for the maintenance of a wife and six children on my professional exertions, now so seriously abridged—it is essential for me to forego the scruples of delicacy and to ask of you to define my situation; that I may determine whether to continue or to change my present plan.”
He’s really asking McHenry to ask Adams what his employment situation is, since they might not consider his preliminary investigations to be actual military service. He finishes by saying that if it turns out he hasn’t been officially employed this whole time and therefore no one owes him a salary, “my honor will compel submission to the consequent sacrifice, so far as it is unavoidable; but my arrangements will be different from what they are at present and will aim at making the sacrifice as small as possible.” Translation: “My honor forces me to suck it up and keep working, but I’m gonna have to tighten my belt (and maybe do a shittier job as inspector general, sorry I don’t make the rules also fuck you).”
Daintyfire 