American financier and public official who served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1921–1932) and endowed the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. TLS signed “A. W. Mellon,” one page, 8 x 10.5, Treasury Department letterhead, December 31, 1921. Letter to William Shaw at the World’s Christian Endeavor Union. In part: “I have read with interest and noted your letter…with respect to the proposed plan for the payment of the soldiers’ bonus by the placing of a tax on, and permitting the manufacture of, beer and light wines. I enclose for your information…a copy of the President’s special message to the Senate…Even without any soldiers’ bonus or adjusted compensation, the estimates show that the Federal Government will spend in the fiscal year 1922, and again in the fiscal year 1923, about $450,000,000 a year for the relief of veterans of the late war.” In very good condition, with uniform toning, rusty paperclip mark to top edge, and some scattered light soiling. An important letter as Mellon was at work producing the Mellon plan, to reduce the huge federal debt from World War I. Years later, in 1932, World War I veterans would riot because of unpaid bonuses. RRAuction COA.
