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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Zelaya, José Santos (1853-1919) Monopoly of lead, fulminating caps and cartridges for shot guns and revolvers

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03804.24 Author/Creator: Zelaya, José Santos (1853-1919) Place Written: Managua, Nicaragua Type: Document Date: 4 December 1897 Pagination: 4 p. ; 33.5 x 21 cm. Order a Copy

Contract approved by Zelaya as President of Nicaragua. Contract given by Minister of Finance Enrique Lopez. Probably arranged by Walker in retirement from the U.S. Navy working on the canal commission in Nicaragua, but his signature is not on the document. The president offered this contract to "increase the sources of revenue, so as to meet the increased expenditures which the public service demand." The contract contains 8 articles, the more important of which state that lead, caps, and cartridges can only be sold at government depots; lists of the stocks of these items owned by merchants must be made and the stock then delivered to the collector of revenue for their department; private citizens cannot keep more than 2 pounds of powder, 5 pounds of shot, 500 caps, and 200 cartridges.

Walker, John Grimes, 1835-1907
Zelaya, Jose Santos, 1853-1919

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