Gentlemen New York Sep. 3^d 1787. I feel the most Sensible pain from the perusal of the Letter from your Honorable Board of the 24 Ult^o which, missing me in Virginia, did not come to hand untile Yesterday. and I presume that when the information, which I now do myself the honor to Communicate, is considered, that I shall be deemed as rather meriting approbation for the Steps I have taken to secure this money referred in that Letter than as incurring any displeasure for misconduct in it. and I hope I shall not be found liable in consequence of my duty or Interest as Paymaster General to take any further Steps to recover it. I am willing however to pursue every measure and undergo any difficultys which the Board shall be pleased to direct in any other view of my duty. I beg Leave therefore in the first place to excuse myself for not arresting the Man who it is Surmized was selling this money at Richmond; because a Considerable time ago the Loan Officer there informed me it would be prejudiciae to the Interest of the United States to make any Noise respecting the Paper Money, and who therefore at my Solicitation wrote to your Honorable Board requesting to know if it was your Wish to Arrest any one. or whom the least Suspicion fell on. But no Answer having been received we were left at a loss how to Act in Cases where the report of an Arrest for this purpose founded on mere Conjecture, would be more disadvantageous than the Public could be benefited by it. in this Situation I found the Man who sold this money, who gave me so frank and Candid an Account of his Coming at it that I was Convinced that tho' it was most probably the Public's yet that he might have come honestly by it. M^r Hopkins however, as he was the only Confidential Officer of Congress there, I consulted who was of Opinion as well as myself, that no benefit would arise by taking him up by the Authority of the State as there was no Evidence what ever against him that would hold him to bail. and as the inconvenience already hinted it as ought not to be sustained without the Approbation of the Board, unless it was with more probability of our meeting with Success in detecting the fraud. I considered M^r Alexander a Rufsee in disposing of the Money as guilty only of a breach of Trust and not as Criminal in the Legal Sense of the Word. that the money which the Purchaser received was as much money as the Acts of Congress & the Legislature can make it and that therefore he could not be considered as receiving Stolen goods. but as Actually in Possession of a Species of Currency that was not to be identified any more than gold or Silver. he would not therefore I suppose in Law be Obliged to be Answerable for it to the Public in any way; unless it Appeared that he had stole it from Rufsee of which there was not even a Suspicion. impressed therefore with the certainty that there was no prospect from or propriety in Apprehending this Man. I wrote to the Loan Officers at Charleston by different Conveyances & took the Liberty to Address the Board, requesting that the Loan Officers of Carolina & Georgia might be also instructed to take immediate measures for securing those persons on whom a legal hold might have been taken. but I did not write to the Board for orders on this Particular Occasion. as I was in a Situation in which I could not have seen to their execution. In the next place I take the Liberty to state, that I do not consider myself as bound by any Precedents or Resolutions of Congress or Conduct of mine, to be Answerable for this money to the Public. for which Purpose I shall endeavor to prove that the Deputy Paymasters, Acting prior to April 8^th 1782. are responsible only to the Public Offices for their Conduct. and in no way to me. because 1. That when the Accounts of my immediate Predecessor in Office were closed. he was not Considered as any way accountable for the Monies he placed in the hands of the Deputies. but received his final discharge for the same without resorting to the State of their Accounts which being deemed reasonable in his Case, must also be so in mine, on which Principae indeed my Accounts have long since been Clos'd. 2^dly That they were Appointed by Congress & removable only by that Body. and it is reasonable that the responsibility should rest were the Appointment was made and dependance was Placed. 3^dly They were Accountable to the Comptroller of the Treasury. under the Act of Sept. 11^th 1781 whose duty it was then made expressly to see to the Punctual return of the Public monies and who has always Considered it as his immediate business to call on the Deputy Paymasters to Account. if therefore it was his, it cannot be considered as my Duty unless an express resolution of Congress had directed it, on Consideration of the Particular Circumstances in which this Money has been involved. I presume also it will be found that I have exerted every duty which could be possibly incombant on me in Consequence of my Office; for in the first place, this money was Committed to me in my hands by Congress for the express Purpose of forwarding to the different departments. I therefore did my duty & discharged the Obligation as far as it rested on me, by Acting Agreeably to those Directions. 2^dly that my Consigning it to Joseph Clay is as the only Step I could take, as he was the only Confidential Officer. whom the Public had appointed out as the proper Person to receive it. 3^dly that its being Committed into the hands of the Quarter Master of the Army instead of M^r Clay's was done by no Act or Knowledge of mine. but by the direction of the General Commanding in the department, and was Known soon after by M^r Clay. as well as that it was for his use. his Neglect to fend it for the benefit of the Public was not a fault of mine. but his. to whom it was directed. 4^thly. That the Tenor of the receipt made M^r Alexander be Accountable to M^r Clay or his order and not to me. & therefore it may be doubted whether it ever was in my Power by Virtue of my Office to have got the money out of his hands had I Surmized that M^r Clay had not received it. 5^thly That in the Month of January 1782. I lodged all my Accounts & Vouchers with the Comptroller of the Treasury, w^ch in August following were finally examined. and passed thro' the different Offices. and the Amount of the Money in M^r Alexanders hands [strikethrough: t]Carried to my Credit. as will appear by the Registers Certificate herewith. as this Settlement was made. I flatter myself at a more early period than almost any other Public Accountants. as its exhibited to the Comptroller a full information of the Monies which the Deputies were Accountable for. as it was his duty and not mine, to Call them to Account. and as I am by its finally discharged from the Treasury Books. I presume the Good Sense & Justice of the Board, will Acquiesce in my Opinion. that I am altogether excused in Point of Interest from being any further Accountable for these Payments, 6^thly That not long after the Close of these Accounts. I was appointed to an Extra duty at Camp which business took up my individual attention from that time untile the principal Army Settlements were Concluded, on my return from Georgia in June 1785. if therefore my inclination and regard for the Public Becoming Occasioned me to watch over such Public Accountants as might have been Expected to have had Public Monies in their hands when my mind was not altogether employed in my Office. Yet during this Period. I have an expectation that I shall be excused for attending solely to my own duty & neglecting in some measure that of others. 7^thly That when I was in Georgia I called on M^r Clay. and received his Accounts to present to the Comptroller for Settlement and then was I first informed of the large sum he had neglected to draw from & left in M^r Alexanders hands. my immediate information to the Board and the different steps taken since that time, there is no necessity for ennumerating. it is sufficient to say that I believe the Board has Received no information of this money. but from me. and that at this time your Board would have been otherwise altogether ignorant of it. I do not however wish to have it understood that I claim any merit for this Conduct. it is my inclination only to discharge my duty to the Public. my gratitude to that Public for what I am and my expectation for future Support are Sufficient inducements to cause in me the most Ardent Attention to their Interest. nor do I wish to be understood as declining the directions of your board, which I shall ever follow in this Case as well as others with implicit deference but I hope to be excused when I signify my desire. that the Board would not Consider me as Acting remisly in any part of this business or as accountable for the money in any way whatever. I beg also that you will be pleased to reconsider the Subject with that impartiality & Justice. which I have so often received from your hands, and under this View direct such Officers as whose immediate duty it is, to attend to the recovery of the Money. JP The Honorable Board of Treasury