Col. David Henley A.W.D. Knoxville Accountant's Office Dec.^r 30^th 1796 Sir The foregoing is a duplicate (see page 297) of my letter to you of the 23^d inst. enclosing an extract taken from the Warrant Book of this Office of payments made to Chisholm & others on account of the Indian Department from 1^st Sept to that day. I now enclose you an extract to this day, including the first period: — You will thereby observe the sums Chisholm has received on account of the Indian Department, with which he is to be charged on settlement of his accounts which are referred to you; — his charges being principally unsupported by any kind of vouchers, and the expenditures having taken place principally, as he says, among the Indians where he could obtain none. — It has been thought most advisable to have the accounts referred to you for settlement. — You will be better able to judge of the propriety of the charges than I can here: But it would not be improper to remark that you are to pay the strictest attention to the interest of the United States in the settlement of them, so as, on a revision of the accounts, to prevent any objections to the passing of them to your credit here. — From the payments to the Interpreters, you will observe that they have received monies in advance, which they are to account for with you. From the abstract of Warrants issued, which is enclosed, you can see which warrants are to be accounted for by the person receiving it being held accountable, to which you will pay due attention. As I intend to make an examination of your accounts as early as possible, I have to request that you will forward immediately, or as soon as may be to this Office an abstract of your payments from the commencement of your transactions in that Country to the end of the present year, and an account current agreeably to the forms enclosed for your government: — you will observe that there are columns ruled for the Number of the Warrants & Number of the accounts on which the payment was made — as part of the accounts are here, you may suspend the number of them and only include the number of the Warrant — After the Warrants cease, you will continue the numbering of the accounts from the last number of the warrant. — After you have compleated the abstract of payments, you will proceed to form an account Current agreeably to the enclosed form and debit the United States with the amount of the abstract of payments, and credit the sums you have received, shewing the balance remaining in your hands unexpended. You will be cautious in entering the payments, so as to include none but such as are proper to be settled at this Office, and the Credits to consist of monies received from this Office and such others which would be proper to be accounted for here — When warrants have been issued on account of persons are held accountable, it would be well to notice it in the abstract, so that at one view it may be seen who is the accountable person. Your attention to the foregoing is particularly requested. — a frequent transmission of Abstracts and accounts would be a desirable thing — with each transmission of Vouchers, there should be an abstract & Account Current accompanying them shewing the balance of any remaining unexpended. I am &c. W.^m Simmons Acct. [For Henley See Page 316.]