John Steele Esq^r Comptroller of the Treasury Department of W[ar] Accountants Offi[ce] December 26[undecipherable] Sir I have to request that you will be pl[eased] to cause to be advanced to me the sum of eight hundred Dollars (the[se] being appropriated by the Act making additional appropriations for [the] Support of Government for the Year 1797 passed 10 July 1797) for the Salaries of Clerks employed in my Office for extra services, to com[ply] with the Resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3^d. March, for which sum I will hold myself accountable & apply the same in [the] manner proposed to you on Saturday last. Sam^l W Simm[ons] C [Acc?]