Comptroller’s Office William Simmons Esquire Acct of the War Dept Comptrollers Office September 3, 1798 John Steele recd 4th Treasury Department Comptroller’s Office September 3rd 1798. Sir. With a view to carry into effect as soon as practicable the arrangements contemplated by the act of the 16 July last, entitled “An act to alter and amend the several acts for the establish and regulation of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments” I have to request that you will furnish the Accountant of the Navy with a complete list or abstract of all sums or balances now standing to the debit or credit of Individuals on the books of your Office, that have relation to transactions in the Navy Department, in order that he may be enabled to open the necessary accompts in the books of his office and charge the parties respectively for the sums to be accounted for by each. It will be important that this list or abstract should be as particular of the nature of it will admit; that the officer to whom it is transmitted may be fully acquainted with the purposes for which the advances were made. The debtor accompts now open in the books of your office for the several sums or balances to be transferred therefrom to the books of the Accountant of the Navy, pursuant to the present instructions, are to be closed by an accompt under the head of accomps transferred to the books of the Accountant of the Navy; and the credit accompts are to be closed in like manner by debiting them to the same accompt.
With respect to accompts that have been rendered and are now under examination in your your office, for any part of these sums or balances, it will be most expedient, that they should be finally settled and the requisite entries made in your book, and the balances if any should be due to, or from the parties, only transferred; but in all cases where accompts have been rendered to your office in consequence of advances made by the War Department, or otherwise, that come within the purview of these instructions, and that have not yet been taken up for examination, it will be proper that they should be also transmitted to the Accountant of the Navy, to be examined and settled by him pursuant to the act before recited.
I am Sir, very respectfully your obdt servant, Jno Steele William Simmons Esquire Accountant of the War Department