18 Philadelphia, 12 March, 1799. In future, until otherwise directed, you will be pleased to return three General Returns of all Stores received, issued, forwarded or expended at your post— These returns are to embrace distinctly the Military, Quarter Master and Indian Goods, and they should be accompanied with two Abstracts; the one shewing the Stores received in each department during the time for which the Return is made, distinguishing those purchased or Manufactured at Pittsburg, also, noting the place and person from whom they were received and the time they came to hand: The other will exhibit the account of your Issues at the post, with the Vouchers— Also, those forwarded by you, with Invoices, signed by the persons to whom they are addressed in cases where it can be done, but in all and every instance by the persons in whose charge they are put to be transported and delivered: Where losses happen by transportation or other circumstances previous to delivery, you are to insist on certificates being produced shewing the causes of the losses, that from full information they may be placed to the proper accounts. — With respect to the Stores that are received by you only to forward and entered to their destination the Invoices receipted by the persons having them in charge, only will be required of you, and there must never be omitted, in them the Stores of each Department are to be kept separate and distinct, care must be taken that the Stores of one Department may not be blended with that of any other. — [catchword: of quarterly] Return, Abstracts, Invoices and Vouchers for Stores in the first quarter of the year 1798 must be immediately sent to my Office. In that period an attempt has been made to adjust your account, by knowing the balance then actually on hand we shall [undecipherable: probable reading "have"] the accuracy of the statement, and probably be able to make the settlement final; Returns with the required accompaniments, subsequent to the 31 March 1798 must also be forwarded, that such order as is found necessary may be taken on them. — It would be proper once at least in every year, say at the close of each, to determine by actual survey the state of the Stores on hand for the purpose of knowing whether they correspond with the Returns made of them, in this way errors may be detected, and the Books, Accounts and Stores all be made to agree, a circumstance of much importance to the public and all concerned. — Your most Obedient servant Major Isaac Craig, Samuel Hodgson. Pittsburg.