" The Secretary of War Sir July 6 · 1799 By the letter of Jonathan Jackson Supervisor to you of the 29 June 1799 handed to me for perusal, I perceive he is much hurt at the suspensions & objections made to the final Settlement of Contractors accounts with whom he had the forming of Contracts complaining that it involved him in a disagreeable situation with them. By laying before you the causes of the suspension of those accounts & the situation in which they now stand you will be enabled to judge how far I have acted consistent with the duties of my office. Jacob Moyes's former acc^t as Contractor was rec^d at this Office on the 9^th May & immediately put under examination, application was at the same time made to your Office for a Copy of the Contract & was informed that no such instrument had ever been rec^d at the War Office neither could any be found at the Treasury - the Contractor was consequently written to on the 10 May to forward to this Office, a Copy of such Contract as would warrant the charges contained in his accounts - to which he has never made any reply, & of course his acc^ts lay over. Edmund Winchesters accounts as Contractor for supplies were soon after received at this Office & were also immediately placed under examination & would have been Settled but for disbursement of Dolls 324.⁴⁰/100 which Cap^tn Lemuel Gates had ordered to be paid for the repairs of the Barracks &c on Castle Williams Island, application as before was made to your Office to know whither Cap^tn Gates was authorized by any particular Instructions from the Secretary of War to have such repairs made & was answered in the negative — Cap^tn Gates was immediately written to requesting him to shew by what authority he had ordered the said repairs and at the same time letting him that I conceived it necessary in all cases where repairs to a considerable amount were wanted that the Commanding Officer should first consult the Secretary of War & obtain his approbation & unless that was done the amount would be deducted from the Contractors acc^ts as no answer has yet been received to the foregoing and the objections not obviated the accounts unavoidably are suspended. — I cannot but remark that the charges exhibited in Contractors accounts for repairing & erecting of buildings, Supplies of Quarter Master, Hospital Stores, &c; by order of the Commanding Officers of Small Posts and Garrisons are considerable & very frequent, & can find no existing system laid down by the Secretary of War to regulate the calls of these articles (other than for Fuel & Straw) or to regulate or govern the Accounting Officers in the accounts proper to be admitted. On application to the Treasury I find that similar doubts & difficulties occurred there & one weighty reason for transferring these acc^ts to this Department for settlement, was that the Secretary of War might be the better enabled to lay down the proper rules & regulations to govern. I will mention two circumstances now before me in which I am really at a loss how to act — Lieut^t Leonard has had the Hospital Officers Quarters repaired at Bedlows Island to the amount of D^rs 257— for which he has obtained payment by an order on the Contractor, this was done within the vicinity of Col^o Stevens, ag^t for the War Department, without any direction from him. altho' he is daily making disbursements of like Nature at Fort Jay. — Captⁿ Ingersoll at West Point has had a Range built that cost Doll 258, & a quantity of Boards purchased to the amount of 130 Dollars, which he has caused the Contractor to pay for it is said, no authority has been given from the War Office for that purpose. — If the Commanding Officer of every small post or Garrison of the army has it in his power to request the Contractor to supply him with such articles as I have mentioned without restriction, there will be no knowing to what amount they may