[The Accountant of the War Department] [May 19. 1800] [War Departm^t / James McHenry / May 17. 1800 / On the subject of double rations / paid the [undecipherable] & [undecipherable] / [undecipherable] Officers — with his present / [undecipherable] — with his present / opinion is [undecipherable] from [undecipherable]] War Department, 17^th May 1800 Sir, I have received a second Letter from you this day calling for my decision in Cases which depend upon the Construction of existing Laws; and this, notwithstanding I informed you in my answer to the first, that I consider the construction and application of precise Laws or permanent Regulations affecting all public accounts to be the duty of another Officer, and also have several times heretofore, informed you to the same effect. The case presented now is that of [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] Claim to double rations; all the facts are [undecipherable], I think not denied. He is clearly entitled to them. I consider him within the Spirit of the Laws providing for double Rations, and that being a very natural Construction of its Letter, he must be brought within that also. The Word Station, as a technical Expression, will comprehend any military [undecipherable] [undecipherable] the [undecipherable] [undecipherable] of the Law. The words Separate post ought to be considered [undecipherable] Separate Command. In this [undecipherable] they [undecipherable] as [undecipherable] Major Generals Hamilton & Pinckney. I have been told doubts are entertained whether the law on the Subject of double Rations applied to any others than the Officers of the Army, and of Posts which were in being at the time of its passing. This doubt does not appear to me to be a reasonable one. It is not to be presumed that the Legislature would have meant to exclude the Commandant of a new post from advantages similar to those enjoyed by the Commandant of an old post, or to have put a future Officer in a worse condition than one existing at the time of the provision. Laws, I conceive, of the nature of the one in question ought to receive a liberal rather than a narrow Interpretation, and I am confirmed in this conception by the uniform practice in the Revolutionary War, to make extra allowances to Commanders of separate Armies or within separate Departments, for their extra Expenses. With Respect to Commandants of inferior Stations or Posts, a Certificate from the Commanding General designating the Station or Post to be a distinct or separate one, and the Commandant of the same, and for what time, may be properly demanded, because the Commanding General may change Commandants & sometimes Military Posts, or break up the latter. I will now repeat another opinion, that there can be no Reason to delay or refuse the Settlement of all the other Charges and accounts of Officers, because doubts are supposed to oppose a Settlement of a part of them. I am Sir Your ob^t James McHenry The Accountant of War Dep^t