(Circular).
Sir:
Attempts having been made in the settlement of accounts to defraud the public by means of certificates, and some of them being discovered, the United States in Congress Assembled have passed the resolutions which I have the honor to inclose. That these resolutions may have the desired effect, permit me to request that you
would be pleased to give orders for having them printed without delay in the newspapers of your State.
Resolved, That the quartermaster-general, Commissary of purchases, commissary of issues, commissary of forage, and all the late heads of departments or their successors or agents, be required without delay to forward to the Board of Treasury or to the Comptroller a list of their respective deputies who have been duly authorized to issue certificates. That the heads of departments aforesaid, and each of their deputies who have not settled their accounts, and all other persons who have issued certificates of debts due by the United States (Loan office certificates and certificates of final Settlement excepted), be required forthwith to deliver to the Board of Treasury or to some Commissioner of accounts in the State where such persons reside, a fair abstract of all the certificates which they have issued, and they shall specify those certificates for which they have taken receipts as for cash paid, and a Copy of those abstracts shall be transmitted by the Board of Treasury to the several Commissioners of accounts, to whom they may be of use in detecting frauds.
That a Copy of these resolutions be published in the Gazettes or public newspapers of the several states, and that if any person or persons so required as aforesaid shall refuse or neglect for the space of two Months from such publication to deliver a full and just account of the Certificates he or they have issued, the Board of Treasury, or in case it is not at the time organized, the Comptroller shall take proper steps for causing him or them to be prosecuted according to Law.
Resolved, That the Commissioners of accounts be instructed to be careful how they admit charges against the United States on certificates which are not duly supported by the Authority of Congress and the accounts of the officers who have issued them.