CIRCULAR TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF ACCOUNTS.
Office of Finance, September 4th, 1783.
Sir,
As the Commissioners, both on the Accounts of the Departments and on those of the States, are now almost all appointed, and in the execution of their respective offices, I shall take the liberty of adding a little to their important employment. And this I do with a view to the future service of the Union, under whatever hands the administration may fall.
In the course of the business committed to your care, you will have occasion to travel into different places, and therefore you will have an opportunity to render an accurate account of many particulars, which it is important to know. A well regulated system of finance requires, that money be raised with ease to the people, and expended with economy to the public. An intimate acquaintance with the state and the resources of a country, is alike essential to both of these objects.
The state of the country is either geographical, moral, political, or commercial. The geographical state comprehends,
1st. The general extent, divisions, and subdivisions.
2dly. The mountains, rivers and roads, with their respective courses and distances.
3dly. The kind and quality of the soil; and