Treasury Department
| Richmond, August 12, 1864 |
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|
Hon. James A. Seddon
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| Secretary of War |
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| Sir, |
| I have had the honor to receive from your
Department the estimates of foreign supplies, and I submit for your
consideration a report made upon the same by Col. T. L. Bayne, agent
for the transportation of cotton on account of this Department. The
sum of the estimates is £l,491,000; the monthly export required to
meet the payments will be 6,000 bales of cotton {requiring
about 10 trains of 15 cars each}, or 36,000 bales for the
ensuing six months; the tonnage necessary for the transportation is
3,900 tons per month, nearly fifteen steamers per week, at the
present average rate of freight capacity. This statement exhibits
apparently the impossibility, in our present circumstances, of
accomplishing importations of such magnitude, and I would with great
respect suggest the propriety of reconsidering the estimates, and of
sending out such orders as may prevent any embarrassment on the part
of General McRae in the distribution of the funds to be placed at
his disposal.
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| *****
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| The estimates being made as moderate as
the absolute necessities of the service will permit, every effort
will be made on the part of this Department to place the required
funds in England. The difficulties of this task must not be kept out
of view. The chief is the constant interference of existing
contracts giving special privileges, with the right of the
Government to ship half the cargo, as provided in the regulations.
Of 5,530 bales (Wilmington and Charleston combined 4,868 bales + 662
bales) placed by this Department in the hands of Mr. Seixas, at
Wilmington {which required about 9 trains of
15 cars each}, in the month of July, only 1,672 bales went
out for the "general credit of the Treasury." The
distribution was as follows: Treasury Department, 1,672 bales;
Collie contract, 962 bales; Crenshaw contract, 1,943 bales; payment
freight, &c., 953 bales.
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| *****
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| Yours, with great respect,
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| G. A. Trenholm
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| Secretary of the Treasury
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| *****
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Inclosure
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| Richmond, Va., August 12, 1864
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|
|
| Hon. G. A. Trenholm
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| Secretary of the Treasury
|
|
|
| Sir,
|
| I have the honor to return herewith the
estimates made by the various bureaus of the War Department of the
amount of foreign funds required by them in the next six months to
meet their wants abroad. These estimates are as follows:
|
| Quartermaster's Department |
L570,000 |
| Commissary Department |
511,000 |
| Ordnance Bureau |
162,000 |
| Niter and Mining Bureau |
135,000 |
| Medical Department |
113,000 |
| TOTAL |
1,491,000 |
|
| I have deducted from the estimate the
100 per cent. added in to cover freight and charges. Assuming the
net value of a bale of cotton in Liverpool £40, it will require to
meet the aggregate of above estimates that upward of 6,000 bales per
month be exported from Wilmington and Charleston, the only two ports
now available. The tonnage at present commanded by the Government is
entirely inadequate to so large an export. General McRae advises,
under date of 4th ultimo, the purchase by him of fourteen steamers,
the first four of which were to sail from England in the present
month. These additional facilities may enable the Government to
raise its exports to the requisite figure, provided in the meantime
arrangements are perfected for the regular and prompt delivery of
sufficient cargoes at the ports.
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| *****
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| I would also call your attention to the
fact that in making up their estimates the chiefs of bureaus do not
seem to have considered the limited importing capacity that the
Government is likely to command. This capacity is largely estimated,
I think, at 2,000 tons per month. The estimate of the
Commissary-General is based upon import per month for his department
alone of 2,300 tons of freight; that of the chief of the Niter and
Mining Bureau on the import for his Bureau alone per month of 1,600
tons.
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| Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
|
| Thos. L. Bayne
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| Lieutenant-Colonel
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|