to trade have been granted by me, the intention has been to merely declare my assent as the military commander, in addition to which the trader was expected to obtain the proper papers from the officer of the Treasury Department. It was not contemplated by any act of mine to relieve the trader from responsibility to the Treasury Department.

In the two cases specially referred to in your letter, the usual clause of the permit, distinctly requiring compliance with Treasure regulations, was inadvertently omitted, but this clause has only been introduced since Mr. Brown assumed the duties of Treasury agent here. His predecessor did not regard it as necessary. Since Mr. Brown has made his views known, this clause has always been inserted.

The cotton referred to by Mr. Brown was captured from the enemy and was never formally turned over to the agents of the Treasury Department. It was retained to be used for military purposes and part of it was so used; the remainder is ready to be turned over.

I will add that since the receipt of your letter I have communicated freely with Mr. Brown, and that there is no longer any conflict of authority or any misunderstanding in regard to these matters.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Q. A. GILLMORE,

Major-General, Commanding.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH,
In the Field, Folly Island, S. C., December 14, 1863.

Major General H. W. HALLECK,

General-in-Chief, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.:

SIR: I desire to urge upon the attention of the Government certain simple measures for bettering the condition of the colored people of this department, colored soldiers in particular.

The policy of the Government in organizing regiments of colored troops upon this coast, and the value and general efficiency of that class of soldiers, has had a fair trial and a successful issue under my own eye. The wisdom of the course pursued (under my uniform rule to treat the white and the colored soldier alike) has been fully vindicated upon the field of battle and in the trenches. Every vestige of the prejudice and ill feeling which existed between the white and the colored troops of this command, during a period of inactivity, has disappeared under the excitements of an active campaign, of which the labors and dangers were shared alike by both classes.

I request attention to the following points:

First. The colored volunteers in this department are derived from the Stateds of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and, in forming them into regiments, they should be designated as United States colored regimens, with the appropriate numbers. This would materially simplify the organizations and increase their efficiency.

Second. A board for the examination of candidates for commissions in colored regiments should be appointed in this department.

Third. The pay of the whiled soldier and of the colored soldier should be the same. all distinctions calculated to raise in the mind of the colored man a suspicion that he is regarded as an inferior