especially the class of their people (those of New England) who have heretofore profited ratherr than suffered by the war. The suggestion you make of preferring the port of Charleston for such hostile operations strikes me as judicious, and will be the subject of conference with and recommendation to the Secretary of the Navy.

The policy of obatining supplies from abroad has been steadyly pursued by me from the first inauguration of the plan of evading the blockade for the benefit of the Government. the difficulty has been the want of adequate means abroad to purchase more than curent supplies, to which may be added that heretofore the shopping at command did not alow the accumulationbeyond that point. My injunction has ever been to introduce, as far and as rapidly as means would allow, all permanent supplies, and as, since the recent legislation of Congress and the regulations in pursuance of it, a larger amount of cotton is being taken out, and greater resources can be commanded by the Government abroad, I hope we shall begin not only to meet present demands, but to accumulate supplies for future use. Such shall be, in conformity with your suggestion, the constant effort to the Department.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JAMES A. SEDDON,

Secretary of War.

[42.]

NAVY DEPARTMENT, C. S. A.,

Richmond, October 1, 1864.

Honorable JAMES A. SEDDON, Secretary of War:

SIR: Herewith I return Major-General Whiting's letter of the 20th ultimo, addressed to you, and referred to me on the 24th ultimo. To enable the steam sloops Edith and Tallahassee to go to sea on a cruise specially against the New Engalnd coast and commerce it was found necessary to impress ccoal, and I directed the senior naval officer at Wilmington to call upon every blockade-runner to supply one day's coal, giving in exchange for it the same quantity of North Carolina coal. I learned from you that an order would be given to General Whiting to impress this coal for the navy, and I directed the senior naval officer to call upon him to do so. Instead of complying with your order, General Whiting, in the letter above referred to, enters upon a disscussion of the subject, and the inclosed copies of telegrams will show you that up to yesterday your order had not been obeyed. The fallacy of the views presented in his letter could be readily shown were it deemed necessary. The result of his extraordinary course is that both cruisers are still in port. I beg leave to call your attention to the circumstance that confiding in the execution of your ordered I refrained from directing the senior naval officer to impress the coal purposely to avoid all ground for dispute of authority between him and General Whiting. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,

S. R. MALLORY,

Secretary of the Navy.

[Inclosure Numbers 1.]

HEADQUARTERS,
Wilmington, September 20, 1864.

Honorable JAMES A. SEDDON,

Secretary of War, Richmond:

SIR: I have received your dispatches requesting me to aid the Secretary of the Navy in procuring coal from the blockade-runners in exchange for North Carolina coal. The naval commandant has in obedience