manufactory in Hartford, and a, stopped here by sickness. We can produce of required 100,000 military arms this year, which amount may be afterward increased to an indefinite number. Please bring this subject before the President and Secretary of War, and telegraph me to what extent the Government may wish to employ our armory. Until then I shall suspend individual orders for military arms. Shall I send Mr. Root to see you?

SAM. COLT.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

April 30, 1861.

Honorable SIMON CAMERON,

Secretary of War:

SIR: I have the honor to inclose copy of a communication, dated 28th of April, 1861, Sunday morning, from Messrs. John A. Dix, R. M. Blatchford, and George Opdyke, special disbursing agents of the Government at New York, with the request that an early response thereto may be made.

Very respectfully,

S. P. CHASE,

Secretary of the Treasury.

[Inclosure.]

UNION DEFENSE COMMITTEE OF CITIZENS OF NEW YORK,

Office Numbers 30 Pine Street, N. Y., April 28, 1861.

Honorable S. O. CHASE,

Secretary of the Treasury:

SIR: We wrote you yesterday in regard to the want of specific instructions for the expenditure of the $2,000,000 placed to our credit as U. S. agents.

Your letter of the 24th instant has just been received, with the Harrisburg postmark of the 27th (yesterday). We notice that "the purpose of this fund is to meet only such requisitions as may be directly consequent upon the military and naval measures necessary for the defense and support of the Government," and that we "are therefore authorized and requested to apay such demands upon" us, "within the above limit, as are presented to" us "by the duly constituted agents of the Government.e sure we understand rightly the scope of your directions we send a special messenger with this letter, and ask your reply to the following questions, Viz:

First. Is the term "requisition" in your letter to be received by us in its strictly official sense, i. e., as emanating from one of the department at Washington, or would it be sufficient for us to have requisitions, say, from the navy agent, the U. S. quartermaster, commissary, or ordnance officer on duty here, for moneys to meet naval and military expenditures, such requisitions being approved by Major-General Wool or Commodore Breese?

Second. Steamers have been engaged, under the direction of the Union Defense Committee, to transport troops to Annapolis, and are now actively engaged in that service. Can we, on the requisition of the committee, or of Major-General Wool, pay the amount agreed on? The communication with the Government having been cut off, and it being understood that the city of Washington was in peril, we had no alternative but to assume the responsibility of providing the necessary transportation for our troops.