gruo9 Duke University Libraries Communication o Conf Pam #356 MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT. Richmond, Va., Jan. 6, 1865. To the House of Representatives : In response to your resolution of the 24th ult.. relative to unpaid requisitions upon the Treasury, drawn by the Quartermaster Gen- eral and the Commissary General, I herewith transmit a communi- cation from the Secretary of the Treasury, which conveys the in- formation desired. JEFFERSON DAVIS. COMMI'NTCATTON OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY iill.ASURY DeI'ARTMKNT, t- S- A., j Richmond. January 5th, 1865. \ To the President : Sir:_I have the bouor to acknowledjiO the recoii)t of your com- municatioB of the 2d instant, transmittinj? a copy of the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24th ult.. as follows : '* Resolved, That the President be respectfully requested to in- form this Ifouse— First, as to theamouat of money for which requi- sitions from the Quartermaster General and the Commissary Gen- eral, drawn upon the Treasury, remain unpaid. Second, as to the reasons for the non-payment of such requisitiois." In response thereto, 1 enclose herein copies of the following papers : 1. Letter from Hon. J. A. Seddon, Secretary or War, to the Secretary of the Treasury, dated December 30, 1864. 2. Letter of the Secretary of the Treasury in reply to the fore- going, dated December 31,1 864. 3. Tabular statement of the appropriations for the War Depart- ment, and of the amounts paid in pursuance thereof. _ These papers are respectfully submitted as containing all the in- formation called for by the resolution. The indebtediess exhibited by the unpaid requisitions ja ' "^ $181,000,000 2 The indebtedness in the Trans-Mi?si?sippi Department as reported l>y (Ion. E. Ivirliy- ^luitli. ati'l (""i- which no requisitions liaYC l)eeD made, is 00,000,000 $241^00^000 This greatly exceeds tlie estiraafe of arrears made in my report to C'ongresB of November 7th in which it is stated at $114,000,000. For this, and other reasons of equal gravity and importance, it has become necessary that another communication should be sent to Congress from this Dopartm'^nt. upon the general condition of the finances, and I propose to send in a report without delay. G. A. TRENHOLM, .Secretary of Treasury. LETTER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR. Confederate States of America, ) War Depai-tment, / Richmond, Va., Dec. 30, 1864. ) Hon. G. A. Trfnholm, Secretary of the Treasury : Sir : — I have examined the statement of Gen. E.- Kirby Smith, referred by you, in which the indebtedness of the Trans- Mississippi Department is approximately stated for the year ending 30th of September, 1864, at $60,333,099 He includes under the head of amount due, 20,277,465 And from estimates. 40,055.634 To this amount arc to be added the debts contracted since that date. A portion of this sum has been remitted, but it is supposed that the debt is quite as large now, or larger than it was, on the 30th of September last. The requisitions of the Quartermaster General unanswered now amount to the sum of $128,360,584 87 Those of the Commissary General, 34,002,684 65 The Ordnance service in arrears, 5,640.388 00 The Medical service " 3.090,333 00 The Engineer service " exclusive of Tr-Miss., 5,000,000 00 The Nitre and Mining .service. 5,600,000 00 The Department is constantly importuned for the payment of money due for necessary supplies which have already been furnish- ed, and is constantly advised that supplies cannot be obtained for the want of the requisite funds. Its whole service is in a fair way to perish from inanition. I am satisfied that the discredit of the government has arisen, in a measure, from the delay that has been made in the liquidation of these pressing, urgent auJ incriiorioua claims. 1 am aware of the many strong considerations that induce a restriction of issue as far as practical)Ie, l)ut I venture to suggest, tliat the currency itself probably suffers more discredit from the failure to meet the engagements of the government, tlian could result from inflation by the issue necessary to redeem them. You can scarcely realize to what extent tlio inability or failure to meet the obligations of tlio department has been prolific of mis- chiefs. It has been occasion and excuse for desertion, marauding, •ale of clething and equipments, among the soldiers. It has prevented the accumulation of supplies: it has affected the cfllciency of trans- portation ; it has produced carelessness or indilTerence among con- tractors ; officers are resentful, and soldiers reckless, discontented and suffering. Most serious apprehension that unless the indebtedness of this department now existing, can be provided for without delay, that its operations cannot, with daily increasing obstructions, embarrass- ments and antagonisms among the ])Cople themselves, be carried on. I am constrained to invoke your earnest attention to the subject and to urge immediate application of all practicable measures of re- lief. Very truly yours, (Signed) JAMES A. SEDDON, t'ceretary of War. LETTER OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. Treasury Department, ) Richmond Doc. 31, 1864 j Hon. Jamm A. Seddox, Secretary of War : Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your let-' ter of 30th instant, and to express my sincere regret at the embar- rassment arising from the inadequate supply of means at the com- mand of the War Department. I'hat there should be so large an amount of requisitions unsatisfied does not proceed, as supposed, from the effort to restrain the issue of treasury notes. However desirable it was to repress the enlaTgeraent of the currency, it was clearly impossible to withhold any part of the proportion of notes applicable to the payment of expenditures. After making the ne- cesssary reservation for the exchange of the old issue as provided bylaw, the largest amount tliat remained and could be applied to the payment of expenditures was estimated at $200,000,000. Of this amount $100,000,000 had already been paid out on re- quisitions up to Ist duly 18G4, leaving only '$100,000,000 available to meet the appropriations for the six m')nl,li>. from 1st July to 31st December, 1864. The appropriations for the War Depart- ment for tliat period, are $358,245,000 The requisitions satisfied in the same period are, 320,721,116 The amount sent to the Trans-Mississippi Depart- ment in notes, bonds and certificates, is 47,000,000 367,721,116 The amount paid in treasury notes from 1st April to Slst Decem- ber, is $397,260,209, from which it appears that not only has the $200,000,000 authorized by the provisions of the Act of l7th of February, been applied in the satisfaction of requisitions, but also a further sum of $197,260,209, derived froin the sale of bonds, temporary loans and otlier source;^. It will be perceived, too, that a suiu equal to tlie appropriations for the last six months, was paid in that period, and that the em- barrassment really arises from the preexisting indebtedness. The data for dctcrmininjj: the arrears oC debt in .July last, were quite imperfect. It was estimated, by my predecessor, at $75,000,000, on the 1st of April, (Report of May 2, pajje 4.) In my report of November 7, 1 estimated it lo have been $114,000,000, on the 1st of July last, and recommended that provision should lie made for this amount. On the 1.3th of December, 1 addressed a letter to Hon. F. S. Lyon, Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, pressing on his attention the necessity of prompt action in making provision to meet the estimates for the approaching six months and the arrear of debt. Among the resources of tlie future, I rely u]>on obtaining about $40,000,000 from the tax on sales for the last quarter of the year, and' the' income tax, wliich arc payable on the 1st of January, 1865, and consequently receivable in new issues. I relied upon this resource to defray the arrear of pay diae the army. The accompanying table exhibits the appropriations for the sev- • oral Bureaus of the War Department, and the amount of requisi- tions satisfied for them respectively. Yours, most truly, (Signed) G. A. TRENilOLM, Secretary of the Treasury. STATEMENT OF WAR APPROPRIATIONS, &c. Bureau. QaKrkermaster's Department, . Subsistenee Ordnance SerTlce, Nitre and Mining Serrlce, Engineer Service, Medical Service Pay of the Army, ..»..» Bureau of Conscription, ... , Contingent Expenses A. A I Gen's Veft. Incidental and Contingent Exp. of Army. AmoBot appro priated from 1st July to 81it _Dec., 1864^ $ltt,T50>49To ino,ro