Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 02.djvu/107

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Mobile, 25th January, 15651865 [sic].

Colonel, Commissary-General, Richmond, Virginia:

Colonel—On the 15th of December, Major French dispatched me that the Secretary of War had authorized payment of local value for all supplies delivered before the 1st of February, and that money would be forwarded.

On the authority of this dispatch, I issued an appeal to the planters, urging immediate delivery of their surplus, promising that the first deliveries should be first paid, and stating that I had the highest official assurance that the funds would be promptly remitted.

The appeal failed to produce any effect, because the people did not believe it. They no longer credit any promise made by Government officials, and I regret to say that this effort only confirmed their incredulity, as the funds were not forwarded.

I am fully aware that you have done all in your power to procure funds, and I dislike to annoy you on the subject, but the district commissaries urge the matter so strongly upon me, that I again call your attention to the helpless condition in which we are placed for want of funds. To show how much we have lost in the past, and how hopeless is the prospect for the future without funds, I make the following extract of a letter just received from Major Guy at Montgomery.