Extract from a letter from A. S Withers & Co to Mr. Consul Archibald, February 5, 1864

Extract from a letter from A. S Withers & Co. to Mr. Consul Archibald.

We beg to call your attention to the very oppressive and, as it appears to us, unreasonable requirements at the custom-house here, in regard to shipments to the British provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

It is alleged that because goods can be, and possibly have been, shipped from said provinces to the West Indies, and thence to States in rebellion, it is necessary to protect the United States against such business, by exacting bonds with every shipment, with two responsible real estate bondsmen to double the amount of the shipment, to provide against such contingency.

We have been engaged in the shipping business to these provinces for a period of fifteen years, during which time the business thereof has greatly increased, of which fact no one is better acquainted than yourself; the shipments of one firm alone last year amounted to upwards of $800,000 in value, and we are satisfied that none of these goods have been sold for the purpose of being transported, either directly or indirectly, to the rebel States; and yet, after goods have passed through two or three hands, and probably their original character changed, it is almost impossible to say what has become of them; and it is an unreasonable thing to block the trade of a place with which we are at peace merely because a contingency may possibly arise against which we claim it is not our business to protect the United States government.

Our business at the custom-house has always been bona fide and aboveboard, and will bear the closest and most minute inspection; and since these bonds were exacted we have offered to furnish to any officer who may be appointed for such purpose the name of every vessel by which we are about to ship; we have further offered to furnish the collector with a list of all our consignees, and have invited his instructions to the American consuls at the foreign ports, in order that they may watch the cargoes on their arrival. You are well aware that these provinces raise no breadstuff’s. Before the operation of the reciprocity treaty they imported entirely Canada flour, large quantities of which were forwarded through New York, in bond. Since this treaty has been in force we ship, exclusively, American flour. The operation of the act has thus been to change the character of the trade, and the provinces have become dependent upon the United States for their food, and their supplies cannot, in mid-winter, be suddenly cut off without entailing actual distress upon the community.