State Of North Carolina to J. A. Seddon, February 17, 1864

Hon. J. A. SEDDON, Secretary of War:

DEAR Sir: You will see by the inclosed letter from J. M. Seixast the result of my efforts to get back the cotton loaned the Confederate Government and which you ordered to be returned. It amounts practically to a refusal of payment and to a stoppage of my shipments altogether, as it is utterly impossible to get a train to bring cotton from Georgia or anywhere else. If the Confederate Government is determined to impose upon the owners of these steamers the tax of one-third their capacity it seems unreasonable to deprive them of the means of running them altogether. -That I have been always anxious to accommodate the General Government in every possible way I think may be safely asserted, but that I have been disinterested in doing so my reward will testify beyond a doubt.

very respectfully,