| State of North Carolina, Executive
Department |
| Raleigh |
| February --, 1865 |
| |
| His Excellency Governor Smith |
| |
| Dear Sir, |
| Your letter, in answer to
mine inclosing a resolution of the General Assembly of this State in
relation to the subject of the transportation of salt, has been
received, covering statement of Mr. J. N. Clarkson, superintendent,
&c. The General Assembly was on point of adjourning when it was
read, and therefore could take no action in regard thereto. The
special committee on salt, however, to whom I submitted your
communication, desired me to express for them their satisfaction as
to its explanations, and to say that they considered their previous
action as hasty. I desire, Governor, to add expressions of my own
regret for any hasty condemnation of the action of the constituted
authorities of your State calculated to impair those friendly and
intimate relations which have and should exist between North
Carolina and Virginia. Whilst I cannot say that the requirement
levied upon foreign trains by your Board of Public Works to
transport salt for the Confederate States is unreasonable, it is yet
open to the objection that, as we understand it, Virginia is
furnishing the Confederacy salt by contract, and that we should not
be required to assist in filling Virginia's contracts; and, further,
that the trains we sent there to haul for North Carolina were hired
at a cost of $200 per day, and we were compelled to pay full freight
on every bushel of salt beside. This, you will acknowledge, would
render it peculiarly hard on us, unless the State of Virginia or the
Confederate Government would pay all expenses of the fourth load. Of
that we could not complain. Again, one of the trains hired by this
State was required to haul wood for the furnaces of the Virginia
works, and, in case of refusal, was forbidden to run at all; so my
agent informs me. Of this no explanation was offered, and I must
suppose escaped your attention altogether. |
| It seems to me that this
requisition was entirely unreasonable and not to be allowed. I agree
with you in the opinion that there may be private axes to grind in
this matter of transportation of salt, but have not been able to
ascertain precisely where the fault lies. It is due to you to be
informed, however, that considerable quantities of salt have been
sold in various towns in this State by a Mr. Gilchriest, said to be
a partner or agent of Colonel Clarkson. Whether it be the salt of
that gentlemen or of the State of Virginia, I submit that its
transportation here shows a capacity of the Virginia roads to
transport more salt from Saltville than is required either by her
citizens or the Confederate Government; and to the extent that this
salt prevents North Carolina salt from coming forward we have the
right to complain. In regard to the order which I gave that no
supplies should go from this State to Virginia, I regret that you
regard it so harsh and unneighborly. I did nothing more than
verbally request our railroads not to transport provisions from this
State to yours, which I thought warranted by the order of your Board
of Public Works prohibiting our salt from coming over your roads
even on our own trains except upon such conditions as we deemed
unjust. Had I applied it only to supplies belonging to the State and
going in your State trains the order would have been precisely
similar, and I must be pardoned for adding -- just. I shall,
however, take great pleasure in revoking it, and shall hereafter
require trains from your State to do only the amount of
transportation here as is imposed upon ours in Virginia. I make no
allusion to the constitutional question raised in your letter, as a tu
quoque is a poor argument, and I earnestly desire that our
relations should have a deeper and more friendly foundation than the
requirements of the constitution, sacred as they should be. To make
some definite arrangement of this matter, I have authorized Mr.
Woodfin, our superintendent, to call and see you, and to make any
accommodation which may be just and right. He is fully posted as to
my own views and thoroughly conversant with the matters in hand, and
I hope he may be able to suggest such terms as will be acceptable to
you and profitable to both parties. |
| I am, Governor, very respectfully, yours, |
| Z. B. Vance |
|