the Secretary of the Navy, covering copies of the remainder of his correspondence with the Governor of North Carolina, relative to coal belonging to the steamer "Advance."
To the House of Representatives.
In response to your resolution of 24th December last, I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of War, which conveys the information requested, relative to the number of iron furnaces and forges worked by agents of the Government or by contractors during the year 1864, and to the cost per ton of the several kinds of iron furnished by them.
To the Senate and House of Representatives.
I herewith transmit for your consideration a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, covering an estimate for an additional appropriation required by the Department of Justice.
To the House of Representatives of the Confederate States of America.
I submit herewith to your honorable body a report from the Secretary of War, dated the 18th instant, exhibiting the condition to which the public service is now reduced by the want of means in the Treasury to furnish the supplies needful for the Army and for the public defense. The urgency for the passage of some revenue bill has now become so pressing as to threaten the gravest consequences. I am fully aware of the embarrassments which have retarded the action of the House in the performance of its exclusive constitutional function of originating a bill for raising revenue, and that the great diversity of opinion which must exist on so complex and difficult a subject has prevented the adoption of measures recommended by the Committee of Ways and Means of the House, as well as those recommended by the Secretary of the Treasury. I would, however, respectfully suggest that our af-
