Official Correspondence of Confederate State Department.
[CONTINUED].
Letters from Honorable J. P. Holcombe.
Hon. J. P. Benjamin, Secretary of State, C. S. A.:
Sir—I have very little to communicate since my last dispatch. Some ten or twelve more men have been sent on to take the boat which leaves for Bermuda next week. It is apparent, from all the information I receive, that very few remain who are willing to return at once to the discharge of their duty. There will, however, always during the existence of the war be small parties to be forwarded who have escaped into Canada and who are anxious to rejoin the army. As these will generally consist of brave and enterprising men, I am trying to make some permanent arrangement to furnish them in the most economical way with the necessary means. For this purpose I propose to leave as much as five thousand dollars in the hands of B. Weir & Co., to carry interest until used, to defray these expenses; and to employ discreet and responsible persons in Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Saint Catherine Windsor, and other points likely to be reached by our men, whose interest in the cause will induce them to take the requisite precautions to prevent imposition and to advance the price of transportation until reimbursed by Mr. Weir. Experience has shown us that our escaped prisoners are too improvident in general to be entrusted with money, and I am organizing a system by which tickets for transportation and necessary board to Halifax can be furnished them by our agents. The isolation, both commercial and political, of these Provinces, and the number of distinct lines over which the men must be passed, render this a tedious and somewhat troublesome task. As soon as it has been accomplished I shall return via Bermuda to the Confederacy.
I have the honor, &c.,
Hon. J. P. Benjamin, Secretary of State, C. S. A.:
Sir—Since my last dispatch I have visited all the points in Canada at which it was probable any escaped prisoners could be
