Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward.
[Extracts.]
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of despatches Nos. 29, 30, and 31.
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Your despatch No. 30 includes copies of despatches 42 and 46 to Mr. Adams. These are of great interest, as they affect the question of our blockade of the southern ports. I never think it wise to volunteer a subject out of which complaints may arise before they are brought to my notice by the party likely to complain; but should occasion arise, I shall avail myself fully of the views suggested by you as to the purpose and object of the late act of Congress authorizing the President to close the ports by proclamation. But I very much fear that difficulties will grow up between us and Great Britain and France upon this question. Unless the ports are hermetically sealed by blockade, not by proclamation—if these countries get short of cotton, and we are not ourselves in possession of the interior—excuses enough will be made for breaking the blockade. The tone of the public press here indicates this; the private conversation of public men indicate it.
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With much respect, your obedient servant,
William H. Seward, Esq., &c., &c., &c.