I received last night your letter containing report of Mr. Mann in regard to the conditions existing at the Convict camp near Waterville on the South Atlantic and Westerb R.R. line.

It is most unfortunate that Mr. Mann did not see some of us who are familiar with the conditions of our R.R. so that we could have explained to him certain conditions that no doubt seemed very unsatisfactory.

As was shown in our fight before the Committees during the last session of the Legislature we have spent a very large sum of money on this road and while we are not at the present maintaining any force in addition to the convicts other than three men still we are carrying on our negotiations just as actively as ever and with what now seems a certainty of success.

It is absolutely neccessary to the success of our enterprise that we continue to have the support of the State as evidenced by the convicts being kept on the work and to take them away now, or in fact to raise the question of taking them away would greatly prejudice, if not absolutely kill all hopes of our success.

I am informed by Mr. W. H. Stayton that he is making great and satisfactory progress with the work abroad and that he is very hopeful that he will be able to have the bankers authorize a statement that our bonds are sold inside of thirty days from now, if not sooner and I know of my own knowledge that he and others are putting up large sums of money to carry on the work along the line of financing the proposition and holding our optioned lines in our control and it is all based on the present prospect of closing our negotiations inside of a few days.

Conservative men like T. F. Davidson, Frank Hewitt and others have within the last few weeks advanced monies for this work and they are doing so because they feel certain of the success of the undertaking if left alone.

Now, Governor, I do not mean to say that the road will certainly be built if the convicts are left with us, it is within the bounds of possibility that the contracts may fall through, but the probability is that we will have every contract signed up in side of thirty days, I will say, however, that if the convicts are taken away from us just now that the proposition will be killed thereby and we will lose all that we have put in and the State will lose one of its most certain means of reducing freight rates and discriminations that we are now suffering from, in other words the Council of State are not in the position of building this road by any action of theirs, but they have the power of absoltely destroying any chance that we have of so doing.

We therefore want to urge that no action be taken at present about the convicts and that we be gvien a short time more in which to demonstrate that we have succeeded in getting the money to build our road.

Many men may not understand the enormous amount of work and time it takes to secure the millions of dollars needed to build this road, but you gentlemen who have had financial dealings of great magnitude can well understand the neccessary delays we have met and have been able to over come so far and it would indeed be most unfortunate for us and for the State if our work covering many years and many hundreds of thousands of dollars of hard cash should be destroyed jst as the goal of our hopes is in sight.

I am sure that no unfavorable action would be taken by the Council of State after they hear our side of the proposition, but I hope that we will not be put to the expense of coming to Raleigh and appearing before the Council of State after you have read what Gen. Davidson has to say in his letter to you.