than to render certain the great injury to the Confederate Government and the inhabitants of this section of country that will certainly follow the destruction of all means of internal communication. I think and believe that the several railroads and their equipments can be rendered useless to the enemy for many montsh without their entire destruction by fire--perhaps for as long a period as would be necessary for them to reconstruct and re-equip the roads with the means at their command--and at the same time remain of very great value to our people and Government if our armies should reoccupy this section of country at any time during the approaching fall or winter.

I suggest for your favorable consideration the following plan of disabling the roads and their equipments, which, in my opinion, would be quite as effectual for all practical purposes as destruction by fire. Take, for instance, the Central road, with which I am better acquainted than any other. There are upon this road more than 30 bridges of various dimesnions with intervening embankments. Between Canton and Goodman, a distance of twenty-eight miles, there are 101 wooden bridges. Place the equipments oat different places on the line of road remote from depots and between the bridges to be burned; then disable engines and cars by taking from them portions of most difficult consstruction, a dn these put at a distance removte from the engines, and in such places as may be thought most secure. In addition to this, remove as much of the iron rail as can be speedily done, and remove it as far as possible from the place from which it is taken. Thsi done, the engines could not be speedily repaired without being moved to machine shops, and they could not be moved until the road was repaired, which would necessarily involve much time. This done, and should it hereafter so happen that the Confederate armies should reoccupy the country, there would remain something upn which to ebuild and re-equip the road. If it is destroyed by fire, all hope of its reconstruction will expire with the flames that destroy them. There are upon the Central road first-class engines, worth at the present timein the Confederate States $900,000. These destroyed, money could not replace them until after the restoration of peace. In the meantime, both public and private interest will suffer for want of the articles thus destroyed, and the people will mouirn for the needless sacrifice of their private interest. For these and other reasons that could be advanced I hope no order may be given for the entire destrocution of the equipments of this company, and ask in its behalf that it maay not be done so long as there exists other as effective means of preventing its use by the enemies of our country. While I do not question the impressions of commanding officers that the destruction of railroads and their equipments prevents the rapid advance of the armies of our enemies by destroying their means of obtaining supplies, yet I think it would be difficult to point to an instance when such destruction has retarded their progress only for a short period of time, while such destruction has involved theloss of many millions of dollars to our people without beneficial results. What I ask for and in behalf of the [road] with which I am officially connected, I ask for and in behalf of all the railroads in your department. Again I ask that no order be given for the destruction of our equipments by fire until at least all other means of rendering it useless to the enemy shall have been exhausted.

Yours, respectfully,

W. GOODMAN,

President.

[24.]