New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1865-07-24


a New.York journGl-one that cannot be sus-
pected of prejudice in favor of the negroes
some accounts of affairs in South Caro-
lima that seem to lis to require attention at Wash
Ii rg,on. IL is stated that the freedmen of the
plantations on the east branch Of Cooper River,
a, a general rule have refused to sign contracts
approved BY Gen. Hatch" Was that crime
on their part Has Gen. Hatch authority to
compel the freedmen to sign such contracts a.
he approvesl But In consequence OF that
refusal the most absurd reports were started
50 absurd as to he ridiculed even BY pro-
Slavery correspondent-that the negroes were
going to take possession of the city, Kill Gen.
Hatch, pillage the plantations, and other the Ike
dreadful things These reports were made the
basis of extraordinary military action. Gen
Hatch sent q steamer with troops to stop the
frcedmen; and also other steamers with troops
TO various points on Cooper and Ashley Rivers,
with instructions to land if necessary,
ard Keep the freedmen from leaving the
plantations along the Ashley and Cooper
and on james Island aud from the northern
side"
But although this might be justified at an eX-
IRENE precaution, what follows cannot.
"Gen. Hatch also issued orders to cavalry
company at Orangcburg TO repair TO tho east
branch of Cooper River to make the freedmen
observe tho contracts ordered by the Depart
lnent and accepted by the planters. The cav
airy were also ordered to disarm all tho insub-
ordinate and compel them to go to work"
Now it IL very clear that to compel the freed
men to observe contracts is no part OF the mill
tary duty of any commander. Men-eyen
black men-arc not to be styled "insubordinate'
merely because they decline to complete con-
tracts 10 which they never bound themselves
or contracts of any kind; and it is evident that
in this instance, the wild rumors Of disorder aud
plots furnished the pretext for extending mill
tary measures beyond their proper scope.
We are in no haste to ceusure Gen. Hatch
We have recently had occasion to praise him
for issuing a very good order aboshing the
peonaee system which the Shareholders OF
Carolina were seeking 10 establish. The teSt-
mony in regard TO his disposition toward The
freedmen is somewhat conflicting but we are
not dis posed to SAY anything worse Of him than
this: that his ideas of the relations between
tho planters and the freedmen and
of his duty as military commander
are confused. In the instances above quoted
they are wholly wrong. II is not Gen. Hatch's
business to control the movements oil the freed
mon. except so far rs is necessary to preserve
order within his district. He has no right
whatever to compel the freedman to observe
contracts agreed on between himself and The
planters-contracis in the making of which the
party most interested had no hand.
| We are at loss to understand how Gen.
| Hatch, who il simply the military commander Of
! he Northern District Of the Department o. the
South. ge,s possession OF the class of subjects
with which he is dealing. Where is the Freed
mems Bureau with it, Commissioner and As
sis;ant Commissioner To that Bureau is COM
mitted by Act of Congress Of March 3, 1863, 'the
supervision and management Of all abandoned
lands and the control OF lsub relating ref
rgees and freedmen from Rebel States Gen.
Hatch is not ar officer OF that Bureau. while
Gen. SaxtcD is; yet it Is the former who is
meddng with the matters that belong to tho
Bureau, and Gen. Saxton has no control over
them.
We believe the difficulty TO be that the
Freedmen's Bureau has the legal right, while
Gen. Hatch and other military commanders
have the military power. Gen. Howard, who ii
at the head of the Bureau, or Gen. SaIton, who
/ has charge of the States Of South Carolina and
Georgia, docs not command single soldier,
and either Of them is pOwerless TO enforce the
orders which it is his right aud duty to issue.
1t may he that the War Department published
general order that commanders Of departments
should assist the Commissioners Of the Bureau,
but it seems to have been neglected by the de-
partment commanders and never to have reached
their subordinatcs. The result is that tho lat
Bureau Commissioners, set up orders and sys-
tens Of their own, and the freedmen take thor
chances between the two. So far il has proved
u poor chance Zeal for tho negro il not COM
monty To DO looked for among army officers high
in command. BY three intelligent observers
who have lately returned from South Carol.ns,
wo are assured that the published accounts
from that State afford no indication Of tho real
state Of affairs; Of the REORGANIZATION, tho law.
lessness, the indifference, or, worse than that,
the strong disposition on tho part of military