Litchfield enquirer., 1866-08-30
Hlisfiellal,,lp.
THE FREEDMEN

T. ,,,as,a >SkSks1lk1INltU. .t.E ii! :! I .lsa s,.s THE FREEDMEN -.sa x5
 LETTER FROM MAJoR-GEN HowARD-A YEARS l -s1'', '4- STATISTICS. ''5'A' ~t .''--' i 's B. 9lzs q -s Q. =E.' -zl=:sa! a.=a!5 | . r. General toward, Commissioner of the Freed
 mems Bureau, has written letter in answer l to questions propounded by member of Con gress, Tn which he gives full and clear ac-
 count of the operations of the bureau for the past year, s.:5 l. sHoHs 3& i'| vol :e'
 After sketching the general plan of the or
 ganization he speaks as follows of s.., ,2..:. lig.!d LABOR C0NTRACTs-a .,,,z.st.-,.. E Most of the freedmen through the South contracted to labor through the year 1865 for
 their old owners: through the instrumentaiity of the oficarsi; and of course all the business of contracting and settling the inuumerable questioasv arising at the end of the year be- tween employers and employees must be, set, l tied before bureau, tribunals. You Can get
 ssme idea of this task when I tell you that in Mississippi alene contracts affecting the inter este of sover fifty ithousand freedmen were set. tied before these courts. In many other states
 the number was still larger. At the beginning of the present year the contracting for labor 1 was conducted in about the same manner. as,
 most of the states had failed to adopt labor
 laws that could be approved at this office. ts | ;.. A universal complaint arose throughout the South last January that the freedmen would
 not work, and that calamities uLheard of were
 waiting for the people of the Sopth. A united
 effort was made on the part oi all the officers
 to secure harmonious relations between capi- tai and labor. ;,y, ,.,.e.s..,; s.,g..,...,, :.
 Officers entered the, field and personally la bored from plantation; to plantation. instruct; ing the freedmen as to- their duties, and dis abusing their minds of many extravagant mo- tions, explaining the true objects of this,
 ganization, and giving them practical instruc-
 ton aas to the methods by which they could
 rise socially and morally H:w sa sEoa a=t' The result of this labor can be seen in every
 newspaper account that comes from the South It is rarely that you see a complaint that freedmen will not wolk, or that the prospect for a crop is not good, so far as the labors of the freedmen can affect it's prosperity. In not
 few instances has this been admitted by the
 best men of the South. I have in my office many letters from the leading men (not politi-
 cia0s) bearing testimony to the great and good
 work performed by my officers in this way. I have made this review of the past labors
 of my officers in this branch of their duties, as
 it is the only part of their work that has de-
 creased. All other work, to which shall call
 your attention, is as necessary now as ever,
 and should be carried on with vigor. shall briefly allude to the present duties of bureau
 officers in the administration of justice, to show
 that they are still charged with an important trust. . s. --.,..y . . ... | h the states where civil government exists, | the agents of the bureau are instructed 10 act
 as the next friend of the freedmen in all courts,
 recognizing the supremacy of civil law, yet fclaimiDg the freedmen as wards of the govern
 ment covering them with the shield of the United States laws and bureau orders as far as possible, They are in every considerable
 town in the South, and are anthoriz d and i urged to protect the freedmen in this W way.- Any one acquainted with the southern people
 knows that the presence of an advocate repre-
 senting the United States government has 8 ! great effect upon j1dges and juries, and checks
 the exercise of unjust power, and the execu-
 tion of partial and oppressive laws." s..- 4 | gs i.s --acas - MARRIAGE sao.asa >lo2 it'5s l The feeling that the negroes are not bonnd to
 solemnize the rite of marriage (the Gen. says) still exists in many .places, and all the debas- I ing influence Ofeoncub ubinage would still disgrace the natlons Most of the states have legislated
 on this snbject,0 yet the sfreedlnen are to a
 great extent ignorant of the law, and need as- isistance in the sway.ef instruction. The white | citizens do not seem to take aninterest in in
 stlucting the freedmen in the proper execution E0f this statute. Bureau officers attend to this
 matter. N.S2 S' i2 S'i '-f t41S t-S- F'-- .e 1. 4.,-,. APPRENTICE LAWS. ,4 s,,-.,r The apprentice and syagranto laws of the
 states are used in many localities for the op-
 precision of the blacks, and anything less than
 the power with which an officer is now invest.
 ed would fail to secure the freedmen from the
 evil effects of these laws, executed by men who I fail to understand the rights ofthe freedmen. N'" CIVIL RIGHTS AND HOMESTEAD LAWS. @, |, The Civil Rights bill passed by Congress 1 intended to protect the Union men of the South and freedmen would at present fail in
 its objects without bureau officers to aid in ex l tending it's provisions to all parts of the tstates. The bill extending to the freedmen ol the South the benefits of the homestead law is materially aided in it's execution by bureau of ! fcers. who gather information of the lands
 and explain to the freedmen the advantages
 to be secured by this wise law, bsvsidss ssss 1 ii suaiia,a RATIoNs. iaHGs saEas 5sssg $
 r The following are the statistics with refer II onCe tO tHe bunfDer Ut EatIOuS iSsutu U W9itcs | and, blacks for one year From June |. 1865
 te, June l, 1866, 2 50l ,767 rations were issued
 10 whites, and 7,l4l ,0l2 issued to freedmen. {
 Another fact worthy aof notice is in the lgradual decline in the number of rations re- feeived by freedmen. while there was, a con stant increase of dependent <vhites'', Two hun
 ared thousand more rations were issued to
 whites in May, sl8e6s the last month in the ta- ble, than in any other mouth Throughout fthe South the issued of rations to whites and Iblaeks is now about equal. The average nm. iherofpeople aided daily by this issue is about B 4l5, ,000.I "A great deal has been done in the way of clothing to the extremely destitute by
 distribetionl of old army clothing and goods captured from the enemy. as ssg alos1 las4 sds MEDICAL WORK 60 ------
 ,,1 The medical work aof the bureau has beer performed ini shefaees of many obstacles; ye, sHhe bene6tst to the freedmen hasiheen ancalcu si hblso The following figures will give som,
 idea of the work.