The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1866-03-21
The Testimony of Maj .-Gen. Thomas.

length before the Reconstruction Commit
tee. He is a Nirginian by birth, OF Demo
cratic antecedenis, and has kept from the
commencement of his brilliant career is a
general to the present time, entirely aloof
from politics. As modest ~ brave. the
hero OF Chickamauga and Nashville has a
strong hold on the hearts of the American
people. Whatever he says upon the cOudi-
tion Of affairs at the South will be received
az the truth, by men of all degrees Of pOlit-
ical opinion. He testifes as TO the condi-
ton of affairs in Georgia, Mississippi and
Alabama which are portion of the depart
ment at the present time under his control
With regard to the latter State, he says -
81 am satisfied that until better State of
feeling shall arise there if all restraint
should be removed, the freedmen would be
thrown back into a condition OF actual
slavery-that is. they would be compelled
to work for little or no wages, and the leg
islati0n would assume such a form, that
that they would not dare 80 leave their en-
plOyers for fear of punishment" When
asked how il would he with Union men. he
replied that unless they had warm personal
friends, they could Rot live in the state.
He thinks 'while emigrants from abroad
would be treated kindly those from the
North would be treated coldly. or w.h in
difference" He also thinks there - no
danger 10 be feared from the negroes. .-an-
less the whites treat them SO badly as TO
compel them 10 rise in self-defence." He
also thinks the disposition is universal
among the blacks to acquire an education.
and that they possess a fair capacity TO
acquire knowledge, and says that in every
instance where they have been promised
fair wages, they have willingly gone to /
work, and have continued TO work, 80 long
as the contract has been faithfully per
formed on the part Of the employer
In relation TO Tennessee and the opera I
tons Of the Freedmen's Bureau, he believes I
1t would be dangerous at present to re- I
move the national troops, to restore the +
writ Of ha5eas corpus and to abolish mar
tial law in Tennessee" He says the condi- I
ton Of the freedmen in Tennessee Is fagor-
able, and that ''if the affairs Of the Freed +
mems Bureau can be administered for
another year as they have been for six
months past, mutual confidence would be .
restored between the whites and the blacks /
aud am very much in hopes that the freed /
men could then be left 10 the protection Of
their labor, by the good sense Of the State ~ I
He says the administration of that bureau 4
under Gen. Fisk, Of this State. meets with
his approval
Such testimony from such source. can
not he gainsayed. The loyal people of the
South still need protection. and the blacks
have no safety except under the watcbtul
eye Of the Freeimen's Bureau. upheld hv
the loyal regiments under his command
Time alone is needed for the freedmen 10
feel that education and the hard earnings
OF toll are both his by right and BY law.
Time and its teachings will convince both
whites and blacks OF their safety under the
new state Of society. and the necessity of
mutual forbearance. The lesson learned
the guardianship can then be safely with.
drawn, and in such States as Tennessee
within year Let US have patience tban
while this problem is worked out into some
thing tangible and real, upon which We can
look With trust, conddiDg in its stability
Anu permanence- Nothing so far has 50
clearly demonstrated the necessity for tho
p'esen' oil maintaining our forces where
. .Sey are stationed, or the certainty that I
'ney gan soon be withdrawn, as the unan-
Thomas. ''''''' "'"''"'