The tri-weekly news. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1865-1876, 1866-07-24
o. 0. Ffo@ARD,
Major,G General.
EXECUTIVE DEpARTMENT.' s. G.,
COLUMBIA, July 8, 1866. e,

General: Il have the honor to ac.
knowledge the receipt Of your letter of
the Sd inst, informa@ m4,that there
was trustworthy Testimony as to the
suffering Tor want OF food by the poor III
South Carolina, Of both riices and that
General Sickles had disapprovcd of thr
ration return upon my statement That
the want IS very much exaggerated. has
just been received, and hasten to re-
ply, with a view of correcting any mis-.
apprehension on the subject growing ont
Of my conversation with General Sick.
les. There is II great need ol disiribu.
ting rations through the 3Frcedmen's
Bureau III every district b. the State.
In some, the necessity is gHa,cr than in
others, and what | intenaShto impress
upon General Sickles was thsl appllca.
,Ions were made by many persons, white
and color"d, who were not lit subject of
relief and that, if all the stories which
were told of the officers of the Bureau in
different sections were To bc credited,
the distribution would embrace too
wide II raGge.
regret that Gen. Sickcs sl.onll have
understood from me that the necessity
Tor lsslung ratlons TO very many people.
white and colorrd, had passed. AS
early rs March last an estimate was
made in Chesterfield Districr, and it was
found that there were only sevca bush.
els OF corn to Zach pcsron in the district.
Without feeding amy portion Of this to
the stock, The supply was inadequate to
bread the people. Olhrr districts are
urarly rs destitute. In Pickrns, am
informed that some 600 families are
wlhont sufficient supplies Of breads,uils.
The scarcity is also great. i'll BarnwciI,
Beaufort Colleton clarendon, vii.
iinmsburg, Lexington, Sparlanbnrg Ian.
caster, Richland, Fairfield and Kcrs aw,
aud the local authorities, Cannot possibly
furnish the needy. The tax levied lOr
the support Of the poor is direct tax,
and IL happens tha, in those sections
where the scarcity is mos: felt the gene
r%! population are least able to pay Il
local tax, and hence there are thousands
i'll the Statc, white and colorah, who
must suffer for The commoncSt means Of
subsistence unless rations are issued from
your Bureau, and regret extremely
that any opinion of mine should have
been 50 understood as TO Justify or re.
qnire The suspension of the issue Of the
rauonS which it was proposed to distr
butte iii this State. My object and in
tenlion WAS simply TO guard against the
issue TO persons without a claim, and
thereby increase idlehess and vagabond-
ism. Doubtless | did not sufficiently
explain my views, and Gen. Sickles was
justified in reaching the conclusion he
did.
A month ago it was generally believ.
ed that about the time of The wheat
harvest an average crop would be made,
bnt since tho crop has been thrashed
! out 1t is found not to exceed half an
average crop, and far less relief will be
furnished the needy from that source
than had anticipated. / therefore
earnestly request that yon will have the
rations issued as estimated for by your
agents in the State, and which was dis
approved by Gen. Sickles Proper
instructions to distributing agents s,mav
be- ifthsv have not already been given,