Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1866-05-16
TERMS OF ADVERTISING.
,ss aseeamen's Bureau IN the South-Report Of
Generals Ste oman and Fullerton,

The report of Generals Steedman aud Flu
}ayton. tho commissioners appointed to inves-
,s,c ,..le workings Of the Freedmen's Bureau
~ ;hc Gou.hera States, in regard to their OBJ
~ory4;icns in Virginia aud North Carolina,
2a;es thai large unmaer Of the freedmen
Ubo are COW dependent upcn the Government
;oc support wouii BE- able 20 earn living if
.emoeed 10 localities where labor could be pro-
erred, enc no. collected as now, in many cases
IN ioeaIi!ies where the land is unproductive
end etrn.aDd Tor sbor lImi ted; ;and hat aslong
a.r.lnf fi- extended TO the able Uudied as we'll as
,as he pless, the for:ner will not change their
joca,ion 70 procure employment. They found
ihst i; those districts 10 Virginia and North
raro!loa where he atfSui:s Of the Bureau had
been 44ithfnlly and lnpartiaiiy admins; cred by
men Of souud sense and Judgement, there had
beer 10 cohhjct between the agents of the Bu-
reau and the citizens; and that whe' ever the
AGENTS we're not men of capacity aud integrity,
every unsatisfactory state OF things existed
They state that It is not certain whether the
efe:t OF the operations OF he Bureau is to pro-
note in lustTy o. ldtcue-s among the treeduen
that prudent anG Industrious freedmen rarely
cal! &pun the Bureau ior ASST stance, and that it
IS lhe idle ani worthless who look 10 it Tor sup
port; that q mass OF the negroes have an idea
tha. the Bureau possesses some mysterious
power to serve tbe'n, and that, in case they
are unable 20 o0,a!n u livelihood as they desire,
they can al back upon i0 ioc support. The
report says:
These IDEAS, j; will De readily seen, lessen
their ctfotts 70 procure employment aud to
support tht mselves and their f,miIiss. They
IL Il b.. ct tb,R
dencc that the Government looks upon the
whire people of the South as their enimies,
g7hich is calculated 10 excite suspicion and bad
feeling on their part. -.,..r
They state that they discovered no hostility
among the white people Of Virginia to the
cducaton Of the freedmen. In several local.
ties, more especially az Lynch burg ard Char
lottesrlIe, where they thoroughly examined
into this jcct, the people ware taking much
interest IN the establishment OF schools for their
educatioo. giving Us a reason Tor their efforts in
this direction that educated labor was preferable
10 uneducatad labor, which sentiment they
believe prevails throughout the State.
Inap0hcr part Of The report; in regard to
Virginia, they say: ....
At the close OF the war, in the chaotic con-
lition in which society was left, in the entire
absence of all civil authority, tie judicious and
sensible officers Of the Bureau, supported BY the
military, exercised good influence, and did
much to preserve order and assist in the organ
nation OF free labor The res! Grafton OF civil
law and the recognition the civil rights of the
freedmen, as evidenced BY the changes made by
the Legislature in the l.ws ofVirgnia-g
them the right to hold property. to sue and be
sued, and to testify II the courts iD all cases in
which they may he interested, "a gratifying
them on the Part Of ;bc whites,) render the
heelmen. il our opinion, perfectly secure, il
left to the care u tie law and the protection Of
The TrrOnc ....-.