Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1866-03-13

ern ALABAMA. the successfuI cAnuidateS
were either officers of the rebel army or
active and working rebels. Reports of
frauds in certain Districts in elections
were forwarded to me, and Isuppose are
now on file in the EAdjutant Generals
Office, The charge was that improper
persons were permitted to vote. 1t was
substantially as understood in that State
IN to this time Union men and freed
men have not, to any great extent, been
in danger Of their lives 4Bnt few in-
stances of personal violence have been
reported to me. Generally speaking,
the presence Of United States troops,
and officers of the Freedmenss Bureau,
has been sufficient TO put down any dem
onstrations of hostility. l do not think it
would be expedient to remove the troops
until the people show that theyare them
selves willing and determined to exc
cute civil law with impartial justice to ell
parties. / think public sentiment is di-
vided on the subject of allowing freed
men to become freeholders. / have
heard Of no legislation on that subject
either to empowerthem TO become free
holders or TO prohibit them from becom~
ing such IL the national troops and.
Freedmen's Bureau were to be with
drawn from the State at this. time, I
dou't believe the Union men or, the
freedmen could have Justice done them.
Injustice toward them would commence
10 suits in courts for petty ofenses, and
neighborhood combinations to annoy
them so muehftbat they could not reside
among them. / am satisfied, until
better state of feeling shall arise, that if
all restraint should be removed, the
freedmen would be thrown back into a
condition Of virtual slavery; that is,
they would be compelled by legislative
enactments to labor for little or no wa
ges, and legislation would assume such
form that they would not dare, to leave
1heir employers for fear Of punishment;
and unless men who had been Union
men through. the war, had very strong
| personal friends, they could not live in
the Statei they would be annoyed so
much in various ways that they could
not live in any peace or comfort. think
emigrants from abroad would be kindly
received, but / think emigrants from
the North, or Union men, would be
I GQt0ty kCCcsNG0 anu LTC8lCQ Win luutlcE~
ence. | don't know whethersany effort
has been made or not TO ascertain
Whistler the negroes would Be willing to
remove to any territory assigned TO them,
| If that was to be done, but from my
knowledge of negro character, think
they would object to it. | think the mass
of them desire 10 continue to live in
their old neighborhoods, aud with their
old masters-inyariably, where they have
been treated well as slaves / was born
in Southern State, and reared, to the
age of nineteen, in that country. Since
have been in the army my service has
been mostly in the Southern States, aud
on the frontier bordering on. Southern
States. There is no danger of trouble
from the negroes remaining where they
are, unless the whites treat them 50 bad.
ly that they are compelled, in self.de-.
Tense, to rise up against them. There is
one section Of Alabama where the peo-
pie, under the direction of philan-
thropic gentleman of that State, have
gone to work themselves to establish a
Freedmen's Court, or something equiva-
lent to it, through which they propose to
administer fair and impartial justice be-
tween the employers and fther negroes,
land they have ALSO undertaken to estab-
lish schools for the instruction of ne.
groes, and for education in the primi-
tive branches of knowledge. The dis
position of the negroes for education is
universal, especially among the younger
portion of them. Their capacity for re-
ceiving Instructions has not been fully
developed, but from all that i can learn
from conversation with different persons,
they POSSESSES fair capacity for acquiring
knowledge. / think the second genera
ton can be instructed much more easily
and thoroughly than the present one,
because, in a measure, the mind of the
negro is antirely developed at the present
time, except in matters of practical OBJ
servation. think, in many instances
where negroes have been assured that
they would be paid fair wages, they have
gone TO work willingly, and have con-
tinued at work as long as the contract
has been faithfully performed on the
part of their employer. Is do not think
Georgia differs materially from Alabama.
There may be somewhat more of per-
sonsL hatred toward the negro in his re-
lation as freedman, bat as yet it has been
easily controlled through the Fseedmen's
Bureau, and that feeling 10 constantly
improving in all the States. The people
of Mississippi appear TO me to be more
impulsive and more prone to stand up
for and assert their opinions. It is
difficult matter to describe the difference
between the people of these two States,
yet there ia difference. I consider the
people of Mississippi the least promising.
The people of that State do not listen TO
argument aud discussion with as mnch
calmness as the people of Alabama do.
/ don't know that can give decided
opinion of the difference In the state of
feeling in those States now and lust after
Lees surrender, because the reports 7
received soon after Lee surrender were
generally from persons who travelled
.hurriedly through that section. of The
country. i think in the great maioritv
of cases they were disposed to look %
the most favorable side Immediately
after the surrender Of Lee and the down
fall of the Confederacy, and perhaps thew
did not investigate as closely as persons
would at the present time. The uni
V6EHAd GcpQEt 400C ~ lac NY PERSONS
travelling through those States at that
time was to the effect that the mass of
the people were very happy at the down
fall of the rebellion, and st their pros
pect of soon again getting under the
Constitution and Government of the
United States.
@ Do you know anything from in
formation or report of secret organiza-
tons South, said TO be hostile to The
Government
A. have received several eommu-
nications to that effect; but persons who
have given me this information. have
desired their names should not be men.
toned and as yet no direct accuse.
tons have been made in regard to any
person or any class of persons. There
have been steps taken to ascertain the
truth of the matter. The persons who
are in contamination With me are relia-
BILE and. truthful. and / believe their
statements are correct in the main, but
how far this disaHection extends 1 am
yet unable to say. Ii does exist to
certain extent, and am taking meas