The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1866-01-01

months or fine OF one hundred dollars, |
all other cases were to be referred to
competent military authority. Suisse
quently the assistant superintendents
were ordered to invite theewhites and
the freedmen of their respective sub
districts, each class to select itself asuit-
able person to assist in the performance
of this duty.
From the want of funds to employ CT
villains, the Bureau has been obliged to
depend, for the management OF Its az
fairs, almost exclusively upon details OF
officers and men from the army. Some
of these officers have been eminsntly
successful in the discharge OF their du-
ties, which are often very delicate and
difficult; but many of these details have
been of persons who had little sympa-
thy with the duties to which they were
assigned. The duties Of the Bureau be-
ing peculiar, and requiring experience
for their proper performance, injurious
results have followed the constant
changes in its officers, made necessary.
by the muster-Out of troops. But few
assistant superintendent have occupied
their positions for three consecutive
months, while in many sub-districts the
changes have been more frequent.
Notwithstanding these obstacles to a
uniform and efficient administration Of
the affairs of the Bureau, important
progress has been made in the work
undertaken.
The late slaves have been fully pro-
tected- in their rights as freedmen, and
the exceptional instances where their
rights were for time denied are no
| longer heard of. 1t is believed that there
| is not within the state a person who
does not understand and successfully
assert his rights to freedom. The ex-
traordinary eagerness of the freedmen
for the advantages of schools has been
met, as far as the resources Ofthe Bureau
and the charitable zeal of its friends
abroad would allow. There are at
present about eleven thousand five han
dred pupils receiving instruction. from
one hundred and ninety-five teachers.
| Numerous urgent appeals have come
| from remote and isolated localities for
| teachers and books, to which it has been
4 impossible to respond, for want of school
| rooms and suitable quarters forteacher4
Their progress i'm learning Is such as
would warrant much larger expendi-
ture in money and effort. Many zciti-
zens, adhering to the ideas and customs
of the past, strongly oppose these move
4 ments, while others endorse and en-
courage them. The sentiment of the
community is gradually changing in
favor of educating the freedmen.
The irritation existing between the
whites and the freedmen Immediately
after the cessation of hOstilities has
greatly abated, and instances of person
al violence are becoming more rare.
There is, however, much for the citi.
zens to learn in regard to the best man.
agement of free labor, and much for the
late slaves to learn in regard to their ,du.
ties as freedmen. The attempt to intro
duce the contract system, so essential tC
the reorganization of the labor of the
II States, is embarrassed by many diff
! culties. The master has been unaccns
toned to sustain to the lab0rer the re-
, lation which this system implies, ant
seeks to retain by contract much of thu
power which the slave system formerly
, gave him, and the freedman has yet K
: learn properly to appreciate the obliga
tions which he assumes in making ;
q contract. A further embarrassment il
! found i'm the excess of labOring popula
: ton over the supply of profitable labor
! II il impossible for the employers, ever
: with the best intention, to give all tn
II iaooioce 1".n sS:I; s',;re ~ 4, ~,
d that OF tne'' '.,''''eT teiu,tV Ia .sho,I
70 new sli@1 i tis's H. ai,,,a,io. fro,;
renleaieu "ltl'oL 'lio ii.G.,,I ,.aod
then. = os H' toast ~ . - ''4'''''
q The disposition 10 roam from plac
:. to place, and especially TO leave th
4 country for towns and camps, is Amos
: entirely corrected; there Is very lf.'
y changing of location, except w'ion %
= cessary to provide the means Of subsi.
70 tence., They are generally coptente
i with such arrangements for tiieif SCI
q, vices as. cAll be nade and are eekin
rs home aud employment that promise |
, 10 permanent,
n The capacity Of the frosdmelt 81 Nir
r. gina 10 take care OF themselves eve
y under adverse circumstances, is bes
A. shown tlfe southeastern part of tn
4 iState 81 luliugvthe war nearly sevent
!, tliousand''wefe gathered here, on
j. a limited territory, u extreme destitu
D. ton, and yet ~ as time only fou
e. thousand for hundred and twelve al
at reoeivin. government aid, and abor
= one f-.if OF their number are OF the fan
G. Lies OF soldiers. Many have rented G
O. purchased comfortable homes, som
have saved considerable sums ofmoney
at and nearly five thousand of their chi
u dren decently clad, and furnished wit
n books of their own purchasing, are a
a, tending schools.
In During the month OF July, it was In
o.. possible to ascertain tho number of II