Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1866-03-14

Administration; / attended meehng
OF the ueopIe IL fewdapenipgs hterwerd,
and Addressed -hefn; II said fuid
not believe it could be possslois
that Governor Wells had received |
apv authority from President johnson to |
make sncF1 REPRESENTATIONS as he had; 1
encouraged Union men TO organize and |
r., register the names OF such colored
nersons as we're authofized TO vote I'M
dsr the Constitution of the State; / said
that of course votes of coiored people
would be rejected; but urged them to
have them registered and their votes Of
fered, and then ifimembers of Congress,
elected BY the rebel element, should pre-
sent themselves for admission into Con-
,gresa, T. knees not one Of them would get
their seats. Ny speech seemed TO en-
courage the Upion people very much;
but Gov. Wells went to work immediate
IL to remoye from Office loyal people and
to fill their places with returned rebel
officers and men Of the worst class See
ing how matters were going, 1 made ar
rangements with aman TO furnish me an
account of changes that had been made
during the day, and st my request table
was PtCPnkSuI SOVSttA6 eofSAoAs +1@t 81
sheets Of paper, giving the names Of
officers appointed by Gov. Hahns who
had been removed5 also. the names Of
those appointed BY Gov Wells. Irecol-
lect, distinctly, that one man was ap
pointed 10 high position who had Kept
| bIoodhouuds, during the rebellion, with
which Union men had been hunted to
death. Al the time Twas there, NANNY
Union men, who had heen compelled to
leave their homes, in different parts Of
| Louisiana, felt it necessary to remain
/ within reach of the military for their
protection, and were unable to return to
their homes in safety. ra...... ..a Fl ss.idsr
@ Have you this table Of which you
have spoken, or Q copy Of III -
A. I have not; but recoilect dis
timely that u stated IN nay report that
\ the tables would show over 100 rebel
officers who had been appointed to posi-.
tons under Gov Wells.
@. Was there any change IN public
sentiment while you was IN Louisiana?
A. There was q very marked change
| even among those who bad returned
from the rebel armies; after they came
home and found Governor Wells on their
eide, and their friends daily receiving
appointments from him, there seemed to
be great change in their feelings; ]
had opportunities of learning q great
deal OF this; boarded where q large
number of officers of Kirby Smiths army
were boarding; it was the custom after
dark for boardefs 10 sit upon the large
| rcrchjn front of ahe hotel they bad no
|. lights; there heard adnch Of Che con
| versation Of these rebel officers and rebel
citizens; their plans seemed to be TO
hurry and get ready to vote; coneeqnent-
I1y they were every day being registered;
had no money to pay the necessary tax,
but it was furnished them; they were
| willing TO take the oath of allegiance to
the State Of Louisiana, but not tosthe
/ United States, since my return have
obtained Trustworthy information, that
of the whole number registered there
come 5000 or 7,000--only about 1900
! took the oath of allegiance To the. United
States. One reason why devoted SO
much attention to affairs in Louisiana,
was that half dozen other States would
be affected by the course which Louisiana
might pursue. / conversed with loyal
mensfrom the States Of Mississippi and
4 Alabama; they expressed deep inter
est In having correct policy fnaugu-
rated in Louisiana, ON account of the
effect it would have on their own States.
Many Of the loyal men whom IvmeEin
i New Orleans seemed to lack confidence
in being protected BY the Government,
and I was frequently asked if became
convinced they were to be abandoned to
the rebel element, to notify them in time
to get away, more especially If the troops
of the United States were to3he with
drawn; they said il the troops were with
drawn they could not live there. After
my return North / received letter from
a very, Intelligent man, informing me
that be bad returned toShis.old home,
but had been compelled to 90, back to
New Orleans as,the condition OF things
was as bad "a during the rebellion, and
getting worse every day. 80
@. How lang did you remain in Loui-
sana2 .EXs4Inkg
A. I was there about three. weeks; ;
when first arrived there called upon
Gov. Wells and had considerable con-
sersatiou with him. Y He said the Gov
ernment must pay for slaves. that had
been emancipated; he also said that the
| Government. must remove the col0red
population to Mexico or somewhere else
| @. What was the condition, of the
freedmsn in Louisiana, so far IS came
under yonr observation 2 80
| Al visited many of the lower plan
tations in the State, in company with
Mr.. Conway, the head of the Freedmen 9
Bureau in Louisiana.,and i must cay
found lihe freedmen working well. 4
have conversed with them On planta-
tionss in order to ascertain If they I'M
derstood their present position, and
found that they did. have conversed
with their employers wherever ] vent,
and / never heard one ofthem say freed
men did NOT work Is well as when they
were slaves, but did not find q planter
who said he paid regular wages To- those
be employed; the highest wages being,
so far asI could find, So q month and
support, aud from that down to much
less; 1 found, however, that m any of the
freedmen had want of confidence in
their former masters; the old masters
were not inclined to treat them differ
/ ~~NAy @ACNA WuRt t1SI di0 WuNu t1C1
were slaves, and they, knowing they
were free, were not willing to submit to
any such treatment; old planters were
very unwilling to come down and make
bargains in good faith with those who
had been slaves. Throughout the Mis-
sissippi Valley the best crops of corn I
saw were those on land farmsd by ae-
/ groes for themselves; about 10000 OF
them have been employed for the last
/ year in that way on about that number
of acres ofland near Vicksburg, includ.
ing Davis Bend.
i Q What seemed to be the disposition
among the freedmen to work where they
were well treated and assured of receiv.
ing proper compensation9 " ~
A. cannot recollect single instance
where man who employed them himself
did not admit that freedmen were willing
to work as we'll as they ever did, if they
had reasonable assurance of being paid.
4 O. What appeared 70 be the DISPOSE
ton among Shareholders in reference to
A. =