Evening star., 1866-08-10
fHEFREEDMEN's BUREAU.
RepAsa Of Generals Steedman and Fuller.

ton.
Generals Steedman and Fullerton, the COM
mlssloners appoiEted 10 in Hyesugate the opera
tons of the Freeduen's Bureau in the South
efn States, have inst made their final report
TO The Secretary ef War. II gives a minute
1 a. ,hsssnsI,g secount OF the eeaons made
ssssipPi, Louisiana and Texas. They saw:
"a great reduction in the expenses of the
Bureau, and n reform which would render il
Tar less Objectionable than il is now, would
be effected by the discontinuapce ce of all paid
employees not in the military service Of the
government. This would reduce the expenses
ards, DC, the following amourts: Georgia.
$34.SeiSper annum; Alabama, S33,3i2; Missis-
stppi, S20275: Louisiana, s55,9si. Texas, SIO.-
estimating total of Si65,o52 per annum
"Ah che labor performed by these EMPLOYEES
except perhaps the occasional services of a
contract surgeon, might be discharged by de-
haEe ias IRON 1ne srSsSs In previous reports
of the bareau ana the military We would
again respectfully uree this amaigam ation
and that one set of officers should be required
10 perfoTfh the joint duties, thus avoiding the
expense OF maintaining tEo establishments
Alter detailed statements of the operation OF
the Bureau in the yarioSs States, the report
presents the following summary:
''ln pursuing this investigation, which has
now extended over four months, we have
feund extreme difficulty in complying with
that portion of our instructions which requires
us 70 report npon the operations of the bureau
ana Its mode of dministration. There is An
entire absence of system or uniformity in rs
constitution. In one State its officers exercise
judicial powers. in an adjoining State all cases
are referred 10 the civil authorities: while I'm a
third State the bureau officers collect the cases
ana turn them over 10 the military provost
courts to dispose OF. In some departments
the officers of the bureau have sttampsad 10
regulate the rate Of wages; one form of con-
tract between employer and employed IS pre-
scrioed in one State. while N ano:her differ
ent form is adopted. In Louisiana the ex-
penses of the frePdmPn's schools have haa,
wholly paid by the government: in the ON AZ
States the schools are partially seIf-supnort-
ing, and in Texas they are entirely so In
some localities the bureau officers interfere
arbitrarily between the planter and the freed
men in favor OF the freedmen: in other lorali-
TIES the bureau Is used as means OF coercing
the freedmen IN favor of the planter The ex
pendlture Of the bureau varies as much as ire
mode OF administration. In one State he ev-
peEses are over three hundred thousand dol
lars year; in another State, with an eon,l
population, the expenses are not mora rhsn
hfiy thousand dollars. In some States the ev
penses have been met by taxes levied on ana
collected from the people; in other States the
cost is entirely borne by the United States
treasury.
The official report Of Colonel Reno. United
states army, provost marshal general of the
wards OF se ven thousand dollars in the accoupts
OF the officers who were engaged in the collect
ing OF taxes in New Orleans, which deficit
Colonel Reno says he is unable to explain nm
consequence OF the loose manner in which the
books were kept.
We are of opinion that at the close of the
war. and for some time after the cessation OF
hostiiities, the Freedmen's Bureau did good.
The people Of the South, having at first no
faith In the negroes working under q free. labor
system, were desirous Of getting rid of them
and during the summer of ls65 iudicIous buresu
and military officers did much toward. re-
storing order and harmony, and inducing the
people of the South to resume the cuItiyation
Of their plantations by employing the freed
men. Before the close of 1865 there was an
entire revolution in the sentiments of the peo
pie OF the South with regard to negro labor. A
feeling OF Kindness sprang up towards the
freedmen. resulting perhaps, mainly from the
convection that his labor was desirable profit
able, and the only labor to be had.
The necessity OF the bureau then ceased
Since then while IL has been beneficial In some
Iocahies, IL has been productive in the aggre-
gate, OF more harm than good. 1t has occa-
stoned and viii perpetuate dscord as long as
il exists. though Administered bv the 49,,
and wisest men of the nation. The freedmen
regard its presence as evidence thar thev
would be unsafe without il. and the white neo
pie consider IL an imputation upon their in
leerity ana harness. an espionage upon the of.
heiai action OF all their courts and magistrates
as wen rs npon the private conduct of their
CITIZENS. both races are thus mi ade suspicious
ana bitter by an agency which. IN the present
reorganIzed condition of civil government ara
society in the Southern States. rs powerIess 70
advance the interests of either
The report closes with some rem srks shaw
in z tnat the system OF contracts as en- forced by
the bureau is simply slavery in a new form,
ana operates TO the injury of the freedmen