The Portland daily press., 1866-03-12

ounty and parish throughout the Unltel
Gates containing freedmen and refugees"
1 scarcely know how to reply to that mos
-travagant statement. Ihave already shown
1t it would be great abuse OF the power
lferred by this bill to station an agent In
yery county. l have already stated that 6ul
small proportion of the freedmen are aided
y the freedmen's bureau. In this official doc
ment the President has sent to Congress the
iaggerated statement that it is q question
whether this bureau would not bring under It's
control the four million emancipatcd slaves
The census of 1860 shows that there never
were four million slaves in all the United
States, if you counted every man, woman and
child, and we know that the number has moi
increased during the war.
But, sir, what will be thought when show
as | shall directly show by official figures, thai
sa far from providing for four million enamel
pated slaves, the freedmen's bureau never yet
provided for hundred thousand, and as re-
stricted by the proviso to the third section Of
the present bill, it could never be extended
under it to larger number Is it not most
extraordinary that hill should be returned
with the veto from the President on the ground
that it provides for four million people, when
restricted as it is in its operations, and having
been in operation now since March last, it has
never had under its control hundred thous-
anu nave lltIt all statement IrODl
the freedmen's bureau, which beg leave to
read in this connection:
"The greatest numper of persons to whom
rations were issued, including the commissary
department and bureau issues to persons with
out the army, is one hundred and torty-eight
thousand one hundred and twenty"
Who are theyP 1 said there were not a
hundred thousand freedmen provided for by
the bureau.
"Whites, 1880; colored, 90,607; Indians,
13S. The greatest number by the bureau was
1882 in September. The total number for
December was 17,025." o
That sounds little different from four mil
lions. Seventeen thousand and twenty-five
were all that were provided for by the freed
mems bureau in the month Of December last.
the number getting less and less every month,
Why? Because by the kind and judicious
management of that bureau places of employ
ment were found for these refugees and freed
men. When the freedmen were discharged
from their masters plantations they were as
sisted to find places of work elsewhere.
"The above figures are based on full rations.
The number Of persons aided by rations or
parts of rations for December, are, colored,
35,016; whites, 1892"
II have given these figures hastily, from the
records-wilI carefully review"
This communication is from Major General
Howard, the commissioner of the freedmen's
bureau. In the same connection / wish to
read the testimony (which has been kindly
furnished me) that was given before the Re-
construction Committee by Major General
Fiske, who is commissioner of the freedmen's
bureau for the State of TennesSee-and wish
these gentlemen who are declaiming so loud
ly against feeding the negro to notice the sta
tistics. The President says, In his veto mes
sage, that Congress has never thought of max
ing these provisions for the white people
Let us see what provisions have been made
for the white people. General Fiske was asked:
"Question. How large is the pecuniary sup
1T that you are obliged to extend to the
,dmen In Tennessee?
Answer. l am not to-day issuing single
.ation to freedmen in Tennessee, except to
about one hundred orphan children and thirty
old people at Memphis, and about sixty Or
phan children and twenty-five old people at
Nashville; that is all.
"Question. Do you issue rations to white
people in Tennessee? ...
"Answer. During the last year the rations
issued to white people in Tennessee have
been much in excess of those issued to freed
men. When l took charge of my district the
Government was feeding twenty-five thousand
people; in round numbers about seventeen
thousand five hundred white people and seven
thousand five hundred blacks. The month
preceding the establishment of the freedmen's
bureau, for rations alone for that class of peo-
pie the sum of S97 900 was paid.
"My first efforts were to reduce the number
of those benefciaries of the Government, to
withhold the rations and make the people self
supporting as far as possible. And in the
course of four months I reduced the monthly
expenses from $4,000 to $1,000.
That is what the freedmen's bureau has done
in the State of Tennessee by the sworn testi-
mony of General Fiske, whose word nobody
would question, delivered within a few days
before the reconstruction committee Of the
two Houses, and which they have kindly fur
nished me for the purpose of stating these
facts to the Senate and country; and this is
denounced as an expensive establishment! L
ldertake to say that the freedmen's bureau
already saved this nation millions of mon
md if continued, it will save it millions
e. But it is not simply in money that the
try is to be benefited. There are in
DIS seventy thousand colored children,
cnlefy placed there through the agency of the
freedmen's bureau. An agency which reduc-
IS your expenses, educates colored children,
and provides homes for the destitute, is now
denounced as expensive, and its establish
ment unconstitutional. General Fiske further
says: 4rt
"And in the course of four months reduc-
ed the monthly expenses from $4,000 to So
600; saving within that time on subsistence
ten times as much money as the whole freed
mems bureau cost in the entire district, in
Guiding all salaries paid to officers and agents
for the government.
"Question.--Is the military support of the
&C, eminent required now in Tennessee in aid
of our bureau?
"Answer.-It is.
Questionable you believe that the affairs
q the bureau could be safely administered
mere without the military support of the Gov
eminent? Hf ID e.'-
'Answer.--I do not"
That is all that desire to read from the tes-
timony of General Fiske in refutation OF the
assumption in this message that it is intended
to provide for the education and support OF
four million black people, when the evidence
shows that far more whites than blacks are
provided for; that the bureau has been a
means of economy to the Government, and
that the expense of feeding refugees and freed
men has been reduced from S97, 600 to $4,000
in one district in four months.
1 will now proceed to notice the next objec-
ton which the President makes to the BILL
regret to be compelled to occupy so much
lime. IF had had an opportunity of arrang-
ng my papers before speaking would not
ave inflicted so long speech upon the SEN
:, but had not time to arrange them. I
leeessarily speak in a desultory way, and
doubtless will repeat myself very much before
3 include.
" IN addition to the objections already stat
p. says the President, " the fifth section of
- bill proposes to take away land from its
inner owners, without any legal proceedings
;,sing first had" ...,5- -.--.., r,...,',
regret that statement like that should in
,.dvertently flor it must have been inadver-
.ently) have found place in this veto mes
sage. The fifth section of the bill does not
propose to take away lands from anybody. 1
will read it, and we shall see what it is:
"That the occupants of land under Major
eneral Sherman's special field order dated at
Wannah, January 18th, 1865, are hereby con-
rned in their possession"
Is not that different thing from taking
way land from anybody? Do you take a