The Van Buren press., 1866-06-23
The Van Buren Press.
VAN BUREN,. ARKANSAS.

'~A~N 0SANSAvt NAA~~>~N~'~~>~~'
Col. Forshey and the Reconstruction
Committee. .tt...- ..,
On the application of the Hon. Rcvcr-
dy Johnson, Of Maryland, Col. Forshcy,
of Texas, was summoned to appear be.
fore the Committee to testify to the CON
dition and disposition of the States late
ly in rebellion. We make the following
extracts.
Q. Have you been in the rebel service,
and in what way?
A. 1have served during the war--was
Lieut. Col. of Engineers, chiefly engaged
in the defcnces west of the Mississippi.
G. What knowledge have you Of the
condition and disposition Of the people
of the United States lately in rebellion
against the United States?
A. think l have pretty good knowl-
edge as to the three Southwestern States
in which my acquaintance is very exten-
sive, and may, perhaps assume to have a
fair degree of general knowledge as to
the other Confederate States; at least l
have made the matter a continual subject
of inquiry and observation, and without
knowing the kind of information desired
will answer when can.
Q. Would loyal men be safe among
you without federal protection?
A. All men were safe before there was
any Federal authority among US. After
the surrender We were months without
officers or law. A military order vacat-
ed and annulled all official functions, and
deprived us Of every species Of legal re-
straint, and for months furnished no sub
stitute for the authority suppressed
Troops have not at any time reached our
interior generally and yet, throughout the
vast area of Texas, just replenished by
the return of fifty thousand disbanded
soldiers, there was as much good order
and as much respect for rights and NOR
ais as in any northern States or elsewhere,
/ regard it as great test Of our civiliza-
ton; ! wish the fact to be put ON record
in our favor. The same is true, as l be-
lieve, in most OF the Southern States.
Not single resistance to Federal author
ty has ever taken place to the present day,
and when it is considered that nearly half
a million of men have just returned from
conflict Of four years, in which they
have fought for national life and honor,
we think they should claim respect that
should remove sentinels and .disband the
armies, white and black, that watch us.
G. Do your people view the Freed
mems Bureau as a valuable and heedful
institution and profitable in the re-estab-
lishment of negro labor?
A. They do not, According to my
own observation and the testimony of ac-
quaintances with whom / have just com
pared views, from the different portions
of our great State, the Iinfuence of the
Freedmen's Bureau is universally pernic-
lous, and the institution is viewed by
the people, almost unanimously, as a
nuisance. This remark applies, too, ac-
cording to my information, to the other
States. @. Why so?
A. For various causes the bureau Is
administered, as far as I can learn, by
persons having no knowledge ofour peo-
pie or Of the negroes; they are nearly
all antagonistic in feeling to the people,
and self-sufficient as to their duties, and
their despotic power seems to have turn
ed their heads; even well-disposed and
conscientious, they are so profoundly ig-
norant of the subject they have to deal
with, as to blunder continually and ex-
cite ridicule; in Texas we have been un-
fortunate in the chief Of the Bureau, who
YVES o fanatical and exceedingly self-suf-
fcient man; hebegan by preaching to the
negroes, and offending society by his So
cial treatment Of them; we don't need
missionaries to teach us social relations
or labor system; and he offended US
by his arrogance, and turned the head Of
the poor negroes.
@. Could you manage the institution
better yourselves Would your people
deal fairly and humanely by the negroes ?
A. The institution is offensive in itself,
and nuisance in practice. If left to our
selves we would reject it, as the only
management II deserves. We would
probably pass but few laws relating to
the lato slaves, that would not apply to
whites and as to fair treatment, the best
and only friend the negro has on earth,
is his old master. This the poor deiud-
ed creatures are fast discovering, and
many thousands sre returning to their
former homes, tired Of the freedom