Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-01-10
Death Of Elijah I. Purdy'
NEW FRACTIONAL CURRENCY.
Washington News.
Den. HOward's RepOrt.

WAsHrserox, January s:-The following
was communicated to the HOGse to-day;
To the House of Representatives!
In answer to- the resolutions of the House, Of
the 70th of December, directing the Superin-
tendent of the Freedmen's Bureau to inform
tbis House whether any real estate received
nnder the act of July II, 1852, as the prop
erty of the enemy, and he title OF which,
bv hat act, was vested in the United States,
had been allotted to freedmen for residence
and homesteads by order Of anydepartment
of the government, and II SO, Whetner the
| same hss been restored TO the rebel owners,
and the people of color ordered of,.and by
whose authority; and also whether the
| abandoned plantations had been occupied
and thus restored, and il known by the said
Superintendent Of the Bureau, to state I'M
der what p~retence of authority the property
once vested in the United States Under con-
fscatiou of the enemy, not traitors, prop
ertv. was taken from the United States by
the ownersTor conquered enemies.
Ihave the honor to submit the following
information A number Of pieces OF prop
erty seized and condemned under the act
of July II, 1864, are occupied by freedmen
under the supervision of this Bureau. The
records of this office do no tshow, however,
that any such property has been actually al
Iotted to them for homesteads. No property
of this character, occupied by freedmen,
has bssn restored to its former owners
Large numbers Of abandoned plantations
have been occupied by freedmen and in the
states NJ South Carolina and Georgia a few
Dlantafiobs of this character have been &C
iuallv allotted to freedmen as homesteads,
under the provisions Of General
field order No. Is. The records OF this cihee
show that no plantations so allotted nave
been restored 70 their former owners. Nearly
all the plantations occupied by but not al
lotted to freedmen have been restored 70
their former owners, but in such cases care
has always been taken to prevent suffering
resulting from such action. NO properly
vested in the United States under contisca-
ton ofthe enemy's property has been taken
from the United States and bestowed on con-
o,iered enemies. Evidence that property
has not been libelled under the act of July
II. 1864. or that proceedings against 1T have
been dismissed BY the United States court is
always required before property in the hands
of this Bureau is restored to its former own
ers.
1t is proper, however, to state that the
amount of property held as the property OF
enemies, and the amount actuully allotted
to freedmen as homesteads, is only q small
proportion of the entire amount in the
hands of this Bureau. The real property
turned over to it at its organization was
seized. for the most part, as abandoned. 1t
was intended not only to allot this to the
freedmen, but also to use 1t as a means OF
revenue. It had already became exceed
ingly useful and valuable to the B~ureau,and
measures had been initiated to use portions
for the former purpose, when on the 10th Of
August instructions were received to the
effect that abandoned property should be
restored to the former owners, when par
doned. Under those instructions the Bureau
has parted with the greater part of this prop
erty. Its tenure upon it has been SO uncer-
tain that steps taken to allot it to freedmen
have been countermanded in most instances
and its revenue has been SO curtailed that it
is not a selfsupporting institution.
Respectfully submitted,
o. o. HOWARD,
Major General, Commanding at Washing
ton.
Internal Revenue Assessors and the
Test Oath.
JANUARY S.-The Secretary of the Treas
ury to-day communicated the following
statement of one of his Assessors of internal
Revenue, showing the difficulty in finding
officers who can take the test oath
Assessors OFFICE U. S. INT. Rev.
81 DISTRICT OF GEORGIA,
AUGUSTA, December 20, 1855.
SRI am constrained to write you in re-
lation to the repeal or modification of the
test oath so far as it relates to Internal rev.
enue oficers-at least Assessors-in South
ern States. I have labored assiduously to
find competent men whocould take the oath
for assistants and failed TO find any such
except in a single instance, in my district,
comprising twenty-three of the most popu-
lous counties in the State of Georgia. Ihave
organized my district by allowing my as
sistants to take the oath of Office and ale
glance, and proceed tothe discharge of their
duties, trusting to Congress to provide for
them payment as directed by the Commits
sioner Of Internal Revenue. Many of the
men are much reduced in circumstances by
war, and stand in imperative need of their
pay in order to provide for their families,
and, indeed, some of them will soon be com
PEELED soon to resign their place in order to
engage in some business that will pay them
ready money on which to live.
1 am satisfied unless something is done IN
this matter Immediately I shall be unable
to assess the tax in my district If Congress
would so modify the oath, as far as it relates
to officers of the Internal Revenue am sure
it would be regarded everywhere and prove
to be a patriotic measure in which both
and south are equally interested.
something of the kind is done, ! an
lost to know what we are to do.
Respectfully
~(signed) ]. BowIEs,
Assessor Sd Dist of Georgia.
Hon, Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the |