Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1867-08-23
THE rREEDMEN's BrREAU.

The parties engaged inst SOW ia the crusade !
against General Howard pfsfess great fear |
that the Freedmen's Bureau = TO - continued |
beyond the time fixed By act Of Congress FOR it |
TO expire, Tin 1881 and assume that he 10 Ia
boring to the end Of making Il . permanent |
institution. Now, 1t Is perfectly we'll knowR
to the friends Of General Howard that ne has
never advocated the plan Of Containing the
Bureau beyond the time fixed. and tina, he has
made all his plans 70 close the Bureau at the
end OF that time, and close 1t properly and
satisfactorily. He holds that the freedmen
will by that time be placed on their feet 50
that they can stand alone; especially when
the right Of suffrage shall have bssn placed in
their hands.
The Intettgencer and Express seem to be the
conduits for these unexplained recent assaults
upon the Bureau, and the former paper has
within few days devoted a large portion of
Its space to the abuse OF General Howard.
The following are specimens of these charges
appearing in the columns Of the Intcl,igencsr-
"The records of the Bureau in this District
Will show, or ought to show, If properly kept,
that the recent municipal election farce in
this city has added thousands to the list of
pensioners upon the public bounty. Since
then 1t has been common occurrence for idle,
selves for relief by the Bureau with this en-
dorsement Rpon their certificates: .Cause OF
restitution, want of employment on account
OF voting IN the election" Even the negroes
themselves, who were previously required to
pay nominal rent for the occupation OF the
quarter provided for them by the Bureau,
have, since the election. become lnsubordinate
and, when called upon for their rents, refuse
to pay, upon the ground that they were com.
PEELED to attend to the election, and cons.
quently lost the s.jobs'' to which they were to
is occurring daily in all the States where s the
Freedmen's Bureau is in existence. A very
large proportion Of its agents are simply Radi.
cal party managers. The principal part Of its
expenditures are paid out exclusively for
Radical party purposes, to secure the Afri.
canizatlon of the Southern States, Instead OF
aiding IN the moral and Intellectual ele walton
OF the negro, this institution Ia adding daily
and hourly to the Generalization of the race
by teaching them to lead lives OF idieness and
dependence from day to day only upon the
bounty Of the Government"
We have made some inquiry In regard to
these allegations, and have satisfied ourselves
that they are utterly without foundation The
"records OF the Bureau" show exactly tae
reverse Of the above. They show that General
Howard has steadily labered to ind employ.
nent for the freedmen elsewhere, and has
caused large numbers to be sent from here to
various points where their services were in
demand. 1t will be remembered, in fact that
during the last municipal canvass much fault
was found with General Howard by jealous
radical partizans because he was accessory
TO sending numbers of the freedmen away for
employment elsewhere, when they were
wan TED here as voters. But General H. held
that no national end could be subser we'd nv
keeping large numbers OF freedmen here in
idleness to vote, when there was full employ
ment for them to be found else where The
records Of the Bureau show that from October
l, 1866, to July l, 1867, embracing the period
sand freedmen were sent by the Freedmen's
Bureau to places North and South where
employ ent had been obtained for them But
three applications have been made to the
Bureau by freedmen discharged for voting,
and in no case has supplies been
given TO such applicant. The Bureau
has, however. taken pains to find employment
for the men thus discharged, thinking they
were wronged, but has never inquired how
they voted, or in fact, taking any partisan step
whatever in the matter. So much for the
thousands of pensioners" &c. The allegation
IN regard to the insubordinate negroes who re.
fuse to pay their rent on the ground that thew
have lost employment by voting has no truth
whatever. The Freedmens' Bureau tenements
for colored people were erected for the relic,
OF the very poor class who were
forced to pay exorbitant rents for miserable
this evil, plain but com fortable tenements were
erected under the auspices of the Freedmen's
Bureau and rented to this class offreedmen at
a moderate rate, and under stric req uirements
for the maintenance of cleanliness. The ex-
pertinent, IL is well-known, had the happies,
results IN every way. But. from the fact that
the poorest class of freedmen occupy these
buildings 1t frequently happens that they are
not able TO Ply every month in advance. The
same rent however, is collected at this time as
heretofore and there is ne ground whatever
for the statement made by the Intelliosacer
In view Of the steady efforts OF the Freedmen's
Bureau to make the freedmen industrious and
self-reliant the charge that it is demorallzing
the race by teaching them to lead lives Of idle.
ness and dependence, is little less than absurd.
All the influence Of the Bureau mas been
brought to bear to the end of teaching the
contraband to be able to s.stand alone" to
educate him, TO teach him habits OF industry.
and to find him steady employment. The ex-
cellent addresses OF both Major General How
ard and his brother Brigsdler General Charles
Howard, Of the Freedmen's Bureau, to the:
freedmen here and else where, intoxicating upon
the colored men these habits OF industry and
seif-dependence, are within the memory of all.
The fact is, Gene raj Howard has never run
the Bureau as parhZan machine in any man
ner, form or shape. He has aimed, we are Ger.
tain, from all we hear and know OF him, 10
confine its work purely to the important mis-.
sion it has had to perform In affording prot,c.
ton TO the freedmen, and In training them to
lives Of usefulness.
INTRODUCTION OF THE TURKISH MINISTER
TO THE PREsIDBNT.-This morning, Blaaue
b y. the Turkish Minister to the United
States, was introduced to the President. Ha