The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-11-04
7EE SOUTH C-iEOLITi
= Candid Narrative.

Il t1e la,i cumts- q :12-psr's Magazine
~. De Fc--es; p1b..s:-cs : narrative Of Lis
experience az a., aceai Q: the Fraed1er's
Brreeu Il sou:h ca9giiaa UniL;e mos: Of The
articles le,ai.i.g 10 tie so-:.! w--ch -ppear IL
Harper ID: one II ques;;cn bears evidence ol
more ii4aa ordinary ta:ruess aud importantly.
Before the war ~. Z: Forres, had written q
Light, pc s2c:. si:eiclv BOOK 0: Eastern tiavel,
ard ,rss pot unknown IS professional ectur-
q. When the war b-oke Gu; lie appears &c
hav: exchanges: tic pei ir- lie sword, and we
ind I'm &: the close ot il holding commits
.on as n of;cer il lie volunteer service.
vixen me volunteers werc di- banded he was
appointed e.! asci.; {: tl.c F.eeimen's Dureai,
! in S1u:h Carolina, position which d occupied
i?c some fifteen ::!o!.,A=.
Tie l;r., inns ;ha: s:rkes one il bis mar
ra.ivc : ;i!c M;;i.I .;!-ci:v = cracIs with wnich
:. -. ;,,jcred :r1;l he headquarters OF the
E1Y,au. lie wa5 20 90 h.s: &C w2s 10 20
;,iat: .c was i i:.:vv. ire4ueail' throi las
district comprising seie":: Counties; he W:s
20 distribute ra;:0:is. hear complaints, a.
minister justice, give asses Tor transportation
t. negroes "ho L :sr-,i ;hom. and was 70 make
out L regular series ct "ercr;S, IL duplicate or
;:.p:ca;e. anouatng - E.aiv hunurcds IN
the course oi ;..r icar. 50 tai tnc Ch.ci OF tie
Bureau coul be Ee?t Informed Of lis domSs
aud the sta:c ii ~, Il y .cchn- IN that par
ticuiar district. ]! p...: terms, the duties OF
al u:cnt OF the Eartau were not merely PRO-
tcc,ivc ard Cno. y!!a. they we're also po!ii-
cal. and INV lved i, carried out according 10
the orders Irum !!cI.!qlal CTS, ! complete svs-
TEN OF espionage. MI. De Forrest seems TO
have treated tncSc orders puiio opilca,ly. He
settled himself down III CHE place and threw
ootn his office 10 al cOmers. He witnessed
terms Ut cont acts between negroes and their
employers adjusted complaints as well as lie
could. and turned over TIE Sfa'er cases TO the
civil authorities.
Here. then, was tn. Freelmen's Bureau uu-
der It's bee: aspect; yet the system was grossly
partisan, and the evil consequences OF it were
correspondingly great. IN the first place, it
demoralzcd the nc4rJ by giving him AL un-
due seasc of hs Importance. II lie was too
law 10 work, the Eur, III fed him. Ii he
wanted transpol tatun to any other part CT
the country. the Bureau furnished il. Ii his
contract was violated hy his employer, the
Bureau WAS called npUn 10 intcrpose. On the
other hand, if the negro himself violated his
contract, the employer had no recourse. He
might in4ccd lodge Il complaint against the
offender out c1u.L not obtain damages, Tor the
negro va, worth nothing. The agent OF the
Bureau could order him to 90 back 10 his
work, but tie order WAS wholly imperative for
tho agent had 10 power 10 enforce It. All con-
tract, thercruir, which were mldc between
lic white man and the negro were onc-sidcd.
When the white man Was adjudsed TO be in
the wrong his property was held liable, but
when the negro WAS in the wrong nothing
could Ue gotten out uf lin. Nlne-tenths of
the disagree acnts bc'wecn lie races arose out
of this nlattcf OF contracts, yet i'll spite Of the
natural bitterness of te LIN, thus generated,
Mr.. De Forru ayc:s that during Tic entire
period he vas acting as aScnt OF the Bureau
i'll South Carolina i:c saw none OF tha. rebel
lious recalc.trat.on which las been SO lavishly
and 30 lyingly attributed 10 he people Of the
South by Northern correspondents and jour-
na!:stS. II suc.l intercourse as he was ac-
c.tstomcd 10 have with the whites. he de-
acrib.s them as kid ard consiIcratc. So
ciAl they were lot, Tor it was q pont Of
honor with them moi to admit Federal officers
into their families Had 1t been otherwise
however, tic strictly partisan nature Of his
instructions; forbade him from cuitivStlng
close acquaintance viii! the whites. whilst the
same instructions wtre most imperative IN rc-
quirinS nc1uent communication with the
negroes il al parts u thc district.
Mr.. De Forrest Va; iIJ: siJw IL discovering
that the plantation negro Is . compound vi
dense i.nUrance ar.i profound cr:d::l:tv. The
Whole tenor ci III: narrative goes 10 $hoT that