American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1868-06-27
AN Ode TI THE FRtEDMEN,S
BUREAU,

Broad and capacious institution.
Where did You get your first start?
VINO had che unctiouS honor of stand.
ing Godfather to thee!
In whose prolific brain vast thou first
conceived!
Who doSt thou claim for daddy,
thOu dark and hit, ,""uS abortion!
What art thou?
Echo anSwtrS-a foul and loathsOme
sore, which rdnkleS near the heart
! OF this lost and ruined cOuntr,
I tOrcvcrmure.
Thou vast bcgot bv the arch firnd of
hate, conceived in the diseased
womb of fanatlciSn, and born in
sorrow and shame.
Thou hast cost the greatest govern.
ment the world ever SAW, millions
upon millions of money;
Thy annual expenditures would cir
die the world with Atlantic Cables,
and clothe and feed thy country's
army and navy;
Thy agents and commissioners would
make Il caravan OF rOgues, reaching
in double ranks to San francisco
Thy school nIarmS would ill ten thou.
sand. fiat boats;
Thy hangers-on and followers are
enough 70 start pententiary in
every village.
The recipients OF thy bounty could
buy the bnreau back again, with
their ill-got gains, sell it off at
cost, and realize II most enormous
profit;
Thy SinrcnreS would pay a weeping
nations debt;
And thy head tycoon, would cmbez. /
Zle the last five cent shnpIaStpr
ont of S ok t'rrelnan'S pocket.
and put II counterfeit dime in his
church S contribution box on Sun
day.
Tnou art nationa! incubus, lazily .
reclining upon thy country'S heart, /
silencing the pulse OF her industry: .
! hou hast torn the bandage from the
eyes of justice, and given it to thy
freed concnbineS tor dish rags;
Thou hast stagnatrd the channels of
commerce. and broken the back,
bone of agriculture;
Thou hast caused the ship 10 sit idly l.
upon the waters, and the plow to
stand still in the IurrOw
Thou hast filed town, aud city ard
village with II fostering lazzaroni,
more loathSomr aud numerous than
ever throngcd the streets of Ma
pies;
Thou hast stretched abroad thy
GeSolaing hand, and ten times ten
thousand broad acres that once
whispered to the passing brreSe
the glad tidingS of their own rich
hess, are now as barren of fruit us
were thy orisiuators-of reason. {
The thorn,buSh and bramble now I
rankly flourish where the cotton
stalk b0omed, aud thy pampercd I
manufacturers ave stopped ShOr, {
on the high road to wealth 4
The Northern looms stand still at I
md day, and thy machinery is :
heard no more throughout the
land
Borne 10y the winds fleet wings upen
the lightnin.S breath comes each :
day news of crash after crash c
among thy merchant princes
Oh Frrednan'S Bureau thou art a u
miserable miscarriage, aud the !
Goddess OF Freedom died in giving I
thee birth. /
Thou wcaveSt not, neither dOSt thou Il
spin-yet Il gangrened hog pen II
hast Swceter Smrlt than thou. %
Thy victims are dying off, like gov G
ernmrnt mules with the gIanders; :
'rlI disease has swept iler chilly fin. L
gers o'el thy pets, and starvation G.
aud filth are her most powerful =
handmailenS;
'hou hast killed the goose which laid G.
the golden egg. and proven thVSelf y
the greatest goose OF tie two
'bOu hast cut the p1und ai flesh from
round Thy b eeding cuuutry'S heart, !,
and bartered it for ilickerng eur
rcncy; =,
'hy outside is pasted with flimSv =
greenbackS, hut within-like the ia u
bled apples on the Dead Seas shore 81
all is dust aud ashes. "'
,h Freedm ms Bureau. :! Thou art \,
hydra. headed monster \ moral =,
Caliban The ugly Charon who h,
ferries starved freedman across \,
the river StNx. A fearful Gorgon, =,
whose hiSing locks have frightened =,
agriculture from her fruitful fields. H. H.
A crocodile, whose hypocIiiical 81
tears Shrivrl whatever they touch. i,
A shirt of NrSSuS. whose subtle :,
poison has struck to the vitalS of =,
those whom thou prctrndrSt tn pro i,
tect. An Augsan stable, whose n n
putrih precincts, all the waters of -,
AlphpuS and penrus would not
cleanse. A venumuuS toad. who
SqIats in Congressional Halls,
where men were once proud tn II
tread. A deadly adder, whose W,
broad tail has left its quivering di
slime M on the land, SmOIheIing vi
the fountain of its prosperity forrv fe
pr. An upaS tree, within Who's if
far reaching circle, the diSguS;rd So
earth refuses to bring forth its fruit m
in season. An unfinished humbug, 10
whose vii3eripg sequel shall fail ~