Year: 1865

I'D QRS BUREAU Of 1SEF EEES,


FaEEpMEy AND ABANDo NED LANDS,


Now Orleans, October 20, 1865. }


A change has been made in the office
m the Assistant Commissioner of the
Bureau of Ectugrcs, Freedmen and
Abandoned Iands for tho State of Lou>
:siana. Mr.. Conway has been relieved,
and have temporarily assumed the du-
tics of said office. Before progressing
further in my work I wish to address to
you the following plain words. Tie re-
marks will perhaps properly apply to
ont few, for I believe that nearly all o.
you fully understand the relation to which
YOU stand towards the Government and
the white people; that YOU cndcaror to
observe that relation :; and that You are
il, the main industrious; honest and
frugal.


The Government has made yA free.
You can now work for such employers as
you may desire; you can control and use
your own wages, and you can sue and
obtain justice in the State courts, as other
freedmen did when you were in a state of
slavery. For what more can you ASK
Slavery has passed away,> and you are
how on trial. 1t is for you to prove that
YOU are able TO take care of yourselves,
and that you deserved to be made free.
In the abrupt change brought about BY
the sudden passing away of slavery, you
required some assiStaucc-some power
that would take care of you for the time,
and that would properly direct you in u
new path of life. Therefore the Bureau
of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned
Eands was established. But you must
not mistake the objects of this Depart
mcnt. 1t is not the intention Of thc
officers of the Bureau to nurse and PAM
per you, to feed and clothe you, or TO
give you any privileges that other per-,
sons do not enjoy. Neither will you be
shielded and protected when you do
wrong, fer you will then be placed in the
hands Of the military authority or the
civil courts for trial. The object of the
Bureau was merely to protect you when
YOU were debarred from the benefits of
the law, and to teach you how to live
and labor as free men. You cannot al
ways have this help which a generous
Government has offered you. Soon it
will be withdrawn and if you cannot
then live without it you do not deserve
to bc free.


You are now working for yourselves,
and you have every induccmcnt to be
industrious and frugal; faithful to'your
employ ers and honest By so doingyo
will soon gain the confidence of the com.
munity, and all men will respect You and
treat you fairly and kindly. You must
now try and lay by as much Of your wages
as possible; thus you will soon be abls
to buy land aud establish your selves in
business, and then when old ago comes
you will have the means to live in peace
and comfort. You must remember that
yen have no masters now to take care of
you in sickness and in old age.


Some few Of you have the mistaken
notion that freedom means liberty to be
IDLE. This is great mistake. There is
work for every person in this country,
and idcrs and vagrants will not be toler-
ated. Those of you who have gone to
the cities and cannot get work to do
must leave them and 60 back to the
plantations, where all can be employed.
Do not fear that you will not be paid for
your labor, for the law will protect you.
The planters will give you good wages,
and your work will be Of benefit both to
them and yourselves.


There is no way for you 10 live but by
hard work. I believe, now that you arc
free, that you will work better than ever !;
but if you do not work Of your own ac>
cord, or if the law can not compel you to
work, then you must leave the country,
and tile good opportunities that you now
have of gaining living and making
yourselves independent, will be given to
more deserving persons. I advise you
all to return to your old plantations,
where yon have been kindly treated, for
there YOU are known and there you can
get better wages.


You must not suppose that your for
mcr masters have become your enemies
because you are free! All good men
among them will properly recognize your
relations towards them as free laborers,
and you can gain the confidence and
good will of all others by being industri-
Gus and faithful, and by living up to your
contracts. Neither fear that you will
Loose your freedom. for your former mas
tiers acknowledge it, and it will be dcfcn-
= ded by the Govcrnmcnt.


%his thingyou must learn above all
othcrs-a eoitract must be sacredly OBJ
served. If yonengsge to work, and then
through no fault on the part of your en-
ployer you do mt 10 so, or cease to work
after having commenced, or do not work
yelh your emplGers will lose all conf