Year: 1866

|


the officers and agents Of the Bureau, thou
sands Of freedmen were working under con


tract for SO per month.


Ifthe freedmen are left free to contract


the demand for their labor and competition


among the employers will secure them good


wages and kind treatment. They will not


contract with men who treat them harshly,


or fail to pay them, as is abundantly proven


by the fact that many planters who treated


their former slaves cruelty are now unable


TO hire freedmen 10 work for them, aud have


been obliged 10 sell OF lease their planta-


tons. We are unable TO discover why the


simple rules which regulate and control


the relations Of labor and capital in the


Northern States should not obtain as well in


the South, when the National Government


should permit the laboring men to sell his


labor to the highest bidder in one section Of
the country, and appoint an agent to sell 1t
for him N another section.


1t Is undoubtedly true that if the freed
people of the South were not bound by con-
tracts, their wages would be at least fifty
per cent. higher at this time than they are,
and there would be less discomfort among
the freedmen than now exists, and tar less
duty for the agents of the Bureau to perform.





this time among the freedmen results from
the low rate of wages at which they have
been paid, under the influence and with the
| approval Of the agents of the Bureau. This
discomfort makes the freedmen unwilling to
work, and their Incidence proYOkes the
! planter, who not unfreGuently resorts to viO-
! lence to enforce his contract, and this makes
! business for the officer who sanctioned the
| contract. Investigation follows, resulting
| generally in finding the freedmen at fault for
refusing to labor according to their contracts,
and they are required to return to the plan
| tatiOn, while the planter is admonished to
| curb his temper.


In sonie cases Of this nature the contract
is declared forfeited by the conduct Of the
planter, who goes away from the Bureau
feeling that a decision has been made that
the freedmen are not bound to fulfill their
agreements The fault, the cause Of the diff
fculty, is in the contract which has been un-
justly forced upon the poor freedmen. 1t
must not be inferred from what we have
written, that we are opposed to the freedmen
contracting with the planters. Byno means.
We believe the very best thing they can do
is 10 make contracts either for a share Ofthe
crops or liberal wages; but we are opposed to
agents Of the National Government assuming
10 hire them out prescribing the terms of
service, and stipulating for the wages to be
paid them. They are not free SO long as any
such control is exercised over them, nor can
they ever receive just reward for their labor
while they are compelled TO hire within
given time for a specified term.


In Mississippi and other States, freedmen
were compelled, by orders from officers Of
the Bureau, to enter into contracts within
limited periods, which enabled all who
wanted hands to get them at low wages,
while, if the freedmen had not been inter. |
fered WITH the demand for labor would have |
enabled them TO secure Just remuneration. !
1t is a great error to suppose that the freed |
men are not competent to enter into contracts |
for themselves. They are sharp at a bar
gain, know well what a contract is and are |
much better collectors than white people. As |
an evidence of the rigid manner in which |
contracts are enforced by the agents of the |
Bureau against the freedmen we may men, |
ton a case which came under our own OBJ |
seruation. A colored blacksmith, who had |
Aed from his master during the war and en-
listed in the United States army, being about |
to be mustered out of service, wrote to his |
wife, requesting her not to contract for more /
than a month or two at time, as he intended /
to return home as soon as he was mustered /
out, and set up shop, and 60 to housekeep- |
ing. His wife, accordingly, declined at first
to make long contract, but was finally COM
PEELED 10 engage herself for a year. The
soldier, on his return, went TO the plantation
where his wife was working, and applied for
her release, but failed to get her. He then
sent written statement Of the case to an
agent of the Bureau, who forwarded it to the
Assistant Commissioner for the State It
4. 4 81 Al
following Endorsement:


Inasmuch as the wife of WILLIAM CAR
TER has made a contract for the year 1865,
she must observe its requirements. The
sub-commissioner will inform WILLIAM CAR
TER that the interests Of the freed people re-
ligiously observing their agreements are par
amount TO the wishes ofindividuals, and that
the power Of the Bureau will only be used to
protect them from manifest injustice. There
being no positive evidence of such injustice
in this case, the Bureau has no interference
20 make"


1t is evident that this officer considers a
labor contract more sacred than a marriage
contract


The system of contracts now existing in
the South, and enforced by the Bureau, is
simply slavery in a new form. What is the
difference TO the negro whether he is sold
for five dollars, or five thousand dollars for
thirty years to thirty masters, or for thirty
years to one master2 1t is involuntary ser
vitude in either case, and a practical defeat
of the emancipation proclamation of the la
mented President LINCOLN. If the freed
man leaves work to seek employment at bet
ter wages, he is arrested as a vagrant by or
her Of the Freedmen's Bureau, and put to
labor on the road with ball and chain as is
l. l. L. /
General SCOTT, Assistant Commissioner for
South Carolina.


II fatigued from over work he desires to
rest for day, if he leaves the plantation to
visit a relative or friend, it is made penal
oflense, and fine Of $50 is imposed, as will
be seen by circular No. II, of General KID
DOW, Assistant Commissioner for Texas, a
copy Of which is hereunto annexed, marked !
"E," IL he refused to contract at all he is
arrested by the Bureau Provost Marshal
and sold for few dollars 70 the nearest
planter, as in the case Of Captain MORSE, of
New Orleans, already referred TO. The
coercive policy adopted 10y the Bureau in
this and other respects, has been made
justification for the discriminating legisla-
tion Of some Of the Southern States.


The only remedy against a white man for
a breach Of contract, is a suit for damages,
and we can see no reason why the same
remedy should not be applied and conceded
in the case Of the black man. The freed
man has nothing to sell but his labor, and |
we are strongly Of the opinion that he ought
10 be permitted to obtain for it the highest
price il will bring. If he is freeman, it
is neither Just nor lawful for any person or
persons 10 assume control Of him, and
certainly not more just or lawful for an
officer Of the Freedmen's Bureau to do so
than a Southern planter.


Very respectfully,


Your obedient servants,


JAMES =. STEEDMAN,


Major General Volunteers.


J. :. FULLERTON,


Brigadier General Volunteers