RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS. I have the honor to forward herewith, marked exhibit K, a complete report of all receipts and expenditures for the year ending October 31, 1866. This does not include reports of rents, &c., received in October, complete returns for which have not come to hand. The amount for the year ending November 1, 1866, is as follows: Salaries of assistant commissioner, superintendents, agents, &c... Salaries of clerks and laborers. $5,000 00 6,380 00 750 00 750 00 1,000 00 2,500 00 1,657 58 840 00 11,500 00 600 00 30,977 58 Total receipts from all sources. 170,202 13 Total expenditures for the year ending November 1, 1866, have been as follows, among which I would call attention to the sum of $60,102 47 transferred to officers, transferred to chief accounting and disbursing officer at Washington, and to miscellaneous, postage, rents restored, telegrams, &c., about $20,000 of which was in rents restored : The above expenditures include the expenses in the State of Kentucky, up to the 15th day of June, 1866, and certain expenses which accrued in the State previous to that date, but which have been paid since. No part, however, of the receipts accrued in the State of Kentucky. There are now on duty in the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, State of Tennessee, twelve commissioned officers, viz: one colonel and brevet brigadier general, one lieutenant colonel, one major, (surgeon,) one captain and brevet major, (quartermaster,) five captains, one first lieutenant, one second lieutenant and brevet captain, and one second lieutenant. A complete roster of the above is forwarded herewith, marked exhibit L. The whole number of civilian agents and employés in the service of the bureau is fifty-five, viz: One school superintendent, at a salary of.... Two watchmen, at a salary of One watchman, at a salary of... One watchman, at a salary of.... $150 00 per month. 100 00 75 00 50 00 66 the fees of the office. 100 00 per month. 30 00 66 30 00 66 A complete roster of the above is herewith forwarded, marked exhibit M. posts. To conclude this report, I may say that the "bureau" in Tennessee has become simply the almoner of the government bounty. The last clause of the 14th section of the last "bureau" bill has shorn it of all its authority in this State. 66 The courts of the State and the United States are not disturbed in the peaceable course of justice." (nor the peaceable course of injustice,) and the State is "fully restored in its constitutional relations to the government” and "duly represented in the Congress of the United States." Without we have an agent in every judicial district, and each agent a firstclass lawyer, we can do comparatively little in stemming the general tide of petty injustice toward the freedmen. Our agents have been generally honest and faithful in the discharge of their duties, and, I believe, entirely free from corruption. They have generally had the confidence of the colored people, and been above reproach by the whites. They have done what they could for the interests of the freedmen. They stand as next friend to them, advise and assist them in the course to be pursued to obtain their rights, and, undoubtedly, simply as a corps of observation, prevent very much oppression and injustice. They hold still the eye of the law and of justice over the evil-doer, although in part shorn of the hand of power. The bureau agents stand nearly as private individuals, but dispensing the bounty of the government. The greatest good yet remaining for them to do is to aid and foster the educational movement. The schools established and school-houses built and freedmen educated are the seed sown in this land of oppression that shall spring up in soldiers strong and mighty to resist the oppressor and strive for their rights. I believe it is not true that the bureau increases the load of injustice the freedmen have to bear by the opposition it keeps alive in their enemies. It is no abstract thing that the enemies of the bureau are fighting for in urging its removal. It is a stone in their path, and a thorn in their side, which prevents their moving on to and settling quietly into nearly the same despotic control of the freedmen they enjoyed in times of slavery. Unless the State shall be placed in a condition so that the loyal minority may be allowed to govern, I do not see how the difficulties of the freedmen are to be remedied. Political changes and time may bring them relief. In the present state of affairs I can only recommend that the authority of the assistant commissioner be extended to the utmost in regard to building and repairing school-houses and furnishing them; furnishing transportation for supplies, both for school purposes and to supply the destitute; and power to employ legal aid for the bureau agents and freedmen in serious and important cases. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. R. LEWIS, Brevet Brigadier General, Assistant Commissioner Tennessee. Major General O. (). HOWARD, Commissioner, &c., War Department, Washington, D. C. TEXAS. HEADQUARTERS BUREAU OF REFUGEES, FREEDMEN GENERAL: In accordance with orders contained in circular letter from War Department, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, Washington, D. C., October 2, 1866, requiring me to make a report, to be embodied in your annual report to the President, I have the honor to submit the following: In obedience to Special Orders No. 78, paragraph 1, War Department, Bureau Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, Washington, D. C., April 2, 1866, I relieved Brevet Major General E. M. Gregory as assistant commissioner of this State. The bureau was organized by my predecessor, General Gregory, and prior to my relieving him I have only the official records of the office from which to gather its history. For the plan of the organization and its practical workings, from the time of its organization to the time of my taking charge, I will be obliged to refer you to his official reports covering that period. I have good reason to believe that General Gregory labored under great difficulties, and worked very hard in the original organization of the bureau. He found an almost universal disposition on the part of the freedmen not to enter into contracts. He rode through a large portion of the State, and by addressing them in large crowds secured their confidence, and induced them to enter into contracts to cultivate the large and fertile plantations of this State. I feel it my duty to state, in this connection, that to him more than any other man is due the gratifying results of this year's labor. On entering on duty as assistant commissioner of the State, I conceived that the highest interest of the former slave, financially, intellectually, and morally, lay in the direct channel of industry. With this conviction, I made it my first duty to inquire into the extent to which freedmen were under contract for labor for fair wages, the manner in which they were observing their contracts, and the general good faith towards them by their employers. Such inquiries resulted in my issuing the following (my first, order: [Circular No 14.] HEADQUARTERS BUREAU OF REFUGEES, FREEDMEN AND ABANDONED LANDS, STATE OF TEXAS, Galveston, May 15, 1866. It having come to the knowledge of the assistant commissioner that it has become quite prevalent throughout the State to entice laborers from one employer to another, after a contract has been entered into in good faith between employers and freedmen, and such a course being deemed not only dishonorable and a flagrant violation of the law of contracts, but also destructive to the energetic system of labor the bureau desires to establish, and detrimental to the agricultural interests of the State, it is, therefore, Ordered, That any employer, planter, or other person who shall tamper with or entice laborers to leave their employers, with whom they have contracted in good faith, before the expiration of the time specified in the contract, by offering larger wages or other inducements, or by representing to the freedmen (as has frequently occurred) that the contract under which they are bound, it having been previously approved by an agent of the bureau, is illegal or unjust, shall be fined a sum not to exceed $500, nor less than $100, at the discretion of the sub-assistant commissioner, said fine to be collected, if necessary, by a lien upon the crops or other property of said persons; that any freedman who allows himself to be thus enticed away from his employer, with whom he has contracted for a specified time, before the expiration of such time, shall be fined a sum not to exceed $25, nor less than $5, at the discretion of the sub-assistant commissioner, said fine to be collected, if necessary, by a lien upon the future wages of the freedman, garnished in the hands of any future employer; or any freedman who shall voluntarily leave his employer, with whom he has contracted for a specified time, before the expiration of such time, unless for such a violation of the provisions of the contract on the part of the employer as will annul said contract, shall also be fined by the sub-assistant commissioner in a sum not exceeding $50, to be collected as above specified. The assistant commissioner deems such a course not only simple justice to both parties, but he also considers it his duty to throw such moral influence about the freedmen, in their transition state, as will induce them to maintain inviolable the provisions of so solemn a legal document as a written contract. If the em ployer fulfils his portion of the contract as to wages, rations, and treatment, the laborer must fulfil his portion as to time and labor. J. B. KIDDOO, Brevet Major General, Assistant Commissioner. Although I was in some doubt, at the time, as to the propriety of such an order, I am happy to state to you that it resulted in great practical good to both freedmen and planters. Its most beneficial effects consisted in the restraint it placed upon unscrupulous planters, who practiced enticing freedmen under contract from each other. The almost constant rains during the months of June and July rendered it necessary that some exertion be made to stimulate the freedmen to extra exertion to save the crops from the rapid growth of weeds and grass. With the same motive in view, viz., to benefit the negro through his own industry, I, at that time, issued the following order, and about the same time made a tour through some of the more important counties myself: [Circular No. 17.] HEADQUARTERS BUREAU OF REFUGEES, FReedmen Galveston, June 19, 1866. In consideration of the present precarious condition of the cotton crop, by the rapid growth of grass in consequence of the almost constant rains, it is hereby required of all sub-assistant commissioners of the bureau to make an immediate tour through their respective districts, visiting, as far as possible, each plantation, and, when this is not practicable, calling the freedmen together at available points, and lecture them on their duties to their employers who act in good faith towards them, and advise them as to the importance of saving the crop. They should be taught that they have a common interest with the planter in procuring a large crop; that at this important juncture they should work early and late, with cheerfulness; that the highest enjoyment of their freedom is through the means of labor, diligence, industry, frugality, and virtue. On these tours agents will read circular No. 14 to the freedmen, and explain to them the justice of the order, the nature of a contract, and the importance of fulfilling it in good faith. The providential interference with the crops in what is called the "Trinity region," has been a source of deep regret to the assistant commissioner, but he is pleased to hear that the crops are being replanted; and he calls upon all agents in that region to aid the planters to the full extent of their power, by inciting industry and emulation among the freedmen in the laudable undertaking. The assistant commissioner deems it for the highest interest of the freedmen, planters, and State that a large and profitable crop be the result of this year's labor. At points where there are United States troops, agents will apply to post commanders for a horse, and small escort, if necessary; and when horses cannot be obtained in that way, expense, at a reasonable rate, and for a reasonable time, will be allowed. Agents will make a report of their tour immediately upon their return. J. B. KIDDOO, |
