Mr. ELIOT. We can defer that for the present. It will do just as well at another time. I prefer to proceed with my remarks now. Mr. Speaker, wherever we turn in ourlegis lative path we encounter questions of freedmen and freedmens rights; they face as everywhere., No peace can comd that will “stay” until the Government which decreed freedom shall vindicate and enforce its rights by appropriate legislation. Absent States may return to their allegiance pursuant to laws which you enact, but no true welcome will be found until some sufficient measure of justice shall be meted out to the men whom “military necessity” converted from slaves to citizens. No man, foreverhere after. can live upon our continent and be a slave. That much by the sword and by the law has been decreed. During all our national, life, before the slaveholders rebellion began, l from time to time, by leading political parties i in the free States it was passionately urged that somehow or other slavery must be abolished. But their action was not persistent and and the same point both arties stopped, and that point was short of ffeedom; for it was believed that Congress could not, under the Constitution, act concerning slavery within the States, and so this crime, which most of the fathers who framed our organic law detested, was, by contemporaneous construction of that law, placed beyond the reach of national legislation. The power to adjust what were termed “domestic relations, ” which were held to include the relation between the white master who owned and the man of African deseent who was the subject of bondage, was not regarded as included in the powers delegated to the U.S or prohibited by the constitution to the States, and therefore fell umoug the reserved powers of the States. Whether this was right or wrong, it was the accepted law, which only secession ordinances and fla grant war enabled us successfully to overrule, and now by military proclamation, comoclled by necessity, but resting upon principles of eternaljusticc, and by State emancipation, and finally by constitutional amendment, universal, freedom has been ordained. The knot which politicians could not untie during 80 years of peace the sword of Mr. Lincoln cut at one blow. The power to liberate, which is now confessed, involved the duty to protect and the Freedmens Bureau was its carliestlegal recognition. I claim for Congress full power to protect, by fit legislation, the freedom which was thus or the avowed good of the Government conferred by the Commander in Chicf and confirmed by subsequent law. “Ido this as an act of military necessity, ” Mr. Lincoln said. But when he had done that act, which was rightfully done, according to the laws of war then operating in full force, the duty and the power of Congress were at once disclosed. Upon that power, thus derived. the right and the duty of Congress to establish the Freedmens Bureau will be found to rest securely. Since the establishment of this bureau another sourcc of power has been given to us by the people of the statesucting through their Legislatures. The great amendment declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, ox ecpt as a punishment fororimo whereof the party shall hnye been duly convicted, shall exist within the U.S or any place suluect to their Jurisdiction and by its 2nd section confers upon congress, by direct grant, “power to enforce this article iy appropriate legislation.” By this act alone freedom in every State was by the people suddenly conferred upon 4 million bondmen. Whether military power had effect ually wrought its work or not that amendment was effectual. States that had emancipated might reeuslave. But that amendment instantly, when ratified, worked perpetual freedom. States which had not fdrmally united their fortunes with the rebel government became at once subject to the mver of that amendment and in a moment tie bondmen within their borders were made free. By necessary implication, ifthe 2nd section had not conferred it, we should, I trust, have found and asserted the power to protect the freedmen. But there is the grant of power and whatever legislation Congress the sole and exclusive judge in the 1st instance, subject ultimately to the judvment of the highest judicial tribunal of the Ifuion shall deem to be appropriate to make fairly effective the great rant of freedom is thus authorized and enJoined. A race of men enslaved by force and kept in bondage for generations, not recognized as clothed with manhood; held, clothe, fed for service: denied education, knowing no relation of husband, wife, or parent, but only of master and slave, after 2 centuries of oppression is declared free free at one moment, free where they happen to be, upon the plantation, within the homes of their former masters, and under the angry eye of owners who see their “property” transformed into “men, ” and made citizens by law. Now, what legislation do you deem appropriate to enforce that act of freedom? Manifestly some is needed; for if the starth ng facts that come to us from the recent rebel States, of fiendish oppresson and brutal outrage, were wholly an, ise losed wc yet should know that masters who had rioted in the lusts of slavery would not let their bondmen go in peace; or if they did, we still should know that a race prostrate for generations beneath the heel oftyrannous power could not have their freedom made elfectual without our legislative aid and yet since that great amendment became a living law we have done nothin", literally nothing, to protect them. The Freedmens Bureau was a necessity created h military law. It was a law before the umeutment was ratified by 3/4ths of the loyal States. Now, another condition of facts exists, and every day lost by our inaction adds to the rent weight we bear of duty undischarged. remember that we have sent to the President one bill. It had been passed, as I know we all believed, with his substantial approval, not of all its provisions, perhaps, but of its scope and general character. But we were in error. Let us try again. I do not know that any utterance of mine within these Halls can reach the presence of that high officer whom I labored to lift up from among his fellows, while men who now attempt to wm him from those who were his friends, by fulsome praise, were heaping abuse upon him mountain high, and that not in loyal States alone, but in rebel communities, and among traitors red handed with the blood of our slain sons, and armed to take the nations life. But, sir, ifI could be heard I would, in behalf of these freedmen, invoke his aid. Our action, without his cooperation must be partial and of imperfect effect. Among the 13 powers conferred by the Constitution upon the President the “veto power” was given as a needful guard to the peoples rights when laws ill advised or rash or contraveuing the Constitution are enacted. such power is itself controlled by a 2/3rds vote of Congress. But this bill, thus passed, might be an imperfect weapon in the and s of others even of willing loyalty, because every official arm. if it would strike effective blows in this direction. must be upheld by the moral power of the Executive. I would therefore invoke his aid in behalf of these millions of men who look up to him as the controller of their destiny. He knows how they are oppressed. Senators who claim to be 10 al may deny the facts established by the men of many Witnesses. But the President knows the truth. He knows the “slaveholder.” He has felt the contempt and contumely and scorn With which the mean aristocrat knows how to crush all whom the Constitution desig nates as “other persons, ” and since the war for slavery began as had his home made desolate and has held life in hand while traitors Jubilant with assured success have wreaked vengeance upon loyal men who owned no slaves. Yes, sir, he knows these men. Unclothed of office, he could not now live in his own old home in Tennessee with the military arm of Government withdrawn. Those men stand before him now With simulated respect. There is no human toady upon earth that crouches so meanly to the man above him as the tyrant who arrogantly puts his foot upon the man be neath him. The President has verified that fact in ethics. They solicit and obtain pardon With bated mice, but no repentance has brought forgiveness; and if the concurring testimony of loyal men can substantiate any fact, and put it beyond fair denial, it is proved to us that in eve State where the traitor flag supplanted the anners of the Republic and in hentucky none the less. the hatred which disloyal men have felt toward their Government is finding expression this day upon the head of the unprotected freedman. Mr. Speaker, I propose t here to prove that statement. general Fis, in his report to the Commisswner of the Bureau, dated Jaun ary 6, 1866, says: "There are some of the meanest unsubjugated and unreconstructed Kentucky rase ally rebellious revolutionists in that curse the soil of the country. They now claim that although the amendment to the constitution forever abolishing and prohibiting slavery has been ratified, and proclamation thereof duly made.yet Congres smust legislate to carry the amendment into offect and therefore slavery is not cloud in Kentucky. Others cling to the old bnrbarisin with tenacity. claiming that the Government must pay Kentucky for her emancipated slaves. There are few pnbl cjonrniils in the State which atlord great comfort to the inalcontents.but the majority of the peopleof Kentucky hail the dawn of universal liberty and welcomethe agencyof the bureau in adPisting the new relations arising from the total abolition of slavery. I have succeeded in obtaining the servnes of inany1st classJudicious. Popular citizens to act as an erintendents at the important oints. The “Blue Grass region is in the est of and s. General Bay. at Hopkinsvillc, was a had failure. He has been removed. I have consulted General Pal mer in the appointment of eve agent. I return to Kentucky on the 10th instantrby invitation of the Governor, and shall meet the principal planters of the State at Frankfort, in convention. on the 11th. I hbolepse s intog do good unto them, and make the bureau a to all Kentucky." On the 23d ofJanuary, after the convention had been held, he writes: " On the part of many of the politicians in Kentucky thero is a bitter opposition to the bureau. Governor Bramletto is most cordial in his expressed approval of my official action and I think, earnest in is dire that the Assembly so legislatops to give the freedmen impartial justice. A mniority of the legislators odioially denounce the bureau and pronounce its resonce in Kentucky a usurpation of power, and this net of conrcss by which it was established unconstitutional. glustnowtbere is at Frankfort a heated canvass for a U.S. Senators hi in progressn Candidates for the position vie with cac other in denouncing the Freedmens Bureau. Men who have fought gallantly for the honor of their countrys flag are willing to purchase promotion to thier U.S. Senate at the expense of justice to their fellow citizens and fellow soldiers too. The Legislature makes no progress in the enactment of laws applicable to the new condi u n of things. but lengthy resolutions do nunqmtory of the bureau and requesting the Presidentto immo dlnufly Withdraw the odious institution from the State. Affirm disaqtiuvseslyodwii tnh protracted debate, and voted astonishingunanimity. Nei tber m self nor any of pay subordinates are accused of muc wrong tlplnzeare oven complimented as being just and conservative gentlemen: but the Freedmens Bureau and evary soldier of the U.S. must be immediately removed from Kentucky to prevent irritation. Jzc. fall the Stateswere to so solemnlyprotrst againstthe presence of U.S. troops within their borders and the country should thin bestto ratify the clamor for immediate and entire romoval that we hear from so many States.the Governmentwould necessarily be compelled to rent a parcel of ground in Canada on which to erectbar racks for the accommodationof its withdrawn troops. “I assure you that in n oportion of the country is this bureau more a positive necessity than in many counties of Kentucky; and forthosuke of thonution s lighted faith to her wards, the freedmen, and in be half of humanity and justice, I implore you and the President to listen to no request for its Withdrawal from the State untiltho civd authorities. in the on forccmout of impartial laws shall amply protect the personsand property of those for whose protection and defonse it is "I urcau is set. saw With my own eyes our follow soldieis yct. clad in the uniform of their countrys Army. resh from their muster out of servicc, who within the last ten days were the victims of fiendish atrocity from the hands of their former masters in Kentucky. These returned soldiers had beento their old homes for their wives and children and had for this Offense beenknocked down. whipped, and horribly bruised, and threatened with shooting. should they ever dare to set their foot on the premises ot hfe old master again and intimate that t cir families were free.” On the 14th of February General Fisk writes to the Commissioner of the Bureau as follows: “Gliiiniun: Keritiickw. Iregret that I am unable to report the bureau affairs progressing as smoothly in Kentucky as in Tennessee. “The freedmen of the State are very generally disposed to enter into labor contracts for wages or a share of the crop, and most of them prefer remaining in their own state to emiation elsewhere. On the part of a large minority of the whites I believe there is an honest desiro to adjust Ollftfftll basis the new relations flllflllg from the abolition of slavery but the bureau is iiuta populiir institution With them. They regard its presence among them as unauthorized – denounce its otheinls us usurpers and despots. an“d clam or for its immediate removal from the State. In obedience to orders, immediately upon the ratification of the constitutional amendment forever abolishing and prohibiting slavery. I extended over the moro than 200,000 freedmen of Kentucky the supervismn of this bureau, and apointed agents in a few counties only. Superintencuts were selectedfroni the citizens and apiiointed upon the reciiiumcudations of the best men could consult. The heutuck Legislature has. by numer ous resolutions, calle upon Government to remove the biircaiifrein the State: propositionsto forever disqualify any citizen from holding an officein the State who uiight acts as an agent of this bureau. were introduced and discussed. The official State paper (Louisville Democrat) has declared that by the ratification of the constitutional amendment.the slavery question has become moro unsettled than ever. an many of its readers. believmg its doctrines, practice accordingly and stilI hold freedmen “slaves. Ihcse influences in opposition to freedom have rendered it difficult to conduct the bureau affnirs in Kentucky with that harmony and cflicienoy which have elsewhere produced good results. “More than 25,000 colored men of Kentucky have been soldiers in the Army of the Union. Many of them were enlisted against the wishesof their masters and now. after having faith fully servedtheir country and been honorably mus tered out of the rervice and rcturn to their old homes. they are not met With Joyous welcome and grateful words for their devotion to the Union. but in many instances are scourged.beaten. shot at and driven from their homes and families. their arms are taken from them by the civil authorities and confiscated for the benefit of the Commonwealth. The Union soldier is fined for bearing arms. Thus the right of the people to keep and bear arms as provided in the Constitution is infringed and the Government for whose protection and preservation these soldiers have fought is denounced as meddlesome and despotic when through its agents it updertakcs to protect its citizens in a coustitutional right. Kentuckians who followed the fortunes of John Morgan, and did all in their power to destroy the nation, go loaded down with pistols and knives and are selected as candidates for high positionsof honor and trustin the State. The loyal soldier is arrested and punished for bringing into the State the arms he has bornc in battle for his country. "That you may have a blldl BFO now of the protection afforded the freedmen of Kentucky by the civil law and authorities I have the honor to invite your attention to the following extracts from communications received from our correspondents in th“at State. C. P. Oylor, of Covmgton. writes as follows: “Jordan Finncy and fainil (freedmen lived in Walton. Kentucky; theyowu e a comforta is home. 2 of the daughters were Wives of colored soldicrs and lived w th im. returned rebel soldiers herein after unmet. Combined to drive this family from the State. They attacked the house 3 times.abused the women and children destroyed all their beddin clothiuf., and furniture to the va iic offs 300a.ndfinal y drove t cm from their homes. lheniiines of the ier petratorl. so far nsknown. are Allen Arnold. ohn Arnold, llllllkllll owell. Woodlord FrykL. Snow and Robert Edwards: all live in Walton. Kentucky. An attempt wasmade to bring these parties to ins ticc. but it failed. As colored testimony could not be received. This same man Finncy has a daughter held as a slave by Mr. Widen Sheet, of Boone county, whom he values at 81,000. 16 armed men resisted Mr. Finncy and an oxpressmunwhen theyWent fgr the girl and beat them cruelly with clubs and s onos. ki ll“eAdnboyld colored man named Baxter was shot and J ames Roberts for fofll lllg l0 lot Roberts in his house. The civil authorities Wlllncither arrest nor punish said Roberts, as there N no testinion except of colored persons. (Reported by Thomas ice. Ri"chLmine dnsldey Kentucky.) Ta lor. of Richmond. stabbed a negro on the 30th of anuary, for no cause save that the negro did not wish Lindsley to searchhis house. The civil authorities tried Taylor and no uitted him. (Reported by Thomas Rice. su crinten cut.) ".L.Pin erton. Superintendent of Fiiyct tccounty. at Lexington proorts that in his and the opinion of all whom he receive their iust rights without the considerable military force. "0. P. Oylcr, Covington. Wiites: The civil officers, nfler the late action of the Kentucky Legislature in regard to the Freedmens Bureau. refusedto cooperato With me and manifest a disposition to drive the bureau out of the Suite. It will be impossible to secure tofreedmen their Just rights without the aid of a military force. Colored people are driven from their homes and their houses burned. “ William Goodloo writes: The counties of Boyle. Lincoln and Mercer are infested with guerrilla hands. Outrages are mostly committed upon colored persons. Thoevideuce of colored personsis not taken in court. Ifie arms powerless to accomplish anything without sol “Peter Branford. a returned colored soldier Mcrcer county. was shot by James Pooro, a white man Without causeor provocation.: judge Samuel A. S euccr. of Green county writes: A great many colored men are beaten. their lives threatened and they refused the privilege of returning home because they have been in the Army. I cannot acceptthe agencyon account of the action of“the hentucky Legislature. E. P. Ashicrnft.of Meade county. writes: Rich ard. William. Jesse and John Shacklett and Martin Taylor. returned rebel soldiers have on differentoc casionsattacked negroes With re arms and so they intend no dd niggers shall live on this in 0hio. “R. W.TThhUinegIVlol af u Wthaerrnetniecsoaurnct powerless. An old negro was killed y gun shot while attempting to run whipping whito boy 18 years of age, to ese apea “A freedmanwas attacked in his cabin and shot. He and his Witeran to the woods, with bullets flying thick and fast around them from 5 or 6 revolvers. the woman escaping With her life by tearing of her clmmn While running. thereby presenting a darker colored mark. A woman was stabbed by a whitqwoman in the neck. the knife penetrating t cWindpipe. for giving water to a Union soldier in ii.tnmbler. Awomun and her son were horribly cut and man gled With the lash and then hung by the neck until so nearly dead that water had to be thrown in their faces to revive them to make them acknowledge that th"ey hadseta house on fire. “A woman receiveda severe cut in the head from aclub in the hands of a man who drove her from herhome because her husband had Joined the Army. “ There arose vernl cases of robbery ofoolored persons by returned rebels in uniform. in Russe llvillc. Kentucky. The town marshal takes all arms from returned colored soldiers, and is very promptin shoot “IF the blacks wheneveran opportunity occurs. I have a casein hand today where a white man knocked down an old man ci ty years of age be cuuse he asked for and urged the necessity ofhis pay fo"r cutting 8 cords of wood. There has beena large number of cases of women and children being driven from home on account of their husbands enlisting is danfierous for colored people to go into Logan. Todd. urren and the north part of Warren counties after their children. “A freedmans wife left her former master and came to live With him. (her husband.) She was followed and shot at. A furloiighed soldier of the 12th U.S. colored artillery wasmurderedat Auburn. Kent uck, while sittin on his bed. The (Illll authorities O nothing in t “ is case. An old freedman in Allen county, Kentucky. was shot and killed because he would not allow himself to be whipped by younl man. Major Lawrence. of the 17th Kentucky cavalry. re arts that a negro was shot in one of the streetsof ussellville last night. No cause whatever for it. several negroes came to me to know what they should de.s:i ying they had been robbed by l nirty of men Wearing the contt did rzite States uniform. He judges and justices of the peace in almost every instance are rebels of Very strong prejudiccs. who willnot even take notice of the most ideous out rages and if a ense is turned over to them they Will not administer justice. The action of the courts in southern Kentucky indicates that.the day is far distant when a negro can SOCUIOJIBUOG at the hands of the civil law. In Grant county band of outlaws. stylin themselves " moderators." e an attack upon t a colored citizens for the purpose of driving them from the State. The wont late in the night to their hom took them from their beds, stripped and whipp them until they were unable to walk. “Colonel William P. thomiisson. of Louisville. Kentucky. writes that outrages and wrongs upon Freedmen are numerous, especially upon returned colored soldiers. A few nights sineg a colored soldier Just mustered out. With his money in hispoclrct and a new suit of clothes on his hack was waitingfor the cars at Deposit station a few whites from Louisville: 4 or 5 young row no! the placcs ot upon him to5 rob him. Hewan light colored man and one of the robbers said to his fellows, “ he is a white man: let him alone.: A dispute arose as to his color and he was takeninto agroccry. a lamp waslit, and the question of hise olor settled. 110 was then robbedof hismoney arms and clothing, was stripped to his shirt, and told to run. He did run and was shot at while escaping, and the shot took effectin his hand} am in daily reccipt of similar reports from our superintendents. juges. sherills and military officers. iSnofomremoafttiohne, writers dare not be known as giving this “For fearing assassination as the epnsequenco. narrating at a ffcedmens commission annivers meeting in Cincinnati. on the 18thultimo, what had in self seenof brutalities in the Bluc Grass, I have condenouncedin the Kentucky Legislature as a liar and slandercr. A committee has conapgonted to investigate the matter. I have furnishc them the names of witnesses, and requested investigart powers be onlarged and they authorised to the conditlon of the freedmen throughout the State; but I have good reason for bOHGVIMthat the committee Will simply make a report tb. General Fisk is a great liar and should beremove from office. the It is well to remember that a more select, numberof vindictive. pro slavery.rebellious legislators cannot be found than the majority of the on tuck Legislature. The POTUS was euouiiced in the Senate as a worse traitor than JeffersonDavis, and that, too, before the bureautem post had reached them. The entire oprposition is political.awarfare waged against loyalty, freedom and Justice have endeavored to administer tbe chairs of the bureau in Kentucky precisely as in Tennessee; have studied to be conciliatory in every particular, and not to interfere in the least Willi th civil affairs of the State, except my duties and orders imeratively demanded it. As yct, the Legislature gave enacted no laws securing impartial liberty and right, and I have much lc:ir t icy Will not at his session. The late etter of MRJOI General Palmer, or Kentucky affairs, is truthful and candid. I wish her good people wo uld hced his counsel and her law makers follow his wise suggestions. "There are many old, infirm, and sick, and orphans in kentueky who have been thrown upon the Government tor support. Rations were issued to this class in Decemberat a cost “$4, 993 56, 8 fold the cost of sustaining the same class of persons in Tennessee the samemonth. In the latter State the people have much more generously treated the unfortunate freedmen, especially the families of fallen soldiers than have the Kentuckians: lience the cause of the increased expense to the Government of providing for the destitute freedmen. Every effort is being madeto secure homes for the widows and orphans in other States. A large number have been kindl received and provided for in Oliio and Indiana. heWestern Freedmens Aid Commission have rendered invaluable service in locating this class in comfortable permanent homes. “In making this extended report of Kentucky affairs Imsh nothingte extenuatcer aught se t down in malice. It is best that you understand the case fully. I reJoice that there are so many persons in the State who treat the freedmen justly and gener ously. Outlaws in different sections of the State. encouraged by the pro slavery press. which daily denounces the Government and its officials, make dberufetanlsealtetasse, k sand raids upon the freedmen.who are for the eiyil law officers disarm the colored man and hand him over to armed marauders. In noither Tennessec. Georgia Alabama. Mississippi, nor Arkansas. whire I have ind an opportunity of observation. does there such a fiendish spirit prevail as in some portions of Kentucky. I tiu st that ere long the better portion of the people will rise in their indignation an demand that Justice be done to all the ctitizens of the State. has fallen to my lot to otiicially stand by the deathbed of slavery in the U.S. on tuckys throes are but the expiring agonies of the great barbarism. “I trust the Government will insist upon strict Justice for every man woman, and child whothrough the Red seaof civil strife has marched from slavery to freedom. will.try to do my whole duty, regardless of. Denunciations Jeers and threats of assassrnation. Will gilvo cheerful heed to your adine nitions and co“unses. While I remain in this position I desirethe power to protect the poor, thoweak and the ignorant who confidently look to this bureau for the protection which the State. made rich by their unrequited toil, yet fails to afford them." Brigadier General Sprague, asst commissioner for Arkansas, on the 10th ofJanuary, 1866, writes to the Commisswner: “I seeby the act of Engress organizing the bureau thatits existence is If limited to oneyear after the war. it should not be extended, there is no hope for the freedmen of Arkansas, Texas and that portion of the South remote from railroads and telegraphs. They will be starved murdered, or forced into a condition more hornble than the worst stages of slavery. Our peoples wrath over defeatwould be poured upon the headsof the helpless ones once their slaves. say this sorrowfully of our people, yet I now it is but tootrnc their preiudices give way slowly. By extending the existence of the bureau, what education and thought failed to do might be suppIies d ibsytahneinlaflnugxua of liberal minded people. of a citizen of Bones and opportunities for Judging entitles hoi sinsttcaltleiments to consideration. His statements are corroborated by all the testimony that reaches me from Other parts of theState, and what is said of the southwestern portion ism themain trueof the whole State. I give it as my deliberate opinion that if the military waswithdrawn from the State not a school for colored children would be allowed within its borders and I doubt if an unspoken Union man would be allowed to remain. In this sparsely settled and isolated country the process of reconstruction will necessarily be slow and I am sorry to add that the influence and example of someoft a menwho have received special pardon was much betterbeforetheir pardon than since, yct there is imperceptible improvement in the temper and sentiment of the people at large.” Inspector General William E. Strong, in his report of action and observation in Texas, says: “In the interior of the State. one or 200 miles from the prominent cities away from the in fluenceof Federal troops and Idederul bayoncts, at points where our Army has never penetrated, and where the citizens have but little fear of arrest and punishment for crimes committed. I assureyou there is a fearful state of things. The freedmen are in a worse condition than they ever were as slaves. When they were held in bondage they were, as a rule. treated wellcases of extreme cruelty were very rare it was for the interest of the master to take care of them, and not.to ill treat them. Now it is quite different; theyhave no interest in them, and seem to take every opportunity to vent their rage and hatred upon the blacks. T icy are freguently beaten unmercifully, and shot downlike Wll beasts, without any provocation, followed with bounds, and maltreated in every possible way. It is the same old story of cruelty. only there is more of it in Texas than any southern State that I have Visited. I could cite many cases of cruelty that came under my own observation if it were necessary to do so, he planters generally seemed discouraged and insisted that the system of free labor would never answer: that the negroes were idle and worthless, and showed no disposition to work, and were wandering about the country utterly do moralized, and were plundering and stealing indiscriminately from the citizens. It was also generally reported by the white people that the freedmen failed wholly to fulfill their contracts, and that when they were needed most to save the cotton crop, they would stop their work and leave it without any cause whatever. After a carcful I do not find these charges against the freedme to be wholly true. “The entire crop raised in Texas cotton, corn, su or and wheat – was gathered and saved by thelst of e ceinber. Most assuredlyno white man in Texas had anything to do with gathering the crops, except perhaps to look on and give orders. Who did the work I The freedmen. I am well convinced, had something to do with it: and yet there is a fierce murmur of complaint against them everywhere that they are and insolent, and that there is no hope for a better condition of amine unless they can be permitted to"resort to the overseer. whip and bounds. 2/3rds of the freedmen in the section of country which I traveled ever have never received one cent of wages SXDED they were declared free. A few of them were promised something at the end of the year, but instances of prompt payment of wages are very rare. [Not one inten would have received any compensation for the labor performed during the your 1865 ad it not been for the rigorous measures resorted to byColonel De Grass, provost marshal general of the district of Houston. who sends into the interior frequently 200 miles and arrests the parties who have been guilty of cruelty to the freed people and where they have Violated their contracts with them compels them to make fair and equitable settlements. Colonel De Grass has a small commandof cavalry under his control, and he keeps it in motion O iistantly through the country, searehing for parties who have murdered or maltreated the freedmen. I cannot speak too highly of the course pursued by the colonel. Hc displays the same earnestness of purpose and feurlcssness in the discharge of his duty that he did in the old army of the Tennessee and although his life has been threatened by the chivalric citizens of the country, yct he is not deterredby their threats from discharging his duty as he understands it. He is a true friend of the black people, vand will not see themill used. I know that someof the lessons which he has taught the citizens in the vicinity of Houston will not soon be forgotten. “I saw freedmen cast of the Trinity river who did not know that they were free until I told them. There had been vague rumors circulated among them that they were to be free on Christmas day and that on NewYears there was to be a.grand division of all the property, and that 1/2 was to be given to the black people." In closing his report, General Strong says: “ In order to correct abuses and regulate the labor system thoroughly throughout the country General renory should have lift good officersto assist: and if these could be place on duty at the principal villages in the interior, for 350 miles north of the coast and a small force of troops sent With each asst to enforce law and order, it would bebut a short time before a decided improvement would be observed. “ It is the opinion of every staunch Union man with whom I conversed and with nearly every officer on duty in the State, that if the U.S. troops were removed from Texas no northern man, nor any person who had ever expressed any love for northern institutions or for the Government of the U.S., could remain with safety and the condition of the freed people would be worse beyond comparison than it was before the war and when they were held in bondage.” Brigadier General Tillson, acting asst commissioner for Georgia, writes from Augusta under date January 15, 1866, as follows: “ In almostevery case, as heretoforereported, the withdrawal of troops has been followed 11 outrages on the freedpeople; their schoolhouses have been burned, their teachers driven off or threatened with death and the freed people by fraud, and even by Violence, made to enter into unjust and fraudulent contracts. The responsible and educated classes are ashamed of these outrages and loudl and justly claim that they should not all be Judge by the people who are mean and cruel enough to practice those wrongs; but the convictionsof the former never take form in action – seldom in a manly, open protest. It requires the most careful nursing and eulture to keep alive even a show e fjnstice toward the freed people. “Nearly all the females and young men and all the blacklegs und rowdies. are open and defiant in their expression of hate for Yankees and negrecs. The simple truth is, that the only public opinion which makes itself felt is as bitter and malignant as ever. Thesearethe facts and any theoryor policy which disregards or ignores them is of little account, no matter by whom advocated or sustained. Unlesswe keep a firm, Just. kind hand upon those people, all ou“r ast labor will be thrown away. large numberof troops is not required: but the State is one of the largest, and unless small gurrisons are kept at many points, most unfortunate results will certainly follow; labor will be insecure and untrustworthy and industrial operations Will be sadly interfered with. Some of the unpleasant consequence s to be anticipated are already exhibiting t cuiselves;as, for instance, the recent attack on the garrison at Brunswick. "The people who I have somethingto lose begin to appreciate the insecurity which follows the Withdrawal of garrisons, and are asking to have them sent back. “The highest and best interests of the State. as well as of the freed people, require an addition to the force now in the Dept." Brigadier General C. H. Howard, specially pointed to examine into the condition of a affairs in Georgia and Florida, in his report dated at Charleston, December 30, 1865, states at the close of his carefully prepared communication to the Commisfloner ot the bureau, as follows: “As the result of this tour I beg leave to submit th“e following general considerations: 1. Agencies of the U.S. Government, of somesort, similar to the existing bureau agencies are for the present indispensable in every part of the 2 States visited. ". Great suffering and starvation would ensue among the refugees and freedmen in some sections we“re all Governmentaid withdrawn. 2. Public sentiment is such that even should the laws be made impartial the negro could not obtain redress for wrongs done him in person or property. "3. There seemsto be a moral incapability with the white residents to treat him fairly in the ordinary transactions of business, as, czerppltgr and, in making contracts. His own inexperience in such things. therefore, renders necessary some agency to guard his interests. 4. Existing theories concerning the education of laborers and the prejudice against the blacks are such as absolutely to prevent the establishment of schools for the freedmen, even though the expensesbe aid by the benevolent associations of the North: an the many successful schools now in operation would be broken up in most places on the withdrawal of the Government agencies. The same general observations will agply to all missionary worlgby northern agents; an from special inquiry and investiation of this subject I am convinced that ycry little in the way of moral and religious instruction for the freed people is to be exiccted at present from the members and ministers of the southern churches. On the other hand, it is for the interest of the whites for the agencies to reinain, and the better class of thinking then expressed themselves unhcstatingly in favor of it. (1.) The prevailing want of confidence on the part of the freedmen in those who have been slaveholders makes it necessary to have a 3rd party (and a U.S. official is better than any other) to induce the freedmen to enter into contracts. Many of the white residents told me that no contracts would have been cticeted but for the bureau officers. “(2.) such agents are needed often to secure the fulfillment of contracts on the part of the freedmen both in explaining the exact meaning and force of the contract and enforcing it by different motives and means. “(3.) For the protection of the whites against any hostile combinations of the blocks, This Will be needed as long as the present public sentiment of the whites continues, insuring a correspending distrust and hostility on the part of the lacks. Our agentshave done muchto allay such ill feeling; and however unreasoning an ignorant the freedmen may bein any community. an owcver much their number may predominate over the resident whites. they will generally heed and be governed by the mines of U.S. officials. order adequately to grotect the persons and property of the freedmen. iin promote their education, aswell as for the proper regulation of labor for the benefit of all concerned, the present number of agents should be increased. U.S. troops are at present absolutely necessaryas aunliary to the agents. "1. There is no other means of executing orders and insuring Justice to the freedmen. In many sections U.S.ingentswould not be tolerated unless backed by military force. I Was assured by respectable and influential resrdents of the country in some sectionsthat no northern man could reside there were it not for the presenceof the bayonet and that in their opinion, such would be theme 1feor ten years to come. I am not convinced of the truth of this statement. yet, with my own observation. I amled to conclude. "3. That the troops should remain for protection of northern residentsand to encourage emigration. " 4.As desired by the better part of the whites. to maintain goodorder and peace. “. Wherev U.S. troops are withdrawn i9nvmairliitaiably organization at once Spllllgsilluplifen vhich disturbances between whites and blacks. eavnidl."to the latter is. I am convinced. an unGeneral Gregory, in writing from Galveston, Texas, December 9, 1865, aye: “ In some portions of the State and especially is it the case where our troops have not been quartored, freedmen are yerxeisiittrsain from their liberty and sla the sar naos thoutghthe old system of oppression was still in force. The freedmen do not understand their true statue, and their former pmraase tteicrasl.lyaltdheonuyg the acknowledge nigr tahcetms. to be free. With this class of men (and a few of the editors who still continue to misre present the objectfor which this bureau was instituted ywo h&VBn10fo(lliIlCUliK}ilfltl any other as they refuse to pay the laborer his hire, and it seems almost impossible for them to deal Justly and honestly with him. This is ownig. perhaps. to the fact that heretofore they have had his labor without compensating him therefor. In this respect. however, there are evidences of improvement, and I trust that in the future there will be less cause for complaint on this account. They must pay them, if; they expect to employ laborers worthy of their hire. Owing to the vast extent of territory embracedin my district. I find great difficulty in procuring a sufficient number of officers who can render me that sub asst commissioners. which is necessary to a proper discharge of my official duties. But few comparatively. feel and manifest thut intergt ipd the advancement of the freedmen that they on and now, Mr. Speaktr, I present some more recent proof, drawn from the official records of the bureau. Extracts from a report Breed Major 0. 1.Gone, dated Lexington, irginia, March 18, 1866: “I have the honor to report. that during the month of February I investigate upward of 50 cases.of which many wereof considerable importance. Some of assaults made upon the freedmen. Others in regard to non-payment o wages for services rendered, 6:0. "The great, difficulty seems to be caused by the whites not bein Willing to pay for the labor after they have agreed to o “I find some 0885105. in which the former owners of the asros people have taken the whole amount of last iiro from the parties to whom they hired their slaves during the hiring season of 1864 and 1863. In all cases where I have found this to ho the case I have ordered hat payment ho inadeto the freedmen from the 10th day of April, 1860a.t the sauicrates forwhich y were hired previous to the surrender. Many of the contracts at that timc.;. 0., previous to the surrender. were made payable in gram and I nably have inva “ caused grain to be aid or it. esquivalent. An exmcmber of the Virginia State Legislature drew half of last years hire for one of his slaves from a man named Teaord to whom he had hired his slave previous to the surrender and he has tried to gct.the ulance. but the case was brought to my notice. iiiid I have ordered Mr. Kramer (ex member.of the Virginiu Legislature) to pay back the grain taken by ini as hire from the 10th of April until the hat of July, um nlso ordered MLTCflIOId to pay the freedman the all amount of grain duoirom the lst ofJiily until the time the freedman in question ceased to work for him. “I have had a case reported to me in which a colored man was struck 39 lashes by his former owner because he got an order or statement from General Darall last June and took it to his master to prove that he was afree man. I Will report the facts in the caseas soon as I have heard them from both pa“rIies. um more inclined to think the people of the lllllOlllldlDB country are less inclined to do Justice to the freedmen than was when I arrived here. " Unless there is a better disposition on the part of the ciliflnn and their soiis and the cadets and students. I will have to send lor troops. It seemsim possiblefor these ocoplo to understand that the laws of the U.S. are supreme here. They seem to think nothings "iould occuror be said that does not accord With their doesof right and wrong, and that “aInslo Mflic Mc]r, of the government is a thing only to be. There does not seem to be any disposition on the priirtd of the whites to help the aged and infirm ce men. An official letter of Colonel E. Whittlesey. of date March 23, 1866, speaking of NCarolina, says: " In this connection I may add that under my Cir cular No. l. several cases of pett larceny have been nod by civil courts and the ol barbarous punishment of whippin had been inflicted. I have brought the matter before the Dept commander and am awaiting his action. “I am satisfied that the negro has very little chance of getting his due before the civil courts of NCarolina nt present. Still it is desirable to transfer jurisdiction to them as soon as possible.” Extract from report of J. W. AIvord, inapiftnn of fi(onnances and schools. (Inlccl March 17.1866, oalima DistCol. "On my route from Richmond to Washington I fell in with a striking instance of the persecutionof loyal men in theSouth. A company of 75 Quakers. old people. men, women and little children were on the truin.tlec in from Randolph county. NCarolina. to homes t cy exnoted to find in the more quiet West. 125 of their number as they told me, were to follow them. They had been settlers in that county for many years: peaceable and prosperous But their young men whon conscripted into tio rebel army refused to go and fled as refugees to the mountains. Now, as they come back to peaceful employments the returned rebels giesrt such rebuinmg the weihrosleoccoiaml meoumniltoyritn, every possible gthem wwaityh, petty lawsuits. threatening violence and in some cases inflicting it. Their proverbial patience had become so exhausted and the fearsof their women and children so excited that they could endure it longer. no Farms and pleasant homese ould not be sold under such circumstances.but were abandoned and with the little money saved by their frugality they hope to reaeh their destmution in the State of Indiann. "The whole story of this honest, simple hearted people was very touching. enlisting deeply the sympat y of their fellow travelers. Their means were evidently very scanty and their hearts were sorrow ful. Aged women, unaccustomed to hardship. spent the night, from Acquia creek.on the deck floor of the crowded steamer while little babes wailed theinselves to slumber in the arms of mothers without their accustomed nourishment. "There can be no mistake in such a case. These staid, excellent peoplo have not left their chosen and long cherishedhomes without sufficient reason." NORTH canouns. From the general report for the month of February, 1866, of Colonel E. whittle sey, asst commissioner, the following part graphs are extracted: " The instance sofpetty annoyance and interference with theindust and enterpriseof freedmenwhoare trying toido we I are numerous. Their horses and males are stolen. their fences torn down. their pigs killed. their arms taken away.“The apprenticing of children has given rise to many abuses and hardships. In some instances the civil authorities have undertaken to execute articles of indenture. At a single sessionof the county court in Sampson county several 100s. it is reported, were bound out to their former masters. in many instances the older children only being selected for this service. leavmg the young children to be supported by their parents. I have directed the asst superintendent of thatcounty to proclaim all such indentures as are contrary to the regulations of this bureau null and void." “The freedmen are not yet free from apprehension that their liberty will prove but a dream. Theysee so much ill feeling exhibited toward them and iear soolien that they are an inforior race and must always expect to be, that they are afraid to trust the whites. Could they be sureof full protection everywhere they would exert themselves more earnestly to acquire proierty niid to improve their condition. Even now, with all the discouragements under which theylabor, there are many cheering signs of progress." soirrn CABOLIFA. In a report made on the 28th of February, 1866, by Lieutenant Colonel John Deveraux. acting subasst commissioner for Edgclicld district, to Brevet Major General Mr. K. Scott, asst commissioner, it is stated as follows: “1. The total military force in Edgefield district is 19 enlisted men of the 25th Ohio Veteran volunteers, commanded by a lieutenant. 7 men of which force are stationed at Edgolicld Courthouse and 12 at Hamburg. Edgcfield being one of ist. slimclaarlgl efosrt caendism consttiruenly ruinly addeisqturiacttse tine t exact at the proper respect for the U.S. authorities. co“ns isTtih negro efaerieghtwt.mo organize the dohtahnedrs of tohuirttleaewns. one led by an cit confederate major named men. Coleman. at present raiding this district and committing with impunity the mostfiendish outrages on Union men and negroes. They have murdered a number of neg roes one white man without provocation and probed and driven from their homes several northern men who have property here. Coleman. the leader is a desperate character; he has exhibited to several persons whom I saw, 8.can cut from colored persons: he carries them in an envelope and shows them as trophies. It is my decided opinion that nothing will restore the supremacy of the laws and render the lives of Union men or freedmen safe in this part of the country but the hunting downand extermination of these desperiidoos by a respectable force of cavalry, as they are mounted in the best manner and belong to the classmismilled(in the Soutli) gentle men and no doubt are harbored and kept well posted by many of the inhabitants." From an official brief (madeup from reports received from the acting subasst commissioners and agents of the bureau in SCarolina) transmitted on the 16th instant h Brevet Major General It. Mr. Scott, to the ommisisioner, the following extracts are taken: COLBTOH DISTINCT. “ llere aplenter had a man.his wife and 2 boys under contract. They taking the smallpox through being placed in a house where the diseasehad prevailed, the planter sent them in a rain storm 2 miles into the woods, and then left them Without food or clothing lo die, althourehat the timohc was in debt to them. They reniaine in the woods 3 weeks in great sulfering until they were accidentally dia eovered by a colored man, who took them home and provided for them." " NRWBBBBYnisrnicr. "The freedmen are sifbjected to barbarous treatment by a band of outlaws. In onc instnnce two freed women were taken from their houses ravished and otherwise maltreated. It is believed that regularly organized bandsof outlaws infest some portions of the country for the express purpose of permeating the freedmen. Their operations being carried on at a distance from the garrisoi is which are infantry. it is very difficult to detect an arrest them and the freedmen seldom dare to complain for fear of greater crueltics. "A letter just received from the post.commander at Greenville Courtllouse shows a horrible state of affairs in that district. With but few exceptions, and those due to the presence of the U.S. troops. the freedmen were turned off the plantations without pay for last years work. The contracts for this year show a disposition on the part of the planters to reduce wages to the lowest possible figure and in very many cases to obtain, by deceit, the services of freedmen on terms for worse than nothing. Cruelty and even death of freedmen at the hands of white civilians, are not, uncommon occurrences. One party boasted to prominent men of the district that he had shot 28 freedmen SHJOO the surrender and offered is services to kill others if there were any particularly offensive to the community." One boy comin baclt to the plantation after having been away with U.S. troops. was in the presence of the other freedmen of the place deliberately shot, but he being only wounded thereby. a rope was placed round his n when he wase hoked until (1.", osoaou. From a letter received February 7, 1866, by the Commissioner from General Tillson, asst commissioner, the following paragraphs are extracted: “The people of the State, who generally at 1st were strongly opposed to givmg reasonable wages. influenced y the judicious courseof the bureau. are exhibitin a readiness to ay the freed people fair wages. er many say t iat their prospects ware never so goo before, and that the freedpeople were doing admirably.” 1 Whenever it could be brought to bear on such people the planters complained of in remote partslof the State) without an exception, the kind. conciliatory. but immovably firm course pursued by the bureauhas induced them to change t cir intentions and act in most and sensible manner." rnoaion. Accompanying Colonel Osbornes (asst commissioner) report of the condition of freedmens affairs in blorida, for the month of February, is a report from Lieutenantquentin, subasst commissioner in charge of bureau affairs for the counties of Madison, Taylor, and LaLayette. From the record of Lieutenantquentins report the following is extracted: “This officer makes a generally favorable report of the condition and disposition of the freed people and states that the better class of whites seem to be very well disposed toward the freedmen. although the lower class of whites are found to he quorrelsome toward their laborers as wcll miabusrve and greedy. “There is so wide a difference between employer and employee in respect to their ability to transact ordinary business and to comprehend the force of a contract and so great a desire rapidly to repair losses and regain fortunes and withal so little desire on the part ot emplovers to see the freedmen rise in any respect, that unessan enlarged benevolence is to govern in the settlementsat the close of the year, little will have been accomplished for the colored ninn except to arouse him from a not too trusting confidence to an unpleasant and uneonquerable suspicion." LOUISIANA From a report made March 9, 1866, to Brevet Major General Baird, asst commissioner, by James Cromie, captain and brevet major 12th Veteran Reserve corps: “I would also respectfully report that the number of colored persons in. this (Galensionp) arishbefore the passage of the ordinance of seccssionin this btato was 1600 and from the information which I have received I believe there are at the present time 1200. There tiresome white inhabitants who still insist upon holding these freedmen in thier former state of bondage, Those Oll lZcM in Lake Charles and Vicinity dean overy much to have an agent of the bureaus eng to them in order to regulate the employment of freedmen and also in regard to the various question rinsing among constantly them under the new order of aliens connected with the emancipation of their former slaves." rizxss. From the report of Brevet Brigadier General E. M. Gregory, asst commissmner, of date February:58, 1866: “I have the honor to revert that from all sources information comesof nnrourng inx results from the efforts of this bureau. Complaints are few and its beneficent results frequently and frankly acknowledged. Fault lindinix and accusation comeonly from that class of men who are but slowly learning to respect law justice and the rights of man and who In enly chafe under the restraints of a Government that sets metcis and bounids to Itheir unblridled wills." "There are no indications of an increase of loyal sentiment in theState thought heroisu visiblo abatement in the number and harshpess of those casesof outrage and maltreatment coming under the cognizance of the bureau." iiissmsirri. The following are extracts from a report submitted January 12, 1866, to Colone Samuel Thomes. asistant commissioner, by Captain J. H. Matthews, subasst commisswner, stationed at Magnolia, Mismssippi: “ 0n the 15th day ot December 1865. A negro reported at my office and informed me that his former master. Mr. FcIix Allen. of Pike county, had sent him into Ainite county. Mississippi. on business.rind that he would call and seeme on his return. On the ensuinK day he returned to my Office most shamefully beaten, and stated that safstoenr hine lhaawd, ieinl food rmgeeddfohrishment in the quarters on the place byilireetionof mr.Allens Ion in lnw: thnt while in bed about 11 oclock p.m. some 6 or 7 white men cameand bursled into the house. pnd Wltll pistols drawn asked him what he was down there when he informed them that he was sent there by Mr. Allen. his master and that if they wnuld go with him to the white lulks ouso he would prove his statement: but no. they told him. “we dont eurol damn lor that. We wnnt you tIo gowith us. When they had taken thismanabout mile they were met by about 50 armed mounted men supposed to be militia and commanded by a man they called lirutennnt) who ordered them to take him (the negro) oil from the road and give him uflogging; and when they hnrl proceeded about 50 yards from the road they threw iin down and 6 or 7 of them jumped into his faeo and bosom with their heels.stampingand kicking him. "When this old negro(he was apparently 60 or 65 years old) returned to m1vJofice. he presenteda most frightful appearance is breast bone broken and he spitting by good." “ I respectfully invite our attention to a murder committed hyone John I. McGcc. Soiiie 9 months since. which would challenge the world for on equal in studied brutality. which was reported to me some time since. but tor want of facts did not feel war ranted in reportin before. The negro was murdered. Beheaded gkinnc, and his skin nailed to the barn. Should llllrl affair be lnbsllllll)d. I would refer you to Mr. Dunkly. at Bunltlys llierry. who can give the names of Partiol. knowml!g toCthe fQactsQ.”. "Should they (the freedmen) remain where the are under existinc eireuinstnnees their condition will not only be rendered worse thanslaves.but the sufcty for the lives and the hopes for the future of this unfortunate nice irill depart lbrever." The folloiving report is dated Washington, March 27, 1866, from the asst commissioner, General C. H. Howard, to M810! General O. 0. Howard, concerning Maryland: Gasman: I have the honor to submit the following partial report. in compliance with your circular dated March 2. 1866 concerning the dam of the freedmen in Maryland: Statute discriminations against the negroes on account of color. 1. No colored witness can testify in oases involving conflicting interests between white and block. A negro convicted of an offense the punishment of which if committed by awhite man would be confinement in the penitentiary. may be at the discretion of the court sentenced to receive not exceeding 40 lashes. 3. negro hiring to a white man for a term and refusing to enter his service but hiring himself to anothwr. unless it appear that his wages would he insecure or that he received improper treatment from the 1st. 2/5ths of his wages in the handsof his 2ndemployer shall accrue as a lien to the 1st. 4. For a negro to belong to an secret society is u felon fij the punishment ii fine O 50 dollars. 5 O education of colored apprentices is required. (Practically. too. the provision of the law requirinfl that the parents of children shall be summon and their consent to the indenture obtainwd or the heir inabiity to provide for their children is shown.is in of oases moored.) In Anne Arundel and Somerset counties. license to deal in merchandise cannot be obtained by n Denm unless recommendedby a certain numberof respectable freeholders. No white person the port 110o1f1o negro shall be granted a license; audit" 0. white man employ a colored clerk. the penalty is dollars. 7. In Charles county. no negro shall have or use any sail or row boat without license from a justioo of the peace. 8. In Kent and Queen Anne counties. “free negroes" that leave the counties and return shall be punished by line and imprisonment. 9. in Prince George county. (5th districld negroes are not to assemble under pretenseof public worship, except on certain days named in the stutute and generally it appears that the organic law of the State is not such asto prevent discrimination against the riahts of the negro, by county or other local authorities. A State official writes from Aniinpolis Fcbruary lll. 1bt}6. as follows: "The colored people have no protection; the white rowdies pick a chance when no white person is about to maltrent the freedmen and because the colored people eannot testify against them. the rowdies O free. Where the negro is concerned it is very difficult to find n jury to convict the aggressorif he bea white person. I think the jurisdiction of the bureau should be extended to Maryland ns soon aspossible.” At the last sitting of the grand Jury in Annapolis a magistrate wasindicted for putting a white man who had assaulted and beaten a colored woman under bonds to keep the peace.on the complaint and ailidavit of the woman. who came with the scars of the beating upon her person. At the enmepthee in November. 1865.ii colored woman was sentenced to be sold for two years for persuading her children to leave their former master to whom they were apprenticed. The children had secured places to work, and their wages for the year would have amounted to $400. In Prince George county is colored man named Jordon Dirtgs had 4 of his children taken from him and bound by his old master against his consent nud protest. The names of the children wereincluded in aeontrnct to labor for the present your. the wages amount inrrto 3300. January 17. 1860. Charlotte Turner colored. makes atlidavit that William Preston. of llowurd county. holds her children. Frank and Charles. Aged respect ively ten and 9 years. illegally and against her coFnesbernuta. ry 5. 1866 Amos llunt. a white resident of ashinzton. Testifies thnt on thu 3d of the same month he accompanied Sandy Henson. colored. to Surrattl in Prince George county. to Visit his (Hensons, daughter: that on his nrrival at the place llenson was met by threats of violoiico and death by the man with whom his daughter is living, and was compelled to return ivithout seeingher. Richard Butler. Colored of StMarys county. testilies that he was assaulted and beaten without ennso by one John A. Lloyd. llubert Avery. n.constable. was present and did not interfere to protect him or preserve the peace. February; 7. 1866.Essex Barbour. Colored late a soldicrin t ethirlioth regiment U.S. colored troops. makes allidavit that on the 3d of the same month he was assaulted and beaten at Chatico. StMarys county. by 4 white men. one ofw i omis a returned rebel soldier and makes it his business to injure colored people more especially colored eol dicrs. at all times and places. “ I have defended the country in the field and most respectfully request that I may be protected at home." February 17. 1866. Richard Speake. colored. of StMarys county. Coinplniniv of his employcr, wbo on the 16th of thnt month assaulted and beat him seriously. March 19.1866. Mario Hutchinson. colored. Complains and testifies that at Nottincliam. Prince George county. on the 9th instant. her bus an enry Hutchmsondate a colored soldier was assaulted and seriously beatenby several white men; that her hus band gave no cause of offc so except asking one of the man if he had accused im of stealinlz: and that her husband is now conlined in Jail at Marlborough to answer a charge of having threatened the life of one of his assailants. Philip Brown. colored. complains under oath that he was assaulted by a white men. in Montgomery county on the 22dinstant. while crossing the farm of the latter and that he was shot stainl wounded in the head by the some white man while riding qui etly along the public highway on the evening of the same day. O has beena soldier: and when shot he heard a companion of the man who shot him say. “Shoot the d n son of a by h: he is nothing but a Union soldier." The above are specimens of many similar affidavits reunrding on trauesin Maryland receivedatthis office. The present civil law upd its administration are found to be practically and it may be said totally. inadequate to protect the negro in his rights of person and property. For example.often in those nssnults upon the negroby the while man colored witnesses only are present and thatestimony of colored men is not received when awhile man is involved. llence an inelictment of the guilty party in the caseis impos si e. The opposition to the efforts to educate the colored people in Maryland is. bitter and wide spread. Teachers {Ive been stoned and blackened and indignation nicotines held and resolutions passed to drive them out. schoolhouses have been burned; colored churches. too. have been destroyed to prevent colored schools being opened in them. Respectfully submitted. C. H. HOWARD. Breuet Brigadier General Asst Gimmiasioner and now, Mr. Speaker, I will show that the existing law is not sufficient for the protection of these men. I have already sai that the law was passed before the great amendment of the Constitution was ratified and made effective. It applied to those who were then freedmen from rebel States or from districts cmbraced in the operations of the Army. There wore no freedmen excepting those inade such by State action or by the proclamation of Mr. Lincoln. what control or supervision do“ that law in its terms authorize over men subsequently declared free but.who were then in bondage? It is not sufficient answer to say that from the neccsSity of the case it has been demanded of the Government that all freedmen should be deemed to be under the care of the bureau. So, indeed. in the absence of legislution it was demanded. No sane man can doubt that in Maryland and in Kentucky it was the duty of the Government to stand between the freedman and those who would oppress him. Now. Mr. Speaker, upon examination of the existing law it will be ound that in its terms it was designed to apply to those persons who were made free by military proclamation. “Freedmcii from rebel States or from any district of country within the territory embraced in the operations of the Army.” No persons were such freedmen who had not been held in bondage by traitor owners in arms against the Government, or who had not been declared lice within the terms of Mr. Lincolns proclamation. Freedmen of Kentucky. Maryland, Missouri, and of such portions of Louisiana and fenneSsee as were declared free by law, and not by militnr order, would not be embraced within the direct provisions of that law. The supervision and care of these men have been purely military and outside of the provisions of the law. But this should not be, now that Congress can act, clothed as they are with the power and loaded With the duty conferred and imposed by the 2nd section of the amendment. It is a work which Congress ought to regulate and direct. How can we answer to constituent or to country if we will full ignore our duty toward these men? Mr. Speaker, I conjure the members of this House to examine the law and to consider this argument present to prove the necessity of further legisation. Bfit this argument does not stand alone. The existing law gives to the bureau the management of “all abandoned lands;" and the 4th section is as follows: " Sac. 4. Abife:. That the commissioner under the direction of the President shall have authority to set apart. for the use of loyal refu gees and freedmen such tracts of land Within the insurrectionary Statesas shall have been abandoned or to which the U.S shall have acquired title by confiscation or sale or otherwise; and to every male citizen. whether refuse or freedmiin as aforesaid.there shall be assignednot more than 40 acres of such land and the personto whom it was so “Signed shall be protectedin the use and enjoyment of t a land for the term of 3 years at an annual rent not exceeding 6%. n on the value of such land as it was appraised by the State authorities in the year 1860f or the purpose of taxation: and in case no sueh appraisalcan he found. then the rental shall be based upon the estimated value of the land in said your. to be ascertained in such manner as the Comuiissioner may by regulation prescribe. At the and of said term or atany time during saidterm. the occupants of any parcels so assigned may purchase the land and receive such title thereto as the U.S. can convey. upon paying therefor the value of the land as ascertained and tilted for the purpose of determining the annual rent aforesaid." Under this section, most of the abandoned property which had been held by Treasury agents, and the confise able lands and abandoned plantations. were placed. by order of the President, under the care of the bureau. The law intended that lands should be leased or sold to refugees and freedmen. The property was to be controlled by the bureau, and held not only as a means of support to freedmen but of revenue to the Government. It was intended that this bureau should sustain itself; and those men who knew most about the willingness of freedmen to work and the productiveness of lands abandoned. felt assured that not one dollar of money would be lost to the Government by the operation of the bureau. The Commissioner. in his report at the jieginning of the session, says: "From one to 10,000 acres in each of the severalStateshave been used: ise olonies for Viitrriint and destitute freedmen. In South earolina Georgia and Florida some land. the exact amount of which has been rerted. has been actually divided and assigned to roodiuen as contemplated in the net establjsbing the bureau. In theseStat the policy of letting apart lands for freedmenwas initiated anterior to the establishment of the bureau and Field Orders No. under man. A comparative. ilsysiunesdign by ifi Major General Sthoewrn property is used as quarters for teachersand officers connected With the ureau and as hospitals. With these OXIOQHKIOHaSl.l property in the and s of the bureau is held as a.meansof revenue. " Shortly after the organizationof the bureau parties whose property was hel by it commencedto paoplpiclyy for restoration of their former rights. The 1st adopted by the bureau was to return es totesto thoseonly who could showconstantloyalty. past as well as present a loyalty which could not be established by the mere production of an oath of bayllegianceor amnesty. As the bureau held property authority of an act of Congressfor certain definite purposes.it was supposed that this tenure must continue to exist until those purposes were accomplished; that property must be surrendered only when it. was evident that the control over it was unauthorized and improper. The discourse did not meet with the approval of y special e wnta.rwrahiio tgoarvthe order vsistihoantsao.pfahridso amnesty proclamation. Entitled the party pardoned to demand and receive immediate restoration of all his property except such as had been actually sold under a decree of confiscation. Shortly after this decision was made known Circular No.15. dated Seitember 12.1865.was issued from the bureau and embodying the provisions of the act of Congress establishing it. I promulgated for the 1st.time definite rules regard the restoration of this propertyto former owners. Authority to restore was vested in the asst commissionersof the bureau. The weredirected to turn over at once all property hed as abandoned upon its tip rearing to their satisfaction that it did not fall wit. in the terms of the definition laid down in the not approved July 2. 1864. They were also directed to restore property. when application was made for it. through the superintendentsof the districts in which it wus situated aecompaniedby proof of elaimants title and of his pardon.either by special warrant or the terms of the proclamation of amnesty of May 29 1865 It was provided. howcver. that land cultivated by refugees or freedmen should be retained until the growing crops were gathered unless the owneriuade full compensation for the labor expended audits products. "Uni er the provisions of this circular the work of restoration has progressedvery rapidly and it is probable that when the year terminates little or no property will remain under control of the bureau." Now, Mr. Speaker, the bureau has not yet been in operation one year and yet the renter part of the abandoned and conhse able and s in all the rebel States which had been in the actual osse ssxonof the Commissioner, and substantially all valuable for cultivation, have been taken from him and restored to their former owners. Unless Congress shall act, where then are these men to be protected, and how can the bureau be made to support itself? Let me give you one statement to show how this abandoned property was used. The asst commissioner of the State of Mississippi, in his report of the 2d of January, 1806, says as follows: wo“rIkinwgisshoftoth present a complete statement of the Daviss Ben colony for the year. "The land was divided and leased houses built and a system of government organized as reportedto you in previous communications. The people worked well, and haveshown by the ir industry. perseverance and management that they are capable of doing business for themselves and will do best where the greatest encouragementis eld out of future reward. There wereon the Bend 100 n nd 81 companies or partnerships who received and These comprised 1300 adults and 450 children. About 5,000 acresof land were divided among them. These people were left free to manage their own affairs: not even officers of the bureau were allowed to meddle with the pecuniary or domestic afiairs. They have produced worth at least. melons. &c. sold Cotton. 1, 736bales. 347 38.500.200 Total amount of reecipts. Paid for expenses. P aid to white partners for stock. supplies. tic. Pii. l receiving and disbursing officer of Freedmens Bureau, for rations drawn. 18500 Total disbursements. 238.500 Balance in hands of eolonists. $169.200 “The people have raised their own crops. made their own sales and put the money in their pockets; none of itpmised through the hands of white people or officers oi the Government of any Dept. The only opportunity there has been for sign cheating has been in the settlement made with white parties who furnished supplies. We have arded this in every wa possible and demanded that settlementsshould e made before our bureau officers. “The home farmof 500 acres was culti vated by transient people thrown upon our hands and by those who were from any cause.unable to procure land. Receipts from home farm. for 234 balesof cotton. Paid to freed people for work by sir crintendents during the ycar. $6.850 Pun to superintendents on all the plantations on the Bend. years Pwinar}: orginning 4.675 Paid for freight. commissions. repacking. 5, 410 Total 22.93000 Amount turned over to receiving and disIfbursing oliieer. 25.02980 to this amount we add amount received by said officer for rations issued colored p enters. 18.50000 It will show the total amount receivedby the bureau from the home farm and the colonists. ".844.42980 “ 5,000 bushelsofcorn were raised on the home farm and fed to Government stock. which was in usefor the benefit of the people. “The experiment has been a iirand success and proveswhat the people can do. regret that they cannot have the opportunity of cultivptiu the some lands this season. our of the plantations have been returned to the owners; the organization of the colony is broken up and the people advised to seek employment on business elsewhere. I still retain the Davis plantations, and will leasethem this car. but will charge the peoplea moderate rent. on not peligw themto have the land free. as wasdoneduring and here, sir, is a statement showing amount of money received and disbursed in the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen mnd Abandoned Lands for the State of Mississippi, at Vicksburg, from June 1, to December 31, 1865: Disbursed 1865. June. Exenditures for June 82.57671 Baance to July. 24386 July. exended in July. $4.24569 Balriinceto August. 4.21617 $8, 46186 } Vouchers due and remaining Freedmens Bureau Received 1865. June. Amount on hand last statement. $96622 Amount recieved during month. 5.85435 July. Total expenditures.Remaining in hands of reeeivingand disbursing ofliecr. ".853.49602} Colonel Whittlesey, asst commissioner for NCarolina, at the close of his 1st quarterly report gives the following statement of the financial condition of his Dept: "The financial condition of the bureau is clearly presentedin the reports of captain James. who. in addition to his duties as suffermtendent of the east ern district. has acted as nancial agent with the assistanceof Captain Seely. Asst quartermaster. The duties of the Dept have beenvery rent, and have beenfaith ully discharged by the seo ieers. In July. Colonel Henton. agent of the U.S. Treasury. turned over to the bureau a large amount of real estatein Wilininizton, Ncwbern and adjoining counties.which had been leased for terms varying from one month to one year. The collection of rents from several hundred lessees of tenements and farms has beena laborious work. But the examination and adjustment of claim for this property and the restoration of it in accordanee With the Pru idents amnesty proclamations has been more tryi and perpleinng. Nearly all. however is now out O iosu frohraened dsu.apnodnuunslebsysaapreplei ciarntiionnirsation of the claims ground that the property was not rents. on the shall be abandoned. we our able hereafter to devote all of our time to “ appropriate work. lead Tihneg ffoalcotswtiongthseum fomreagroyionfgor pecproartti:ons presents the Receipts for the quarter. $44, 91324 Current expenses, O34 Forsoldiersfumilics from bounty 7.97725. 21.58417 fund. Remitted to Treasury. 33.91176 Balance credited October1. 1865. 811.00148 “ Farms. 1; acreson farms eultivated. 8.540;acres of pine lands worked. about 50.000; freedmen employed on farms. 6.102; contracts witnessed. 257; freedmen employed under them. 1.847; marriages registered.512; orphans apprenticed. 42;se hools es ta lished. 63; teachers employed. 8o scholars at tending. 5.61.; casesof crime reported for trial. 12; casesof diiliculty settled.reported in full. 257; cases not reported in writin. several thousand: rations issued.5 08924; value of. 106.36511; hospitals. 14;sick in hospitals, 810.a. ttendedby direction of the bureau. 54.441; deaths. whole number of freedmen reported. n hospitals, camps and towns. adjoining. 2.680. “Reports of sick and deaths embraceall cases in the vicinity of stations and with which the bureau has in any way been connected. “Estimated crops: cotton. 858.70opounds; corn. 32.715 bushels; sweet potatoes. 1.000 bushels; turpen tine. 5.700 barrels; tar. 5.803barrels." So it is, Mr. Speaker, that the lands and sources of support and of revenue have one from the bureau. I state the fact to be rain the experience of less than one year that wherever the experiment has been tried with reasonable fairness the freedmen have demon strated that the ablebodied men and women have not only supported themselves, but have been able to pay over to the Government in rent and reduce substantially enough to provide for teold, the infirm, and the disab ed and now, what should Congress do? If we will not act, or if having done all we can, no bill can be approved or passed, one of 2 courses must be pursuee T either the power must be assumed of obtaining lands by lease or otherwise for the uses of freedmen, or else arrangements must be made by which freedmen able to work may find employment upon plantations and in the homes of former masters or owners of lands who have moved from northern States. But, 1st, neither Congress nor Presrdeut could properly permit the bureau to purchase or to lease lands without the authority of and so lawi it will come to this, that when, as Wll soon be the case, no lands are left Within the control of the Commissioner, all freedmen, old and young, able to work, or disabled by wet s, infirmity, or disease, must be provid for in some way or other upon lands owned, occupied, and improved for the personal profit of private owners. Now, such owners will not want upon their farms useless laborers. They Will not receive the men who have lost their arms or legs "1 your defense. They will not want feeble women, nor the old or infirm, or the children too young to work. Especially they will not want those who are disabled by disease. Do you not see that all this multitude of non-producers must be a dead weight upon the Government? What will the Commissioner do with them? Where will he put them? You have freed them and their old owners do not want them. Where shall they go? What shall they do? There will be cases where the necessities of labor will compel land owners to permit disabled parents to remain and to be fed upon their farms while the workiu season lasts in order to secure the services of the ablebodied sons. But those cases will be exceptional, and we have no right to take them into our consideration. With lands assigned to the bureau where homes may be allotted to the freedmen and reasonable rents received from them, with rights secured to them to purchase upon fair terms, the ablebodied freedmen will take care of all their sick and their disabled, and will put into the Treasury of the Government enough to defray ii the charges of this bureau and now, if it lie said by anyone who claims that this is the white mans country, or by anybody else, that such a policy as this would disturb labor and prevent the plantations from being worked because freedmen would prefer their own homesteads to anybody s farm, the answer is obvious. This cannot be so if wages are offered which fairly pay for the work to be done. There is not a man upon the floor of this House that does not see in his own everyday experience this absurd argument refuted. If the freedman can pay his rent and keep his family together, old an young, and clear for himself 20 dollars a month, he will not willingly work for another man for 8 or 10. Why should he? But give him the worth of his labor, and he will go quickly enough, and the women and the old men who cannot get wages will work his little land and stay at home. This is the law of labor. We all have the services of men who live at their homes when not at work; and so, as a general fact, has every northern house holder and those men employed all over the North are among the men who send us here and keep their eye upon us while we are here. Does anyone know this fact better than the President knows it? Now, sir, the same law of labor will hold good at the South as prevails at the North. he trouble is, that where for generations labor has been forced; where the minimum amount of food and clothing, without other pay, has been made to produce the maximum amount of work, those who employ labor are not willingto pay the fair value of labor. But when on the cotton plantation the laudowner is prepared to pay for skilled labor what it is fairly worth to the man who does the work, hewill find willing hands toeultivate his staples. Butthere is another consideration which neither P resident nor Congress will feel disposed to disregard. “ A fair days pay for a fair days work.” is the golden rule of labor. In SCarolina there were at the last census of white population 201, 388, and of colored population 412, 320, of whom only 9, 914 were free. There.were in that State 16, 217, 700 acres of land, of which only 4, 072, 651 acres were improved. That land was owned by the white men. Here and there exceptional cases occurred; whether according to law or against the provisions of law l do not stop to inquire. But it is said that some men of African dese ent did own both land and slaves. But the rule was otherwise. The white men owned the land; the black men gave it its value. But now a new condition of things is cre iited by our own not. Every man is made free. There is no longer ownership of labor. Every fair man admits that these 400,000 freedmen, declared free 1st by military Order and then by sacred enactment, must be 01 a season protected by the Government Which released them from bondage. Would our duty be diseharged; would the President Filo has felt through his whole life the oppress "8 power of southern capital; would be believ that we had discharged our duty if we say to th Commissioner of this bureau we will not give you any lands to work with; but take care of these freedmen; see that the gulf which separates servitude from freedom is bridged over somewhat, and aid their unaccustomed steps until the stand firmly upon that land of promise which we have opened to them? Find employment for them all, and see to it they have fair play; but especially see to it that the Government incurs no needless cost. Would that do? Where could you find employment at fair wages, and how could your Commissioner secure it to them? If you compel them to work upon the old plantations, under the old owners, in the old homes, giving them no hope in life and no choice of labor but to work there or to expatriate themselves and seek homes in other States, do you not see that the price of wages must be at the discretion of the owner of the land? If you compel the freedman to work there, what wages they will give he must take, or you must support him, or he must starve. But give to your ommissioner the power to procure lands for them; the freedmen will pay fair rent and will from their labor defray the expenses ofyoiir bureau, and will thankfully pay full price for the lands which you may so i them and when such opportunities are given them you will yourselves make that golden rule of labor operative, and a fair days pay for a fair days work will be secured. My friends, is not this very plain? and I sayto you now, and I would that every voting man in all your districts could hear what I say, that whatever else you may do you cannot “enforce” that great amendment by any legislation more “appropriate" than this. But you see at once, Mr. Speaker, that the present law, passed before the people of the loyal States y their Legislatures ratified the amendment which you offered to them, is wholl insufficient in this respect. The lands provided for them by that law have passed substantially, excepting the Sherman lands which I will speak of presently, into the hands of their former owners and your committee believed that ii on a fair statement of existing facts you wouldonot hold them guiltless if they did not propose some plan that would without one dol or of cost to the Government, as we believe in some small measure make real to these freedmen the liberty you have vouch safed to them. We owe something to these freedmen, and this bill rightly administered, invaluable as ikwill be, will not balance the account. We have done nothing to them, as a race, but injury. They, as a people, have done nothing to us but good. The riends of slavery say we Christianized the African, and therefore we gave him blessing and not a curse. We enslaved him.That is what we did. If the African has become Christian in America he may thank God, not us. So Booth murdered our President. His fatal ball opened the avenue through which the spirit passed, and Lincoln stood before his G. The assassin lifted him from earth to heaven and so conferreda blessing. But he remained an assassin none the less. We reduced the fathers to slavery, and the sons have eriled life to keep us free. That is the way iistory will state the case. Now, then, we have struck off their chains. Shall we not help them to find homes? They have not had homes yet. We have not let them know the meaning of the sacred name of home. Why, sir, our humblest man, if God has given him strength enough of mind and body to make him accountable, may find some willing wife and lowly hbme. If he is a true man he will find there a heaven upon earth. No monarch upon his throne is more secure in the enjoyment of his rights than he. The invisible guardianship of law surrounds and keeps him safe. What he has is his own. His wife is his, and when he enters under the low roof at night, the days work done, the sweet voices that call him father are the voices of his own. He may be poor and friendless outside ofhome, but he is rich there, and no mortal man in the Republic is strong enough to do him wrong with safety, for the law is mightier than the strongest man. But these men whom you have freed have been slaves. Their fathers were torn away by felon hands from ancestral homes in their native land heathen homes, perhaps, but I suppose God was there nevertheless and within the borders of the rebel States no homes since then have been permit ted to them or to their children. Slavery cannot know a home. Where the wife is the property of the husbands master, and maybe used at will; where children are bred, li e stock, for sale; where man and woman, after 20 years of faithful service from the time when the priest with the owners sanction by mock ceremonies pretended to unite them, are parted and sold at that owners will, there can e no such thing as home. Sir, no act of ours can fitly enforce their freedom that does not contemplate for them the security of home. But let it be borne in mind that it is not intended by this bill to give freedmen homes at the cost of the Government. They will hire and pay full rent or they will bu and pay full price. But when a condition of things exists such as is now found in the late rebel States, where, as a race, the colored man could own no lands because held in slavery, and where because of his declared freedom the vindictive hatred of the old owners fastens itself upon him and would exclude him still from owner ship of land, there does arise this necessity that we who have made them free should enable him from the fruits of his own industry and With his own means to procure for himself a home and that is all that this bill proposes to do. Every man may now avail himself of the homestead law. That will secure him 80 or 160 acres for a nominal sum of money. This bill withdraws one million out of 50 million acres of public lands in die live States, namely, Floria, Mississippi, Ala bama, Louisiana, and Arkansas, an permits the freedmen to lease in lots of 40 acres each and purchase at an agreed valuation. Let me read the 5th section of the bill: Sec. 5. Abife: That for the purpose of rendering is bureau se ll3sustaininir and in the place of lands heretofore assignedto freedmen and there afterwards withdrawn from the control of the bureau, the President shall reserve from sale or settlementunder the homesteador preemption laws, and assignfor thense of freedmen and loyal refugees male or female, unoceuaed public lands in Florida. Mississippi. Alabama. Louisiana and Arkansas, not exceedingin all one million acres of goodland and the Commissioner shall cause the same. under the direction of the President.to beallotted and assi ned from time to time. in parcels not exceeding 40 acreseach. to the loyal refugeesand freedmen, who shall be protected in the use and enjoyment thereof for such term of time and at such annual rent as may be agreed upon between the Commissioner and such refugees or freedmen. The rental shall be based upon evaluation of the land. to be ascertainedin such manner as the Commissioner may, under the direction of the President. by regulation prescribe. Attbe and of each term, or sooner. if the Commissioner assent thereto, the occupantsof any parcelsso assigned, their heirs and assigns may purchase the Ian and receive a title thereto from the U.S. in fee, upon Snyment therefor of the value of the land ascertainc as aforesaid. There is no gift here. The freedmen pay for everything and the lapds assigned arepublic lands, which we have won to States and for schools and railroads another uses which were national in their character. Millions of acres have been unwisely given away; but these lands, not given away, but sold for a price, will confer upon freedmen the inestimable blessings ofliearthstone and home. The 6th section of the bill, as now reported, will not, I trust, be opposed in any quarter. Let me read it: Sec. 6. Abife:, That whenever the former ownersof lands occugied under GenlSherman s field order, dated at avannnh January 16.1865, shall apply for restoration of said and s.the Commissioner shall recuro other lands by rent or purchase. not execcing 40 acres for each occupant: Provided. That such lands can be procured at an average cost not exceeding 25 dollar! peracre, and beforesuch restoration is made, shall allot and assign them to such occupants upon the termsand conditions numedin the precedingsection or set apart for them.out of the public lands assigned for that (purpose, 40 acres each upon the some terms an conditions: Iroviilrd, That no saleshall be madeof lands so purchased at a price less than the cost thereofto the U.S. Why, Mr. Speaker, in some of the States the bureau has given much more aid to the white refugees than to the freedmen. The bureau has not confined its operation to the men who were made free. In Alabama there had been on the hit of April, 879,343 rations is sued to refugees and 364,215 rations issued to freedmen, and in Arkansas there had been 1,004,862 rations issued to refugees, and 715,572 issued to freedmen. Now, sir, all we propose to do is to let freedman have a chance to buy a home. No land is to be.given away to him, but the Government that has made him free hel 3 him to purchase a home and this is all fdesire to say in offering this bill for consideration. Its provisions have been carefully examined and will receive, I trust, the favor of the House. I have made a motion to recommit, and I propose to withdraw that motion and call the previous question unless some other members desire to cbate this bill.