Mr. DAVIS. Before I vote for the printing of these reports and the evidence, I should That is the way It will cost a dollar a copy gave me this information in relation to the State of NCarolina, that the evidence of some men, and I think of a single individual, of the Freedmens Bureau had been taken; i he addressed a letter to a member of the committee requesting that witnesses whose names should be suggested by those claiming seats in the Senate and in the House should be allowed to give their evidence before the committee and when I last conversed with him, he had received no such privilege as that. Now, Mr. President, if a just and imartial and intelligent committee would seek for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, in relation to this matter of inquiry, it would beasubject of deep interest to the country, and the results of their labors should be presented to the country; but if that committee proceeds updn the principle of suppressing evidence and suppressing the truth, and silencing or at least refusing to hear, evidence on behalf of the gentlemen who claim seats in the 2 Houses as representatives from the 11 excluded States, I for one am indisposed to publish at the public expense the results of their labors. Now Mr. President, I do not believe at least I are very little faith in the various letters of information read to the Senate by the honorable Senfrom Massachusetts [Mr. SUMNER] and other gentlemen in this body. I have no confidence whatever, orvery little, in the testimony which the men in the employment of the Freedmens Bureau give in relation to the state of public sentiment in the southern States; and as a sample of the character of this kind of testimony, this sort of evidence, I will read from a speech made by one of the military commanders at the head of the Freedmens Bureau in the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, and I will let the Senate judge of the weight and authority that should be won to evidence from such sources. General Fisk is at the head of the Freedmens Bureau in Kentucky. He made a speech some 3 weeks ago in Cincinnati, and I will read an extract from it: "Only the day beforoaesterday.in Lexin on.13dischargedeolore soldiersstood in the street, in full sight of Henry Cla s monument, with their bodieslucerated, their bac s bleeding from the cruel lash, their headsout to the scalp, and one or 2 of them with their eye put out: and what for. do you suppose? Simply for going to their former masters and askin for their wives and children. I appealed to the civi authorities in their behalf, but was told that there was no law in Kentucky to help them." This General Clinton B. Fisk was in this city about 2 weeks ago, and I received from him his card to hold an interview with him in the Marble Room near this Chamber. I did so. He inquired of me if I had seen an extract from his speech made in the city of Cincinnati, and published in the Commercial newspaperof that city, which extract I have just read. I told him I had. He asked mew at I thought of it. I remarked that so soon as the publication of that speech reached Frankfort, our Legislature being in session, they unanimously appointed a JtCommee to inquire into its truth, and that I had seen a statement published in the principal aperin Lexington stating that the editors he made most diligentin uiry into the truth of the report as set forth inhis speech of this cruelty to freedmen in Lexington, and I was satisfied that there was not a word of truth in what he had said upon that subject. He then asked me if I knew a Dr. Moore of my county; ifI knew Judge Goodloe of Lexington, and itI knew a colleague of mine in the other House, Mr. Melisa. I told him I was acquainted with all of them. He referred me to those men for information of the truth of the statement, which in his speech in Cincinnati he said he had ascertaine by personal inspection. Judge Goodloe is one of the gentlemen to whom he referred me upon whose representation he had stated the facts set forth In 1115 speech. I have in my hand a report or the JtCommee appointed by our Legislature to inquire into the truth of this slander, and it contains the evidence of Judge Goodloc. the whole of which I Will read, as it is short. Judge Goodloe is an extreme radical; he has voted for all the radical candidates for office, Federal and State, for whom he has had the o portuuity to vote; and there is no measure oft ie administration, however extreme. that he has not been a decided and uncompromising supporter of. Here is the deposition of Judge Goodloe, as taken by the legislative committee: "Witness being dul sworn. deposesand says: I am the jud c of the actte circuit court; I have never seent ie speechof limor general l isk to which yon uowanlluodfneo country aegxetsruapeotntr daiisnchitarugnetdiln negro; soldiers of the U.S. Army in this vicinity and have heard of none; I madeno communication upon the subject to General Fisk: I state that lhCfCIS ample provision madeby the lawsof the htateot kcntucky for the punishment of outrages upon IltfglOtSruClais are allegedby General Fisk tohavetnken place here. Inhumiin treatment of slaves by thei rowners or others is forbidden and punished by cha Rer 93. articletour.of the revisedstatutes. utrligesuponlrce negroesare punishable by the laws of the State ire cisel as are similar outrages upon white men. oth civilly and criminally. I am a Union loan and have been a supporter of the Administration. Oar laws do not admit of negro testimony in proceedingsto whI th. a whit.0man is a party.nw. C. GOODLOE" Then follows the testimony of Madison C. Johnson, one of the 1st lawyers and one of the 1st men in Kentucky for intelligence, for character, and for every virtue of truth and honor that can adorn a man. His deposition was taken by this committee; and he testifies: “ I am a lawyer of more than 30 years standing. residing always in the city of Lexmgton. have quite an extenstveacquaintanceWith the peopleof t to town and its vicinity. l have read the speechof Major General Fisk, just published in the Cincinnati Commercial of the ltllh January and have seenex tracts from it frequently since that time. I have conversed with a great many white persons and with many intelligent negroes and have engagedsomeof the latter to make inquiries among their friends. to ascertain whether there was any toundution whatever tor the statementsmade by General Fisk as to the maltreatment of dischnrged negros oldiersin this town or vicinity. I know of no single case of any such outrage; have heard of none and the persons whom I engagedto inquire into it have been unable to hear of any such casefrom anyfeison. so far as I am informed or believe. Since have residedin Lexington I do not believe that any such outrage could have occurred here without exciting much commotionand almost universal indignation. Some years since a negro man named llbbs.who kept a negro school here.wastaken bysomeiowdicsat night and tarred and feathered. There was great excitement among the citizens in consequence. The next day a public meetingwas held and resolutionswere passed condemning the outrage and requesting me to prosecute the offenders.I did bring a suit for Tibbs and recovered damagesfor him. which the defendants were compelled to pay. The meetingwnsa very large one.most of the citizens attending. I have all my life been in favor of cmancipating the slaves of the State. I voted in that direction when the question was before the people in 1849, and have never changedmy opinion on the subject. the freenegroes in Lexin ton iave always shown great confidencein me and have beenlong in the habit of applying to me for advice and assistance. I have recatedly us sistedworthy slavesin paying for themse vesin order to set them free. I am now and have beenfor some years. president of the Northern Bank of.Kentucky. a response to the question as to punishment of mayhemupon negroes.I refer to sectionone. article 6. chater 28, revised statutes. as follows: fany person shall unlawfully pull or put out an eye.out or do oil"or slit the tongue.ear. nose or lip or any part thereof or cut or bite off any other limb or member.by fighting or otherwise.of another person. except the samebe done in self defenseor in doing some awful not he shall beconfined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than 5 years. This statute is equally applicable to those gmusil"ty of oiutra.ges upon negroes as upon white per"M. c. JOHNSON." I have sundry depositions here of the same character of the extreme radical Union men. There is S. S. Goodloe, another extreme radical man. who testifies: "I have read the paperwhich nrports to be an extracts from a speech of Major General Fisk and Johnson aEtstqa.chIedam to the judge pooosfittiohne LoefxMinagdtiosnon ci0ty. edoeutartlledI by General Fisrk oifnatnhyat such outra c as is heard the speechof extract. have Genera lFisk frequently alluded to. I have not heard any person say that he had teavielsrahseoacrdeuorfritnhgei nouLterxaignegstownhiachfe General Fisks speech wasmade. It would have beenin duty. had such an outrage occurred in the city of exington, to have caused the arrest and punishment of its au Ithors; and I would have dischargedthat duty had been ereditably informed of the commission of such acts. I have always been acting with the Union party. I am the mastercommissioner of the Fayette circuit court. I never had an conversation with General Fisk and have not so d or offeredfor sale any slave in 18 months past. I am informed that aslave was advertised to be sold a short time since by the master commissioner of the Woodford circuit court and it is probably that sale to which General Fisk alludes. “Examined by Mr. Armstrong: I inferred fromreading General Fisks speech. that the outrages to which he alludes occurred in Lexington or the county of Fayette. SPEED S. GOODLOE." Then there is the deposmon of Mr. Beard: “I haveresidedin this vicinity all my life. I have a very extensive acquaintance in this and the surrounding counties. I haveread thespeechof General. Fisk. reported in the Cincinnati Commercial on the 19th instant. I have taken much pains to inquire. from both white and black. whether any such out rages as are detailed by General Fisk have occurred in this vicinity. I have not been able to hear from any personof any such outrage. I am a member of the city council ofLsxingion. “I haze beenmnd am. a Union man.” “OLIVER P. BEARD." I have also the deposition of W. W. Dow den: I " I am the high sheriffofFayetto county. I have read the speech of Major General Fisk. extractsof which are attached to the deposition of M. C. John S(pll.E:l]. I have no knowledge or iilformalion of any such outrages as he details and do not believeit to be possible that they could have occurred here or in this vicinity. without my knowledge. I have talked with many persons.white and black. upon the subject and have not found one who knew or had heard of any such occurrence." “W. W. DOWDEN." Sir, a more wanton and unfounded slander was never uttered by a man. When a major general in the Army of the U.S. at the head of the Freedmens Bureau can make such a speech as this in the city of Cincinnati, in which the most cruel and brutal outrages upon discharged negro soldiers are alleged in the most specific terms and upon full inquiry not one word of it turns out to be true. what sort of confidence, what amount of trust is to be placed in letters that are written by persons connected with the Freedmens bureau to gentlemen in the Senate? I informed Major General Fisk that instead of being here he had better confront that committee and make good the serious charges that he had made against the people of Lexinyvtoii in relation to the maltreatment of ncero soldiers. He was telegraphed to this citycliy a radical friend upon the committee that the committee had beeu raised and advising him when it would sit in Lexington for the purpose of investigatin the matter. I advised him In self that this committee was about to ho (1 its session in a few days, and urged upon him to appear in Lexington before the committee and prove his charges. He passed on through Lexington, did not stop, but passed on with General Thomas to Tennessee, and left the committee, to conduct its investigation without appearing before it. He telegraphed to the committee, giving an excuse for not having appeared.before it; but the Legislan ture were determined to accommodate him, and it has adjourned its session until January next, and it has authorized this committee to sit in its vacation, and to hear General Fisk and any testimony he may bring before it at any time between now an the meeting of the Legislature. Perhaps it would be more satisfactory in this connection to read the report of the committee appomted by the Legislature: The undersigned. a JtCommee of the 2 Houses of the General Assembly of hentucky. appointed to investigate the truth of certain statements made h Breyet Major General Clinton B. Fisk. Asst suporintendent ot the freedmens Bureau for Tennessee and hentucky. respecting the maltreatment of certain negro soldiprs of the U.S. Army in the vicinity of Lexmgton, begleave to submit the following report: In obedience to the resolution of the General Assembly and on Tuesday. the 30thJanuary. they addressed to Major General Fisk, at Louisville. the letter. of which a copy. marked (A) is hereto appended, and placed the samein the postofficeof this (at. X copy of the resolntionsof the General Assembly. which were inclosedin that letter is also appended. marked (13.) On Saturday. February 3, they metat the county tciloenrkcsoonfltaicipniendLinextinhgeitronle. Tatcecrotrodin General Fiske ifica telegraphie dispatchwas herereceived by Mr. Arm strong. of the committee informing him that Geu eral Fisk was in Washington and desiring him to postpono the investigation until the Generals remaamjo. roitnythe following Tuesday or Wednesday. The of your committee. However were of opinion that they ought to proceed with the examination of such witnesses nsmight be in attendance and then adjourn to another fliy. in order to allow him to cross exiiiininc or produce other testimony.should he desire to do so., Accordingly. your committee after examining the witnesses below them.did adjournJo meetagain on Thursday. the Sth instant, on which day the letter marked(0) was receivedby Mr. Armstrong and simultaneously appeared in the columns of the Louisville Journal. Inasmuch as the time fixed by General Fisk in that letter for his probable return thd 20th or 25th proximois beyond the time publicly proclaimed tor the adjournment of the General Assembly .your committee were not at liberty to accede to his demand fora further postponement and can but regard it as trifling with them in the discharge of their duty. They therefore proceedto state the result of their investigations. 0n the morning of their assemblage in Lexington they had causedto be published in the Observeran Reporter. (the newspaper havmg the largest circulation in the town an county) the noticemarked (D.) inviting all persons who could give the many information on the subject of their inquiry to attend and communicate with the committee. They had also causedto be summoned before them a number of persons of all political parties. who might be presumed to know somethingof the outrages detailed by General Fisk. if any such had been witnessedin Lexington. The sworii statements of these Witnesses are appended, marked (Bland upon them yourcommitteo submit the following observations: The judge of the circuit court. the Judge of the county court. the judge of the clay court. the high she ilotihe county. the ni.iyoron one of the council nolihc city of Lexmmom wqe among the witnesses. Not one of thesewitnesseshad the slightest inlormation of the commission of a single outrage of the character describedby General Fisk and all of the judges concurred in the statement that the lawn of Kentucky were ample for the punishment of any such outrage. while each said that he would have promptly arrested and punished the offender. had any information of the commission of snch an offanso been communicated to him in reliable lorm. Madison C. Johnson. Esq" one of the most distinguished lawyers of the State and a lilo long emancipationist. testified that ho had personally made inquiries 01bothwblie and black to ascertain whether therewas any toundation for Generals Fisks statements; and that he had directed similar inquiries to be made by others. both white and black: and that neither he nor any of thosewho were acting under his direction were able to hear of anyone who ha witnessed or could give any information whatever concerningspehwrongs. lle adds.“I do not believe that. any such outrages could have occurred here without exeitin much commotion and general in dignation;" an be details an instance. occurring many years ago. where a much less flagrant wrong upon a free negro had aroused the sympathiesof the whole town.andits perpetrators had been prosecuted by himself at the instance of a public meetin and had beenproperlylpunishedby the courts. Mr. obn son embodies in is deposition the laws of the state of Kentut kyfor the punishmentotmayhcm and very correctly adds. that the punishmeutis the same. whether the crime be committedupon a free negro or a white man. Mr. Hawes. (who has beenresidentin Lexington. ascitizen and otheerof the Army. since April. David S. Goodloc. ( U.S. district assessor 1864.; and John B. Wilgus are the only Witnesses who testified to the commissmnofany wrongupon the negro. Hawcc details 3 cases: 1. A negro in U.S. uniform.stated to him that he had beenbeatenby a party ofunknown men. who met him in the road at nig t. in Nicholas county, for admitting that he had a pistol at home. 2. A negro dressed in citizens clothes.said he had been beaten and shot at by a white man. becausehe had applied for payment of a debt due him. No marks of violence were observedupon the person of thenegro. 3. A negrowoman told him she had been driven by her master and her life threatened lf she attempted to remove her children. Mr. Good loe also details 3 cases; Some 3 colored negroes reporting themselves as attached to the Army in some capacity. applied to him. 2 of them had their eye nearly put out, bloodshot and wollen; one of them looed to me like it would go out. One of them. who claimed to bedriving a wagon or somewhere about. Camp Nelson. Showed me his masters pass authorizing him to work for himself and mi his master had beaten him for declining to pay over a portion of his earnings. Another in soldiers clothing said he was engaged to put up ice with some white men.but they would not permit him to workWiththem; they then ducked his sonin the pond till thoy nearly drowned him and kicked and endedaround himself for coming to the boys rescue. The nature of the wrong to the 3rd negro is not stated. Mr. will us statestwo cases: v 1. One of them. a negro!who was “kicked in the stern” by a man dressed in a roundabout. with his breeches stuffed in his boots. 2. Another. who was told by some boy. in profane and abusive language.to get out of the way. But it is worthy of notice. that neither of these witnesses could give the committee the least information as to 1st. the names or residence of the persons beaten: 2nd. The names or residenceoithe personswho beat them: 3rd. the locality in which they were beaten naonry. pfoeursrtohn.beyouwlhdothmetyh give the names or residencec statements could be verifled: nor. 5th. did either of thesedistinguished hu munitariaus think itiiocessiuytogive thu civiil authorities any information oi the enormouswrongs which had thus fallen under their own observation. such. estimony your committee cannot regard as worthy ofIf sietrious consideration. had been true in every partieular. it would have been far from justifying the statement of General Fisk. that “ on the day before yesterday.in Lexmg stotrne.etthiirntefeunll dsiisgchhtaorfge decnorlyorelday soldiers stood in the monpmenLWith their dies placerated, their backs bleeding from the cruel lash. their heads out to the scalp. And one or two of them with their eye put out." “ lor going to their former masters and asking for their Wives and children;" for not one instance isreported wherea negro soldier wasout with the lush; not one where the eye of a negrosoldier was put out; not onewherea he resoldier was in any way maltreated for asking for is wife and children. 0n the other hand. the uniform tenor of the remaining depositionsclearly establishes the kind and indulgent treatment ot the negro. whether slave or free. in that locality. Yourcommittee call attention to the political character of the witnesses. There wero more radical Union men amongthem than conservatives or Democrats ono of themo.Federalof liciali another. (the witness Hawes.) specially emploeied by “a gentleman in the military service of the U.S. whosename he declined to furnish. to hunt up testimon to sustain thestatementsof General Fisk and this is all they have been able to collect: 7 cases of more or lossa gravated assault and one of abusive lan fuagc. our commdtoo ventures the statement. that ii any region of the U.S. having a population and extent equal to that over which the sp inquiries have ranged. the samenumber of intelligent witnessescould be found. able to procure information of a larger number of gromer outrages upon white men than these witnesses have detailed as inflicted upon negrces. It mustalso berememberedthat the statements of the witnesses as to all the serious cases purport to be made from the information of others. who were not present and whosevsracity could not therefore be tested. The witness liawes havmg stated that Dr. Pinker ton (the agent for the Freedmens Bureau in Lexing ton) was reportedto have information of anothercase of assault upon a negro. the committee directed him to be summoned, but the sheriff made return that the doctor. though in his office, stated that he was too unwell to wait upon the committee. 80 soon as the Oother witnesses were examined the committee proceededin gerson to the dootors office; but heha left and locke up the premises before their arrival. without leaving any indication as to where he might be found. The committee ought not to close their comments on the case without calling attention to the remark able difference in the charge made in his published speech and that madein lllS letter to Mr. Armstrong or convenience of comparisen. they annex extracts from each in parallel co umns: From themuch. “Only the day before yesterday. in Lexington. 13 discharged col.nred soldiersstood in the greet. in full sight of pnry Clays monument. with their bodies larcerated their backs bleeding from the cruel lush. their heads cut to the scalp and oneor 2 of them with their eye put out; and what for do you suppose? Simply or going to their former masters and asking for their wives and children. I appealed to the civil authorities in their behalf. but was told that there was no law in Kentuclq to help them.” The “bodies placerated cruel lash. heads out to th them with their eye put “ I From the letter. was at Lexington on the 15thand 16th ultimo. saw 13 colored men. who had been soldiers in the Army. all of whom stated that they had been maltreated by their former owners when they had returned to their old homes to iiskfor their wives und children. Some of them. from Garrard county. I think, With their bruised heads and swollen eyes gave evidenee of severe treatment: others stated that they had been erucllyl beaten and threatened with shooting. Bour bMoounItg W omoedrford. Madison and Garrard counties were represented atIlexington. hcsomon were intelligent. They appeared honest and bore the evidence of maltreat Iment upon their orions. assure you I t ought. from their Statementsand appearanfi that the had beeIn bwruatsal y treat. Gentleman in fowrhmoemdIb had great confidence that the OlVll authorities gave no attention to these out rages.” backs bleeding from the a seal and one or 2 of out." have dwindled into “several bruised headsand swollen eyes, ” while the erspnal appeal to the civil authorities with its reEchonna changed into miormation by"ii gentleman whom I had great ponfidonce that the civil authorities gave no attention to these outrages.” and the venue clearly fixed by the speech at Lexington is in the letter indefinitely located in 5 counties lying at from ten to 30 miles from that city. Geucral Fisks statement as to the sale of a negro.girl by the commissioner hasa little moreof the color of truth about it. There was no sale advertised by the commissioner at Lexington but the commissioner of the neighboring county of Wlooilford. who is notoriously a radical Union man. did advertise a negro man for sale in January. under a judgment of the courtrendered beforethe passage oi the constitutionui amendment. Whether t o commissioner was really actuatedby a sense of duty in making such an advertisement or whether his conduct was prompted by that morbid craving for notoriety now so prevalent. the committee do not undertake to determine. It is sulliciciit to know that the advertisement was absurd and must hava been known to beso by the parties who got it up. Your committee do not doubt that the General assembly, onreading the proof aniiexed.willceme to the sameconclusion at which theyhavearrived. namely, that the charges made by General Fisk in reference to the maltreatment of as resoldiers in the vicinity of Lexington and the connot of the civil authorities of the State toward offenders of that class are false and slanderous. They are but a continuation of the systemof misrepresentation to which the people of this State have been exposed for several years a system introduced and perseveredin byoilico holders of the General Government in order to extend and continue their own protitsund powers; and but too much encouraged by certain citizens of the State it self in the hopeof recommending themselves thereby to the patronage of the puty in power at Washington. W. A. DUDLE. B. F. BUCKNEB. The foregoing report was reparzd and ready for submission.as required by the 0rd of the Senate on Saturday last. but Maidrmstrong havingdeclined to concur in it and insisting that General Fisk was then in Indianapolis. on his wa to Frankfortflhe undersigiied concluded to withho d the report. in order to afford him still further opportunity of appearing beforethem. They now learn from the newspapers that General Fisk. himpassed through Louisville.on his way to Nashville; and as it is now evident that he does not intend making his appearance before the adjournment of the General Assembly, they deem it improperlonger to withhold the report and theyre turn itas the report o f themajority of the committee. W. A. DUDLEY B. F. BUUKNEll. (A) Faisirronr. Knxriz exv. January 30.1866. Sm: In compliance with the inclosed resolution. the undersigned have been appointed a committee to investigate the matters therein referredto. In the dischargeof our duties. we shall visit Lexington on Saturday next. the 3d proximo, and will attend at the county court clerks cities at 11 a.m. on that day. there to hear such evidence as may be reducedbeforeus. should you desireto communicateto us the names of the personsby whom the truth of your statements can beestablished and the nameof the civil officer by whom the opinionmentioned by you was given. we shall be p cased to receive the information or should you desire to appear beforeusat the time and place named.you are, of course. at liberty to do so. rt. DUDLEY Senate. B. i. BucKyi iil, llouse. Major General CLINTONB. Fun. (13.) Whereas it is represented in the public journals that Mine r General Ulintgn B. Fisk. the head of the Freedmens Bureau in hcntucky. did, on the 18th instant. deliver an addressin the city of Cincinnati. Ohio. in which he made.among others. these statements: “ 0nly the day before yesterdayfln Lexing ton. 13 dischargedeolored soldiers stood in the street.in full sight of Henry Clays nionuiiicut, with their bodieslarcerated. their backsbleedingfrom the cruel lash, their heads cut to the scalp and one or 2 of them With their cyo put out and what for. do you suppose? Simplly;for going to their former mastersand asking fort cir wives and eliildren. I appealedto the civil authorities in their behalf. but was told that there wasno law in Kentucky to help them. I heard there of a slave to besold on accrtaiii day: I made an arrangementwith the master coin missioner to buy him myself or theft"! gloveto be soldm KenluclcuI" and whereas it is believed that those statements have no foundation in fact and are leiaglhctublaetfeodretothpelaccoeunthtreyp: oo is of Kentucky in afalse hercfore. Be it resolvedby the GeneralAssemblyof the commonweallh o/ Kentuc/m That acommittee of twofrom the House and one from the Senate be appointed. whoseduty it shall beto proceed immediately to the city of Lonngton and ascertain the truth or falsity of the statements alleged to have by eenmadeby said Fisk and that said icommittee notify General Fish by mail of their appointment, in order that he may appeurboforothe committee.“ he so desires, and communicate to them the name of the person by whom the truth of the statement made byhim can beestablished and the name of the civil o the er by whom the ogiisnionmentioned by him was given, and report to t General Assembly. (0.) Letter/ram BrevetMqiar General C. B. Fisk. wASIHINGTON.D. 0. February 2, 1866. Digsa Sin: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your telegramof this date.giving menotice of a meeting of yoiirlegislative committeeat Lexing ton. Kentucky. on the 3d instant. I have responded. asking that the investiation be delayed until my return to Kentucky. y duties will detain mo in Washington tor several days. Ihopo to beat Frank fort by the 20th or fith instant and will then be pleased to meet your committee and aid you in investigating not only the casesto which I my Cincinnati speech.but many others roeffesrirmedilainr character of which complaints are madein different sectionsof the State. Itrust that great goodwill result from this investigation. Let us go down to the" hard pan."and ascertain the exact condition of the freedmenof Kentucky and the disposition of your people toward cm. esRpeepeoiarltlsyaorfcocountrtaing ueasluly pornearechtuinrnged colored soldier! inefroui lil0"blll0e miss" and tobacco producing sections of your State. this charged that in some localities the civil authorities utterly nc lect to protect the freedmen; that in other sections they refuse to do so and in ii few places that they are powerless in the presenceof outlaws. who pursue with wrath and vengeance our mustered; out soldiers without distinctionof color. know from myown observation that there is some truth in those reports. I was at Lexington on the 15lh and 16th ultimo. I had beenexpected there for many days and a number of freedmen from the surrounding counties had congregatedat that point to meet me and make known ilioir complaints. I saw 13 colored men who had been soldiers in the Army. all of whom stated that they had beenmaltreated by their former owiiers when t oy had returned to their old homes to askfor their wives and children. Some of them. from Garrard county. I think. with their bruised heads and swollen eyes.gave evidence of severe treatment. Othersstatedthat theyhad been cruelly beatenand threatened with shooting. Bourbon. Woodford. Madison. Montgomery and Garrard countieswere represented at Lexin ton. These men were intelligent. They appeared onest and bore the evidence of maltreatment iipoii their persons. assureyou I thought. from their statements and appearance. that they had been brutally treated. I referred them to the proper parties that their complaints might be duly investigated and their wrong! redressed. I wasinformed by gentlemen in whom I had great confidence. that the civil authorities gave no attention to these outrages and I left Lexington with the conviction that the freedmenof the blue grasssection ought to have more protection than the civil authorities could orwould atlord. Communications from reliable citizens of Kentuckg. through the war Dept abWashington. had ceii referred to mysel for action. in whiehsimilar complaints were made and the Governments protection invoked. I made strong statements at incinnati. I was speaking at the anniversary of the Western Freedincns Aid Commission.an organi sation which has expended many 1,000sof dollarscoiitribuied by benevolent peoplein both Europe and America for the personal relicfaud education of the freedmen. desired to represent the true condition of the people over whom I had supervision. I Kantucky persons in Cincinnati who charged thst all was in resistanceto freedom and justice. I denied tbeciiarge and statedthat by far the router portion ofyour people. while they protested t iat the abolitionof slavery was a rent wrong. Accepted the fact that slavery was abo ished and were treatin the freedmen with justice and generosity. I stat that casesof brutal treatment were exceptional. also stated that the Kentucky law makers.wouldbe reluctant to enact laws that would secure impartial justice to her freedmen and I certainly reachedthat conclusion when I was at Frankfort. hope I was mistaken in that particular. I spoke in mostcomplimentary terms of the action of your S ite Agricul turiii Convention. which convened at rankioit on the 11thultimo. I assureyou that I did not intend anything tqextenuiite or ought set down in malice; and if upon investigation. strict and thorough. it shall appear that I have in the least misrepresented your people, I will make honorable amends by retraction before the world. I am. sir. with great respect BrewerMajor General and eALsINsiTstOanNtCBm. FumISiKu.wmer. Hon. J. M. Aaxsrnoso. Frankfort. Kentucky. to.), We are authorized to state that the committee appointed by the Legislature to investigate the statements of Major General Fisk in reference to the ma] treatment of negro soldiers in our city. will meetat the county clerks office at 11 oclock this day. All personswho can give them any information on the subject of theirinquirics are invited to attend and communicatewith the committee. Sir, the charge made by General Fisk in his speech is proved to be absolutely caiuin nious and false. No man can read this oihcial report and the evidence of his political friends, the extremest that can be found in lrexmgton and in the State of Kentucky. all disprovmg the possibility of the truth of these charges and come to any other conclusion than that they were base fabrications. There is another high military dignitary there, called General Palmer. who has committed every outrage upon the State of Kentucky, upon her constitution and her laws and her courts. upon her citizens and their property. ior which he ought to be brought to speedy and condi punishment. He made a speech in Louisville, in which he reiterated about the same charge!! A hint wallinttee was appointed tllllllllmpuaz by the Leg tare, consisting of both Plum that Legislature, Conservatives and Radicals. as they are termed; and they were instructed to wait upon him, and to learn from him the sources and the persons from whom he had obtained the information upon which he made such serious charges against the people of my State. bey addressed him a letter officially. He replied to it that such were the terms in which the resolution had been couched that he would not hold official intercourse with them. That is the substance of it; I do not recollect the exact language; but at the same time he said if they would come before him as private individuals he would lay his information before cm. This General Palmer is a man of capacity. He understands the etiquette of such matters, and he knew that this committee appointed by a joint order of the Legislature of Kentucky would never consent that he should unstrithem of their authority and their official posrtion, and make them go as it were by grace and favor to inspect as private individuals some such communications probably as the honor able Senfrom Massachusetts has received from the South from so many persons whose names he has withheld. But at any rate I know the people of Kentucky; I know the slaves of Kentuc y, and the manner in which they have always been treated; I know that the negro, free or slave, in the State of Kentucky never had his person outraged that there was not a law for inflicting punishment upon the party who perpetrated the outrage; and I know that there never was a court indisposed to hear, nor a lawyer that would refuse to advocate, the cause of such a negro, free or slave. I know that no people on the earth ever received more of sympathy and kindness and justice according to the laws of the land and the great principles of justice that would protect a weak and allumble race than the iicgroes of Kentucky have received in that Commonwealth; and these charges of General Palmer I have no doubt are false, because in all my residence at home I never have known or heard of a solitary out rage or act of cruelty on the part of white men toward slaves. I have known of acts of that kind committed by slaves and negro soldiers upon white men. But, sir, I knew that these charges upon the white men of the State of Kentucky were false for this reason: in the 1st place, it is not in their nature or disposition to do such things; they are not capable of that sort of maltreatment of the negroes: and if there had been wretclies, base, cgraded, and miscreant enough so to have treated them, I knewchere were soldiers, white and black, stationed all through the land, commanded by willing myrmidons of power, who would be ready to seize upon white men thus maltreating slaves and to hurry them off to military courts or prisons for punishmeut. The Gentfrom NCarolina who communicated the fact to me which I stated in regard to the committee of 15, told me that he had an idea of publishing his request to the countr, and I advised him to do so. Sir, the idea of referring the question of the rights of gentlemen elected by sovereign States to Represent them in this body and of other gentlemen eleeted by the people of congressional districts to represent them in the HoRep, and the right of theirStates to be represented in the Congress of the U.S., to an unconstitutional, illegal, and irre sponsible cabal, and that cabal to hold its sit tin in secret, and to pick out and select here an there men connected with the Freedmens Bureau, men who are interested, men whose employment and salaries, and probably whose bread depend upon continuing the false impressions upon Congress and the countryneces sa to retract the existence of that bureau an their emploment, to give evidence against such a man as raham and other men whose names I couldmention from the South, and they not to be notified by this secret cabal and have no opportunity of summoning men of character and truth who would depose to what is true and nothing else before that committee, to vindicate the state of public sentiment and the behavior of the people and the governments of their States, is an outrage and a shame upon alljustice and all legislative proceedings. Before I vote for the printing of such evidence, I must know that these men who claim their seats here have had a fair opportunity to be heard. Let them be heard. et men of character and truth, whom the will name, speak for their own loyalty and or the loyalty of the authorities that elected them and of their States. Let their testimony be heard. Let a fair, full, and impartial inquir be made by the cabal with a view to truth on justice to every part and every man, and whatever may be the result of such an inquiry, I shall then be willing to give it to the public, that the public judgment may be passed upon it. But until they are allowed that chance of justice by fair impartial, and full investigation, I for one will not vote for the publication of this evidence.