HUNTINGDON GLOBE.
TUESDAX , ...4:UPU•!.3F 21, 1866
THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU.
lts Operations in Ceorgia, Alabama, Alissis-
tippi, Louisiana, and Texas:
Report of Generals Gteedinan and
Fullerton.
The Bureau Unequivocally Condemned.
"It has been 'Productive of more
Harm than Good."
"The System of Contracts is simply Slavery
in a New Popp," and Is'a "Practical
Defeat or the Proclamation of
Prtiident liincolnN 1 •
WASIUNGTON. AIIrILIt 9. 1866.
The following yen , important report from Gen
erale Steadman and Fullerton has been 'made pub- ,
Ito to-day:
Haw Oa'Jung, La. July.2o. 1866.
Hon. E. M. Stanton. Secretary of or: •
Sir—We have the honor to submit the following re
men'sf oar inspecti the opera Georgia,e Freed-
Bureau tx. the D e bartments of Alabama.
Mississippi. Louisiana, and Texas. Taking up seriatim
the white to which special attention is called in our
order of instructions, we found drat that the number
theffice and civilians departments abo ve
or attached to
bureau in the departments above named was as
follows:
•
GOOPcia. •
One brigadier general (brevet major general), assist
ant oommiesioner for the State.
One major (surgeon), two captains, one second limi
t' enant—ort staff duty. •
One surgeon, one asatotant surgeon—haying charge
of hospiteis.•
One major, ten captains, seven lieutenants--anb.as.
steguit commissioners.
Civilian Employee.
One superintendent schools, at monthly Pay of 8150 00
Nine contract surgeone,nacu • 100 00
One special agent, •• •• •- " 125 00
One lent for St. Silicon's Island, " •" • 100'00
One c terclerk,
roar clerks, each •• . 00
"
Two clerks. average " , 79 16
Seventy seven Persons employed as nurses, laun
dresses, ambolance.drivers, and hospital.Mew
ards. at average pay Per month; each . . 1.2 00
In addition to the foregoing there are one let,ndred
and seventy - seven agents of the barean; citizens of
G eo r g i a , who were appointed by the assistant Commis
atones of the Bureau, in accordance with a resolution
of the Georgia: State convention, Passed October, 30,
1695, providing for each appointm These agents
are not paid from the bureau funds, butht. fees allowei
th em for approving contracts, and for other °Metal
duties. • • .
4.labama...
One major general--assietant• commissioner 'for the
State.
Three majors, one captain, five lieutenants—on staff
duty.
One lieutenant colonet, SIT cantalns, two lieutenants
—sub-assistant cortunissilmers. , ,
_ . . .
Eleven contract surgeoue,eaeh,at montblyxay of 5100 00
Eine met of education, ' - • • . 160 00,
Three clrlllen wilts: , " " 160 00
One ' " • ' • - " 100 00
fourteen clerks. .. . ~ 100 00;
One clerk. • . . .. .
, • , 80 00
One clerk, • • , " „
75 00'
One hospital steivard. - '— " '• .50 00
Three hospital steward, `
00'
Thirtpelz hoefi'l nurses, average-each, per month 783
. • • TdirlaillaiDPl. • • •
One major general. assistant commissioner for the
State.
ants—o
One colone ff l, t
d w ut o.majors, two captains, two lieuten
n stay.
The assistant commissioner and the staff, in connec
tion with their duty as Bureau officers, are performing,
military duty.
On eau duty only—eleven captains, tan Beaten- ,
ante, ernbaseistant commissioners.
. . Nei/ions:
One superintendent edueation,at monthly pay of 81.50 on
~
Five clerks, each' 120 00
One printer,' " 164200
One superintendent of buildings, " 125 00
11.
Five contract surgeons, each - . '" 100 00
Four hospital stewards, each. P " to sO
Twattor•dx hospital attendants,.
"
&c,, each at average • • 11 05
Four carpenters, each at average ',, ." . .62 60
Three teamsters, each- " in no
Four orderlies. each ~." Mee
Twelve laborers, each at average:: " 19 58
Two night wstchmen, each ~ . 15 00
Louisiana.
One b r igadier general, assistant commissioner for thi,
I S One major (aurgeon), .naptatits; two lieutenants—
on WO duty..
One lieutenant colonel, one major, fourteen rapt:Amt.
sixteen first lieutenants,. six second lieutenants, Butt
assistant commissioners.
One chaplain, one lieutenant, on temporary duty.
• • . Oicifiatte.
Seven contract gut geens, tech at monthly pay of 3100 00
Five clerksl2s 'OO
Two clerks, " 112 00
Five clerks, • • •
'Eight clerkelaverike). 76 80
Seven clerks'• • . " " 55:00
One sup't plantation den% 4 ' 4 ` 100 00
Two eohool directore, • ". • ' 125 00
One Wag • onmester; • . . 76 00,
Six artificers, " " " 55 50
Twenty teamsters, laborers. messengers, and ,_,
porters. at average Pay each par month; . .22 35 .
Thirty•two mimes, cooks. and in hospital, at av
erage pay eachper month, .. . .•9 78
" TOSS • • , •
One brigadier general, assist
ant commissioner for the
State.• •
One lieutenant colonel, two rasters:one caetain,
Ileatenant—ntatl.dety.
toTwo colonelc, one ' nutter ten' oaptains, font* Stet
lieutenants,—three second. 'lieutenants, euh-assistant
commissioners.
Civilians.. ,
One contractenrgeon, at pty pet•wv,:mth; ' • 3100 r
One sup'e otschoolB,.. . • , ' '" 2 3
Two clerksam,ch„ .„ , • " '• • ' ' 123 0
Three cleric'', each • '• • 15 00
One minter, • . " ' 125 00
The namlier.Of ierotai to whom rations have been is
sued in - each of the abowmentioned ,States time the
let of December, 1865, and an to the let of 'April
was as follows: •
aeiargia.
_Freedmen. •
Adults. Children,
043
: • 1013 552
, 1159 511
• 1364 665;
Mire Refugee/.
Adults. Children
291 . 171
December.
Jeamari. •
Febmary.
Marcb.
"December,
Jannary. •'• -
Febrtram
March. ' •
•
Freedmen.
Adults. Children,
December, ' . 1894- 915
January, . 1167 • 1260
February,L`,. .2217 . 1876
March, . 2733 2789
Mite Reugees
„Malt& Children.
1140 2149
1983 ' 8272
6661 .
118,464403
,
Freedmen.
Adults. Children.
. 266 284
. 526 ' 99
4 . 40 8
515 250
While Refugees.
Adulte. Children.
DeeGmber.
•Js.tauu7.
Febmsry,
Mara,
December. %
January.
ebraary.
Mardi.
December,
Annecy.
FebruarY.
Much,
'.b012161 22 10204
Freedmen.
Adults. Child
07 ren.
714 3
845 347
8
10 V.
20 268
Whits Refugees. ' •
Adults . Children.
. 29 22
15
7 13
•
5
5
Texas. . .
Mermen:
Adults. Children,
29 3
57 10
77
31 14
Shits Iteficrem
Adults. Childr 4 en,
11
0
0 4
0
NECESSITY FOR RELIEF.
The necessity for the relief furnished will not extend
beyond the present season except in northern Georgia
and Alabama. where probably a limited atnountef as
sistance may bevessullits for VMS time longer, sinless
these States are able to make provision for their own
poor. Much. Aowever. depends in all of the States
herein mentioned upon the success of this year's pro
vision erep.
December,
January.
Febrile's'',
March,
December,
February,
March,
December,
January.
February,
Much, .-.
December,
Jantumr,
FebranrY.
• DISPOSITION OF THE CITIZENS.
But little or no encouragement has been given to the
operations of .the bureau by the citizens of any. of these
States, except Alabama and Georgia, in which the as.
etstant commissioners, Generals Tillson and BWltYllei
have removed much of the preiodfce against the bu
reau by wisely nearing the co-oueration of the civil
authorities; .
RETBENCHMENT AND BEVORII.
A eat - K,:rriiithe'eipaWes — ortii:Tilir eau • an d
gr ,
a reform which would render it far less objectionable
then it is now, would be effected' by the discontinwince
o f all paid employes not in the military service of the
government. This would reduce the expenses for
clerks. contract surgeons, hospital stewards,' dm., the
folle_wing amounts:
Georgia, . • . . 8344184 per annum.
Alabama, • . 98,314 4, 6 ,
hilasiesippi, . . 50,276 - 6, • ~
Uranium, 65,984 44 4 .
Texas, • 10,896."
Total, .. 185,012 't 't
.alkthe labor perforate& by. these employee, except
perUPs the occasional services of c utrastaurgeon,
m i g ht be discharged by details Or the tioone.
.In
previous reports we have recommended the merging
of the draleirof thelepream and the tary. We would
regolognaly vorge this amalgamation, and that
one set of officers shOnld be required to perform the
joint duties, thus avoiding the expense of maintaining
two establishments. - •
FFECT OF THE BUR, UPON THE HABITS OF
THE FREEDMEN.
We have previously elated one opinion as to the effect
of the operation of the bursas on the habits of the
-freedmen and their dlshosition to labor and• Ruppert
themseivem, and we have seen nothing In oar slam.
omit investigations to induce us to change the views
eirpreased on the Ruldect in past reports. It is so 8p•
Parent that a people compelled to labor for e, livelihood'
Must be indnstnous by the hope or implied. promise of
support in idleness, and we deem it unnecessary to
present further argument on this point.
We proceed• now to speak moreln detail of the ad.
ministration of the bureau in the several States we
have visited.
•
The Bureau in Cleorgt e , o u r ni i er a the management of the
Present able and efficient assistant commissioner, e
Bre,
vet Maier General Tlllson, hoe been honestly adult nt.
tered, and has acoompliehed all the good of which the
system le capable. It has been assisted by the Gover
nor, by thejudgee of the Supreme Court, by the civil
authorities, and to some extent by the. Olaf Gee. The
amended laws of Georgia are fully se liberal as those of
nay northern State, arid place the negro in all respects
on a perfecta quality with the white man an to his civil
rights. lietwithstandlng title fact, we have found that
agents
civilhe Bureau have taken cares out o disposedds
ef the authorities;and'have tried and of
them in stunner never contemplated by the laws of the
State, For Instance, the eitirenjudge of the Freedmen's
Court at Savannah sentenced two negroes to thirty days'
labor oa the chain-gang, on the charge of horse-stealing,
to which they pleaded guilty. A white man committing
the same offence would have been liable, Hader the
State laws, to be sentenced to the penitentiary , or Oven
to death, at . the discretion of the jury. In cases pre
' vionsly disposed of In this same court, one freedman,
for atoanlting with a knife with Intent to kill, was fined
twenty 'dollars, and another freedman, for a similar of
fense. was sent to prison for five months, when, by the
laws ofGeorgla, the punishment pteeeribed far thecrtme
le imprisonment in thepenitentlary for not leas than
two nor More than ten years. , Decisions such as these
must of necessity create among the white people a feel
ing of contempt for the freedmen's courts, and of ill-will
towards the United States government, which permits
such an unjust interierence with the laws of .the State
ILL the freedmen's .conrt 'at •Macou, presided over by
Captain Louis J. Lambert. Mote eerions irregniari
des have occurred. A Mr. M. J. Morgan and his
son; a Mr. Boniton, and a Mr. Stansel Berwick wore
tried In this court for cruelty to a freedman' were con
victed, and were tined in the aggregate MO, The
Sees imposed upon the two Morgans, amounting to
11300, were reported by the agent, but no account watt
rendered of the remaining 8250. Captain Lambert, in
a written explanation herewith forwarded (marked A),
states that the money and papers in this tete were
stolen tram his office, and that he made hp his report
from memory. It does not appear, hoevever, that Sap.
taro Lambert made any official mention of the burglary
until af.er this discrepancy
w as discovered by no. We
found that Captain Lambert s records, as a role, were
very loosely kept, and that his predecessor, who had
collected thousands of dollars, had left no record or
evidence behind him of the dispoaltion made of the
money received. A similar absence of records pre
vented oar making a thorough Investigation in other
offices in the State.
The freedman oFlleergla, when we went through the
State, were generally at work, and wherever their
wages were remunerative and regularly veld them,
Were contented and doleg well.
' Alabama.
In this State Major General ;Wager Swayne, the as
sistant commissioner. has pursued a discreet, liberal.
and enlightened policy in administering the affairs of
the Bureau, laboring on all occasions to secure the co
operation of the civil authorities and to obtain from the
judicial machinery of the State a recognition of the
rights essential to the security and wellbeing of the
freed people. This policy of General Swayne flea pro
dnced p. mach more kindly feeling towards the bureau
than eXiste where its agents have assumed to exercise
judicial powers.
Though the administration at headquarters has been
satisfactory, subordinate agents have been guilty of
considerable irregularities.
The following-named officers and agents of the lin
reT. in Alabama are engaged in piantingt,
• aptalnand Brevet Colonel Cadell, assistant
ad o ntant general. - - '
' U. A.Tfarmount, local agent atiSontgomery
J. P. McGortg, agent at headquarters, late chief quar
termaster of the bureau.
C. W. Buckley, superintendent of education.
S. S. Gardner, late agent at Selma.. • •
Oar attention was called to the alleged.misconduct of
the agent at Greenville in selling government rations,
but as General Swayne himself had undertaken to in
vestigate found the
freedmenid riot inquire into th 'volt on
found thein Alabama working on
the Plantations. but the heavy rains had swollen the
streams out of their banks, doing immense damage to
the crone, and some apprehensions were folt that the
freedmen who were working on shares would lose
their labor and would not be able to niako subsistence
for themselves and families.
•
. Mississippi. • . -
The merging of the liftman with the Military De
partment of this State has placed the control of freed
men's affairs in the hands of Major Thomas J. Wood,
the department commander. General Wood has greatly
improved upon the administration of his predecessor,
Colonel Samuel Thomas, whose policy was not calcu
lated to produce harmony between the racee. There to
01111. notwithstanding the change of policy introduced
by General Wood. more ill-feeling existing between the
whites andllacks to Mieelesippi than we found elec.
where. There are, however causes operating in
certain localities in this State ' beyond the control of
any policy the bureau might adopt, producing antag.
onlem and - 'bloodshed. This is the case at Grenada,
where an organized band of desperadoes have for some
time pad held the town in terror, and in April last
murdered Lieutenant Blanding, an agent of the Preed
meet' Bureau. The respectable citleene, who them
eelvee have been subjected to outrage by this sang,
strongly condemned the crime, and 'eought to have the
murderers brought to justice,
At Meridian, in the same State, a. condition of things
nearly as bad appears to prevail. The bureau officer
there. Major .1. Knox. of the Veteran Reserve corps,
was Axed upon In the night a few months ago, for what
reason we were unable to learn, as he seemed to be an
excellent officer end on good terms with the people
generally. These were the only cases of outrage on
officers of the bureau. In other districte the agents
were well protected.
At Columbus, Major Smith, of the Veteran Reserve
corps (the agent stationed there), made some remarka
ble statements to us, which. perhaps, may show the
way in which the reports of agents of the bureau are
sometimes concocted. He at fleet • said that the people
of the district were well disposed, that the freedmen
were doing well, and were kindly treated by all ex
cept the poorer classes of whites, from whom alone
they re•palred protection. Ina very few minutes after
wards be asserted that outrages on freedmen had been
committed by two-thirds of the planters .in the neigh
borhocill. When pressed eo state specifically the nature
of the outrages and by whom committed, he mentioned
three only, all of which had been committed on the
game plantation by the overseer, and all of which had
been remedied by the planter himself as soon as hie
attention' woe called to them. On investigation we
found the statements of this Weer as to the ill treat
ment of negroes grossly exaggerated, and learned that
the agent himself had on one ocomion advised a
planter with whom he was dicing to "club" any negro
Who refused to work. s • • •
- Asldetrom the places of which we haveepoken as be
log infested by bad men •we fonnd.the •negreen in, Mie
siseippi working industriouslY, and as a rule. , kindlY
treated and doing well.. • In this, slain others we have
visited, theofllcere of the bureau formerly imposed and
collected fines, and manykept norecords. We fond a
barked instance of.this kind at Grenada, Where a. for
veer agent •of the bureau, Chaplain Livermore, did a
thriving busineegin the Way of collecting fines. selling
retina and government horses and mules.• This officer
name not only to have collected Ones ranglngfrom arty
cents to Ave dollars from the freedmen for marrying
them, but else attenuited to exact fees-lrom resident
white refasten for gitinE them permission to Marry
freedmen.' In cases where the negroes were unable to
.factse sum deManded of them for proving their con
or marrying them, the chaplain deified on their
Pereonal property, in one case Seizing fiftygroe empty
wallet and pick-knife for a balance of cents. This
close driving le probably, to be accounted for by the
fact that chaplain Livermore manly expressed his in
tention to return to liiinoiewith • ten thousand dollars
In hie .pocket.: After lie had been renewed from his
'post he offered a military officer fifty dollars for hie in
fluence to retain him in his Position. Chaplain Liver
more left no official papers behind to show the dinged
tion• he had made of the thuds received. A large
forwent of money Was,also collected by. the first two
agents at Columbus in the shape of fees and fineei and
so far as we could learn no account was ever rendered
of it.• This clam of officer. have lately been mustered
out, or have disappeared. • tinder the present adminis
tration the agents exercise no indicted powers.
Louisiana. •
Tlsootall.
1605
1870
1019
Total.
$l2
- - - • - -
The bureau In this department is more in need of re.
trenchment and reform than in any other State we have
visited. More money has been collected, and more
money has been squandered in Louisiana than in any
other three southern States. The expenses of the bu
reau, as accounted for for the decal year ending the let
of Jane,lf 60, were over three hundred thousand dol
lars. To meet this expenditure there were collected in
.taxes and rents the following amounts:
For school margins, . , . 896,087 86
From rents,• • . . 92,431 90
From poll tax; •. . . . .
40,996 11
From Corps d'Aague tax, . Wan 00
From fines, . • . . . 678 10
Tal.
1 2 0t 249
1.420
093
6618
Total.
3'19
6255
13,083
17115
Total.
570
606
927
566
Total, . " • . . ' . . . 8203443 47
Leaving a deficit of 830,067 33 to bo Paid out 'of the na
tional treasury. These expenses are in addition to the
transportation. rations, and quartermaster's eupplies
furnished by the government. It is difficult to deter.
mine to what nee the vast amount ol .property held by
the bureau has been applied. At the 'very lowest esti
mate, the property , taken possession of as confiscated
or abandoned amounted. in value to ten millions of dol
lars, and. the rents returned as above mentioned are less
than one per cent. on the entire value.
The expenditures of the bureau under the present ad-
Ministration for agents, civilian clerks, and. employes
about its headquarters alone, amount to not less than
840,230 a year, exclusive of the staff - officers and older.
lies in the mint= service. • ' .
A. large proportion of the money expended. on the
freedmen schools under the administration of the liev.
-T. W. Conway, the late Aralatant Conunissioner, we
are satisfied was squandered. Mr. Matthew Whilden,
formerly chief clerk In the school department, in evi
dence. before us—which is hereto appended, marked
~1 3"—stated that in Eoptember,lBo6, Captain Pease, the
sohool superintendent, reported officially that there
were schools in operation and in flourishing condition,
when, in fact, there were two. it. was also sworn to
before us that the books and records, which would have
shown this report to be Inaccurate, were destroyed in
Captain Pease's office and .ethers substituted. We can
see no object for they. fabritaton of this false report, nu
leett it was to accountlerpayments made to p 814301111 who
were not en gaged in teaching.On examining the pay-roll
No. 2, for the month of August: IPA we found that at
ter It had been certified and approvednames had 'been
added, and the totals erased and. changed on every
page. We found ales a discrepancy of several hundred
dolts re between the pay-rolls for this month and the la
bor roll No. • • - . • • •
from the sworn testimony, also herald appended, It
wilt be seen that Captain Morse. appointed provost
marshal of the bureau by Mr. Conway, made the pro-
Vest marshal's office a slave -pen; arresting freedmen
and selling them as planters at five dollars a head, and
sharing the proceeds with tile special policemen who
=date° arrests. This officer further collected a large
amount of money from freedman .and whitelsersons ar
rested by him for various offenses. and his hooks only
show receipts from this source amounting to 8675 10.
The Bureau is caltivatinga large plantation in this
State, for which It pays ten to flfteen thousand. dollars
a year as rent. We can scarcely, imagine the , QXCIlit)
for renting land. on account of the United States, when
the government, through each Congress, is giving away
millions of acres of : public lands to corporations.
Maior General Absalom Baird. Is the Assietant Com
missioner for Louisiana, and was also military com
mander of the Department when we visited it. Ile has
undoubtedly improved upon the administration of Mr.
Conway.
Texas.
M 3
TOtal.
1021
1.192
1108
1888
Total.
al
24
20
10
Total.
67
92
42
Total
11
4
7
• • •
The facilities for traveling in Texas being so limited,
and the State on large. we found it impossible to make
such an mvestlgation as would amble us to report
tally upon the condition of affairs in that depaiiment.
The headquarters of the bureau are located at Galves
ton. and a few agents are stationed in the moat ac
cessible and populous parts of the State. Ae to the con
dition of affairs in the interior, we were unable to ob
tain accurate information, either from the agents of the
bureau or from any other sources. We visited Bich
mond and Houston, where we met several of the
agents from other districts, who were there in attend
ance on a court-martial.
At Ittchmend.Captain Sloan, the agent of the Bureau.
clerkged in planting,
a ndonnection with his former
, Captain Porter, as ex-officer of the rebel
army. Captain Mitchell. Captain Sloan dented, Tinder
oath. that he wan or ever had been iatereated in the
plantation of Messrs. Porter and Mitchell, but Major
Pearson, commandant of the troops at that post. and
Dr. Boyd, post surgeon. both enbeeduently sword be
fore as that Captain Sloan had told them repeatedly he
was Interested In the farm, and had mentioned to theta
the amount he expected to realize by it. . Complaints
were made tone by other persons that Captain Sloan
had employed the power of the Bureau to take mimes
from their plantations and place thorn on his own. \Ve
append the testimony taken in this case, marked "C."
Amongst the agents we met at Houston was Montan.
ant C. I'. Hardenbrook, Ist V. It. C., agent at Beaumont.
Jefferson county, who stated to us that the freedmen
were doing well In hie dietrlct, and that the disposition
of the people was very fair. Most of the freedmen were
engaged In herding stock, and wore paid from ton to
fifteen dollars a month, in coin. Ho subsennently.mens
Honed that he had recently arrested Dr. Houston, a citi.
eon In his district, on the report of a freedman that the
doctor had said lie did not regard his parole; but, find
ing it wee Impossible to obtain evidence against his
prisoner, be had boon obliged to release him. This offi
cer reported tons other actions of his own equally ab
surd as this, satisfying us that he was utterly immune.
tent for his position.
Having heard unfavorable reports from the Brenham
district, we examined the agent, Captain. S. A. Craig,
17th Veteran Reserve corps, whom we also met at
Houston. Ile elated that hie predecessor, Lieutenant
Arnold, of the 12th Illinois cavalry, bad kept no
records, and had left nothing in the office but a 41st of
contracts and a file of orders, and he could give so no
information of hie official acts. NVe are satisfled that
most of the complaints made against Captain C r a ig ore
groundless.
All the 'burbau agents in Texas eXerCISS judicial
powers in both civil and criminal cases, and in the dig
charge,of these arbitrary and dangerous functions fre
quently arrest and imprison respectable citizens upon
mere rimer. Captain Sloan, the bnreau officer as
Richmond before alluded to, while at Galveston, out of
his district, arrested a respectable citizell and Pet
Win In prison on the plea that 130 wanted him as tt wit
ness in a else which ho only knot , ' from - rumor would
be brought before him.
Ten of the thirty•ilve agents in this State are Citizen
Planters. One of them, ColOnet McCounagnee, agent
In Thornton county, was formerly a colonel in the rebel
army, and was appointed an agent of the bureau by.
General Gregory, then Assistant Commissioner for the ,
State, while still unpardoned.
We heard many rumors with res Pert to General
Gregory himself being engaged in planting, but en in
vestigation we cencluded thb.t those statements were
unfounded. White *e believe General Gregory to
have been hottest to his administration, we think his
extreme einWs and policy produced ill feeling and bit
terness between the whites and blacks.
So far as we saw or were able to get infotmallon in
Texas, the freedmen wore working Well and the crops
were promising. The wages paid. all the payments
bring made in specie, were better than In any other de
partment.
Brevet Major General) B. Kiddoo is the preeOat As
sistant Commissioner for Texas.
•
Summary
In Pursuing this investiffetion, which has 'now ex
tended over four months, we have found extreme &m
-catty in complying tflth that portion of our instructions
which requiree us to report upon the operations of the
human Red Its mode of administration The bureau has
110 settled mode of administration. There Is ate entire
absence of system or uniformity in its constitution. In
one State its officers exorcise judicial powers; in an ad
joining State all eases are referred to the civil authori
ties; while in a third State the bureau officers collect
the cases and turn them over to military provost courts
to dispose et. In some departments the officers of the
bureau have attempted to regulate the rate of wage.;
one form of contract between employerand employed Is
prescribed in one State, while in another a •different
form Is adopted. In Louisiana the expenses of the
freedmen's schools have been wholly paid by
government; •in the other States the sehools are
partially self-supporting, and in Texas they are en
tirely so. In some localities the bureau officers inter
fere arbitrarily between the planter and the freedmen
in favor of the :freedmen; in other localities the bu
reau is used as a means of coercing the freedmen in
favor et the .planter. The expenditure of the bureau .
varies as much as its mode of administration. In
one State the expenses are over throe hundred thou
sand dollars a year; in another State, with 'an — equal
population, the expsnces are not more than fl
sand. Income States the expenses have been met by
taxes levied on and collected from the penol et In: other
States the cost le entirely borne by the United States
treasure.
.
We found it Impossible to investigate the accounts of
the bureau quartermasters, for the reason that when
the funds were received from taxes, rents, and sale of
abandoned property, there were no moans of ascer
taining the amounts received, except from the personal
statement of the officers themselves. a quartermaster
In the army, drawing hie funds from the government.
has the amount charged up to him. and so obliged to
account for It In his returns but the looseness of the ad
ministration of the qnartermaster's department of the
bureau, and the.absence of all check upon the officers.
give no security except the personal honesty' of the
men themselves. We examined the accounts of Brevet
Brigadier General Whittlosey Bureau Quartermaster
of the Department of.jhe Mississippi. who eatisfled us
that he had. honestly administered the affairs of his
department, and had accounted for all of the money res
calved by him, but whether his predecessor. who col
lected a large amount from taxes. roots, and hales, paid
over to General Whittleaey all the mon , y in his hands
belonging to the bureau, we wet a neut.'s to determine.
We do not make this statement to reflect upon that
officer, against whom there were no charges, but to il
lustrate the looseneee of the system.
Theofficial report of Colonel Bono, United Stales
army, Provost Marshal General of the bureau for
Louisiana—a copy of which la herewith forwArde6,
marked "D"—shows a deficit of upwards of seven
thousand dollars In the accounts of the officers who
were engaged in the collecting of taxes in New Or
leans which deficit Colonel Rand says he is unable to
expi in In consequence of the loose manner In which
the books wore kept. One of the defaulting officers.
Lieutenant Foster, who, Colonel Bens believes, appro
priated to his own use the largest amount of the de
ficiency, carried oil hls cash book with him. This
officer, on his own responsibility, levied an "Incidental
tax," which Colonel Reno calls an "Invention of his
own." and which, "with the exception of ono or two
hundred dollars, went into his own pocket."
We aro of opinion that at the close of tho war. and for
some time after the cessation of hostilities, the Freed
men's Bureau did good. The people of the South, hav
ing at first no faith in the negroes working under a free
labor system, were desirous of getting rid of them, and
during the yammer of 1805 Judicious bureau and mili
tary officers did much towards restoring order and har
mony, and inducing the people of the South to'resume
the cultivation of their plantations by employing the
freedmen. Before the close of 1865 there was an entire
revolution in the sentiments of the people of the South
With :regard to negro labor. A feeling of kindness
sprang up towards the freedman, resulting. Perhaps,
mainly from the conviction that his labor was desirable
and profitable, and the only labor to be had. The neces
sity of the bureau then ceased. Since then, while
it has been beneficial In some localities, It has been
productive, In the aggregate, of more harm than good.
It has occasioned and willperpetuate discord an long as
It (islets, though administered by the purest and wisest
men of the nation. The freedmen regard Its presence
as evidence teat they would be unsafe without it, and
the white people consider It an imputation upon their
integrity and labium% an espionage upon the official
action of all their conrts and magistrates, as well as
upon the private conduct of their citizens. Both races
are thus made suspicious and bitter by an agency
which, in the present reorganized condition of civil gov
ernment and society In-the southern Stator, is powerless
to advance the Interests ()rather.
' ' ' " "• ' •
The beet proteolion the freedman has in the South is
the value of his laborite the market, and if ho is lett
free to dispose of this, at alt times, to the highest
bidder, unshackled by. contracts made for him by '
Bureau officers, no apprehensions need be felt for his
safety or his success. If the freedmen could at this
moment demand the wages which the high price of the
products o would uth would justify, one dollar per day
and boardbe the ruling wages, instead•of ten or
twelve dollars per month, the prices now Paid. Bnt
they cannot take advantage of the demand for their
'abort they are bound by contracts, enslaved for twelve
months, through the agency. and influspco ,of the
Freedmen's Bureau. The :bands on the „Bliseissippl
river steamboats were not required to make contracts,
and they are getting forty dollars per month and their
board for labor less exacting than that of a plantation
negro. The freedmen on the Ogeecbge and SaVannah
rivers are getting, on the rice plantatibne, from ten to
fifteen dollars per month, under contract for the year,
while the laborers employed on the Georgia Central
railroad, which runs between these streams, are
getting one dollar and a half a day. Some complaints
were made to us by the planters on the Savan
nah river that their laborers were discontented,
and did not work as required by the contracts. Ono of
the planters, a practical, liberal-minded man, ex
plained the canes of discontent to he the low wagae at
which the ingress were hired. Re said, "I can get
hands enough, and good work done, too, by paying a
dollar a day and rations, and I am paying that and ex
pect to pay even more. I can give three dollars a day
and Make money. The negro is going to make all he
can out of his freedom, and he has a right to do so."
The enlightened pollcyadvocated by this gentleman—a
policy strongly la accordance with justice and sound
political economy—is detested by the contract eyetem
inaugurated and forced into practical oneration by the
officers of the Freedmen's Bureau. We mot *with in•
stances of freedmen working for ten dollars a month
and rations under yearly contracts sanctioned by the
bureau, while lathe same field, doing the same work,
other freedmen not ander contracts were getting one
dollar a day and rations. In all of thelarge towns'of
the IllieslestpM valley, during the months of May
and June, planters were offering one dollar a day and
rations for freedmen, while under the sanction of the
government, given by the officers and agents of the
bureau, thousands of freedmen were working under
contract for ten dollars per month. If the freedmen
are lett free to contract. the demand for their labor and
competition among employers will secure them good
wages and kind treatment. They will not contract
with men who treat them harshly or fail to pay them,
as is abundantly proven by the fact that many planters
who treated their former Slaves cruelly are now unable'
to hire freedmen to work for them, and, have been
Oliged to sell or lease their plantations.
We are unable to discover Why the simple rules which
regulate and control the relations of labor and capital
in the northern States should not obtain as well in the
South—why the national government should permit the
laboring man to sell his labor to the highest bidder in
one section of the country and appoint en agent to sell
It for him In another section. It is undoubtedly true
that if the freed people of the South were not bound by.
contracts their wages would he at least fifty per cent.
higher at this time than they are, and there would be
lees discontent among the freedmen than now exists,
and far lees duty for the agents of the bureau to perform.
Almost the only dissatisfaction existing •at this time
among the freedmen results from the low rates of wages
at which they have been hired under the influence and
With the approval of the agents of the Bureau.. Thin &g
-content makes the freedmen unwilling to work. Their
indolence provokes the planter, who frequently resorts
to violence to enforce' his contract,. and this makes
business for the officer who sanctioned • the contract.
Investigation fellows, resulting generally in .finding
the freedmen at fault for refining to labor according to
their contracts. and they are required to return to the
plantation, while the planter is admonished to curb his
temper. In some oases' of this nature the contract is
declared forfeited by the conduct of the planter, who
goes away from the bureau feeling that a decision has
been made that the freedmen are not bound to fulfil
their • agreements. The fault—the cause . of the
difficulty—is in the contract, which has been
unjustly forced upon the poor freedmen. It
muss not be inferred •. from what we have
written. that we are oppdied to the freedmen con
tracting with the planters. By no means. We 'Walleye
the VOLT best thing they can do to to make contracts,
tither for a share of the crops or liberal wane; but we
are opposed to agents of the national government Flamm
-
lug to hire them out, preecribing the terms of service,
and stipalatingfor the wages to be paid them. They are
not free so long as any such control is exercised
over them, nor can they ever receive just reward
for their labor while they are compelled to hire
within a given time for a specified term. In
Mississippi and other States, freedman were compelled,
by orders from officers of the bureau, to enter into con
tracts within limited periods, which enabled all who
wanted hands to get them at low wages, while, if the
freedmen had not been interfered with, the demand for
labor would have enabled them to secure, ust remune
ration. It is a great error to suppose that the freedmen
are not competent to enter into contracts for them
selves They, are sharp at a beret know well what
a good contract le, and are much b tier collectors than
whim people. -
bt'As an evidence of the rigid' manner in which con
tracts are enforced by agents of the bureau against the
freedmen, we,may mention a case which came under
our own observation. A colored blacksmith, who tied
from his master, during the war, and enlisted in the,
United Staten army, being about to be mustered out of
service, wrote to his wife requesting her not to contract
for more than a month or two at a time, es he Intended
to return • home when mustered out and set up shop
and go to housekeeping.their/fa accordingly declined
at first to make a long contract, but was finally
compelled to engage herself • fat a year. The
eoidier on his retarrcOvent to . thesviantation where
hit wife was working and applied for.her release. bat
railed to get her. tie then tout a Written statement of
the case to an agent of the Unction,. who forwarded it to
the assistant commietioner -Mil the State. It was re•
turned from headroarterewlth ihd following endorse-
Mont: rt t BY
"Inasmuch as ihe wifeuf William Carter hoe made
a contract for the yearlgtia, she meet observe Ito re
quirements. The sub-commissioner. will. inform Wil
liam Carter that the interests of the freedtpeople re
liglonsly observing their agxeemente are paramount to
the wishes of individuals, and that the power of the
bureau will only be used to protect 'them from math.
feet injustice, There being no-Poeitive evidence of
Buck injustice in this case, tie bureau has no interfer
ence to make."
It ht evident that this officer considers a Inbor con
tract mom sacred than a marriage contract.
The spawn of contracts now existing in' the South
and enforced by the bureau it Merely slavery in a new
form. What Is the difference to the negro whether- he'
is sold for five dollars orlive thousand dollars for thirty
years to thirty masters, or for thirty. years to one ma ,
ter? It Is involuntary cervitude in either case, and a
Practical defeat .of the emancipation proclamation of
th 9 lamented President Lincoln. If the freedman
leaves work to seek employment at better wages, ho
is arrested as a vagrant by order of the Freed-'
men's Bureau and put to labor on the roads
with. ball and chain, as le provided by an or
der recently issued by General Scotty assistant
csmratspioner for South Carolina. Ir, fatigued from
overwork: he desires to rest for a day, if he leoVes the
Plantation to visit a relative or friend, it is made* Pe
nal offence, and a flue of fifty dollars is imPeeed, as will
bo Been by Clreular No. 14, of Conceal Eiddoo, assimant
Commissioner fey Texas. a copy of which Is hereto ah
hexed, marked "E." If he refutes to contract at all, he
is arrested by the bureau provost marshal and told for
A few dollars to the neatest planter, no -in the cote of
Captain Morse, of New Orleans, already referred to.
The coercive policy adopted by the bureau in this and
other respects has been made a jostineatiOnfor the dis.
crimp:wing legislation of some of the Bentham States.
The only remedy against a White than for a breach of
contract is a salt for dain ages. aud we can zee no reason
Why the Who.'comedy. abould: kilt be applied and
conceded in the oleo of the blackthan. 'rho freedman
han nothing to sell but his labor, nod we are strongly
of Use opinion that lie ought to be permitted to
obtain for it the highest price it will bring. If he is a
'freeman, It is neither net or lawful for any person to
assume control of him, end certainly not morejnet or
lawful for an camel' the Predolmehle Bureau to do so
than for a southern planter.
Very respeetf ally, your obedient servants;
JAMES 13.
FrataTori.STEEDßlAti,
General Volitnteers
Briga for General Volunt eorB
TIRE NEW ORLEANS RIOTS.
Political Position of . Gorernor Wells and
his Antecedents—Who Caused the DM.
turbance and What was'the Object—Gen
eral Baird's Imbecility, &c.
(Correspondence New York Herald.]
NEW °ALBANS, August 6 —A telegraphed
answer of Governor. Wells to a message
from President Johnson inquiring as to the
authority of the Governor tor ordering elec•
tions to fill vacancies' In the deceased con
vention which had been convoked to over
turn the government of Louisiana, makes
its first appearance in public in the northern
papers since tho;recer,t4isturbances in New
Orleans, and Beryls' to reveal one of the'
principal causeWof . to,
Jim guilty agents of
that sad tragedy that has produced such et
citement in the land.
As a witness of what occurred in Neer Or
leans, and perOnally codnizant of al( the
facts relating to it, I beg the use of your
columns for titain and• beg
state=
meta, every avoratetrt,ofwhich is suseepti,
bin of judicial Orpof,ond 1 . 011 not be denied
by any honest natin I:rrhO'has any 'knowledge;
of the transactions refereed to.
I want no hetteritextr,for.my exposition of
the turpitude of this convention plot than
this reply of Governor Wells to the very per
tinent inquiry of the President The Gov
ernor says lie otdered 'the - tat - lotions for va
cancies in the convention by direction of the
president of that body.
The flagrancy and audacity of this false,.
hood are exposed by the fact that the presi
dent of the convention, the don. E a Bur
is now, and has been for several weeks,
a sojourner in New England; that when
asked to convoke the convention he per
emptorily refused, declaring that the body,
was extinct, and, at the suggestion of some
of his radical. friends that 'Governor Wells
could be used to.promote their views, added
that the "Governor had sold them once, and
would sell them again."
Judge Durrell or ought to be, well
known throughout the country as the inti
mile and confidential friend.of Chief Justice
Chess and General Banks, and a radical of
thestraightoit sect,''
Governor
Governor Wells, too, furnishes further
proof of the falsity of bin-reply to the Presi
dent's inquiry„; . by thelvorde of his procla
mation ordering the election for vacancies,
,in which he sets forth that it was done by
the authority of the president pro tem., B.
K. Howell. . .
Hero then was a deliberate falsehood coin-
Municated to the President to deceive him
and the country by the principal conspirator
in the nefarious plot. If the convention
could be legally convoked at all under the
circumstances, after its mission •had been
performed and its functions had ceased for
over two years, the resolution on which the
extraordinary claim was based limited the
newer of reconvoking , it to the president.'
No one else was authorized to exercise this
power. The It. K. Howell" in as
suming that power was double usurper.
There could bane president pro tern. of the
convention, as. the body had never elected
one, and the president , still existed. But to
matte this act of, this audacious and puny
pretender the more ineeleht, he was not even
a member of tlaeueriv:ention, having resigned
his seat in it because of certain radical ten
dencies of the bbtfy, his resignation having
been accepted, and 'n*llol3o[l to reconsider
that acceptance having!falled for the want
of a quorum. ,
Now I 13 übillic thsi4notorions facts to the
calm reflectiorr4f t4eemen, as illustrative
of the unparalleled audacity of this plot, and
ask thorn to take theA"home to themselves,
and determinewhat would be their own feel
legs and conduct towards so dishonest and
vile an attempt to ov,erthrow the government
oftheir own cdratotinit,V.
_
The pretext of 43eneral Baird, the second
of the principal ,talminals in the recent
tragedy, and which has been much harped
upon by the denonncers of our people and
the President, that at the worst the conven
tion, if illegal, would,be practically inocu.
one, is a dishonest and deceptive ono.
The recognition of this revolutionary body
by the Governor the fact that its president
was a member ot:the Supreme Bench of the
State, and that two others of that tribunal,
known creatures of the Governor, were en
gaged in the conspiracy, backed, as they all
were, by the pledge,of the protection and
support of the military commander of the de
partment (General Baird), would have practi
cally transferred the government of the
State to the conspirators. With such a com
bination it would -have been an easy and
simple task to oust the other State officers,
by due process' of law. And this was
the plan. The delegates who com
posed the convention were no theoretical
fanatics or idealogists; they cared no
thing for any party or for any princi
ples; characterless, - adventurers and 'pecu
lators, they only, sought to get possession
of the fat offices of the State from which they
had been ejected by the respectable portion
of the community, by the military authority
which succeeded General Banks, and chiefly
by the Governor himself when ho professed
to be a Union conservative. His motive for
his sudden aposticy was equally well known.
He had lost the confidence of his original
supporters; had in a short time r by his per
sonal and political delinquencies, brought
upon himself the disgust, scorn, and bitter
hatred 'of the whole people.of all parties and
classes. He knew.that at the very next ses
sion of the Legislature he would be im
peached by the nearly unanimous voice of
the Legislature. It was to save himself from
this fate and prevent inquiry into transac
tions of the most damning character that he
went over to the convention plot, and gave
the weightof his official position and pledged
all his power and influence to promote the
success of the conspiracy.
So much for the Governor's connection
with this 'affair, and. the 'imminent practi
cality of the convention scheme.
I have said that the next most guilty; per
eon in this audimious'eonspiracy is Generals
Baird, who in the absence of General Sher
idan commanded. the j - United States ferces
in New Orleans„ .t.f,o one has so large a
share of the respOnsibility for the tragic and
deplorable' scenes in - Which this foul plot .
culminated as this fanatical, insubordinate
and imbecile, commander. Though well
aware of General Sheridan's views in regard
to the criminal eliaraeter of these conspi
rators, and of President 'Johnson's emoted
orders to respect;-and, support the civil au
thorities,•General Bal(' from the first mani
fested his party sympathy for the conspi
rators declared that tie' should not be ar
rested' under 'precast. from the State court,
and that if the. sheriff undertook to
arrest them under bills of indictment found
by the grand juryetio would Put him (the
sheriff) in irons. But for these intimations
and declarations the convention would never
have assembled.' The members of that body
were not of the class who sought martyrdom,
who were wedded to their purposes and con
victions, or moved by that eincerity and ear
nestness which would incur even. ordinary
dangers in the maintenance of their views,
and the execution of their nlan. The promise
of the protection of the United States mili
tary authority in a city where that authority
has been so omnipotent would have given
confidence and a senee.of immunity and se
curity to any party or individuals:how weak,
criminal, and offensive soever they might be.
to the mass of the community.
It was upon these assurances of General -
Baird that the demagogues founded their
promise to the poor, ignorant negroes that
they might and should come to the opening
of the convention. It was unnecessary but
quite in the vein of the incendiary style end
temper of lbstie and the other 'pertiirbed
spirits" of the radical Conspirators to add to
this invitation the injunction to come "armed
and ready to , protect their friends." They
(the negroes) would never hate come but
for the belief that Baird, would 'have ,had
troops to defend them. His failure to afford
that protection was a gross breach of''faith,
to theta, as his failure to obey the orders sent
to the Attorney General of the State 4 , the
President, that the military Would ,be eic-
Pected to support and hot obstruct the pro
ceases of the State courts, was a flagrant act of
insubordination and contempt anis superior
commanding officer. In his efforts to
dodge his duty and responsibility, Baird not
only achieved the reputation of bad faith and,
treachery, but that of a pitiable imbecility in:
failing to maintain the peace and repress to and violence in a community where a
sergeant's guard would have sufficed for that
purpose. His declaration of martial law
after peace had been established, and his jail
delivery of the prisoners arrested by the'
police for causing and participating in Me
disturbances, were such manifestations of
imbecility end helpless nervousness', rather
than of military energy and'promptitude, as
would, but for their serious antecedents and
results, hhve excited ridicule and contemlit.
Such were briefly the main causes and
agencies producing the late unhappy tragedy
in Now Orleans, A body of proclaimed revo
lutionists, who sought to oVerturn the regu
lar government of the State by tbe most ille
gal and violent measures, and by the aid of
a corrupt and characterless Governor, and of
an imbecile and partisan accidental military
commander, whose scheme as openly avowed
was to exclude the four hundred thousand
white people of the . State from all political
and civil rights, and vest the sante exclu
sively in two hundred *bites of the, Most
desperate and uhprincipled character, and
in, thb nineteen thousand negro suffragens
Who had been recently elevated from the
condition of slaves, constituted such an or-:
ganization, conspiracy and sehome as all
history may be searched in vain for a par:
allot for. Can it be necessary, in any coun
try where the simplest idea of manhood;
of right of respect for law, authority,
order or decency exists, to justify or pal
liate'this most summary, bitter and violent
resistance on the psrt of a people who were
to be Subjected to such wrong, indignity,
suit, and oppression? Is there any commu
nity on this continent which would have
borne itself with less temper, excess, and tur
bulence, under like circumstances, then that
of New Orleans did on the 30th °duly 7 And
yet as a spectator I can boar personal tes
timony to the fact that the excesses so much
dwelt upon by the reckli se partisans who la
bor with such diabolical energy to make cap
ital out of the wild violence of an unbridled
mob, called into action by the imbecile in
activity of a military commander who,would
neither maintain the peace by his' own au
thority nor allow the 'civil authorities to
maintain it, were not committed by the peo
ple of New Orleans, and were, in truth, most
deeply deplored by all good citizens.
The persons who perpetrated these via.
lencos were of the same class which exist in
all cities and are so well known as "roughs,"
who can only be controlled by the exercise
of physical force and the exhibition of legal
authority. There are enough of this class
in every city to produce' even greater vio
lence and turbulence than that which charac
terized the two hours of frenzy that em
braced the full period of mob violence in
New Orleans on the 80th ult. If some acts
of blind, reckless, and mercenary cruelty
and barbarity were not committed in the
midst of this excitement and tumult it would
be an'unusual and exceptional eharacteristic
of this over all other mobs. If the police
should be deemed to have applied their
force with unnecessary vigor and impetuosi
ty, let those who. are disposed to condemn
them place themselves in their situa
tion and judge how they would act
under the circumstances. Fired upon by
the very parties %tom they . were expos
ing themselves to protect, more than forty of
their brethren shot down, they would have
exhibited rare examples of moderation, phi
losophy and fortitude if they had restrained
their indignation, their passions, their ite ;
stinct of self-defense. I can personally tes
tify to the fact that the members of the con,
volition who were saved from instant death
owed their escape to the most heroic et
posure of the police, many of whom were
wounded by balls and stabs, directed at
members of the convention, Whose bodies
they covered with their own. And yet these
ungrateful men have sought to prejudice,
and calumniate this body of gallant men by
detailing instances of menace and violence
committed by indiViduals of the police ex
cited by the wounds they had received in
the discharge of their duty and by the spec
tacle of their slain and wounded brethren,
whose bodies cumbered the pavements for
some distance around the scene. Far be it
from me to justify any such acts, I believe
that it is the universal sentiment of the good
people of New Orleans that the perpetrators,
especially those who were charged with offi
cial. responsibility for acts of lawless violence
and brutality, should be held to a stern lia
bility therefor. But to condemn a whole
community for such acts—to refer them,'as
General Banks does in his recent calumnious
publication, to other causes, motives, and
circumstances than those I have detailed, is
so flagrantly false and unjust that I marvel
at the credulity of a people who can receive
or hearken to suggestions so emphatically
contradicted by notorious facts.
General Banks' aspersion of the loyalty of
the people of New Orleans, of their good
faith, their favorable and friendly incline-'
tione to all well-disposed citizens from other
States, without regard to party, to sections,
or to previous political relations, has no
more honorable or respectable motive than
the mortified vanity and'eotisin of a hollow
and pretentious charlatan in politics, a gross
debauches in morale, au unprincipled Jere
my Diddler in money transactions, a shuf
fling partisan demagogue, who could not de
ceive an intelligent and high-minded com
munity into the idea that he was a great
man, a gentleman, or a worthy embodiment ,
of loyalty, or a fit representative of the dig
nitY of this great republic. That he should
exhibit some emotion at the death 'of the
poor crazed barber and dentist whom he first
inflamed with the ambition to figure as a
mob leader by styling him the Robespierre
of radicalism, and whom he instigated to
force himself into notoriety for the first
time in hie life by sending him to a theatre at
the head of a disorderly gang to interfere
with a peaceful dramatic entertainment by
demanding and requiring the playing of cer
taM national airs—the only remembered
achievement of this Robespierre; that 'he
should be seriously affected by the bard
usage of the partners of his corrupt and
shameless scheme to impose upon the people
of Louisiana a government which his present
ally, Governor Wells, has shown never had
the sanction of two thousand people of Lou
isiana, is perhaps the most respectable mani
festation which the career of N. P. Banks
affords of fidelity to his friends and asso
ciates, Hie testimony in their defense, as
well as his reflection upon the loyalty of our
, coal% are entitled to such weight as ie due
to the accomplice in the crime of the one and
the bitter and despised foe of the other party
in this late unhappy conflict.
POINT LOOKOUT TO DE A WATERING-
ItscE.—Point Lookout, situated at the
mouth of the Potomac river, formerly a re
tort for rebel prisoners, has been sold by the
government to a company of New York
capitalists, and will be converted into a re
sort for the traveling public, A summer
hotel is to be built there. The government
expended over five hundred thousandfdol
lare in erecting buildings there during the
war.
THE KANAKA CONGRESS COHEARED
WITH THE ABIEHICAId RUMP.
lFrom the Battiara Gazette:3
In the North Pada° there is a cluster of
islands knewn to the old' navigators as the .
Sandwich Islands, but to modern:geographers
as Hawaii or ; 0 whybeo. The inhabited
islands of this grog's are saved in tolmber.
In 1823 the total population was estimated' at
about one hundred at forty thousand souls;
but since the natives exchanged their breech
clothe for pantaloons, and took to rum and
missionary, they have been rapidly dying
out, until they do not now number more
than seventy thousand of all ages. On the
whole group there are probably eight thou
sand breeched and unbreeched adults, males;
but a mejority of islanders have so far copied
European manners and institutions that they
have now a regular standing army of eighty
mon, who serve as body-guard to his gracious
majesty ;King kamehamehe 111, and keep
his liege in es indult order as they possibly
can. They:hafe ale° ablecolit dud churches,
court-houses and prisofal, and indeed every
thing that belongs to civilizaticin, eicept its
virility and its morals.
There is a .French proverb which says
"scratch a Russian and you will find a Tar
tar underneath." The observation is equally
applicable to the Hawaiians. Florists have
noticed that flowers takea from fields and
hedge rows afid imfiroved by high cultiva
lion exhibit, at times, a strong tendency to
return to their native wildness. Every ex. ,
hibitlon of this proclivity is technically ,
called "a sport." The term will not be found'
in• this sense in the dictionaries; but it is
found as pertinent in regard to the Haw-,
aiiane as to new varieties of roses. The
olive-complexioned Sandwich Islanders .are,
sadly inclined to "sport." They wear their
civilization as loosely as their clothes, occa
atonally throwing off both and relapsing into ,
the pure savageism and gross licentiousness
of the original Malay. Possessing, never
theless, a happy talent for mimicry, they as
pired to found a kingdom of their own, and,
among their other institutions, they have set
up what Mr. Greeley would call "a National
Legislature." This eminent body consists
of about forty members, so that the average
number of trotes required to elect each mem
ber, where there is a contest at the polls, is
sorhewhere ih the heighborhoed of one bun- .
dred and drib: As it is Mostly modeled on
the
.pattern uf our Congress, the Kanaka
Legislature, if viewed through the small end
of a telceoope, would bo found to bear, both ,
in its habits and practicesa striking re.
semblance Washington.
In
to its prototye at
In the Honoldla journals that have lately
reached this country; we haite the 'proceed
ings of the Hawaiian Legislature done in
I tolerably correct English, and, generally
,
speaking; if it were
,not .for the difference
I in the naniee, and now and then an outbreak
of decency on the part of the majority, we
might readily imagine we were reading over
again the sayings and doings of the Radicals
during their seven-months incubation, of
cockatrices' eggs beneath the dome of he;
Capitol. Fur instance, any one might, with
peculiar propriety, believe that it was Mr.
Sumner, and not a Kanaka representative;
who presented a petition from Puna, "asking
'for a law to prevent old people taking young
people in marriage, and assigning certain
grave reasons of state policy" in supbort of
the memorial—which reasons we Wait some
enterprising publisher will reprint as adders;
da to the neat edition of the once faixioue essay
of Malibu "Oa the principle of uoptilation."
Sta also, when after "a atone of dire disorder'
that would have doneno discredittotheHouse
of Representatives, one of the native mem
bers introduced a resolution declaringi "That
• this Assembly do express their contempt for
and want of confidence in the Minister of
Finance, both in his acts before this and all
tuhsrh may come after." Who can doubt
that, by simply substituting for Finance
Minister "the man at the other end of the
avenue," such a resolution in the completer
nese of its scope, past, present, and future,
might have been offered by Thaddeus Ste
vens? So, too, when the Hon. Mr. Kamalo,
complained that in consequence of bertain.
votes he had given, he had been called "a
hoopilimeai," which we take to be the Ha
waiian vernacular .for "copperhead," the
resemblance is as perfect as it well
could bo. Daring the same discussion
we find • in the Hon. Mr. Keativehati
hale another undeniable "copperhead;"
for he bad the audacity to deolare "he did
not believe the assertions of certain officials."
"I believe," said he, "they are loyal only
because they make money out of thegovern
ment." Equally pertinent and equally Sug
gestive was the remark of another native,
who said, indignantly, that "it was not ex
actly the thing for a judge to go to work in
his taro patch , and, if a case comes up before
him,.tojust step out of hie ttiro'patoh and sit
as a judge when he is all covered over.with
mud." Now, if we . elimiaate , the "taro
patch," and insert in its stead "the negro,"
Mr. Chief Justice Chase,.with his soiled er
mine, might himself have sat for that graphic
picture.' ' •
On another occasion the lion. isa.-rASTirege
=deli. remark which our radicals in their
treatment-of the South would de well to'con
eider.-.``,A-fiireigit- doctor," said. , Mr, Ukeke
sententiously, "excels in taking but eyes and
cutting off limbs ; but native doctor is, in
other respects, b etter than a•foreign ono, for
he makes a sick man well and brisk." Mr.
Intake was opposed to the employment of a
foreign doctor whose chief recommendation
was that he could take out eyes and ampu
tate limbs. He thought there had been quite
enough of this cutting and elashing business,
and he had a sturdy conviction that the
native doctor was quite capable ,of curing
the native patient of the disorders incidental
to the man, the time, and the lociality: What
followed after this, , though:quite hatural,
was not so proper,on the part of, Mr. Ulteke.
That sensible and patriotic Hawidiahlegisla
tor entertains st: profound' iegust , for interlo.
pers l from Neat Eriglandt- but his especial
aversion is lir. Harris, au , ex,NewEngland
missionary, but. now Finance Minister to
King Kamehtimeha... No sooner had Mr.
Diceke assertedlhat a native dootor "could
make a sick Man well 'and brisk'? 'than he
suited • the action• to the word- by. inakin
"certain gyratione of Ms bedyand. limbs "
Which appear to have been far more expres
sive than graceful. Against this , exhibition
the Hod Mr. Varigny protested.' He gravely
admonished the honorable member that the
legislative assembly. of Hawaii was not„ a
dance-housez. • Whereupon the honerable
member retorted that he did not see why
"Jae could not throw his legs about as well
as Mr. Harris," the Finance Minister, "al
though they were not so long." What
passed , afterwards is not recorded, but it
may be reasonably conjectured that Mr.
Varigny. was silenced and quietly resumed
his eclat. • - •.. .
We have given these extracts from the
Proceedings of the Hawaiian Legislature, at
Ds recent session, to show how pear:ally the
Minoltas, have been:taught to reproduce; the
speeches and re-enact the scenes that were
common to the Congress so recently brought
to a close at Washington. Of the two bodies,
however, it must injustice be said that the
little assembly at Hawaii,was the more vir
tuous; for wheui on the death of the King's
sister, a resolution was introduced appropri
ating a hundred dollars to' each member to
enable him to purchase a suit of clothes, a
majority of them spurned , the temptation
and voted the resolution.down. They mould
rather have attended the funeral in their
breeoh-olothe than descend to the meanness
of voting themselves money'out of the pub
lid treasury. Our legislators mere not so
squeamish. They 'voted .themselves !two
thousand dollars apiece, in addition to their
regular salary, and pocketed the mono&
without blushing'
THE. PRESIDENT'S PIIIATION.
• [From the National Intelligeneer.l
The (ilhicagei Republican, a • "Radical-to
the-core" journal, has most appositely stated
the position of President Johnson. He has,
according to this Radical journal, "stood
still" exactly where the people Placed him
when he was elected Vice President. He
has not moved an inch. Re stands now, as
he did then, upcn the resolutions unani
mously adopted in Congress in 1861, "that
the war is not prosecuted upon our part in
any spirit of oppression, nor tor any purpose
of conquest or subjugation, nor pUrpose of
overthrowing or interfering with the rights
or established institutions of those States,
but to defend and maintain the supremacy
of the Constitution, end all law, made in
pursuance thereof. and to ert,..zetve the
Union with all th. dignity, equ,lity, and
rights of the several States unimpaired; that
ae soon as these objects are accomplished the
war ought to.cease." In the meantime th •
Progressive R e publ cane, wh ave earned for
themselves the name of, the Radical factiot,
have left him., They, hays' progressed in
their radicalism.. • They have sought : hew
fields, of political . - develdpment. From the
terms of this: resolution they hayb `gone to
negro miffrage,pu're and aimplevtothe oYer
'throwing and , interfering;with the rights or,
established ' Institutions ' in .the' 'sonthern
Strips; Ind:to the maintenance of the will Of
Congress, instead of the supremac'y of the
Constitution. • • ,
The Chicago Republican has stated the
case frankly. It soya'of the 'President
Re was elected on. a platform , whieh 'Provided
that African' slavery should be abolished, but.
failed to provide what should be the stable of the
=anointed nee. 'A ' few_ radical. 'Republicans
moved forward 'and said; "Site the ( ballot to 'the
negro!' The President steed. still, and said no.
Thereupon the few radicals bernediatetv moved
pest, him, and the rebels prepared: to coma to trim.
Nearly the entire Republican patty then. raid, "At
least' give die freedmen equal civil Tights as ttiti
s ens,. and let the Federal government protect him
from his master through the Froe'dmon'a SureamF
The President. ansvrared, !Ref Omits free. Let
hint rely on himself arid his formermaster for pro.
teotion - And so vetoed avers , ditml , Congrersa
ithieh
_asked him to take a step forward of tbe
naked legal deolaratlon that slavery Vas abolished.
Standing thus obstinate and immorabte 'on the
platform of two yam agog the greatßeenblican
Party swept past him in ifs onward:mom to the
more radical principle of the petition equality of
all men.
Thists the whole programme. The Presi
dent stands upon the platform, resolutions,
and policy upon which he was elected. ,He
maintains these theories and doctrines.. He •
stands there still. The Radical Republicans
have moved 'onward and have chosen to en- ,
graft upon their platform principles and pig.'
poses totally foreign to the original agree
ment, . . - • .
They have endeavored—first, by congresk
lentil action, end, failing in that, by inciting
a miserable minority in southern States to
attempt unlawful proceedings; -toenfrani;'
ells° the' blanks and, •disfranchise wbiteii.
To carry' out this prog minute they have not
hesitated to coil upon the black population
in !leathern C 1413 to arm themselves and in- ~
augurate riots.: Imitating the revolutionists
in France, who arranged to have one of their
number killed under the . windows' of the
Ring, that they might impute to him the
Mrder, thesorevoligioniste are using every .
effort :Alf up strifes in the South,' with the
hope of having nelarges killed, that they may
impute (his yiolence to the laehes'of the Ad
ministration. . Such, is the' progress '"of
Radical Republican ' ideas, in , which the
President is lerited ,to ;' Participate. The
Chicago - Republican goes beyond . the
fact in asserting that the 'platform
upon which ho wag elected
_provided
even for the abolition of slavorY. The prop
osition upon which .Mr. Johnson Wes elected
was the resolution adopted by Congress al
most i Mously in .Ju1y,.1861, in which it
was definitelY 'announced that the•war was
not-prosecuted "for the _ purPose Of over
throwing .or interfering With the rights or
established!.institutions"' 'of the .etenthern
Atates: ~ A tteri that, even so late 'as July,
1864; Horace the absence of Con..
ress.the foremost representative of the Rad
ical' fehtiOn6in his letter to 'President Lid , :
coin entreating him to "submit overtures for
•Pacilication to the southern insurgento,"
urged most solemnly that the Union should
fouith arid red Millions of dollars in five
per cent United States stock to the ' late slave
States, loyal 'and secession alike," in 'Om
pensation for.the 46°110071'4f islavery,. and '
that the southern States should be • ' , entitled
to repreiOntatien in, the Rouse onf the bails
of their Waif - Atoka of their federal popula-
So late'aa July, 1864; this crag She Platform
of .the then radical Republican part - Yi They
were ready, to , make peace on almost ,any
terms. Lincoln and:Johnsen were then more
progressive than tbese now so greatli pro
gressed Republieans. They urged on Grant,
and Shermaneand Sheridan, and. the "boys
in blue" to make peace only on the teaks of
theeubnnission of the 'Sbuth to, the Federal
arms.' 'When this was done Mr. Johnson
told'tbe seidhern States that they could only
be reconstructed after having ratified, the
abolition • of elavery and repudiated the
southern war'debt, and sworn to abide by
and sustain the Union and the Constitution.
When thus much had been adcomplished
the craven•hearted, make-peace•on•any
terms radical Republicans suddenly be•
thought themselves now that we have tbese
southern States at our feet we will impose
new terms. Negro suffrage was then 'first
introduced and has over since been the main
plank in the radical Republican platform.
This was, simply an invention to keep the
southern .Stittea in' a conditioh of Vassalage
until after the next . Presidential election. It
hag no other meaning. For this they have
eitended.: the duration 'of .the odious . and
Worse than useless-Freedmen's Bureau; for
this they have concocted tho civil-rights bill,
when every southern State had.'extended its
laws equally over the blacks and the Whites;
for this they havb promoted lawless, revolu
tionary proceedings in the southern States,
incited. • riots, - and procured the killing of
misguided negrons and White 'dupes to their
false promises. , • • • •
• These are the fortiard •steps taken by the
Radical Republicans: Tkase are the steps
imwhich the President has refnsed. to follow.
He 'stands now where he and the Republican
Party'stoo4 when he was nominated by the
Baltimore convention. Hqstandi now where
he andlir.-Lincoln promised toatand when
they Were eleeted. He'stands new Where the
Republican: party itself stood until the key
note of.the, advance was given by Colfax and
.Stevens , last , .sunimer. Preaident has
not. changed. • • The . "radical to the 'core) ,
Republican proclaima this fact.' . ' . The Radi
cal Republican party has, with the most
mischievous intent, "swept past him in its
onward march to, the more radical, prineiple
of the political , equality of all men;" ,that is,
to the eetablishment of negro suffrage and
the political, equalization of the ignorant ne
groes with the white population of the South.
This is the shibboleth of tbe Radical Repub
lican party, which Mr. Johnson' has not yet
learned, and we hope and believe never
will learn, to utter.' The President has not
changed, The country must say the Presi
dent is right. The radicals must come back
to the .starting point, They moat be held
amenable to the bond they have given. The
country recognizes the legality, the obliga
tion of this bond,, , and the Philadelphia con
ventien Will enforce it. .
mlxn 3Dtxur,e..it
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