372 



FREEDMEN AND KEFUGEES. 



divide their departments. _ He also .found it 

 necessary to organize districts in each depart- 

 ment, which were placed in charge of sub-assist- 

 ant commissioners, who reported to their re- 

 spective chiefs. He organized the Bureau into 

 four divisions, viz. : I. Lands, embracing aban- 

 doned, confiscated, and those acquired by sale 

 or otherwise. II. Records, embracing official acts 

 of the commissioner, touching labor, schools, 

 quartermasters' and commissary supplies. III. 

 Financial affairs ; and, IV. The medical depart- 

 ment. Gen. Howard then issued his circular 

 No. 2, giving a general exhibit of his purposes 

 under the law. The effort was made, and gen- 

 erally with success, to establish the most har- 

 monious relations between the Department com- 

 manders, appointed by the "War Department, 

 and the assistant commissioners of the Bureau. 

 In many instances subordinate officers of the 

 military departments acted also as sub-com- 

 missioners for the Bureau. "We cannot, perhaps, 

 define more clearly the work of the Bureau, and 

 especially the duties required of the assistant 

 commissioners and their subordinates, than by 

 quoting portions of the circulars of instructions 

 issued from time to time by Gen. Howard. 



By circular No. 10, of July llth, assistant com- 

 missioners are directed to report monthly as to 

 the number of self-supporting refugees and 

 freedmen in colonies, camps, depots, or hospi- 

 tals, and on government farms or other lands 

 under the supervision of the commissioners, 

 and also the number of such persons who may 

 not be so disposed of, to whom rations and 

 clothing have been issued, to what amount, and ^ 

 whether furnished by donation or purchase. 

 It was intended that the first of the above re- 

 ports should cover the period from the time 

 when the assistant commissioners entered upon 

 their duties up to the first of the month fol- 

 lowing the receipt of the circular. 



Reports were also directed to be made by the 

 commissioners of all lands under their control 

 held for the benefit of refugees or freedmen, 

 with statements whether such lands were aban- 

 doned or confiscated, and a brief description of 

 each tract, together with the name of the former 

 owner and occupant. Hereafter descriptions 

 must be furnished of lands brought under the 

 supervision of the commissioners during the 

 month for which their reports are made, stating 

 how they were acquired, etc., and lands lost to 

 the use of the Bureau will be accounted for with 

 equal accuracy. 



In addition to the above, the number of 

 schools, scholars, and teachers at present under 

 the direction of the Bureau are to be carefully 

 reported, and rosters of all officers and civilians 

 employed by each assistant commissioner as 

 sub-commissioners, staff officers, or agents, their 

 respective duties, and how much salary is al- 

 lowed each civilian, and from what fund it is 

 paid, to be reported upon monthly, from the 

 reception of the above order. 



Circular No. 11 requires that the assistant 

 commissioner should be careful in the establish- 



ment of sub-districts, to have the office of the 

 agent at some point easy of access to the people 

 of the sub-districts. He will have at least one 

 agent either a citizen, officer, or enlisted man 

 in each sub-district. He will be furnished 

 with the proper blanks for contracts, and will 

 institute methods adequate to meet the wants 

 of his districts, in accordance with the rules of 

 the Bureau. No fixed rate of wages will be 

 prescribed for a district ; but in order to regulate 

 the wages in given individual cases, the agent 

 should have in mind minimum rates for his own 

 guidance. By careful inquiry as to the hire of 

 an able-bodied man when the pay went to the 

 master, he will have an approximate test of the 

 value of labor. He must, of course, consider the 

 entire change of circumstances, and be sure that 

 the laborer has sure protection against avarice 

 or extortion. "Wages should usually be secured 

 by the crops or lands. Employers are desired to 

 enter into written agreements with employes, 

 setting forth stated wages, or securing an in- 

 terest hi the crops or land, or both. All such 

 agreements will be approved by the nearest 

 agent and a duplicate filed at his office. In 

 case there should be no agent within reach, the 

 nearest postmaster will forward the duplicate 

 of contracts direct to the assistant commissioner 

 for the State. 



Attention is especially called to section four 

 of the law establishing the Bureau, with regard 

 to setting apart land to every male citizen, 

 whether refugee or freedman, etc., and the 

 same arrangement is recommended when it 

 can be effected between private parties. This 

 course is a recognition of the general principle 

 in the law. 



In order to enforce the fulfilment of contracts 

 on both contracting parties, the commissioner 

 of the Bureau lays down no general rule. The 

 assistant commissioner must use the privilege 

 and authority he already has. Provost courts, 

 military commissions, and local courts, when 

 the freedmen and refugees have equal rights 

 with other people, are open to his use. In the 

 great majority of cases his own arbitrament or 

 that of his agent in the settlement by referees 

 will be sufficient. 



No assistant commissioner or agent is author- 

 ized to tolerate compulsory unpaid labor, ex- 

 cept for the legal punishment of crime. Suffer- 

 ing may result to some extent, but suffering is 

 preferred to slavery, and is to some extent the 

 necessary consequence of events. In all actions 

 the officers should never forget that no substi- 

 tute for slavery, like apprenticeship without 

 proper consent, or peonage i. e. confining them 

 without consent to the land by any system 

 will be tolerated. 



The assistant commissioner will designate one 

 or more of his agents to act as the general super- 

 intendent of schools one for each State for 

 refugees and freedmen. This officer will work 

 as much as possible in conjunction with State 

 officers who may have school matters in charge. 

 If a general system can be adopted for a State, 



