GEORGIA. 



395 



HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF GEORGIA, ) 



OFFICE OF THE PROVOST MARSHAL GENERAL, > 



AtmusTA, GA., August T, 1865. } 



1. In the absence of civil courts, and in localities 

 in which no commissioner or agent of the Freedmen' s 

 Bureau is located in the State of Georgia, it is ordered 

 that all questions of wages and debts of every descrip- 

 tion arising between the freedmen and whites, and 

 freedmen and freedmen, will be inquired into and de- 

 cided by the local Provost Marshals and their assist- 

 ants. 



2. Contracts heretofore made by and between the 

 white men and their former slaves will be strictly 

 adhered to unless it appear that such contracts were 

 procured by fraud or made under duress, and in all 

 cases of fraud or duress a fair compensation will be 

 collected and paid to the freedmen. 



8. Where a planter has hired a former slave by the 

 month for the season, and has driven him off, the 

 freedman will be entitled to recover pay and fair com- 

 pensation for subsistence from the time he began to 

 work until January 1, 1866; but care must be taken 

 to ascertain if the freedman has complied with his 

 contract. 



4. Where a freedman made a contract by the month 

 for the season and refuses to remain, and quits work 

 without the fault of the former master, he will not be 

 entitled to recover wages for any part of the time ; 

 but great care must be taken to ascertain that the 

 freedman had no excuse for leaving. 



5. When a former master strikes, kicks, shoots at, 

 or threatens to shoot, or commits any assault upon 

 any peaceable freedman on bis plantation and in his 

 employ, it will be held by the Provost Marshal to be 

 a violation of the contract by him, and the freedman 

 may recover full pay and commutation to the end of 

 his term ; but the freedman will not be allowed to re- 

 main on the plantation after ceasing to work. 



6. Provost marshals will take into consideration 

 the number of non-workers on any plantation sup- 

 ported by the former master, in deciding what is fair 

 wages for the freedman in the absence of a contract. 



7. Vagrants, idlers, and loafers, without means of 

 support, either white or black, will be arrested and 

 severely punished, generally by hard labor on the 

 streets of the towns and cities, and such other work 

 as may be ordered, and in aggravated cases a ball and 

 chain will be added. But persons out of employ- 

 ment and making reasonable efforts to secure em- 

 ployment will not be embraced in the classes herein 

 named. 



8. Any person feeling aggrieved by the decision of 

 any provost marshal, by giving notice, may appeal 

 within ten days to the Provost Marshal General at 

 these headquarters. Provost marshals will keep a 

 complete record of all cases tried by them, with all 

 the evidence, and will furnish a transcript thereof to 

 any person having an interest in any proceeding 

 thereon and desiring to appeal. 



9. Provost marshals will use reasonable discretion 

 in deciding all cases, but it must be borne in mind 

 that the rights of all men are equal under the law. 

 The time when one man can reap the fruits of an- 

 other's labor is forever past in the United States, 

 and no person in Georgia will be allowed to do any 

 act tending to restore the old order of things. 



10. Provost marshals will collect the monev found 

 due in all cases tried by them, and which has not 

 been appealed, and pay it over to the person to 

 whom it is due ; and if any person or persons shall 

 neglect or refuse to pay such accounts, the amount 

 wifl be made by the sale of property. 



11. In the absence of agents of the Freedmen's 

 Bureau, provost marshals will supervise the contracts 

 to be made for the year 1866, and approve such con- 

 tracts as are equitable and liberal to the freedmen. 

 By command of Major-General STEEDMAN. 



C. H. GROSVENOB, Provost Marshal and Brevet 

 Brigadier-General. 



The election of delegates to the State Con- 



vention was held on October 4th. Universal 

 harmony prevailed throughout the State. The 

 people had apparently accepted the conditions 

 imposed by the result of the war, and were de- 

 sirous of a speedy readmission into the Union. 

 At the public meetings candidates of talent and 

 character were nominated, who were pledged 

 to the repeal of the ordinance of secession, the 

 abolition of slavery, and such amendments of 

 the State Constitution as might be necessary 

 under the new condition of affairs. 



The Convention assembled at Milledgeville on 

 October 25th, and was called to order by the 

 Provisional Governor. More than two hun- 

 dred and seventy delegates were present. The 

 following oath was administered to the mem- 

 bers : 



You, and each of you, do solemnly swear, in the 



Eresence of Almighty God, that you will henceforth 

 lithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitu- 

 tion of the United States, and the union of the States 

 thereunder ; and that you will, in like manner, abide 

 by and faithfully support all laws and proclamations 

 which have been made during the existing rebellion, 

 with reference to the emancipation of slaves. So 

 help you God. 



Herschel V. Johnson, formerly a Senator at 

 "Washington, was chosen President of the Con- 

 vention. James D. "Waddell, an officer wounded 

 in the Southern army, was chosen Secretary. 



On tho same day the Provisional Governor 

 sent to the Convention a message relative to tho 

 affairs of the State. He stated that all the cot- 

 ton belonging to the State had either been de- 

 stroyed or its proceeds exhausted during the 

 war. The railroads yielded no income, and all 

 public institutions, educational and charitable, 

 were ruined. The Penitentiary had been de- 

 stroyed and its machinery carried off. Provi- 

 sion must be made for the confinement of 

 criminals. 



The Western and Atlanta Railroad, after hav- 

 ing been, in the progress of the war, succes- 

 sively destroyed and rebuilt, fell into the hands 

 of the Federal Government, which lately turned 

 it over to the State, but in a most dilapidated 

 condition. It would require half a million of 

 dollars to make the repairs. 



In order to prepare the State House for the 

 reception of the Convention, money was pri- 

 vately borrowed from the citizens. The new 

 Congressional apportionment reduced Georgia 

 to seven Representatives. The appointment of 

 Judges should be independent of the Execu- 

 tive. 



A new organization of the Judiciary was 

 needed, to secure independence and speed iu 

 the despatch of cases. 



The public debt amounted to $20,813,525, 

 of which $2,667,750 existed previous to tho 

 war, and $18,135,775 have been created during 

 its continuance. That latter debt was not 

 obligatory on the State, neither legally nor 

 morally, as the purpose sought to be accom- 

 plished was unconstitutional. 



Georgia, as a member of the late Confederate 

 Government, has ceased to exist as a State, and 



