UNION COMMISSION". 



793 



one of its patrons being the Archbishop of 

 Canterbury, another the Metropolitan of Servia. 



The emigration of the Circassian tribes to 

 Turkey continued, in 1865, unabated. Two 

 thousand Tchechers with their arms, horses, and 

 cattle, were received at Kars by the Turkish 

 authorities, having been conducted thither by 

 Russian officers. The whole of the tribe, num- 

 bering some 60,000 souls, was expected to 

 follow the same route, and be dispersed over 

 the district of Mouch, Sirvas, and Diarbekir. 

 The Kabardians also intimated their desire to 

 emigrate, but the Porte replied to their appli- 

 cation that it could not receive them before 

 next year. Another tribe, the Abases, ex- 

 pressed a wish to return to their native moun- 

 tains, and requested the Turkish Government 

 to furnish them with vessels for the purpose. 

 They were, however, informed that they might 

 either proceed to Eussia by land, or be distrib- 

 uted in the provinces of the interior. The ar- 

 rivals in Turkey, up to the last months of 1865, 

 make the total number of Circassian emigrants 

 encamped on the Asiatic shore of the Black 

 Sea 172,000. 



The people of the United Danubian Princi- 

 palities (Roumania, Moldo-Wallachia) seemed 

 to acquiesce in the coup d'etat accomplished on 

 May 14, 1864, and in all the decrees issued by 

 the Prince since that time.* There was, how- 

 ever, a strong dissatisfaction with the adminis- 

 tration of the Prince among a large portion of 

 the people, and on August 15th an insurrection, 

 which had been expected for some time, broke 

 out at Bucharest. A shot fired in the market- 



place was the signal agreed upon, and tl e people 

 at once attacked the soldiers, who were com- 

 pelled to retreat. The authorities, however, 

 soon brought out all the troops at their com- 

 mand, and the insurrection was put down. The 

 presumed leaders of the insurrection, MM. Bra- 

 tiano, Golesco, Brailo, and Rosetti, were ar- 

 rested. It was commonly believed that the 

 outbreak in Bucharest was connected with a 

 widely spread organization, embracing Bosnia, 

 Servia, and Bulgaria, for the old object of shak- 

 ing off the last remnant of dependency on the 

 Ottoman Government. 



On December 17th, Prince Couza opened the 

 Eoumanian Chambers with the customary so- 

 lemnities, and delivered a lengthy speech, re- 

 viewing the situation of the country. He an- 

 nounced to the deputies that he conceded to 

 them the right of interpellation, and the means 

 of carrying it into effect. The settlement of 

 the Orthodox Roumanian Church had been 

 realized by the installation to the National Syn- 

 od. The civil code had been in force since the 

 1st of December, 1864, and the criminal code 

 since April, 1865. The new organization of the 

 courts and trial by jury afforded the surest guar- 

 anty of impartiality to all accused persons. 

 The surveys for the railway from Galatz to the 

 Austrian frontier were completed, and a portion 

 of the works had already begun. The contrac- 

 tors for the railway from Bucharest to Giurgevo, 

 were making ready to commence operations. 

 An extradition cartel and telegraphic conven- 

 tions had been concluded with Austria, Russia, 

 and Servia. 



U 



UNION COMMISSION, THE, now known, 

 in consequence of its coalition with the Freed- 

 men's Commission, as " THE AMERICAN FREED- 

 MEN'S AND UNION COMMISSION." In the AN- 

 NUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1864, some account was 

 given, under the head of U. S. UNION COMMIS- 

 SION, of the origin and early progress of this 

 organization. At the close of active opera- 

 tions of the war, it found a great work upon 

 its hands, and was compelled .to make earnest 

 appeals to the public for funds. There were 

 vast numbers of poor whites and blacks, many 

 of them persons who had once lived in luxury, 

 who were reduced by the war to a condition 

 of beggary. Most of these who needed im- 

 mediate assistance, were doubtless in the cities 

 and larger towns of the South; the greater 

 part of them were loyal to the United States 

 Government, .but had been unable to leave the 

 South, and some of them had been imprisoned 

 for their loyalty. To these and to the thou- 

 sands who made their way to the Northern 



* See ANNTTAL CYCLOPJSDIA for 1864, for a full account of 

 the Cffup cPetat. 



cities the Union Commission extended tempo- 

 rary relief, sending its agents to Savannah, 

 Charleston, Richmond, and other points in the 

 South, aiding about 20,000 suffering poor in 

 Middle Tennessee, and a much larger number 

 in East Tennessee and Western Virginia ; about 

 15,000 in Richmond and vicinity, and sending 

 supplies of clothing, seeds, agricultural imple- 

 ments, etc., over all the South, and particularly 

 into the Valley of the Shenandoah, where there 

 was great destitution. It also established tem- 

 porary homes for refugees in New York City, 

 Philadelphia, Baltimore, etc. Another branch 

 of its work was the establishment or reopening 

 (where they had formerly existed) of free 

 schools for the children of the poor. It has 

 been especially active in this work in Tennes- 

 see, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Georgia, 

 and in some portions of Virginia. It had ex- 

 pended, to October, 1865, about $150,000 in 

 money and supplies. In the autumn, however, 

 the barracks where the refugees had received 

 aid, and rations from Government were nearly 

 all closed, and as the Government care for the 

 white refugees had been turned over to the 



