810 



UNITED STATES. 



UNIVERSALISTS. 



things went on as before. Many, perhaps a majority 

 of the agents of the Frecdmen's Bureau, advised the 

 freedmen that by their own industry they must ex- 

 pect to live. To'this end they endeavored to secure 

 employment for them, and to see that both of the 

 contracting parties complied with their engagements. 

 In some cases, I am sorry to say, the freedman's 

 mind does not seem to be disabused of the idea that 

 the freedman has a right to live without care or pro- 

 vision for the future. The effect of this belief in the 

 distribution of the lands is idleness, and accumula- 

 tion in camps, towns, and cities. In such cases, I 

 think it will be found, that vice and disease will tend 

 to the extermination or great destruction of the col- 

 ored race. It cannot be expected that the opinions 

 held by men at the South for years can be changed 

 in a day, and therefore the freedmen require for a 

 few years not only laws to protect them, but the 

 fostering care of those who will give them good 

 counsel and on whom they can rely. 



The Freedmen' s Bureau being separated from the 

 military establishment of the country, requires all 

 the expense of a separate organization. One does 

 not necessarily know what the other is doing, or 

 what orders they are acting under. It seems to me 

 this could be corrected by regarding every officer on 

 duty with the troops in the Southern States as 

 agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, and then have all 

 orders from the head of the bureau sent through 

 the department commanders. This would cre- 

 ate a responsibility that would beget uniformity 

 of action throughout the South, and would insure 

 the orders and instructions from the head of the 

 Bureau being carried out, and would relieve from 

 duty and pay a large number of the employes of the 

 Government. 



I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 

 Your obedient servant, 



U. S. GRANT, Lieut.-General." 



During the ensuing year, 1866, reports were 

 made by General Schurz and others, presenting 

 a less favorable aspect. These will be noticed 

 hereafter. 



On December 18th, the Secretary of State, 

 Mr. Seward, officially announced from the 

 State Department that the amendment of the 

 Federal Constitution abolishing slavery had 

 been adopted. After reciting the amendment, 

 he proceeded to say : 



And whereas, it appears from official documents 

 on file in this Department, that the amendment to 

 the Constitution of the United States, proposed as 

 aforesaid, has been ratified by the Legislatures of 

 the States of Illinois, Rhode Island, Michigan, Mary- 

 land, New York, West Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, Ne- 

 vada, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, 

 Vermont, Tennessee, Arkansas, Connecticut, New 

 Hampshire, Maine, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsyl- 

 vania, Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, North 

 Carolina, and Georgia in all twenty-seven States: 



And whereas, the whole number of States in the 

 United States is thirty-six : 



And whereas, the before specially named States, 

 whose Legislatures have ratified the said proposed 

 amendment, constitute three-fourths of the whole 

 number of States in the United States: 



Now, therefore, be it known, that I, William H. 

 Ssward, Secretary of the United States, by virtue 

 and in pursuance of the second section of the act of 

 Congress, approved on the 20th of April, 1818, enti- 

 tled "An act to provide for the publication of the 

 laws of the United States and for other purposes," 

 do hereby certify that the amendment aforesaid has 

 become valid to all intents and purposes as part of 

 the Constitution of the United States. 



Many conventions were held during the 

 year, in both the Northern and Southern States, 



by the colored people. The object sought in 

 these assemblages was to improve their condi- 

 tion politically, by the acquisition of the elec- 

 tive franchise, and to stimulate a de'sire for edu- 

 cation, industrial habits, and good morals. The 

 destruction of these people by the war, particu- 

 larly in the Southern States, was presented in a 

 most alarming aspect by Senator Doolittle in a 

 speech at New Haven, in Connecticut. He 

 said : 



Do you not know that the colored population has 

 perished by thousands and hundreds of thousands 

 during the war? We have no accurate data upon 

 which to state the precise number that have perished, 

 but the highest officers in our army state unqualifiedly 

 that in their opinion at least one million have perish- 

 ed. Gov. Aiken, of South Carolina, who has been a 

 Union man, and was one of the largest slaveholders 

 of the South, owning at one time over eight hun-. 

 dred slaves, himself stated to me in Washington the 

 other day, unqualifiedly, that at least a million had 

 perished, and in his opinion a great many more ; 

 also, the Hon. Randal Hunt, of the city of New Or- 

 leans, states the same opinion; and Captain Haines, 

 of the Union army of Louisiana, who has lived always 

 at the South, states his opinion that at least a million 

 have perished, and these gentlemen tell you the rea- 

 son on which they found this opinion. Some, of 

 course, have perished in battle ; perhaps fifty thou- 

 sand have perished in battle, or of their wounds, but 

 that has not been the principal source of their de- 

 struction. Small-pox and other terrible diseases that 

 follow the march of armies have prevailed among 

 them to a terrible extent, all the way from the Rap- 

 pahannock to the Rio Grande. The small-pox has 

 swept them away in camp and on plantations, and 

 everywhere by thousands upon thousands. It is 

 also a fact that when these diseases spread among 

 those not accustomed to attend to the diseases among 

 themselves, they have, to a great extent, been neg- 

 lected by the white people. The masters and those 

 connected with them lost interest in them. They 

 perished by hundreds of thousands. These are the 

 appalling facts, and yet they are true. I have no 

 doubt that when we come to take the census of 1870, 

 two-fifths of the whole colored population will have 

 perished. 



The relations of the United States with for 

 eign countries are noticed under the title, DIP- 

 LOMATIC COKHESPONDENOE, to which the reader 

 is referred ; as also to APVMT and NAVY, for the 

 military and naval operations of the Govern- 

 ment. Under appropriate titles, all the im- 

 portant subjects forming a part of public affairs 

 will be found. 



The system of taxation adopted by the Gov- 

 ernment originated in haste, and was presented 

 in crude measures which.havo been modified at 

 every subsequent session of Congress. The 

 results of experience and the investigations of 

 intelligent men, have advanced so far, that the 

 year 1866 will witness the adoption of a very 

 complete system, that will be fully presented 

 in the subsequent volume. 



A movement was set on foot to reduce the 

 hours of manual labor for a day's work, from 

 ten or more, to eight hours. It was received 

 with favor and gathered strength with the lapse 

 of time. Nothing decisive had been effected 

 previous to the close of the year. 



UNIVERSALISTS. The " Universalist Re- 

 gister" for 1866 contains the following statis- 



