FUKKDMKN. 



ssa 



i and forty-eight nlliccrB of the volunteer ser- 



I liy officers of tin- i 

 ;ther reduction iif tin- force of tin- lin- 



when the registration of vot 

 ith.-rii States is completed. 



Hut lit'lo valuable property remain-, in th posses- 

 sion i. During the year 49,834 acres of 

 pieces oftown property bare been 

 mer owners. The Hui 



a 1. 1' town property ami 215 ; - 



i. inn lain). A great part of this land is 



:.>ve<l, and does not yield iinv revenue. 



LIT tlie year tlie Bureau has had in charge 



-ddicrs' claims. Of this number 863 have been 



ive been disallowed, and 4,780 are pend- 



In the discharge of this branch of its duty the 



ed 4,107 certificates, of a total value 



Since the date of the last report the 



Bureau has provided transportation for 778 refugees 



and I-;, '.'". 1 freedmen, as well as for its own agents 



and teachers, at an expense of $102,098.99. There 



are also unsettled accounts for transportation to the 



amount of $80,000. General Howard remarks : 



Tiie privilege is liable to abuse, but it has not 



been practicable to abolish it entirely without causing 



irreat suffering, and the most rigid rules have been 



adopted to restrict it within its legitimate bounds." 



May comparatively few refugees have applied 



l'.>r transportation, and the number of freedmen 



applying has fallen off nearly or quite one-half. 



ehii-f medical officer of the Bureau reports 

 that wherever he could he has substituted dispensa- 

 r the more costly hospitals. The result has 

 been so satisfactory that the policy will be continued 

 during this year. 'Local physicians will be employed 

 wherever their services can be obtained. Several 

 orphan asylums have been connected with hospitals, 

 for economical reasons. It is recommended that the 

 negroes be urged to contribute for the support of 

 institutions. During the year, 6,987 white 

 es have been treated by the medical officers 

 Bureau. The number of deaths reported is 167. 

 The number of patients now under treatment is 212. 

 More than half of the sickness and death was in 

 Smith Carolina. The number of freedmen treated 

 in this period was 103,593; number of deaths, 3,079 ; 

 number remaining under treatment, 6,078. The 

 number of hospitals now open is 40 ; of dispensaries, 

 etc., 46; of commissioned medical officers, 10; of 

 other physicians employed by the Bureau, 95; of 

 nurses, -t-_".i. Comparatively few cases of cholera or 

 yellow fever have occurred among the freedmen. 

 The officers of the Bureau report in their districts 

 1,400 blind freedmeo, 414 deaf and dumb, 1,184 idiotic 

 or imbecile, 552 insane, and 251 club-footed. 



From the first of September, 1866, to the first of 

 September, 1807, the average number of rations 

 issued per month to refugees and frecdmen was 



' It ; average number per day, 11,65818. 

 In compliance with a joint resolution of Congress, 

 provisions have been distributed in the different 

 Southern States to the value of $445,993.30. 



The total amount of supplies furnished by means 

 of this fund is eight hundred and fifty thousand three 

 hundred and eighty-eight (850,888) pounds of pork 

 and bacon, and six million eight hundred and nine 

 thousand two hundred and ninety-six (0,809,296) 

 pounds of corn. 



The total number of persons receiving relief is 

 reported to be two hundred and thirty-three thou- 

 sand three hundred and seventy-two (233,372). But 

 as these returns have been made monthly, the same 

 persons have been reported three or four successive 

 months. 

 Of the whole number of rations issued, 692,543 



. and :>, 504,629 to freedmen. 



The Bureau has furnished school-buildings and 

 transportation, while, teachers, books, etc., have 

 been sent by benevolent associations in the Northern 

 States. A "more thorough organization of the work 



has been effected, and it " now reaches not only the 

 nt the remotest counties of each State lately 



in reliellion. The voluntary association* arc \\ 

 harmoniously with the Hunan; the reports of State 

 superintend' 'iits indicate fidelity, a more thorough 

 kno\\ I'-iL'e of their duties, and more earnest devo- 

 tion to their work ; and tlie nearly two thousand 



present employed give, with rare - 

 tioiiH, gratifying proofs that the In cdmen may, 

 before long, be safely left with such instructors." " 



There nre i.Hicially reported, 1,839 day and night 

 schools; 2,087 teachers, and 111,442 pupils: showing 

 an increase since the last report of 632 schools, 657 

 teachers, and 88,444 pupils. 



Adding industrial schools, and those "within the 

 knowledge of the superintendent," the number will 

 be 2,207 schools, 2,442 teachers, and 130,735 pupils ; 

 making a total increase of 908 schools, 784 teachers, 

 and 40,222 pupils. 



Sunday-schools also show much larger numbers 

 during the past six months, the figures being 1,126 

 schools and 80,647 pupils ; and if we add those " not 

 regularly reported, the whole number of Sunday- 

 schools will he 1,486, with 105,786 pupils ; thus giving 

 an increase since the last report of 686 schools and 

 85,176 pupils. 



General Howard remarks: "Of the above schools 

 1,056 are sustained wholly or in part by the freed- 

 men, and 391 of the buildings in which these schools 

 are held are owned by themselves, 699 of the teach- 

 ers in the day and night schools are colored, and 

 1,388 white a small proportionate increase of the 

 former during the six months 28,063 colored pupils 

 have paid tuition ; the average amount per month 

 being $14,555, or a fraction over 51 cents per scholar. 

 Only 0,911 of the pupils were free before the war. 



" This Bureau has supplied 428 of the school-build- 

 ings, and furnished 975 teachers with transportation. 

 The total expenditure for all educational purposes 

 by the Bureau has been $220,833.01. 



" Such progress as is seen under circumstances, 

 admitted to be unfavorable ; the permanency of the 

 schools, scarcely one failing after having been com- 

 menced; the rapid increase of general intelligence 

 among the colored people, are matters of constant 

 remark by every observer. The hopes of the warm- 

 est friends of the' freedmen have been more than 

 fulfilled." 



The financial statement is as follows : 



Balance on hand, refugees' and freedmen's 



fund. , $97,25385 



Balance. District of Columbia destitute relief 



fund 12,126 15 



Balance retained of bounty fund. 89,502 46 



Balance school fund 5,484 58 



Balance appropriation fund 7,418,061 87 



Balance pay, bounty and prize money 581,725 10 



Total balance on band $8,099,153 46 



General Howard recommends : 



1. To discontinue the relief afforded by the Frced- 

 men's Bureau, if possible, when the term of the 

 Bureau shall expire by law, except in the educational 

 work, and in the settlement of such claims for back 

 pay and bounty to colored soldiers as may remain at 

 that time unsettled. 



2. To transfer the educational work of the Bureau 

 to the Department of Education, or to some other 

 permanent United States agency, which shall have 

 ample power to sustain and extend the present sys- 

 tem, and also the transfer to such agency of all 

 Bureau funds unexpended next Julv. 



8. To at once transfer the buildings erected for 

 schools for refugees and freedmen, upon land pur- 

 chased by regularly incorporated institutions of 

 learning, to the several corporate bodies having 

 these institutions in charge, upon condition that 

 they shall continue the work ot education therein, 

 and never exclude any person on account of race 

 or color. 



