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and was intended to work in favor of the policy of scattering the islanders out upon the plantations on the main land, instead of maintaining them there in compelled idleness. But this reduction raised a howl of dissatisfaction.

They and their friends at once appealed to Gen'l Howard at Washington, loudly complaining of abuse and danger of starvation, laying the burden on the shoulders of Mr. Streeter.

Gen'l Howard telegraphed to Gen'l Schofield requesting him to send an officer to Roanoke to investigate and report on the state of things there. Cap't McMurry was the officer sent. His report was sent on to Washington and referred back subsequently to me. I was then on leave of absence North. Capt McMurry found many complaints of short rations, and keeping back from the people the food they had a right to receive, and, taking the excited testimony of several negros, which in his report he states to have been given under the influence of storng excitement, he concluded to bring Mr Streeter [[strikethrough]] in [[/strikethrough]] ^[[insertion]] under [[/insertion]] arrest, to New Berne. He stated at the same time in his report that he found no one starving for want of food and heard of no one who was likely to starve. Immediately on his leaving, the issue of rations was raised from the rate of 50,000 per month to 80,000 per month, and rations were drawn for 3493 ^[[insertion]] persons [[/insertion]] instead of 2000. This led the negroes to believe that Mr Streeter had really been defrauding them to this amount: made them bold, defiant and I may say saucy; and led them openly and to his face to threaten revenge upon him when they saw him in arrest.