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War Department
Bureau Refugees, Freedmen and A. Lands
Washington DC June 3d 1867

To
Maj. General O. O. Howard,
Commissioner, &c.

General: 

I have the honor to state that on the 30th ult. I visited the "National Farm School", conducted by H. De Mariel; and after duly inspecting said school as to the mode of instructing the children and the method of governing them, in the school house and about the farm, and their physical and moral condition, I deem it my duty to report to you, at once, that this school is so conducted, and the condition of the children such, as to demand immediate attention from those who have authority in the premises. I do not hesitate to report that in well nigh every respect, the children are neither governed nor taught; and are in the worst possible(?) x pitiable physical and moral conditions

I would recommend the establishment of a Reform School, at the earliest