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far as they effect the freedmen, it cannot be said that their is any refusal to give them a hearing, but their ignorance of the laws, and the vexations delays attendant when appealing to them for redress, deter the freedmen from applying to them.
[[left margin]] How administered [[/left margin]]
In cases where freedmen have been convicted of offense against the laws, the extreme penalties thereto attached, are generally imposed upon them. Admitting that one's "ignorance of the law is no excuse for the violation of the same." still there is much that might be taken into consideration by an impartial judge or jury, which would in some measure mitigate the offense, and not allow the full extent of the law to be carried into effect. For this matter, I see no redress with the present incumbents in office. Elected or appointed as they were immediately after the surrender of the Rebels, they were generally selected for their devotion to the Rebellion; and,