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Office Bureau R.F.& A.L.
Fort Smith, Ark. June 27th 1867
Hon. Wm. M. Colby
[[??]] Sup't. Education, B.R.F.& A.L.
Little Rock, Ark.
Dear Sir:
I have the honor to forward School reports for month of June 1867. The schools are doing well, advancing rapidly. The greatest drawback is so little money being paid for tuition - not enough, as you will see, to pay board for teachers. The first great cause of this is the absolute poverty of the colored people. But a second great cause is that there is, as it appears to me, an "under current" kept up by some would be leading politicians for selfish purposes, which is undoubtedly working against the interest of the colored schools. This appears to be done by throwing little obstacles in the way-by keeping some political or other exciting thing before them. which occupies considerable of time and takes about all their spare money to defray expenses to. This conclusion may be a little premature in me, but I believe that there is sufficient evidence from which to [[crossed out]] arrive at this