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in the Autumn he sues for his wages: the proof before the magistrate of some petty violation of contract, deprives him of his years wages. There are delays under the present laws of this state, caused by the limit of amounts that magistrates and District Courts can take cognizance of. In this view, I am of opinion, that there is a necessity for some Bureau of Equity until the laws of the state become operative under some settled form of equitable government.
Secondly, I am of opinion that the Bureau should be continued as a matter of economy: It appears to me to be the best, and most direct channel for educating the freedpeople in the principles of industry, frugality, and integrity, and generally improving their condition, whereas if left to themselves, they would (I believe) under the idea (I have often heard expressed during the past two years by leading men and large planters) that an educated negro will not cultivate rice or cotton, become indolent and given to thieving, by reason of the means brought to bear upon them, to keep them ignorant and in poverty. The most valuable portions of the State would then become unproductive, and being left to the troubles following in the wake of want and misery, there would be such a condition of affairs as would increase the expense of governing the country beyond that of supporting a Bureau which would gradually and peacably,