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persons, probably less, and admitting that the whole number is present, I am [[strikethrough]]fully persuaded [[/strikethrough]] of the opinion still that they can be better cared for, with less expense to the Bureau, than to have a small camp in each County of the State.

It will be a great incentive to exertion & endeavors of self-support when these people who are so much attached to their old homes & places of residence, [[strikethrough]] when they [[/strikethrough]] find that to be supported by the Government, they must leave their former homes & places, & go into other parts of the state. In all places of shelter where the right of unmolested possession is secured, agencies can be established to furnish the really destitute with such food & clothing as their cases after strict inquiry may warrant, & to continue until another crop is grown. The cabins can be built by the Freedmen themselves, the Bureau furnishing the teams to haul logs & the tools to do the work. All such property to be in the hands of the Superintendent, who can guard the government against much loss by giving out each morning & receiving them back each evening.

At each of these Colonies should be kept a sufficient number of troops, (colored preferred) under the command of the Superintendent, as would make him to enforce his orders & maintain discipline & good order. I am informed that many of the Freedmen are expert at making baskets - this or any other mechanical labor that they can perform should be begun at once, where the raw material need not be purchased by the Bureau. It