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supervision of the interests of the Freedmen, namely: settling last years and inspecting correcting & approving this years contracts, explaining their rights and duties under the same, hearing their complaints of outrages and wrongs & rectifying the same, settling difficulties between freedmen, answering letters of inquiries from planters & others, supervising the issue of rations to the destitute, the Hospital & Asylum, establishing schools, looking after the administration of justice under the Civil law where freedmen are interested, etc. etc.

II  Labor System

If the experiment of the system of "Free Labor" during the last year did not give such a result, as might have been desired, it was generally owing to the disadvantages under which the Freedmen labored, and an evidence for this is, that they have been and are constantly improving. They are almost universally working for an interest in the crop this year; some renting land, some working for half paying for their provisions, some working for a third and partly "found", but most working