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Letter rec'd back endorsed Aug 6/66 and filed

Augt 2d
Bvt Major Genl
J.C. Robinson
Asst Com'r No Ca

General
I have the honor to request information on the following point
Since the promulgation of Gen'l Order No 3 it is claimed by the County authorities that this Bureau has no authority to apprentice orphan colored children or children whose parents may have deserted them or are unable to support them. If this is so the institution of slavery will exist in fact if not in name as several cases have been reported to me where children over fifteen years of age have been forceably removed from their homes and bound as apprentices by the County Courts against their own wishes and that of their parents. There are also a number of cases now pending before the Assistant Superintendents in which Freedmen complain that horses and mules and other property belonging to them has been seized