Viewing page 210 of 310

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

REPORT OF South Carolina and Georgia!
By BVT. MAJ. GEN'L R. SAXTON,
Assistant Commissioner.

Major General O. O. HOWARD,
Commissioner, Bureau Refugees, &c

GENERAL:- I have the honor to submit the following report of my operations in connections with the Bureau since my assignment to duty with it, per General Order, No. 238, current series, from the War Department, appended, and marked A. Previous to this time, and to the organization of the Freedmen's Bureau, I had been on duty as Inspector of Settlements and Plantations, by virtue of Special Field Orders, No. 15, Head-Quarters Mil. Div. of the Mississippi, herewith appended, and marked B. I have continued to act under this order to the present time. Circulars Nos. 1 and 2, appended and marked C and D, were issued upon entering my new duties; my official action has been guided by the principles expressed in them. In the month of August I was relieved from the charge of Florida, by Col. T.W. OSBORN, who was appointed Assistant Commissioner for that State, and Brig. Gen'l E.N. WILD was appointed Sub-Assistant Commissioner for Georgia. In September, he was relieved by Brig. Gen'l DAVIS TILLSON, who was appointed Acting Assistant Commissioner for that State, under who entire charge it has since remained. General ORders, No. 8, regulated the marriage relations of the freedmen; it is marked F, and appended. Circular No. 3, marked G, is also appended.
In compliance with you orders, I seized for this Bureau large tracts of abandoned lands, estimated to amount to 312,014 acres, and a great number of houses (120) were transferred by the Treasury Department to the custody of this Bureau. Under the provisions of Circular No. 15 from the War Department, these have mostly been restored to their former owners. 
General Orders, No. 16, appended and marked I, announce the assignment of Staff Officers, and the appointment of Superintendent of Education. Appended, also, is Circular No. 4, which provides for the apprenticing of orphans. Circular No. 5 applied to the labor question, and urges the freedmen to enter into contracts with the land-owners for the cultivation of the soil; it is appended, marked K. Document L, appended, is a copy of Circular Letter addressed to each officer and agent on his assignment to duty with the Bureau, which, with the other instructions from your own, and these Head-Quarters, were to serve as the guide of his official action. To provide for the Orphans, discourage [[vagrancy?]], encourage industry and thrift, I issued, in accordance with instructions from yourself, circular No. 4 which. I [[am?]] well assured will provide of great benefit to the parties concerned. The great question which of course lies at the foundation of all the efforts of the Government to prompte the well being of the freedmen, through the agency of this Bureau, is the labor question.  Will the freedmen work?  Can these rice and cotton fields be cultivated by the voluntary paid labor of the freedmen? The difficulty which has been found [[?]] way of the immediate solution of this important question has been the natural disinclination of all the human race to labor, unless compelled to do so. This disinclination is shared by the freedmen in common with other races of men, and, so far as my observation extends, to no greater extend.  Until they were emancipated as a general rule the only stimulus to work was the fear of punishment; faithful labor scarcely benefitted their physical condition, and as a natural consequence, they were only industrious to the extent necessary to escape punishment for idleness.  The old stimulus to industry having now been removed, and that of freedom, the necessities of the laborer substituted, it is to be expected that there should be an interruption of labor, a natural feeling of relief from restraint.  The entire want of capital on the part of the planters to pay for labor in undoubtedly the principal reason why the planters cannot, at present, secure all the labor they require.  As a rule, the freedmen are ready to work where they are sure of receiving their pay.  Their confidence in their former master is not yet sufficient to cause them to accept his promises the pay, as such promises cannot relieve their present necessities.  The great want is money, and those who are so fortunate as to have it at the commencement of their agricultural operations, will, if they pay fair and regular wates be able to secure all the labor they may require. 
The impression is universal among the freedmen that they are to have the abandoned and confiscated land, in homesteads of forty acres, in January next.  It is understood that previous to the termination of the late war, the negroes heard from those in rebellion that it was the purpose of our Government to divide up the southern plantations among them, and that was one of the reasons urged for greater activity on the part of the late rebels. Our own acts of Congress, and particularly the act creating this Bureau, which was extensively circulated among them, still further strengthened them in the belief that they were to possess homesteads, and has caused a great unwillingness upon the part of the freedmen to make any contracts whatever; but this refusal on their part arises from no desire to avoid labor, but to the causes above stated.  All the officers and agents of the Bureau have been instructed to do everything in their power to correct these impressions among the freedmen, and to urge them in every possible way to make contracts with their former owners; but so deep seated a conviction has been found difficult to eradicate, and, although many contracts have been made, I doubt not that much greater success in this direction will attend our efforts in the future. 
The question of enxt importance has been status of the sea islands.  By General Sherman's order, appended, and in accordance with its provisions,some forty thousand destitute freedmen who followed in the wake of, and came in with, his army, were promised homes on the sea islands, and urged by myself and others to emigrate there and select them.  Public meetings were called, and every exertion used by those whose duty it was to carry out the order, to encourage emigration to the sea islands.  The greatest success attended our efforts, and although the planting season was very far advanced before the transportation to carry the colonists to the islands could be procured, and the people were destitute of animals, and had butfew agricultural implements with which to work the ground, and the greatest difficulty in procuring seeds, yet they went to work with much energy and diligence to clear up the ground which had run to waste by three year's neglect.  Thousands of acres were cleared up and planted, and provisions enough were raised to provide for those who were located in season t plant, besides large quantities of sea island cotton.  Considering the obstacles to be overcome, it must be admitted that the first year's experiment of freed labor on the sea islands has been a success, far beyond the most sanguine expectations of its friends. There are those who claim that this grand experiment for free labor has failed, because, amid all the confusion and interruption caused by the operations of our contending armies, not as much cotton or corn has been produced as under the old slave system.  The friends of freedom can afford to wait for the future to demonstrate whether it is a failure or not.
On some of the islands the freedmen have established civil government, with constitutions and laws for the regulation of their internal affairs, with all the different departments for schools, churches, building roads, and other improvements. In short, few new communities have ever made a fairer start than have these freedmen of the sea islands. The former owners have recently been using every exertion to have these lands restored to their possession, and, to secure this end, promised to make such arrangements with the freedmen as to absorb their labor, & give them homes and employment on their estates. The officer detailed by yourself to restore these lands has been unable, thus far, to make any arrangement, nor do I believe it will be possible for him to make any satisfactory arrangement. The freedmen have their hearts set upon the possession of these islands, and nothing but that, or its equivalent, will satisfy them. They refuse to contract, and express a determination to leave the islands rather than do so. The efforts made by the former owners to obtain the possession of the lands have caused a great excitement among the settlers. Inasmuch as the faith of the Gov't has been pledged to these freedmen, to maintain them in the possession of their homes, and as to break its promise in the hour of its triumph is not becoming a just government, which can only live in the hearts of its whole people, I would respectfully suggest that a practical solution of the whole question of lands embraced in special order No. 15, may be had by the appropriation of money by Congress to purchase the whole tract set apart by this order, have a fair and liberal assessment of its value made, and offer to pay to the former owner that sum, or give him possession of the land, as he may elect. In case he should prefer the land to the money, then pay the money to the freedman who occupies it. I can assure the Government that this arrangement would satisfy the freedmen and some of the former owners. It would maintain the good faith of the Government, and, in addition, the freedmen, who received lands under the provisions of such a law, would eventually refund to the Government the cost of the land. The passage of a law like this would relieve the Government of a most difficult question now at issue between the planters and the freedmen, and would be just to all parties. 
I am able to report a satisfactory condition of schools for the children throughout the department. It is estimated that in South Carolina no less than 6000 colored children are being educated. The various benevolent societies have placed teachers in the field, earnest and accomplished men and women, whose labors are destined, more than any other, to aid in the solution of this great problem of the age. 
The day cannot be far distant when the value of their services will be acknowledged, and the Freedmen's Relief Associations of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia will be honored by the record of the great services rendered to this poor, degraded, unfortunate race by their representatives who, at the sacrifice of personal comfort and social enjoyment, have been brave enough to come here as humble instructors to this degraded race, to aid in this great work of atonement of wrongs inflicted upon them. These teachers of the freedmen deserve to be, and will be honored.
In obedience to what seemed like an urgent necessity, and to prevent suffering and loss of life among the people whose interests were committed to my care. I addressed letters to several of the Freedmen's Aid Associations setting forth the necessities of the people as regards clothing and blankets necessary to protect the destitute from the cold in the approaching inclement season. Thus far they have most generously responded to my call, and large quantities of blankets and useful articles of clothing for women and children have been received, which will be the means of saving the lives of many who would otherwise have perished from the cold. White refugees, as well as freedmen, received the benefits of this charity. The care and distribution of all articles received is committed to the hands of Captain J. P. RUTHERFORD, A. Q. M., who is specially assigned to this duty. The greatest care is taken in the distribution of the articles sent, and at the close of the season Capt. R. will make a full report of all articles received by him for the freedmen and refugees, and of their disposition, for the information of the different benevolent associations who have furnished them.- For the present there must be large demands made upon the charity of the Government.
The complete change in the organization of society, the transformation of an entire people from slavery to freedom, the desolation of war, and the consequent interruption of industry must cause more or less suffering. The seeds have not been planted nor the crops harvested, and vast quantities of the necessities of life have been destroyed by fire, and there is scarcity of food in the land for present needs.
The want of confidence existing between the freedmen and the land holders, neither of whom have any faith in the other, and the want of capital to pay for labor, are some of the questions which this Bureau has had to meet and solve. They are difficult and important.
In my administration of the affairs of this Bureau it has been my earnest endeavor first to carry out faithfully all my orders, and, in cases where discretionary power was given me, I have aimed to be just to all, irrespective of color or condition, to try to break down all antagonisms, encourage friendly feelings between the freedmen and their former owners, by showing them that their interests were identical, and that each should be just to the other, and respect all other's rights. Fully conscious of the importance of maintaining friendly relations with former masters, I have been scrupulously careful to be just to them, and not to exercise any authority not clearly set forth in my instructions. I have only asked simple justice for those committed defenceless to my care, contented oftentimes not even to secure this, carrying the olive branch where conviction would have declared for the sword of justice. I have not always been met in the same spirit. The hard lesson which the former slave holder has to be taught, to treat those he owned as freemen, and to deal justly with them, is not to be taught in a day. It is, however, being learned as rapidly perhaps as could be expected. In good time, they will see that exact justice is the wisest expediency and truest policy, and that free educated labor is the most profitable.
The Medical Department of the Bureau, in this State, has been under the control of Surgeon DEWITT, a most faithful and skilful officer, who, in spite of all the many discouragements and obstacles in his way at the outset, has succeeded in overcoming them all. His department is well organized and thoroughly efficient, so far as he has been able to extend it, and has accomplished the objects for which it was established. In its mission of mercy to suffering humanity it has been eminently successful.
The abandoned house of Mr. Memminger, formerly the Sec'y of the Treas'y for the so-called Confederate Gov't, was recently set apart as an Asylum for the destitute colored orphans in the department. It now contains some sixty orphans between the ages of one and twelve years, has accommodations for two hundred, & will probably soon be filled. These children are being clothed and educated by the benevolent associations of the North, and are fed by the Government. Mr. Redpath, Jr., is in charge.  When suitable homes can be found for them, these orphans are apprenticed in accordance with your directions.  I commend this noble institution to your most favorable consideration.
The South Carolina Freedmen's Savings Bank, which I established in October, 1864, and which was continued under my charge after my assignment to my present position, I have recently transferred to the National Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company.  In making this transfer, I published the Circular letter, herewith appended, marked P.  The history of this Bank is given  in it, and it is interesting, as showing that some of the freedmen at least care for the future, and that not all of them, as is frequently asserted, think only of to-day.  With regard to the future of the freedmen, their present condition, degraded and as fortunate as it may now seem, is more hopeful than at any period of their history.  If we are just to them, time will solve the labor question, and all others relating to them, for the best interests of humanity.  The Government, through the Freedmen's Bureau, should be their teacher, guide, and protector for the present.  Having made them free by its own acts, it is bound to stand by them until such time as the State governments  shall grant them such civil and political rights as shall be necessary to their own safety and protection.  I would therefore urge the importance of the continuation of this Bureau for the present, as it is now the only place where the freedman, who is injured in his person or property, can lay his complaint with any hope of redress.
In these peculiar and delicate duties I have been greatly aided by my able and efficient staff, whose zeal and interest in this work has never seemed to flag.  They have given me their earnest and hearty support and co-operation at all times.  In the performance of their varied and difficult duties they have deserved and received my unqualified approbation.  I respectfully comment them to your favorable consideration.
The lists of all officers and agents of the Bureau in the State under my charge, with the other monthly reports. contain all the statistical information at present in my possession.  I am, sir, with great respect,
Your ob't serv't,
R. SAXTON, Ass't Com'r.
CHARLESTON, S. C., Dec. 6, 1865.

Transcription Notes:
not finished; at the beginning of second column third paragraph 5/25- finished