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VERY IMPORTANT.

The Freedmen's Bureau in Kentucky— Circular from Brevet Maj. General Fisk, with Endorsement of Gen. Palmer— Address by the Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau to the Colored People of Kentucky.

BUREAU REFUGEES, FREEDMEN AND ABANDONED LANDS, STATES OF KY. AND TENN., ASS'T COMM'RS OFFICE, NASHVILLE, TENN, Dec. 26,1865.

Circular No. 10.

The ratification of the Constitutional Amendment forever abolishing and prohibiting slavery in the United States, having been officially announced to the country by proclamation of the Secretary of State, dated December 18th, 1865, this Bureau extends its supervision over persons recently held as slaves in Kentucky.

On the basis of impartial justice this Bureau will promote industry, and aid in permanently establishing peace and securing prosperity in the State.

Agencies of the Bureau will be established at points easy of access, and while superintendents will be cautioned against supervising too much, the fair adjustment of the labor question will receive their earnest attention. They will see that contracts are equitable and their inviolability enforced upon both parties.

No fixed rates of wages will be prescribed by the Bureau, nor will any community or combination of people be permitted to fix rates. Labor must be free to compete with other commodities in an open market.

Parties can make any trade or agreement that is satisfactory to themselves; and so long as advantage is not taken of the ignorance of the freed people, to deprive them of a fair and reasonable compensation of their labor, either in stipulated wages or a share of the products, there will be no interference.

Until the enactment and enforcement of State laws guaranteeing to the freedmen ample protection in person and property, freedmen's courts will be established for the adjudication of cases in which they are involved.

The Assistant Commissioner earnestly invites the cordial and hearty co-operation of the civil authorities, and of all good citizens of Kentucky, in the important work of adjusting the new relations arising from the total abolition of slavery/

CLINTON B FISK,
Brevet Maj. Gen., Assistant Com'r.

HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT TENN.,
LOUISVILLE, Dec. 27, 1865.

The foregoing circular of Brevet Major General C.B. Fisk, Assistant Commissioner, meets my cordial approval, both in its spirit and in its excellent suggestions.

JOHN M. PALMER,
Major General Commanding.

BUREAU REFUGEES, FREEDMEN AND ABANDONED LANDS, STATES OF KY. AND TENN., ASS'T COMM'RS OFFICE, NASHVILLE, TENN, Dec. 26,1865.

Freedmen of Kentucky: The Constitution of the United States has been so amended that hereafter no one can be held as a slave anywhere in the country, except in punishment for crime. All the colored people, therefore, in the State of Kentucky, are free, and your friend, the Assistant Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, desires to address you a few plain words:

I. First of all, you should be grateful to your Heavenly Father, who has broken your bonds and conferred upon you the inestimable boon of freedom.

II. You should recognize your high obligations to the Federal Government which, in its mighty struggle with the great rebellion and in its triumph, has been true to the interests of freedom, and has fulfilled its pledges to the oppressed.

III. You should love Kentucky, for it is a noble old State, your native State, your home and the home of your children, and now a FREE STATE.