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Freedmen's Courts, Establishment of.
Civil Authorities, Jurisdiction of.

[[seal]] THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES  M23 [[seal/]]

Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands,
GENERAL ORDERS,  OFFICE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER
                      FOR STATE OF MISS.
  No. 8.         Vicksburg. Miss., Sept. 20th, 1865.
  The following extracts from Circular No. 5, current series, Bureau Refugees, Freedmen and abandoned Lands, and General Orders No. 10, current series, Head Quarters Department of Mississippi, in reference to the same, are hereby republished for the guidance of officers of this Bureau:

CIRCULAR,         WAR DEPARTMENT
          BUREAU REFUGEES, FREEDMEN, AND ABANDONED LANDS
No. 5.                Washington, May 30, 1865.
  RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR ASSISTANT COMMISSIONERS.

VII. In all places where there is an interruption of civil law, or in which local Courts, by reason of old codes, in violation of the freedom guaranteed by the Proclamation of the President and laws of Congress, disregard the negroes' right to justice before the laws, in not allowing him to give testimony, the control of all subjects relating to Refugees and Freedmen being committed to this Bureau, the Assistant Commissioners will adjudicate, wither themselves or through officers of their appointment, all difficulties arising between negroes and whites or Indians, except those in military service, so far as recognizable by military authority, and not taken cognizance of by the other tribunals, civil or military, of the United States.
              O.O. HOWARD, Major General,
    Commissioner Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, &c.
Approved, June 2, 1865.
                        ANDREW JOHNSON,
                           President of the United States.

GENERAL ORDERS,     HEADQUARTERS
                      DEPARTMENT OF MISSISSIPPI
No. 10.                Vicksburg, Miss., August 3, 1865.

VII. This order (Circular No. 5, Paragraph VII., Bureau Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands) however must not be so construed as to give the colored man immunities not accorded to other persons, If he is charged with the violation of any law of State, or an ordinance of any city, for which offense the same penalty is imposed upon white persons as upon black, and if courts grant to him the same privileges as are accorded to white men, no interference on the part of the military authorities will be permitted. Several instances have recently been reported in which military officers claiming to act under authority of the order above mentioned, have taken from the custody of civil authorities negroes arrested for theft and other misdemeanors, even in cases where the courts were willing to concede to them the same privileges as are granted to white persons. These officers have not been governed by the spirit of the order. The object of the government is not to screen this class from just punishment; not to encourage them the idea that they can be

[[seal]] BUREAU R. F. & A L  
WASHINGTON 
REC'D
OCT 8
1865 [[seal/]]