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to their commands, at the request of their Regimental Commander. Freedmen affairs still suffer from this cause. The Bureau will never be as effective as its friends have a right to expect, till arrangements are made, by which a good officer, who has become thoroughly acquainted with his duties, will not be subject to the whims and caprices of his colonel. 
The organization of the state into three districts and also in sub Districts, to agree with the military subdivisions, and the appointment of officers to the charge of each, have been reported to you in previous reports, also the names of my officers on duty and the branch of business assigned to each. 
The Provisional Government of the State was was organized about the same time that I was engaged in organizing the Bureau, but, owing to the peculiar state of affairs at that time, was powerless to restore law and order, or protect life and property. The criminal judges appointed in some of the districts, thought otherwise. They claimed jurisdiction in many of the cases where white men were arrested for murdering freedmen. This brought on a collision between the two authorities, as