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it.  Gen'l. Canby is well disposed, and his intentions are to protect the freedmen, but all his officers have not the same interest or good intentions.

Gen'l. Scott tho nominally Asst. Commr. is but a staff officer of Gen'l. Canby, and can reach the Bureau officers only through him and his Post Commander.  The organizations should have been kept entirely distinct, tho there should be hearty cooperation.  I was at Columbia four days and had ample opportunity to observe the working of matters.

There is a good deal of difficulty arrising out of the settlement of contracts, and after all is done that can be, the freedmen are badly and outrageously defrauded.

There is going to be another hue & cry about "suffering and extreme want" this winter, and I have no doubt it will persist to some extent, and the Bureau will be called upon largely for aid.

I found the officers generally (I mean the Bureau officers proper) attentive to their duties, and made interested in the work, tho somewhat disheartened at the changes in the organization.

Gen'l Miles had left Charleston before I reached