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Headquarters, Assistant Commissioner,
Bureau Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands,
District of South Carolina,

Charleston, S. C., April 24th 1868

Major General O. O. Howard.
Commission Bureau Ref. Freedmen and A. Lands
Washington D.C.

General:
In obedience to instructions contained in your letter of the 28th ult. to state in few words the exact process pursued by me and the subordinate officers of the Bureau to secure the legal rights of "refugees and freedmen" when complaint is made of assault or outrage of any kind - I have the honor to submit the following statement
The means taken by Bureau officers in this State in securing the legal rights of freedmen refugees are four in number, which, though similar as far as the Bureau is concerned are essentially different in the mode by which the end is attained.
1st, A Bureau officer may hear, and judicate, and enforce judgement in a case of trivial nature, whether criminal or civil, and it is often done.