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War Department Bureau of Refugees, freedmen, and Abandoned Lands Washington May 17th 1871 Hon. C.T. Christensen Counsel & Charge d'affairs of Denmark Dear Sir I have the honor to reply to your letter of the 15th Inst. that I have no recent official reports on the subject of labor in the Southern States, but I enclose herewith a copy of my report for 1869, in which the results of Free Labor are [[strikethrough]] stated [[/strikethrough]] given in general terms, and the principles and conditions of organization are stated. The one [[strikethrough]] forwards their [[/strikethrough]] truth always enforced was that labor is free. But the freedmen were advised to enter into written contracts with their employers by which both parties should be bound for a [[strikethrough]] larger [[/strikethrough]] specific time. This plan was very generally accepted in 1865 & 1866, and I think it is still continued. But in some cases