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Randle then stated that he had no doubt I could prove by the freedmen in my field the "boots off his feet" and the "coat off his back." I then replied that I must appeal to General Griffin for protection. He replied that he (Mr Randle) was there to protect the blacks, that the whites must protect themselves, and that he was independent of General Griffin that he received his orders from General Howard. He further said he would have me remember that we were now under Military rule and that his (Randles) authority was supreme.

Mr Randle claimed the right to revise all my settlements with my laborers in 1866, though they had been approved by the former sub agent of the Bureau and the receipt of the laborers taken. He said in the presence of Dr Mitchell and my superintendant Mr McClellan that if I would pay $120.00 he would make other settlements easier for me and not hold me responsible for the punishment which I have referred to as inflicted by Lt McClermont. I indignantly refused his proposition as unjust and appeal to you as the only source of Justice that can avail me. I respectfully ask if my accounts with my laborers in 1866 are to be revised after